Nearly two decades ago, the Nintendo fanbase was graced with Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, the first entry in the series for the Game Boy Advance. Offering up a low-key and easily accessible gateway into the farm sim genre, it quickly garnered a following and earned itself the reputation of being one of the better entries in the long-running franchise. Now, Marvelous has seen fit to re-release the game to a new generation (complete with the revised 'Story of Seasons' branding, as Marvelous stopped licensing the Bokujō Monogatari series to Natsume in 2012), redoing various gameplay and presentation features to bring this classic more in line with modern standards. Fortunately, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town proves to be quite compelling, and any fans of the farm sim genre will want to take note.
The story is about as straightforward as possible, to the point that there’s scarcely any ‘plot’ to discuss at all. You simply assume the role of an ambitious young farmer who inherits a large and neglected piece of land, and your story consists solely of your daily toils in the fields and the interactions you have with various townsfolk. Characters are written in a satisfying, if unremarkable, style, as all of them fill various personality gaps in the broader social hierarchy. Brandon, for example, is a stoic ‘misunderstood genius’ with a stodgy personality. Marie, on the other hand, is a mousy intellectual who runs the library while she works on a novel she’s writing.
Again, few of these characters really jump out at you as particularly memorable or engaging, but it’s the small, ‘daily’ interactions with them that prove to make each of them feel so endearing. For example, Zack comes by your farm every day at five o’clock to pick up any materials you put in the shipping bin, and he always casually greets you if you happen to be working in the field when he comes by. The interaction is small and insignificant, but it’s details like that which help to make the villagers feel that much more real. Along that same thought, there are also various emergent events between villagers that seem to trigger at random. For example, there was one moment where we exited the mine to find two villagers sitting by the river, discussing parental issues one of them was dealing with. This had never happened before and hasn’t happened since, but little dialogues like that often pop up when you least expect them, giving a strong sense of the relationships these people have apart from your character.
How you interact with villagers has a light gameplay element to it, too, as you can slowly build up a relationship with each of them which gradually shifts the content of their dialogues with you. Most of the characters are simply there to add more variety to the population of the town, but a select few men and women are potential candidates who you can marry if you grow the relationship enough. If you talk to them once a day and give them a daily gift (such as a piece of fruit), they’ll inevitably fall in love with you and agree to marry you. Same-sex marriage is now fully supported, dropping the odd ‘Best Friends’ label that the initial release went with if you chose to go that route.
Gameplay unfolds in a pleasingly predictable and relaxing style, in which you run your farm to the best of your ability. There’s no such thing as winning or losing here; just the satisfaction of watching your farm slowly grow in complexity and variety as the months and years roll by. Your typical day consists of doing basic chores like watering the crops and milking the cows, interspersed with occasional trips into town for supplies or to greet certain villagers. Underlying all this, however, is a soft sort of resource management system that keeps each day from becoming too dull by applying a gentle sort of pressure to keep you working.
For example, there’s a stamina system that governs your character’s ability to work, and each use of a tool will lower your stamina by a certain amount. Daily activities need to be planned around this, then, as overworking your character can cause them to collapse and pass the day whether you’re ready or not. Then, there’s the clock that you’re always working against. Stores have varying hours, so you need to be somewhat efficient in how you plan out your chores to make sure everything gets done by a reasonable hour. It’s easy to find yourself working late into the evening if you don’t plan properly, and this can then lead to you starting the next day with less stamina because you didn’t get as much sleep.
In this sense, it’s easy to see how mistakes and irregularities can snowball to have much larger effects later on. If you don’t get all those tomatoes harvested and ready to ship by the time Zack comes around, then you’ll have to wait another day before you can see the profits from them, which in turn means you have to wait another day before you can buy more seeds to plant in your fields. In this sense, one would think to describe the gameplay loop as subtly anxiety-inducing, but the key thing that keeps it so relaxing is the fact that there’s no long-term time limit. Even if your playstyle affects your short-term profits, you will inevitably make that money back (and then some) as long as you keep playing. The hook of the gameplay, then, is found in the continuous sense of discovery as you learn how to better optimize your daily routine and spending habits.
