Farming Simulator 25

Wow, where to begin... I had very high expectations for Farming Simulator 25. It's safe to say that I'm a diehard fan of the FS games and what Giants Software have brought the community in the past. Farming Simulator 22 was hands down my all time favorite FS game and I put over 2,000 hours into that game and now I'm on my way to putting another 2,000+ hours into this game. I've also been a big fan of the DLC that Giants have put out as well. But with some deep thought and many hours of enjoyment but frustration as well, I unfortunately am posting this review to inform players what the real experience is truly like and I'm not gonna beat around the bush on this one because I'm disappointed in Giants Software. Farming Simulator 25 since day one has had multiple core mechanic issues with the gameplay. While I have come to expect this from Giants and they're modern FS games, I also expect the devs to at least pay close attention to the communities feedback about certain mechanics in the game not working the way they were intended to. Now we had similar issues in FS 22 but over time those issues were ironed out for the most part and it became the best FS game in my opinion. FS 25 however, has some major issues that can definitely break certain features of the game and ruin the gameplay experience for players. Now I'm not gonna complain about certain vehicles or different types of new gameplay elements that could be in the game like most of the community cause I'd be beating a dead horse at that point. However, here are some of the issues that I have dealt with since day one of release and issues that I feel will continue to plague the future of Farming Simulator as a whole: 1. Physics Clipping and Breaking - There has always been a physics problem in the FS games for quite a few years now but for some reason it has been really persistent in FS 25 and that could be due to Giants upgrading their current game engine which was built by the devs mind you. These issues include pallets clipping through trailers even when strapped down by tension straps (especially when using mod trailers), as well as bales clipping through trailers and rolling in a field when you get close to them with a tractor, trailer tires and very rarely tractor and other vehicle tires clipping through the ground after Patch 1.20, pallet forks on wheel loaders, front end loaders, skid steers and telehandlers clipping through pallets and sometimes those pallets will stick to the pallet forks not allowing the player to unload those pallets onto a trailer or even onto the ground. Sometimes if your tractor crashes into a small tree or road sign, that object will get stuck into the machine (there is a simple fix for this; you can reset your machine back to the store/dealership on the map and it will usually clear up the issue but it's still shouldn't happen nonetheless.) 2. Ground Deformation - I personally never wanted this in the FS games because I could care less to be honest but like I mentioned in my first point, the tires of trailers and sometimes machines/vehicles will clip through the ground significantly slowing down your vehicle, especially if you're pulling a loaded trailer. This has become a major problem for all players across all platforms from what I have been reading. This bug does not break or crash the game but it does affect gameplay. Truthfully, if the devs just removed ground deformation altogether then I would not lose sleep over it. 3. Graphically Intensive - This was the biggest thing I complained about since day one. When I first bought the game, I was playing on a Dell G16 gaming laptop because I did not own a real gaming tower like I do now and because of the new lighting in the game, it burned an image into my old laptop screen to where it became unusable. To put that into perspective, a $2,600 laptop ruined because of one game.... let that sink in. My point is that you do need a decent rig to run this game if you want the graphics set above medium settings and turn off the lighting illumination if you're worried about the lighting hurting your screen/monitor. I understand that the devs tried to improve on the graphics and lighting system but I feel like they went a little overboard and still fell short with the graphics. There are definitely sim games out there that have much better graphics but I digress. 4. Mod Testing - Giants have seriously dropped the bar when it comes to mod testing and accepting those mods onto the in-game modhub. From what I have tested and used as far as mods go, there's a lot of broken/half-assed mods that are publicly available for players to download and use in their save games and it's embarrassing at this point. I do not know how the entire mod testing process works at Giants Software but they really need to step up their expectations. There are some really talented modders in the community who have put out very incredible, free mods for players to enjoy but there are some mods/modders that should not even be allowed on the in-game modhub. 5. Half-Assed Tutorials This is a major problem if you are new to the Farming Simulator games. While there is a "Help" menu in the game that does give some info on how everything works, it still is not self-explanatory enough for new players. When you load into a brand new save game for your very first time as new player, regardless of which map you choose to start on, the game places you in your starting farm yard if you chose a starting farm and the game just leaves you sitting their with no sense of direction on how to get started. Giants did add a few new NPCs into the game for players to interact with answering any possible questions a new player might have but this is not good enough. This has always been an issue for new players since Farming Simulator was ever a thing and it's obvious that the devs are not taking notes from other games that have wonderful and very helpful tutorials. 6. Helpers/Workers This is a whole different rabbit hole to venture down. Workers, also known as helpers in the game are next to useless in FS. Yes, they can help with some major tasks like harvesting crops, transporting goods from point A to B, mowing, fertilizing fields, spraying for weeds in fields, etc. However, there are a lot of jobs in the game that a helper cannot do being feeding farm animals, cutting down trees, keeping greenhouses watered, moving pallets out of a pallet spawn so more pallets can spawn, repairing machinery, etc. My point is, what good is an NPC worker in a game if they cannot do every single task that a real human player can do? Not to mention the helpers are dumb as nuts.... ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU SEND THEM TO DRIVE EQUIPMENT DOWN THE ROAD! They drive like they're higher than Cloud 9, running over road signs, cannot maintain a straight line, crashing into moving traffic, trees, buildings, etc. 90% of the time. It's a joke at this point, especially if you're playing single player all the time like I do. 7. The Call of Duty Mentality - Now this is not a personal gameplay issue but it's worth mentioning that Giants Software have a horrible habit of releasing a new game every 2-3 years and it makes no sense. Yes, they are a business at the end of the day and the whole goal is to make money, I get that but, why can't we make an FS game last a minimum for 5 years and release new DLC content every year, that way this gives the devs more time to patch the game, iron out the bugs and make the game a staple in FS gaming community. It's not like the FS community is gonna go anywhere else for a good farm game because there is no other serious competition against Giants Software. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm at the point where I don't wanna drop a chunk of cash on another FS game every 2 years. The same FS formula for the next game is not gonna change compared to the last one, so what's the point?! I hope this helps!