Team17 has revealed that its RPG/crafting sim My Time at Portia is building up to a 16th April release on Nintendo Switch. Being the lucky so-and-sos that we are, we were recently invited to the studio's headquarters in sunny Wakefield, UK to spend some quality time with the game, giving us the chance to see what all the fuss is about for ourselves.
If you haven't heard of this one before, or if you need a quick refresher, let us quickly fill you in on what it's all about. Things kick off in the enchanting town of Portia, where you're ready to start a new life and restore your Pa's neglected workshop to its former glory. With just a workbench and a workshop handbook in your arsenal, your job is to gather, mine, and craft your way to making the workshop the best in all of Portia, farming, cooking, fishing, and even finding romance along the way.
The game's inspired by the likes of Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon and Dark Cloud 2, and we couldn't help but be reminded of Stardew Valley throughout our entire hour and a half play session, too. If you've played any of these before, you're going to immediately feel at home in Portia; everything from your item inventory, your home and its upgrades, the community board full of side quests, and the quirky villagers roaming around town make this feel exactly how fans of the genre would expect.
Within the opening hour, we'd managed to learn the ropes of crafting, met some of the villagers, took on our first side quest, accidentally angered a stray cat by feeding it a berry it didn't like, and came across a joyous pack of wild llamas that seem to just bounce around outside your home. The game's inner workings are clearly very tight and sophisticated, but the pure playfulness presented on the outside is fun, charming, and not afraid to be a little bit silly.
To provide us with a sense of what to expect later in the game, Team17 soon plonked us into someone's save file which boasted a 255-hour playtime (incidentally, we were told to expect around 60-100 hours worth of content from just the main story and a selection of side quests). The changes were pretty breathtaking; gone was the bare little village from the game's opening, and in its place was a huge, sprawling map full of new areas, a desert, other islands, a museum, new villagers, and so much more. Just like the most addictive games of its genre, My Time at Portia feels like one of those games you'll be sinking all of your time into.
Of course, the game is already available on Steam as we speak, so some of you may well be more interested in how it performs on Switch if you're thinking of buying for a second time. We experienced a handful of lengthy loading screens and the occasional frame stutter, but the presentation is otherwise as lovely as you'd hope for. You can likely tell from the images on this page that Portia benefits from a colourful, cartoony vibe, with everything from your fully customisable protagonist to the biggest, baddest dungeon bosses bursting with a cute layer of character.
All in all, then, My Time at Portia is definitely one to keep an eye on. If you're not a fan of this type of game, we doubt the final product will change your mind (everything on offer seems to have been executed very well indeed, but we wouldn't call what we've seen revolutionary), but this could well be a brilliant addition to the gaming libraries of those that are. Our short amount of time hinted at a deeper plot, full of post-apocalyptic undertones and mysterious, hidden relics from the past, and we're looking forward to investigating further and making the town as perfect as can be.
My Time at Portia launches on Nintendo Switch on 16th April, with pre-orders (which include a Housewarming Gift Set) available from today. Are you looking forward to playing it later this year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Comments 76
Looks very childish. Might be great....for a child.
Edit: So far 8 users were offended by this comment. If we reach 20 I will submit a new personal point of view for free!
Looks like a fun game, for sure! Also, I didn't realise until watching that trailer that llamas are the only thing missing from Breath of the Wild : )
Sound great! Looking forward to it
I have been craving another relaxing simulation game since I completed Stardew Valley, this one is pretty much a must get for me.
Clearly inspired by Rune Factory too.
Day 1 for sure!
Somehow missed this. I'll keep an eye on critic and gamer impressions. If it's good, it'll definitely fill a gap until AC Switch
Don't waste your money on this game. It is a buggy mess. It should not have left early access. It wasn't ready, and I doubt it will even run well on Switch, as it lagged on my laptop with an 8th gen i5 and a GTX 1050 at 720p.
@Bermanator Just to provide an opposing view for those on the fence with this game - the game ran great on my laptop (Medium setting, I think?) which also has a GTX 1050. I was running at 1080p.
That said, I'm not really a big fan of the game. Something didn't click for me. As someone that absolutely loves Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons/Stardew Valley, I thought this would be right up my alley, and I really like it graphically. Unfortunately, the gameplay just never really clicked for me, so I quit after about 10 hours or so.