Another critical part of keeping the gameplay loop fresh is found in the alternative gameplay options that crop up alongside your farming jobs. There’s a mine close to the farm with a couple of hundred floors to get through, and each floor is packed with ores that you can later use to upgrade tools to make them more effective. Along with this, there’s a selection of mini-games and events you can participate in as the months roll by, each of which has something distinct to offer. For example, an early event sees a series of horse races going on, and you can bet money on horses to receive exclusive rewards. The core gameplay ultimately centres around your farm and the responsibilities you have there, but the extra variety offered by side content like this goes a long way towards keeping you engaged long term.
That all being said, however, bear in mind that Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town certainly is a simpler experience compared to other more modern entries. This isn’t necessarily a mark against the game itself – there’s only so much you can expect out of a remake of a 2003 Game Boy Advance release – but it’s nonetheless something to bear in mind. Compared to the greater depth and gameplay that later entries in this series and genre introduced, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town can sometimes feel a little too straightforward. However, at the same time, it’s sometimes nice to play a title as laser-focused as this on just doing a few things very well; there’s not really any half-baked or extraneous content to speak of.
As for the new content being offered via this remake, there really isn’t much to speak of. The biggest thing is the addition of two new marriage candidates, Jennifer and Brandon, but there are some other fun things tossed in, too, such as the presence of a coffee cow that you can harvest for coffee. The real best new features here are the enhanced quality of life updates that make the moment-to-moment gameplay that much smoother. For example, the original release didn’t have an indicator to highlight where your tools would strike or seeds would plant, and this could lead to situations where you’d, say, inadvertently seed untilled soil and lose those seeds. Even with additions such as these, it goes without saying that the main draw here is simply the opportunity to play an updated version of a GBA classic; those of you who were hoping for a litany of new features and content will be left wanting.
From a presentation standpoint, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town will no doubt prove to be divisive. The charming sprite work and art style of the original has been replaced by a new art style centred around bright, cheerful environments and chibi characters with disproportionately massive heads. Many have harshly referred to these ‘mobile game’ graphics as being weak and uninspired, but the visuals do prove to be quite satisfying in motion. Resolution in both docked and handheld looks nice and crisp, while the framerate holds to an absolute rock-solid 60 FPS throughout. Accompanying this is an upbeat soundtrack chock full of accordions, synthesizers, and steel drums, offering up a nice companion to the visuals.
Conclusion
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town offers up a perfectly satisfying and simple take on the farm sim genre. Heartwarming character interactions, easy to grasp farming mechanics, and a nice variety of side activities prove to make this release a potent and worthwhile entry in this long-running series. Though its roots as a handheld game occasionally resurface and there’s not a ton of new content added for this remake, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town more than stands enough on its own as a quality game that deserves a spot in your Switch library. If you’re looking for something to fill that post-Animal Crossing hole in your life, or are just simply a fan of the farm sim genre in general, don’t miss out on this one.
Comments 67
Just as I was wondering what to replace Animal Crossing with, this review comes along and sell me this.
Yay, a proper old school entry! I’m sick of all the gimmicks to be honest, these ones just delivered a pure experience that was totally compelling. Guess this month is sorted!
It rated PEGI 12.
Simple, because now you can have same gender marriage.
Time to play as Boy character and getting married with some handsome dudes. 😁
The main thing that puts me off this is that I find the art style to be a bit uninspired and bland. It's not necessarily bad but I think it looks worse than the original version which kinda defeats the purpose of a remake.
I don't find the artstyle appealing at all, but the raw nostalgia is strong in this game!
Ah, such sweet late childhood memories, playing Friends of Mineral Town in my GBA while chilling on the hammock at my family's beach house...
Whelp, I might get this for the Switch xD
Yeap definitely getting this soon.
Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon are radically different sorts of games. One really isn't going to properly fill in for the other.
Can't wait to play this! Friends of Mineral Town is definitely on my top 3, and (imo) they haven't really been able to replicate the magic since then... So I'm really happy about this release.
Nice! I'm really interested in giving friends of mineral town a playthrough now. Thanks for the good review!
“Gameplay can be a little simplistic”
Yeah, but simplicity is what makes games easy and special.
I've got a copy coming though I do worry that after Stardew I won't enjoy it as much as I did on GBA. I liked Rune Factory 4 but stopped after a week or so. I think only Graveyard Keeper was the only chore based game I bothered with for more than a month, though that has so much to do it can get frustrating.
Isn’t the gameplay in Animal Crossing a lot simplistic?
I have been waiting on a review as i was watching this past few weeks. never played any of the series before or any harvest moons etc. but i'll pick this up.
@Anti-Matter I had no idea they added same-sex marriage, I’ve been waiting on that for about 15 years!
It just looks so bland and cheap to me, lacking any sort of ambience which would make me want to spend my time there. I know graphics don't make a game, but I'd take some nicely made pixel art over.. this any day.
@nessisonett
Official trailer from Marvelous.
Look at 1:08 and see why did the game rated PEGI 12.
@nessisonett yeah, in Japan it was just you becoming "best friends" [with a church ceremony, because of course]. But the international release made it formally marriage.
Unfortunately they did remove rival marriages for some reason, which is sad.
Can't wait for my copy to arrive! Now do HM64 next and use the Link's Awakening remake style.
@Anti-Matter Wow, it’s pretty silly that it suddenly bumps up the age rating. I looked up the ESRB version and apparently it’s due to ‘suggestive themes’, ‘use of alcohol’ and ‘comic mischief’. Weird.
I was hoping for a Cross Code review on its launch day. (bought it already, but everyone needs to know how great it is)
Maybe I am thinking of another HM game but didn't the original have a way to transfer data between this and one of the Gamecube games?
@Tasuki yes, but it was more of a rewards system. You'd get rewards on the GameCube for progressing on the GBA, and vice versa.
As far as I know, these rewards just unlock naturally in this version (but don't quote on that!)
@Eel Ok yeah I never owned Mineral Town but I remember one of the Gamecube games could link up with one of the GBA games. Didn't know if it was story reasons or what.
I'll stick to animal crossing. AC looks a lot prettier.
@Tasuki well, back then both were released under the Harvest Moon name.
Still looks a bit 3DS-like. I wouldn't buy at RRP but one day maybe.
@Anti-Matter : It's rated 12 due to Gambling. Ratings don't get bumped up for depicting same sex relationships.
Back to Nature/Friends of Mineral Town are in my top for favourite games of all time. So as soon as this was announced i was up for it.
Yes I want this in my collection!
I know people don't like the graphics of the new Harvest Moon games, but this remake looks very much like them.
If anything HM: Light of Hope might look slightly better than this.
If they remake future HM games, they should just use the Magical Melody art style.
@Lugazz it's because it looks like a 3DS game. They really are not pushing hardware limit sometimes.. just as simple as possible and this the result
@Ralizah They're not radically different, but they are relatively different. Animal Crossing doesn't really have any direct analogue in terms of direct gameplay and structure, so many compare it to farming games. You manage a town, you build relationships and a "friendship meter". You plant and grow various things. You build up and decorate a house. Both are somewhat slow paced, non-action games. There are special festivals and events. Gameplay is often open ended and player goal oriented, though not always.
Are they the same? No, definitely not. Are they radically different? No. I think a far comparison would be something like Dragon Quest XI vs Xenoblade. They're very different games, but they're both still big, adventurous RPGs and the audiences that enjoy them probably have a modest amount of overlap, which is the entire point of the comment.
