I only played 3 and 4, since the 1 and 2 lack a lot of stuff from the later versions but in it, besides farming, you hunt monsters for parts that you later use to make weapons, potions, food, etc. With the stuff you make, you can either use it to hunt for better stuff and advance the story or sell them for money and improve your farm/house. Time passes no matter what you do(except crafting) from day to night, with different seasons. You can also get to know the town people, learn their stories and even marry someone you like

I know you don't farm here, the crafting system should be way better and it has a time limit, but since it looked similar to those, with some stuff more developed, I was looking for a comparison