EDIT: I have a Dell XPS 15 9570. The GPU is a GTX 1050ti, not the standard 1050.
Anything to help scratch that Fantasy Life itch I've wanted for my Switch is good and this is looking to do so for me. And just a few days before my birthday too!
@Aneira Never judge a book by its cover.
@roadrunner343 I enjoyed it until I realized some of the design choices.
@everyone Just wait for Animal Crossing.
@Aneira Or it is just a good game.
@Aneira It actually has some adult content... You're able to be gay... For some reason... You can do the 69... Not on screen... Children would not enjoy this, since it may be too much for them.
@Indielink It is actually pretty broken. I stopped playing since I realized how poorly optimized the game is. The 11kHz sword hit sound really bothers me, as it is very out of place. Lots of characters are not voiced, the voices for the protagonist are questionable, the voice quality for different characters is variable. I could go on and on. Just wait for Animal Crossing. Higgins is an A-hole, not in the likeable way. That kind of made me want to stop, because he makes me mad.
How lenghty are these load times? I'm curious but not convinced on this one.
I'm looking forward to this one
If this game have mode for all the seasons such winter, spring, summer, and fall, then its awesome!
This looks superb... but I don't want to get too excited as I had this same feeling about Little Dragon's Cafe... and that was terrible. So, happy thoughts
Zelda ~ Breath of Retirement (from being a knight)
This is bringing flashbacks of Little Dragon's Cafe, can't tell if they're good or bad.
Looks much better than "Harvest Moon" by Natsume or Bokujou Monogatari by Marvelous. 😀
My Time at Portia, Re:Legend , Summer in Mara and Farm Folks are on my radar now.
@Aneira
It's childish but looks good for me.
@benj2687
Forget Marvelous.
They can't deliver great games anymore during harvest Moon 3DS era.
Other indies i knew can deliver more promising contents for Harvest Moon clones.
@Aneira What a ridiculous comment.
@Der The developers of LDC should be ashamed of themselves for the Switch port. I loved playing the game, but the performance was a joke!
@Bermanator
"It actually has some adult content."
It rated PEGI 7
I'm sure the game is still Safe for kids.
Awesome graphics
@Bermanator I respect your opinion but there are also many other people who have expressed that it is a very good game. A lack of voice acting is also not a huge deal for me.
I wish I had the time to play this kind of game. I love them, but I avoid them like the devil. Can't even imagine the damage it would deal to my backlog
Still, I bet it is just lovely. Maybe someday
I can’t wait to play this. I’ve held off on the Steam version because I knew it was coming to switch. I just hope it runs well.
I’ve watched a couple of videos of this on PC, looks pretty fun. Will definitely be picking this up, I’ve basically rinsed Stardew Valley of stuff to do now so something similar is right up my alley.
I’m stoked but I shall wait on performance reviews. So glad more games are recognizing that hetero is not the only option. That is the only issue I have with bokumono.
@Aneira Have you played any Stardew, Harvest Moon? The graphics for Portia look standard, better than average (3d as opposed to sprite). What type of graphics were you expecting!?!
Is it pronounced Por-sha or Portee-ah?
@abbyhitter Some characters pronounce it Porteeah. Most pronounce it porscha.
@Aneira Minecraft looks like it designed for a child but has a huge following of all ages. Mario is also aimed at children but i know just as many adults that play it as kids. If it plays as well and its addictive the style wont matter. What about Stardew Valley? Looks like an old 16bit pixel art style an that game exploded into gamers hearts.
@Anti-Matter E10+ It's minorly inappropriate. N+ had blood and that was E10+.
@christ15 It does. But it isnt' realtime.
I've been waiting for this since I've watched a few people streaming it to Twitch. Already pre-purchased!
i'll wait for rune factory 5 instead
Looking forward to this game as well. Probably will get the digital version.
Not a big fan of the art style, very child-like and cartoony. But if it is in the vein of Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing... It is something to keep an eye on. Though I am waiting to hear about Animal Crossing first and I might just rather wait for AC.
Did anyone else hear the song "if your happy and you know it clap your hands" in this trailer?
@Aneira Yeah, I think adults should probably stick to games with adult themes, such as dragons, the zombie apocalypse or giant mechs shooting at each other.