If you're the kind of gamer who likes Animal Crossing, you may well like farming simulators like this also. Of the ten friends I have who own and play Animal Crossing, only one of them hasn't ever played Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, Stardew Valley or something similar. And honestly, she probably would like them also if she gave it a shot.
@Eel No one said anything about the name. He said story reasons, not Story of Seasons.
@ACNHislit Light of Hope is the most hideous, cheaply made, wannabe mobile game I have ever seen. This is INSANELY better in every way, most importantly in gameplay, but also still graphically. The graphics in this are simple, but nice. The graphics in Light of Hope are disgusting and eye straining.
@Deltath oh hah my brain kind of auto corrected that. I though he was confused about which GameCube game it was.
Here's hoping they can remake its companion game, A Wonderful Life, and bring it to the Switch as well, and retain the connectivity between the two games.
I remember playing an emulated version of the original back in middle school, can't wait to come back to it!
If the character models weren't so ugly I would pick this up in a heart beat its the same bad stuff that Magical Melody had also with Stardew Valley mods I can pretty much scratch that HM itch.
This game has never been surpassed in all the Harvest Moons, Stories of Seasons and Rune Factories. Its simplicity is what makes it so great.
I wish they had an option like Dragon Quest XI to play with original graphics. That would be amazing. But still this is an automatic buy for me. I need that strawberry cow.
The graphics aren't as terrible as I thought from earlier previews. And as others have said, as an old-school Harvest Moon fan from the very first game, the simplicity is EXACTLY what I love about the game.
This is available on cartridge, right?
@rallydefault Available on cartridge and it comes with a cow plushie, at least in the US.
@Eel wait what your "rivals" do not get married in this version? I won't get to see the nurse lady marrying the doctor??
@Lugazz nope. It seems they left in the first two events for each pair, but it never goes anywhere beyond that point.
@Eel That's just... Well it doesn't make any sense!
I want all residents to find love! LOL
Meh this really let me down hahahahahha
@Eel =D
@Lugazz 🤷🏻♂️ it's something they've doing for a while now. Word on the internet says it's because some groups of the fandom actually despise the idea of them being able to marry someone else besides them. But I can't confirm if that's the official reason.
It's probably to cut on development costs/time?
The only thing holding me back from this is the price - it is $79.95 in Australia. A bit too much for my liking. I played the original though and loved it. Will hold out for a sale.
This game is single handedly the best game of my childhood that wasn't Pokemon. I would even argue that it outlasted the Pokemon games of the generation. You know why? Because it never became outdated after elementary school. I would it pick it up in middle school, highschool, and even now into adulthood. The game never gets stale. It is a timeless classic that can be enjoyed and the remake is going to reset the clock on this classic for another decade or so. I can see myself constantly going back to it.
In an age when we have Stardew Valley it doesn't matter. The game is a simple timeless classic that will always have it's charm. It doesn't even need that much to be incredible. Near the end of the last days before Harvest Moon became Story of Seasons, the games were still good, but they were getting a bit complicated to keep interest. This continues onward with the addition of the two next games in the series, so I'm glad to see that Story of Seasons 3 is this simple reimagined classic. It's refreshing, and I sincerely hope that the next couple of games go back to that charm that the older games in the series had instead of just relying on an over abundance of complexity.
Ima wait on a sale.
Not gonna pump 50 bucks into this
in a world where stardew excists as a better experience
@Eel iirc, they cut it because of the Japanese fans. They’d either get unhappy breaking up a couple, they’d be unhappy with the pairing, they’d feel pressured to get married really fast... It doesn’t mean they were all like that of course, but the majority seemed to feel a lot differently about it than western fans seem to.
@StardusterEX I've also heard of some fans getting rather toxic about the rivals. Like, actively hating on the character online because they have nerve of [being capable of] "stealing" their love interest.
I don't think it's a huge amount of the fandom that has these issues we both mention, but I guess being closer to Marvelous makes them louder.
