Story of Seasons is back with a classic after revitalizing a great farming and life story simulator .
After 20 year since the original release , Harvest Moon , now calledStory of Seasons , is back in action . Anyone who is a fan of the hit gameStardew Valleywould surely love one of the games that extremely inspire it . This conversant husbandry gemStory of season : A fantastic Lifeoriginally bring out on GameCube and PlayStation 2 in 2003 , making this a long - awaited remake and review . TheStory of Seasonsfranchise had a few rocky titles in the modernistic day , but there ’s no doubt that the charm from two X ago is still present within this remaking .
Like most in the series , you get a new liveliness at your grandfather ’s old farm . In the country townspeople of Forgotten Valley , you get to customise your sodbuster , take the animal you take aid of , and get legion unlike crops . Not only that , but there are multiple dissimilar citizen of the Valley , some who are individual and ready to mingle . The main purpose and end of thisStory of Seasonsgame is to find someone to espouse by the end of your first yr , and grow a family with them . This secret plan bring back the magical spell from the original , and it still suffice as a great game in 2023 .
A return to form
As someone who lovesStardew Valley , and having only toy aStory of Seasonsgame on the Nintendo DS as a Thomas Kyd — despite me own a GameCube and PlayStation 2 — retrospect this game was a treat . Sadly , I wo n’t be able to equate it too much to the original , but what I can say from doing my inquiry is how much Marvelous Inc. did a great line . groovy as in being able to not only reduplicate what the agriculture simulator normal was , but to keep it in a modern luminousness .
While the master had a duller color palette , the remake has saturated Forgotten Valley and brought life into the game again . If they were to advertise this as a newStory of Seasonstitle , it would still maintain up . The gameplay grommet is satisfying , and there are perpetually fresh thing to do as the season and years go by . You do n’t even get to most of the good hooey until you hit the 2d year , which makes this a biz you ’ll be play for twenty-four hours on end .
The musical theme of being capable to raise a family and watch out your child grow is something that ’ll make players stick with the game for for a while . Despite some of the early gameplay becoming a little monotone , which I ’ll excuse further into the review , the best stuff comes later . If any participant was disappoint by any of the newerStory of Seasonstitles and wanted something sweet but conversant , I extremely commend picking this one up . Although it sits at the same price point as a new secret plan , it really does feel up to day of the month .
Screenshot by PC Invasion
The day-to-day life on a farm
Once you get into the swing of things , you ’ll feel your own agriculture subroutine that works for you . Most players will find that they do alike stuff . waken up , eat your creature , amass brute products like Milk and Eggs , water your crop , and then let the animate being outside . Once you ’ve done your morning routine , there are a few things around the Valley to do . you could go fishing , accumulate resources like flowers and mushrooms , or help out at the dig internet site .
Most of the stuff you ’ll be doing throughout the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. will facilitate contribute to your lucre . For instance , I ordinarily end up spending many in - game hr at the dig site trying to incur valuable to sell to Van twice a time of year . Each season hold out 10 days , and of course , there are four seasons in a year . you could also drop your day trying to give gifts to theromance optionsin hopes that they ’ll want to conjoin you . By the remainder of the solar day , I contribute my animate being in , maybe cook a repast or two , and then manoeuvre to bed . The cycle repeats , with sure events bulge up and making some days feel new .
Eventually , you ’ll unlock thing like your own entrepot , or new facilities to make respectable products to betray . you’re able to even come out growing intercrossed crops , and each of these will slowly earn you more money . I still have n’t felt compelled to put the game down yet , but there are time when I palpate like it is n’t provoke me enough . For deterrent example , digging at the dig situation is a peachy way to make money , but it ’s extremely tedious . I sometimes have to pull my earpiece out to double over task because digging just in one smudge takes a real - life min .
Screenshot by PC Invasion
When it feels aged
To continue on what I was saying , certain thing about the secret plan do remind me that it ’s a 20 - year - honest-to-god game . Both the dig and fishing are n’t really challenging , all you do is press one push button and you action the matter . But for the dig site specially , you have to keep pressing that button over and over until you get treasure . If Marvelous Inc. were to switch thing up a bit , I would ’ve rather had a tiny minigame for sportfishing or digging that would keep me engaged enough to enjoy the activity .
The feeling of an aged game continues as I occasionally try out to occupy myself with other activities . Once I end my tasks on the farm , and do n’t have any postulation to take care of , I sometimes feel obligated to end the sidereal day early on . There are only two lasting shops in township , one that ’s a café and another that betray seeds . vanguard the travel merchant will add up by on the third and 8th , which are my favorite clock time of the season . It would be keen to have other shop class , such as a furniture shop to decorate your domicile and farm .
you’re able to also travel to the urban center for a few hour , but the screen will fade to melanize and it ’ll just pass the clock time . I understand this is a remake , and never advertised itself to add a ton of new feature , but I sometimes wish for affair that I could do in modern agriculture simulators that I ca n’t do inStory of season : A Wonderful aliveness . A nearly one - to - one remake is what the squad behind the original was going for , so I can at least commend them for that .
Screenshot by PC Invasion
A nice polish
Since 20 age have passed since the original , you would expect a saltation in computer graphic . It decidedly look a lot sportsmanlike than the original , since we ’ve passed a few console table generations since then . That ’s not to say it has faultless graphic or anything . I like the cartoonish vogue , but it will occasionally look prostrate grain overbold . It ’s not something to quetch much about though , I do n’t think it would fair well with high - definition graphics . The dad in people of colour really help oneself , and playing on my PC make it looks prissy , especially when the sun sets and the lighting change .
One affair it added that I take account is quality customization . obviously , the original never had this feature , and I ’m glad that if they added anything , it was this . There are a few fount options , and a net ton of hair style . If this was n’t added , I feel as though it would really make the game finger date stamp . But now you may make your husbandman look similar to you ! Also , they reserve you to choose between he / him , she / her , and they / them pronouns , which is unexpected , but pleasant to see .
The change that Marvelous Inc. add together make the remake worth it , especially for the bachelor and bachelor girl . Not only did they lend more romance candidates , but you may get hitched with anyone , no matter the pronouns you chose ! There seems to be a dear rationality behind every change , making this feel like a well - updated remake .
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Worth your time
Overall , I can say with sure thing that no matter if you ’ve dally the original or not , you should hold in outStory of Seasons : A Wonderful Life . Although I have some gripes about it , the right parts of the game overshadow the high-risk . Anyone concerned in games with farming likeStardew Valley , or biography simulations likeThe Sims , should enjoy this remake . There are plenty of clobber to do as the seasons go by , and the gameplay closed circuit is gratifying .
I hopeStory of Seasonscontinues to follow what it does best , since I can tell this is probably one of the well games in the serial publication . I ’m certainly not done with this game , and have a pile more to discover . Marvelous Inc. did a good job with keep the identity of the original , while adding quality - of - life updates that make it playable 20 years later .
Screenshot by PC Invasion
