Earlier than there have been Animal Crossings, Harvestellas and Stardew Valleys, there have been Harvest Moons.
The cosy farming sim is considered having its personal golden period in the mean time with extra of them than you may shake a stick at, however there are a few of us older people on the market that would favor it to be known as a renaissance. Farming video games have been round because the mid ‘90s, youngsters. And the most effective ever has acquired an excellent remake for current-gen consoles. Does STORY OF SEASONS: A Great Life do sufficient to face tall in opposition to the trendy resurgence?
As most of those video games begin, you find yourself inheriting the farm by means of a deceased relative. On this case, your father passes away and the farm passes all the way down to you. With steerage out of your previous man’s greatest good friend, Takakura, you might be tasked with restoring the farm to its former glory.
STORY OF SEASONS: A Great Life is about within the idyllic coastal city of Overlook-Me-Not-Valley. Takakura will present you the stables, rooster coops and varied rising patches across the farm, together with the recommendation of discovering somebody to marry as quickly as doable. After that although, you might be just about left to your individual gadgets.
In fact, in the beginning, a farming recreation ought to concentrate on the farming components. A Great Life was good, and possibly even fairly novel when it first launched. Now although, it doesn’t do something to actually differentiate from all of the others on the market. You earn your cash by means of promoting produce from the livestock and crops you produce, to take a position that into extra livestock and seeds. As you progress, Takakura will drip feed you new mechanics resembling a horse or a sentient plant known as Tartan that may enable you create hybrid vegetation.
If in case you have by no means performed a Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons recreation earlier than then don’t panic. Simply remember that Tartan isn’t the weirdest factor about it. In A Great Life alone there’s a loopy scientist, an abominable snowman, harvest sprites that you may solely go to if you happen to eat a selected mushroom and way more.
A single day in STORY OF SEASONS: A Great Life takes simply over twenty minutes to finish. When you’ve gotten the farming jobs out of the best way – feeding and nurturing your animals, watering your vegetation and amassing produce – you may head into the city and make your mark.
It’s right here you’ll find the residents of Overlook-Me-Not-Valley and all their varied quirks. A Great Life has been up to date to not solely assist you to create a male/feminine/non-binary character, however there are additional residents added that you may try to woo by presenting them with a present every day.
It’s when speaking with the residents although that A Great Life reveals its age. They only don’t have a lot to say. There are contextual feedback as seasons progress and in addition moments within the village the place you discuss to them, however the lack of variation in talking day-to-day feels very dated in relation to extra fashionable farming sims. Additionally, it’s from an age the place recreation characters would relatively discuss at your avatar relatively than truly ‘converse’. Your character by no means actually responds outdoors of the occasional sure or no response. Don’t get me flawed, you may simply establish the resident’s persona as that comes throughout very effectively, however it’s a very fundamental social mechanic that has come on leaps and bounds within the a long time because the unique launch.
In addition to some additional romance choices, A Great Life has had an overhaul to graphics on this remake. Issues are much more vibrant and crisper, however that cartoonish artwork type isn’t misplaced on this up to date model. Just a few issues that had been tedious within the unique model have additionally been streamlined, however if you happen to performed the unique this remake will really feel very acquainted, warts and all.
That does additionally imply that a number of the irritating game-ending selections are nonetheless current. It’s doable that you may fail in A Great Life within the opening years and when a yr in-game can take round fifteen hours typically, it’s extremely advisable to maintain loads of saves. And maintain your marriage intact, trace trace.
There are a couple of actions to maintain you occupied in your downtime from the farm. Fishing, cooking, and archaeological digs are only a few issues you may absorb, and plenty of assist you to seize a bit of additional cash on the similar time. There are different actions too however the one I discovered only was most likely for the flawed causes. On the fringe of the map is a path that lets you go to different cities. You wont truly go to wherever else, however it helps to progress the time of a day by six hours, which is beneficial when you have exhausted your day by day chores and present giving. It was an ‘exercise’ I discovered myself utilizing increasingly as the sport progressed.
Sadly, there’s a tedious nature to STORY OF SEASONS: A Great Life; one which wouldn’t have been obvious when it first launched, however actually stands out now in amongst the glut of different farming video games on the market. It nonetheless has some implausible concepts, resembling seeing your character and the residents of Overlook-Me-Not-Valley age because the years move, however it takes a bit of bit too lengthy to progress the story at instances. That, coupled with the actual fact there isn’t actually sufficient to do in your down time, signifies that this remake doesn’t have the impression that the unique did.
It’s nice to have one of many traditional farming video games on fashionable consoles once more, however STORY OF SEASONS: A Great Life can’t maintain a candle to lots of the extra fashionable choices.
