Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a remake of the 2003 Gameboy Advanced game Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town/More Friends of Mineral Town which itself is a remake of the 1999 PlayStation game Harvest Moon Back to Nature/Harvest Moon For Girl.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town allows one to choose between two semi-customizable male or female characters. The choice is given between a simple or normal playthrough. Afterwards, the player then travels to Mineral Town to inherit their grandfather’s farm, which they once visited as a child. Upon arriving at the dilapidated farm, the player is given a set of tools and a horse to start with. The shipping bin makes a return, which allows the player to receive money from goods obtained from the farm or elsewhere in the game.
At the beginning, Mayor Thomas gives the player much needed information on how to set up and run their farm. As the player acquires animals, more details are given on how to care for them. If one ever forgets, there are books within the player’s home and in the library that explain various aspects of the game. These references are enormously helpful, especially to new players.
Two returning features of the game are stamina and fatigue meters. Any time the player waters crops, cares for their animals, or even goes fishing, they lose stamina. If the character loses too much stamina, they will be taken to the clinic. Two ways to increase stamina are to visit the hot spring or sleep.
There are a variety of crops the player can grow, which include potatoes, pineapple, cabbage, and much more. However, there are items you can only plant during a certain season. For example, cabbage can only be planted and harvested in the spring.
As with previous installments, cows, chickens, and sheep are available to purchase and raise. New animals have been added to the mixture, which include angora rabbits and alpacas. At first, the player can only have four total rabbits and chickens along with eight total cows, sheep, and alpacas. More animals can be acquired through upgrades to the chicken coup and barn. In order to upgrade something, the player will need additional resources and money. Mining, fishing, and foraging can provide additional funding.
Of course, no Story of Seasons game would be complete without romance. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town has a bevy of bachelors and bachelorettes to choose from. One new aspect of the game includes same-sex romance and marriage. The relationship the player has with each person is gauged by the amount of colored music notes and hearts one has. Each time the player talks with someone or gives them a gift, more music notes and hearts are filled in. Everyone has gifts they do or do not like, and they will let state their opinion of said gift.
I did have an issue with one thing within the game. I noticed there are times when the player can walk right through my chickens and cows, yet there are times when non-playable characters prevent my character from leaving a certain area. This is inconsistent but does not detract too much from the gameplay.
Overall, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is enjoyable. XSEED Games and Marvelous Games take everything fans love about the series and modernize it. The animation is cutesy and reminiscent of Animal Crossing, which could draw in some players of the Animal Crossing franchise in addition to keeping fans of previous games. As someone who has never played a Story of Seasons game before, I find myself pulled into the story and characters of Mineral Town. I genuinely want my farm to do well and get to know the people of Mineral Town. The only issues with Friends of Mineral Town involve how animals and occasionally people move. On the whole, I would give this game a nine out of ten.
Check Out the Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town Trailer:
STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town will launch July 14, 2020 for Windows PC via Steam and on Nintendo Switch. The physical edition is available for pre-purchase for a suggested retail price of $49.99 at the XSEED Games Store and participating retailers.
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I am a college student studying English at Michigan State University. My first video game was Icewind Dale I for the PC and I’ve been playing games ever since. Whenever I’ve had a particularly difficult day, games such as The Sims help me unwind. Some of my favorite games include the Bioshock, Fallout, Mass Effect, Wolfenstein, and latest Tomb Raider series.
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