The original Eastward is a game that brushes upon world ending threats, grief and existentialism. However, the parts I remember clearest and that have stayed with me the longest were the smaller moments in between all the world ending stakes. Brief reprieves from the larger narrative where you would get to spend time with the numerous off-beat, unique characters the game would have to offer. The colourful cast, accompanied by gorgeous, cartoony pixel art with expressive animation and soothing ost, made Eastward such a cozy experience despite the darker themes the game sometimes reached. So when Octopia, a farming simulator DLC, was announced I was ecstatic. Getting to revisit the world with a more relaxed gameplay loop seemed like a match made in heaven. And for the most part, it is. I didn’t realize just how much I liked the cast of Eastward until I got to revisit some of them in this DLC. Getting to interact with them again and even further—sharing a meal with them, helping them make a home was all so incredibly gratifying. I truly hope more of my favourite games get farming simulator AU DLCs; it honestly serves as such a great epilogue for a story and goodbye to a cast of characters. Moving on to the gameplay, this is actually my first farming simulator so I don’t have much to compare it to. The farming, cooking, building and resource management never gets all that complex or difficult, but its simplicity is what makes it such a great chill game to turn off your brain and relax to, and consequently get addicted to. While no individual mechanic develops much depth, there is a wealth of things you can do on any given day which helps keep you busy. I do wish the game offered more incentive to farm and cook new things beyond completion rate. There are a few side quests here and there that will ask you for certain recipes, but not nearly as many as one would think, and the rewards are usually lack lustre. The DLC definitely loses steam the further you get into it—once you develop a more reliable system, save enough resources, I found myself ending my days faster just waiting for the scripted content to come. Of course, the scripted content is great, I just wish there was more of it. Ultimately though, I know I gotta say goodbye to Eastward and its characters at some point, and Octopia was a pretty great farewell.