@Medic_alert OBJECTION!
If anyone likes Rune Factory, they will be right at home with this game, while we wait for the release of RF 4-5.
@Bermanator hmm not real time, it's fine for me, this game will be my first sims on switch.
My Girlfriend has been trying to talk me into playing portia for months now. Seems I will finally have the chance to actually try it (I could try it on my pc but, even though it would run portia better than the switch, I won't since I greatly prefer switch's portability and controller over a pc).
This was already my timesink on PC. Don't think I will doubledip on this one. It's a fun game, near the end it gets a bit grindy and boring. There is much work to be done on the appeal of the NPCs imo, especially since it does have a social system where you can date them. And since the voiceacting is not even half finished I'm really surprised it's going to release for console. Also, I hope they optimized it better for the Switch.
@AndreaF96 How did your girlfriend like the game?
This has been on my radar for a while, happy to know it finally has a release date! I have managed to go through most of my Switch backlog in the last few months (I finally managed to play through Octopath Traveler, and now I can’t believe I put it off for so long!), so it will be nice to have this to sink my teeth into until Fire Emblem comes out.
@Dpullam Well she likes a lot RPGs, the sims and farming games and portia is a great mix of those genres, according to her. Moreover I think she kinda likes the art style of the game.
@Aneira
Mortal Kombat XI is coming out in April to satisfy the dead inner child's corpse in you
@AndreaF96 Awesome! Thanks for letting me know!
@ricklongo
Don't forget office sims! Why work for money, when you can work for free in your spare time on a hand held console?
@earthinheritor
I'm about to give Stardew Valley a go. I think that's more my cup of tea, although I have no near enough time in the week for these type of games. Who knows... I might get run down in the street and have plenty of time afterwards.
@Quinnsdaddy11
Thanks, but I find beat'em ups boring. I once thought I was the greatest at Street Fighter 2. I was back in the 90's... at least at my local grill. Competing online I got my ass handed to me, so I have permanently raised the white flag on this genre.
@Dpullam you're welcome.
@Aneira
Mortal Kombat is not a beat em up, it's a Fighting game. Streets of Rage or the now gone perfect game Scott Pilgrim are two examples of Beat em ups.
Also why Stardew Valley but not this game? They are cut from the same cloth
It looks good, but I don't see how I need it when a world exists with Stardew Valley in it. I may try it when it's on sale though
@benj2687 I'm playing dragon's cafe and actually enjoying it, the "jumping" part is the only thing that annoys me, I'm 3 hours in.
And I've pre ordered this one too, seems cool to play after finishing little dragons cafe
@Bermanator Is being able to get married to an opposite sex character something you'd consider "adult content?"
If not, then why is being able to get married to a same sex character "adult content?"
@Linoshi Is it also true that none of the console ports have any voice acting? How disappointing.
@Anti-Matter Right? This game is perfectly safe for kids.
The fact that you can marry characters of the same sex and - gasp - even sleep in the same bed as them apparently makes some people think that it's inappropriate for children. Apparently, children can't handle the existence of gay people. =eyerolls=
@Bobb Probably smart . I picked up Stardew Valley after completing Persona 5 because I wanted a lighthearted game that wasn't a massive time sink... 600 hours of Stardew Valley later... eep.
@BenVenn I love Stardew Valley and prefer it to Portia, but this game has a lot going for it, too, and is different enough that they're both fun on their own merits.
@vorpal
(After checking the video from Youtube about same gender relationship)
Whaaa..?! 😮😮😮
@Anti-Matter I'm not sure what you mean by "Whaaa...?!"
@vorpal Kids will want to become gay, even though they would be straight. Most gays are mentally ill, which leads to that sexual preference. Also, about the adult themes thing, there is a nurse with HUGE jugs. Kids shouldn't be seeing that. All in all, just wait for Animal Crossing, Portia is a buggy mess that should not have left early access.
@Bermanator What are you going on about? I didn't realize how incredibly fragile heterosexuality is if a mere video game where completely non-sexual depictions of gay people are so utterly enticing that it can completely alter a kid's sexual orientation.
So, in converse, I guess heterosexuality, by your logic, is also incredibly unappealing, given how many of us older gay people had to play games where we were straight people as kids and yet grew up gay all the same.
