My Time at Portia (PC) Review

My Time at Portia really throws you right into the thick of things. After a quick tutorial on movement and a basic overview of the crafting system, you're more or less left to fend for yourself. Instead of the typical farm fare one might expect from something that takes so much inspiration from the Harvest Moon series, this is much more interested in its crafting system. Farming is still there, but more often than not, you'll be spelunking in the nearest cavern instead of tending to the crops.

With this focus on mining and building, income is gained less through selling and shipping the goods you cultivate, but instead through taking on commissions at the local guild. Items can still be sold to local vendors in a pinch, but there's definitely less money to be made by taking this route. It does create an interesting dynamic of trying to save items for the right time, instead of just offloading them when it's convenient.

Early on, it may feel like there's a bit of a barrier to breaking into the game. Many commissions require multiple different crafting tools to build, and it may take several days of chopping down trees and digging in the mines before you have the materials needed to build the tools you need, just to craft the items you need for your commissions. It's kind of a vicious cycle until you work out a rhythm, but it's rewarding once the workshop really gets moving.

Even then, the mines can be a source of frustration, and a surprisingly weak area of the whole thing for a place where you'll be spending so much time. The mines are large, empty rooms, with no real defining features or landmarks. There's a scanner used to navigate towards valuable items and discs that can be exchanged for farming materials or new crafting recipes, but digging through the mine gets pretty tedious after the first couple times it's done. It's not an engaging area, especially early on. Later mines do mix it up with some enemies, requiring them to be cleared out or worked around, but it doesn't change the fact that the areas very engaging.

The real selling point of My Time at Portia is the incredible cast of characters. Not only is there a massive amount of characters to meet and interact with, the cast features an incredible amount of excellent voice work. It was honestly surprising to see just how much detail was put into fleshing out these characters and their roles within the world, but also the great work done in casting and voicing them as well. Few in this genre take the time to have fully voiced characters, and it really adds an extra layer of personality and charm to the residents of Portia.