Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (PS4) – Review

Story of Seasons might not sound like the most recognizable title to you, but what would you say if we called it Harvest Moon? The latter is a franchise with over a dozen games in its line-up that have been around since the nineties. This series rebranded not too long ago, and with that rebrand came a name change to differentiate the new games from the Harvest Moon series that is now being made by a different developer. Two other games have already been released under the new name, but today we’re looking at Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town specifically. This is a remake of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, upgraded and with additional content.

Story

The game starts with a short cutscene. Like in many farming simulators, the plot kicks off when your character – who has been living in the city all their life – inherits the farm owned by their grandfather. The reason that the farm ends up with you is that you spent one joyful summer there as a kid and grandpa didn’t have anybody else to give the farm to. Thankfully, your character is quite happy to take it. They move to a small, serene town called Mineral Town and start transforming the old, derelict business of their grandfather into a thriving, money-making farm again. And who knows, you might find love along the way.

Graphics

Friends of Mineral Town has been upgraded completely and the graphics are where you’ll notice that the most. The game is rendered in full 3D now, giving it a modern feel. People who enjoyed the classic Harvest Moon games might need a minute to get used to it, but once you do, the game has truly gorgeous colorful visuals. Watching the town visually change with the seasons is one of the highlights. We did also love that the character profiles were kept in that beautiful 2D hand-drawn style we’re used to.

Sound

The game has a very large soundtrack, as the music tends to change with the seasons and time of day. This means you’ll be listening to many different tracks throughout the game, making it so they don’t get stale quickly. The game does tend to randomly stop the music – especially if you go through transition screens to different parts of town. Luckily, this fixes itself pretty quickly. There is no voice acting, but you can expect various cute sound effects.

Gameplay

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a farming simulator with a very classic feel to it. Everything you can expect to find in a farming sim you will find in this game. First, you create your character, choosing your look, gender and name. Starting out, you only have a small house, a big field full of weeds, and empty animal pens. You get some gold and the advice that you can forage in nearby forests, and off you go. After buying some seeds you can get started, farming vegetables and then selling them for profit. In between chores you can walk around the town and meet the many residents, fish, or go down in the mine for stone and precious ores.

The game gives you a stamina meter that dictates how much you can work. Every time you use a tool, it goes down a little. You can refill it by eating, sleeping, or visiting the hot springs, and going to bed late or running out of stamina will give you a penalty. So in a way, Friends of Mineral Town is a time management game too. The seasons dictate the weather, what you can plant, as well as the schedules of the stores and people around town. The game is very good at noting all information down in a handy notebook you can consult at any time, plus there is a map that will make traveling around town much easier.

One difference between this game and other farming sims is you don’t need to build new buildings on your farm. From the very start, you will notice you have both a barn for larger animals such as cows and sheep, and a smaller coop for chickens or bunnies. You can upgrade these to house more animals, as well as upgrade your house to make it bigger and make it fit more furniture. Tools also will need to be upgraded. Another feature of the game is building friendships with the residents of the town. This can be done by talking to them daily and giving gifts, though everybody has different tastes and might not appreciate the same presents. Certain characters are even available for marriage if you woo them.

The game has plenty of other small features to enjoy, ranging from the seasonal festivals held in the valley that are fun to partake in, to giving you the option to cook once you upgrade your house with a kitchen. You can even have kids after you marry. That won’t happen until a few in-game years have passed though, so the amount of content in Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town should not be underestimated.

Conclusion

Anybody familiar with the Harvest Moon series will not be surprised, but Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a real gem of a game. If you enjoy farming sims, this is an in-depth and fun experience that can keep you occupied for months, plus it’s a perfect starting point for newcomers to get into the series. We will surely keep on visiting Mineral Town for many weeks (or even months) to come.

Jessica

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Games are my escape and writing is my passion.

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