Take a minute and think: do you seriously believe that being exposed to gay people will make kids gay? Seriously? SMH.
Being gay is not an "adult theme" any more than being straight is. If there was sexually explicit material in the game, then that would be an adult theme. MTAP doesn't have any sexually explicit material.
Then again, you also seem to think that a woman with large breasts is an adult theme. I mean, it would be if she popped them out and made it sexual, but there are women with large breasts all over the world, and them walking around in public is not inappropriate for children. (Honestly, I can't think of any less adult themed than breasts, since they're pretty much the first thing children interact with on a many times a day basis.)
Not trying to be insulting, but as a gay person, I'm tired of being told that my mere existence is inappropriate to children or that my ability to love is a political statement. (You didn't imply the latter.)
That's cool if you think Portia is a buggy mess, and in that regard, you have a valid point. I played it on an old Win 10 laptop I bought second hand, and yeah, it was a bit buggy. A patch was released a month or so ago, though, that fixed a lot of things and made it a lot more playable and I never experienced a crash since, where before, I'd get a lot of them.
@Bermanator Sorry for the bombardment, but I just wanted to say that I find games like this and Stardew refreshing. It gets very old as a gay person to play games where relationships are an important aspect of the game, but you're only allowed to have heterosexual ones. Then I either have to:
1. Play as a guy (which I am) and be relegated to having a relationship with a woman (which has no appeal and feels completely unnatural to me) or not having relationships at all, which means missing out on a substantial part of the game.
2. Play as a girl (which I'm not) so I can have a relationship with a guy character, which is pretty unappealing too, but usually better than (1) IMO.
I'm really glad games like Portia and Stardew exist. Straight people who don't want gay relationships in their games don't have to open that door up, but for us gay people, we can, and its nice to have games to play that are fun, non-sexual, and allow you to feel like yourself.
@vorpal Just ignore me. I am straight, nuff said.
@Bermanator Even if we disagree, thanks for sharing your perspective and opinions. I hope I didn't come off as too RAH with my post, and genuinely hope you're having a great weekend!
@vorpal - I admire your calm restraint there! I had to check the clock to make sure we hadn't gone back a few hundred years.
As a straight man I welcome games having the option of same sex relationships, I'd hope it'd help show kids that there is nothing 'wrong' with that or that it's a - and I can't believe I'm quoting this - "mental illness".
@vorpal, just wanted to add to hubby's comment above. I'm a straight woman (see hubby above grin) but I played as and married a woman in Stardew Valley. Hubby's a straight bloke but also played as and married a woman in Skyrim (although I think his penchant for stealing everyone's clothes and leaving them in their underwear had more to do with that than anything else). We're still very enthusiastically married to each other. Having looked a lot at MTaP (and being a backer) I will probably marry a woman in that game as well. And I'll still be enthusiastically married to Mii_duck even after what I hope will be many, many happy hours in Portia.
I am so glad that games like this now allow everyone to choose for themselves and for their own reasons (here's hoping Tomodachi Life 2 will have the option for same-sex relationships, for example. I really want Dumbledore Mii to marry Captain Jack Sparrow Mii...)
@Mii_duck Thanks for your reply, Mii_duck! That means a lot to me. Growing up gay in a time where there was almost no gay representation on media except for mockery was alienating. I'm very protective of LGBT youth and want to do anything I can to make sure that they're psychologically healthy and feel confident, and like their ability to love is the awesome gift that it is instead of something to feel ashamed of. An enormous part of that is due to our straight supporters like you and @DizziParadise, so all my gratitude to you both for caring enough to make the world a better place for vulnerable LGBT youth!
@vorpal, no thanks necessary, honestly. We have kids. It gave me no end of delight to be able to tell my daughter, a few years ago when she was about 5 and same-sex marriage became legal in our country, that if she still wanted to marry her best friend when they were grown up, she could. My best friend is gay (she's a grandmother now) and the pain she went through is very similar to what you say here. Nobody should ever have to go through that. It hurts my heart that anyone has to. So thanks to you, for standing up and putting yourself out there and engaging with and explaining to the clueless - you had (and sadly still have) so much more potentially to lose than we do, so your courage is way greater than ours.
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