My Time at Portia Review

"A Charming Time"

Campaign

April 20, 2019 at 9:08pm

This is a rather lovely and charming experience, where you farm or venture around seeking out the mysteries of the land. It’s set after a post-apocalyptic event where certain treasures were lost and the past was forgotten. You’ll come across these ancient technologies as you continue to explore the world. It’s an interesting title as you’re not really set on a mission. You have certain big goals, but you’re free to work towards most of them at your own pace.

Near the start you’ll be asked to build a bridge; a simple task, yet one that’s rather complex in nature. There are many machines, steps and supplies required prior to being able to complete this bridge. It’s a good primary example of what the general narrative structure is like. You can also just explore, complete side orders from the people or pursue romantic opportunities. It’s an area of freedom, and it feels like a 3D Harvest Moon. It perhaps even goes past that as you’ll grow crops, head to a mine for dynamic land destruction to gather supplies or just build things.

It’s up to you, and can just relax while doing so. Elements of combat are present as well, it has a little bit of everything here. The world you explore is rather large, it’s filled with activities and the game itself has a full calendar. There are certain festivals, special events and so many things to do while playing. You’ll never be sure what might come up in a year of living your life in this land.

Gameplay

My Time at Portia looks fantastic on Xbox One X and runs quite well. It brings an excellent draw distance without the annoyance of grass pop-in. I was impressed by the visuals and scale of the game. It’s colorful, bright and that just helps carry the mood. There’s a full day and night cycle present in this one. It’s a relaxing experience and one that I could spend hours in just doing various tasks.

I spent quite a fair bit of time mining, the destruction type setup for that area is really interesting. You can dynamically break any of it, then send out a reset for new areas in order to find additional treasures. You’re also able to cut down trees, fish or build many different types of items. You’ll need to upgrade certain tools to access better materials and there’s a skill tree thrown in here too. That’s right, you’ll level up and gain experience for any activity you choose to perform. It really has a little bit of everything, and it’s just impressive to take in.
My Time at Portia Review Xbox Wallpaper Screenshot

The Conclusion

My Time at Portia is a lovely experience and one that packs countless hours of gameplay in a casual setting. It really takes that Harvest Moon style and does more with it. It runs very well on the console and I had a blast jumping into it again. There’s so much to do and you have to watch yourself, otherwise you’ll spend far too much time adventuring.

The game is packed with content, loose missions that promote exploration and many dynamics to gameplay. There’s something for everyone in this, whether you want to farm or build and even mine. You’ll be surprised by how many activities are present, and the extra ones you’ll find while mingling with the regular people. Grant some gifts and you may find yourself with some romance going on as well.

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My Time at Portia Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Team17

Rating Overall: 8.5

Gamerheadquarters Reviewer Jason Stettner