It's funny though, because in most games with rival marriages it's actually very hard for them to steal your pick, because they're usually locked until after you marry, or don't happen until several years into the game
Three questions:
1.) Can you still marry the Harvest Goddess?
You could do this in the original GBA game but it required that you also play through the terrible Gamecube game.
2.) Do people still couple up as time passes?
I actually really enjoyed this mechanic.
3.) Related to #2, are there any interesting same-sex pair ups of existing characters?
Edit: 1 and 3 may actually convince me to re-purchase this game.
@KainXavier 1- yes. 2- no. 3- the only potential same sex couple in town is your own.
@StardusterEX @Eel
Funny thing, I would look up on the internet to do the "relationship events" for the other characters on purpose just so they would marry! Damn, I know this can be quite a silly thing but I am sad / mad about it...
What's the point of finding a job for Cliff so he can stay in the town if not for marrying him to Ann?
@Lugazz I’m sure he will be happy living all alone in a hotel room and doing manual labor for a few decades.
@Deltath
So, this remake doesn't look like a mobile game to you?
I think Magical Melody looks better.
@ACNHislit No, it doesn't look like a mobile title at all. Looking like a mobile title isn't just about graphical quality. Look at a video of Light of Hope. The buildings are drawn into the ground like the grass and the buildings are all one image done in flash. All the art assets for the environment are cheap static MS paint images. The animations are clunky and terrible.
Magical Melody does look a lot like Friends of Mineral Town. The style is similar, in particular. But I think Friends looks better and obviously newer. That being said, it also definitely looks like a simpler budget title. It's not a marvel or a breathtaking beauty, but it also costs $39.99 instead of $60 and even then, I probably wouldn't pay more than $25-$30. It's a bare bones remake of a GBA game, not a new entry in the series. Still, it was a great GBA game so I'm mildly interested. But I'm much more excited about the next truly new entry in the series or Rune Factory 5.
@Lugazz Eh, I never liked them much as a pair after seeing them in 64. Ann was kind of abusive in that game- sometimes you’d talk to Cliff and he’d have a black eye from getting hit with something Ann had thrown...
I would have loved to play this game again, but I just don't like the art style. Oh well.
@BenAV That's what I thought about Link's Awakening.
@Crono1973 I thought the Link's Awakening remake looked nice and had a lot of charm to it... except they added that awful blur effect that completely ruined everything.
@Rayn I was thinking much the same, ACNW didn't keep my attention past a few weeks.
@BenAV Yeah, why did they do that blur thing?
@Eel
Thank you for letting me know, and I'm sorry for the late reply! I'm glad we can still romance the Harvest Goddess but it's a shame the NPC relationships were dropped. I would have loved to see more LGBTQ representation or even new pairings of the existing couples. As it stands now, the remake's kind of hard sell for me, especially with the new art style and UI.
I'd give it a 10/10 if I could do more to customize my main character (change hair/eye color and hairstyle, etc) and if I had waaaay better access to getting a dog, cat, penguin or capybara instead of waiting an entire season for Van to open his shop and hope to gawd it's not raining or on an event day so I end up missing out for another entire season! Here's an idea! Why not have him open up his own little shop in town that sells both rare items and pets every Wednesday rather than that cardboard box stand at the inn and having to wait every year for a chance to own a dog? And why should we have to wait until the first pet's affection level is high enough for a second pet? I don't see either of the livestock shops pulling that on us.
Also the pitfalls in the mines are a bad idea. They're just annoying and digging down to the deepest levels of the mines is already a long and tedious process. Which is why I'm so thankful for the addition of elevators, but I would've had no idea that they would only be installed after gifting the goddess a certain numerous times. There are no clues hinting at this and not everybody would think to check the internet for answers.
I'd have to rate this 7/10.
Is it gonna make me put down Stardew Valley ???
The original GBA version of game (and the DS "Harvest Moon") were the only two games of this series I ever got into. I therefore would like to download this again as another pure experience of this "cult" series. However, the art style is unappealing to me as well.
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