Originally released as Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town for Wii U and Gameboy Advanced, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a remake developed and published by Marvelous INC and Natsume INC. Now released for the Nintendo Switch, this delightful Farm simulator will have you asking questions and working out how you would live your life in this beautiful town.

I have always been interested in playing a Harvest Moon game, originally released back on 1997, but I have just never gone through and bought any of the games. I didn’t understand how a game based on farming would appeal to me. I am not a physical labour kind of person, but for whatever reason these simulation games work for me. I love working the farm yard and waiting for the harvest. I enjoy the character interactions, the selling of goods and the animals you take care of.

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a simple game, started off with picking your gender, choosing a name, and finally your birthday. There are a few physical changes can be made, such as the colour of skin and hair type. As far as the story goes, you have just been named the beneficiary of your grandfather’s farm. In a flashback, you realise you’ve been there once before, made some great friends and had an awesome time. Once our little cutscene is complete, you can name your farm and get started on making it your own. You have a selection of tools to use throughout the farm, all of which can be upgraded after they have been levelled up. To upgrade, players will just need to gather minerals and ore from nearby caves for raw before heading into town to see the local smithy, handing over precious materials and a fist full of coins.

Players will need to keep the character healthy and happy, keeping a keen eye on your stamina and fatigue as the days go on. A healthy and happy character has a bright happy face and is full of energy represented by heart shaped fruit. If your character runs out of energy, he/she will stumble and the faces will change to different stages of unhappiness.

Push your character too far and you could end up fainting, coming to in the clinic. Food, sleep and the hot springs can all help perk up your character, so make sure you give them some much needed rest. If you’re not resting, you can break up rocks, cut tree stumps into timber and use your hoe to dig into the ground, possibly finding money and other great things.

Time moves quickly in Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, and is one of the reasons I stopped playing games like Animal Crossing, a similar game in terms of design. I found there was only so much I could do in day, resulting in swapping out the game to play something else. I didn’t have that issue with Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, and while sometimes I wasn’t able to complete all my chores, I still found the game kept me interested.

Part of the game play of Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, is finding love in the small town. You have a selection of available bachelors and bachelorettes that you may try and woo, with a new feature to the series that is apparently only to the English version. Players now have the option of having a same sex couple, essentially acknowledging the LGBTQ community and is something that I think is a great step forward.

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town has a lovely design, beautifully rendered in a 3D cartoon style, while all the landscapes change during the seasons. During the winter for example, snow will fall, influencing what crops you can plant and how well they will produce. As the seasons change, clouds are silhouetted, casting shadows across your farm cloud as they slide across the screen.

Even the music is themed depending on the seasons, and while the overall music shares a similar tune, slightly different beats and tempos will let you know its summer by offering exotic and beachy themes. You’ll also notice that the music is different in the town verses your farm, with the farm holding a more country-esque twang and the town offering something a little more adventurous.

I loved this game. I had to name my chickens, my cows and my horse. While I’m yet to get my alpaca, rabbit and sheep, these will all haves names as well and I am growing attached to them. I have a couple of guys I’m flirting with keeping my romance options open, but the local Doctor is charming. Plus, he’s a Doctor. On the farm, I have Nature Sprites helping me with my chores on a daily bases, little elf like creatures that will help you out once you’ve befriended them, taking part in small minigames as time goes on.

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town doesn’t have a storyline as such. There are no quests to go on, reasons to run around and the map itself is very small. While I might prefer Rune Factory 4, also by Marvelous INC, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is still pretty great.

Written by: Jordy Lowe