There’s a sense of calmness and tranquillity that can only be evoked by farming simulation games. But there are times when they can’t give you anything more. So, you end up searching for the next hit of farming serotonin somewhere else.
Just as I was trying to get back into Animal Crossing: New Horizons to feel the comfort of a cosy game, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life landed in my lap. While it does have some teething issues, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is a wonderful farming life sim.
You’ve inherited your father’s farm in Forgotten Valley. Takakura, your father’s friend, helps you by supplying you with a cow and some tools. From here, your job is simple. Raise your farm animals and grow your crops.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life
The goal; to build a farm that is not only profitable but lets you live a peaceful life in a small, carefree community. When you’re not watering crops or snuggling with your animals, you’ll spend your time fishing, digging up ancient treasures or getting to know the other inhabitants of Forgotten Valley.
While the game’s premise and systems are simple, this remake of the Harvest Moon title manages to stay true to its origins while adding some much-needed upgrades in content, graphics and playability. There aren’t a lot of customisation options when you first make your character. There’s no option to choose your gender, for example. However, on the naming screen, I found the option to choose my pronouns. Players can choose between they/them, she/her and he/him pronouns.
By doing this, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life developer, Marvelous, has instantly made their game more inclusive and more comfortable for all players. While this is a small addition, ensuring that players feel welcome within the first five minutes of the game is something people won’t forget.
After making my character, I was immediately frustrated by the controls. Playing on PC (my preferred platform for all games), I found the key binds and inputs for the keyboard and mouse were awkward and clunky. After trying (and failing) to get used to the jerky camera movements, I plugged in an old Xbox controller and was finally able to get cosy.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is definitely a controller game. It feels more natural for both camera movement and player character control. As I continued playing, I found myself wishing I was playing on Nintendo Switch. Not that there’s anything wrong with the PC version. I simply had the constant feeling of wanting to sit on the couch with the Switch in handheld mode to play.
The elements of the game itself are fine. It’s a classic cosy farming sim with a variety of activities to aid in feeling like you’re not living in a capitalist hellscape. You even get to have a child with almost any character (regardless of gender) and watch your child grow up to hopefully one day take over the farm. There are, however, a few aspects of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life that are mediocre at best and frustrating at worst.
The graphics are just okay. A definite improvement from the original. The systems on which the game is built are great… most of the time. For example, digging up treasures can be fiddly. You can go to the dig site to find rare treasures and items of archaeological significance, but if you try to dig where Professor Carter or his assistant Flora are standing, you’ll be unable to select the square they’re inspecting or standing on. The biggest frustration here is that the dig site is only open until 5 pm, so precious seconds can be wasted trying to work around them.
Another problem I have is with crops. While most of them are easy to grow, the amount of time and money I wasted on root vegetables because they withered away without me realising because of a lack of visual cues is annoying. Having to go and check on them every 10 hours (not even just every morning), was the most stressful part of daily life in Forgotten Valley.
Really though, these are minor issues that don’t matter when I spent all day at work thinking about playing this game. I would go to bed at night and think, “Oh, just one more in-game day couldn’t hurt”.
The only way to describe Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is charming and addictive. It’s not trying to be anything but a remake of one of the most beloved farming life sims of all time. From the characters (new and old) living their lives out in the tranquil Forgotten Valley, to the ten days of each season spent looking after crops, animals, and eventually your own family, the game has heart.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is worth a play if you’re a fan of the previous Harvest Moon or Story of Seasons titles, a fan of wholesome life sims, or just need a moment to relax.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life was reviewed on PC using a digital code provided by Marvelous Europe
