The days of Fields of Mistria are still short, but the first major update helps
Fields of MistriaThe only major problem is that the day cycle is very fast: time passes quickly, and before you know it it’s 2 a.m. and you’ve passed out in the mines. The big new update released on November 18th doesn’t change the cycle at all, but it has one new feature that I’ve found quite useful: animal mounts. Once you’ve met certain requirements, you can unlock a purple horse called Mistmare.
After a storm, Hayden will ask for help finding his weather vane, and as you search for it you’ll come across a new statue. That’s where you unlock Mistmare for 100 essence. There are customization options to come later, but Mistmare’s benefits are immediate. She’s a horse, and horses are faster than people. You can ride her anywhere outside, which is extremely useful for getting around Fields of Mistria‘s big map faster. Again, it doesn’t solve the game’s short day problem, but I found myself blacking out a lot ofmuch less if I stay too late in the mines; I just hop on Mistmare and rush back to the comfort of my own bed instead of crawling through Mistria at a walking speed that feels like the pace of a glacier as you race against the clock.
According to the Fields of Mistria wiki, the length of an in-game day is 12 minutes and 30 seconds of real time. It goes by especially quickly if you have many animals to care for; it is very easy to spend half the day going from barn to barn collecting eggs or milk, petting the animals and then feeding them. Add that on top of a relatively slow walking speed and you might find little time to do other chores, like watering and harvesting crops, fighting monsters in the mines, or building relationships with the other Mistrian residents. Mistmare can’t help in many of those areas, aside from shortening the time it takes to get around town, but she’s also useful in harvesting crops: after you unlock Mistmare, you can unlock other abilities by to give essence to the horse statue. Two Hundred Essence increases your horse’s movement speed by 10%, while 190 Essence gives your horse the ability to harvest crops and dig patches by simply running over them. No extra clicks! (Regardless of that, you can use 205 essence to ride any large animal with which you have more than five hearts.)
Overall, Mistmare is a small part of the big update, but one that has been a perfect quality of life improvement that has made the already exceptional early access game even better. In addition to this adjustment, romance is the big addition: you can now earn up to six hearts with single residents, and there is a new, romantic Shooting Star Festival in the summer. I’m in spring, so I have yet to try out the festival, but I’m also romancing March, Celine, and Juniper to invite one of them to come with me to the mountaintop. I haven’t activated any new romance quests yet – I’m stuck at five hearts with all three – but I’ve enjoyed seeing new dialogue as I’ve made my way through the seasons.
Fields of Mistria is still in early access and NPC Studio expects the game to stay there for at least a year. In addition to the major content updates, the studio releases smaller updates that fix bugs and the like.