Story Of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town Review – When The Seasons Change

Harvest Moon, and now Story of Seasons, have thrived on their character above all else. With every entry within the collection providing recent story and minimal enhancements to gameplay, replaying one of many older titles is asking for disappointment, even when it has a brand new coat of paint. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town brings the 2003 Game Boy Advance title into 2020 with fulfilling cutesy graphics and character, however does little so as to add depth to the already outdated gameplay..After selecting from an especially restricted set of character customization choices, you got down to take over a farm left to you by your late grandfather, the place you as soon as spent the summer time 20 years in the past. It’s unclear why your character left no matter life they’d behind, however you might be shortly thrust into the day-to-day work of sustaining a farm, beginning with crops.Growing crops is among the principal strategies of earning money, however development is sluggish. You cannot enhance your crop yields in any significant means till the choice to purchase higher farm soil turns into obtainable within the second yr, which is 25 to 30 hours into the sport. Upgrading the watering can means that you can are inclined to extra crops without delay, however the elevated stamina utilization makes for minimal enchancment to your crop yield.Upgrading instruments improves your capacity to farm barely, however the easiest way to maximise crop output is thru the Nature Sprites that stay within the city. Tucked behind the church, seven Sprites stay in a hut, ready so that you can make associates with them. You achieve their belief by talking with them and giving them items that they like, just like befriending individuals on the town. Once a sure degree of friendship is reached, you possibly can request they assist with one among three farm chores: watering crops, selecting crops, and caring for livestock.The catch right here is that the Sprites aren’t excellent at these chores to begin with and should be skilled by way of taking part in minigames. Each chore has a corresponding minigame; the watering minigame and livestock minigame are each fulfilling, entailing tile memorization and frantic rooster feeding respectively, whereas the crop-picking minigame is a glorified button masher. But as a result of it’s essential play the minigames dozens upon dozens of instances to make significant progress, the novelty of them wears off shortly. And as a result of all seven Sprites should be leveled up individually, you would spend nearly all of your playtime repeating these minigames with little in the best way of a reward.There are not any general targets or quests so that you can work in direction of, which leaves you misplaced as to precisely why you are placing all this effort into the farm besides for private satisfaction and the promise of getting wealthy. Your actions and development have little impression on Mineral Town and the Nature Sprites, lessening the sense of accomplishment you would get from turning the deserted land right into a thriving farm.Farming is not the one moneymaking avenue, as you too can spend your days mining and fishing. Unfortunately, neither exercise pays very properly nor are they actively fulfilling to do. Successful mining is predicated completely on luck and an abundance of stamina restoration objects. Every flooring has a bunch of rocks you possibly can break to attempt to discover ore. The solely strategy to progress additional into the mine is through the use of a hoe on the grime, and there isn’t any indication of the place the ladder may be. Using the hoe drains your stamina, and when you aren’t fortunate, you would simply waste nearly all of your stamina bar looking for the best way to descend, sending you out of the mine empty-handed and pissed off.Upgrading your hammer and hoe would not enhance your mining expertise, and there aren’t checkpoints within the mine, so you must begin from the primary flooring each run. The ore itself would not promote for very a lot and you do not want greater than a handful of every to improve your whole instruments. Gems are value extra however can solely be discovered within the lake mine, which is simply obtainable throughout winter. You by no means enhance at mining and the payout would not make up for needing a ton of stamina objects to get into the decrease ranges.In the identical vein as mining, fishing is primarily based on luck. While upgrading the fishing rod does improve your probabilities of getting larger and higher fish, your complete mechanic is predicated on ready for an exclamation level and urgent the motion button, which is not partaking and shortly turns into uninteresting. If carried out appropriately, you would possibly catch a fish. Or a department. Or a can. Or the fish would possibly get away. All of it is a roll of the cube, on prime of a mechanic that’s pretty mind-numbing to begin with. There are completely different species of fish which you could catch, however their promote worth is simply depending on their size–small, medium, or large–which defeats the aim of any species selection.Farming is not the one moneymaking avenue, as you too can spend your days mining and fishing. Unfortunately, neither exercise pays very properly nor are they actively fulfilling to do.All of those actions are primarily there for the aim of incomes cash, one of many major boundaries to development. Nothing in life is free, and nothing in Friends of Mineral Town is affordable. Upgrading instruments, farm buildings, and your own home all value hundreds of in-game {dollars}, which is tough to return by for almost all of the primary yr. With crops yielding produce on a weekly foundation and different revenue avenues not paying almost as a lot, buying something turns into an enormous choice, one which occurs far too occasionally to maintain you .Animals are equally costly, to the purpose the place you do not break even on the funding for at the least one yr. In addition to being a monetary burden, the sport discourages its personal system of getting extra animals for cheaper costs. While it prices much less to impregnate a cow than it does to purchase one, there are 4 variants of cows, and getting one pregnant simply duplicates it, so all 4 variants have to be purchased at full value if you wish to produce all 4 forms of milk.Friends of Mineral Town actually shines probably the most within the moments between the battle for monetary solvency. Mineral Town is quaint, stuffed with characters which are stuffed with character and character. The majority of characters are tied to one of many many retailers round city, most of which characteristic distinctive household dynamics that unfold for you as you grow to be extra acquainted with the townsfolk. The friendship system is identical as for the Nature Spirits, with every day items and interplay progressing friendship ranges. Running round city to provide out items to individuals is tedious and time-consuming, however the story scenes are greater than value it, providing fascinating and humorous insights.The bachelors and bachelorettes of Mineral Town even have a separate coronary heart meter, that unlocks character occasions after reaching sure milestones. The occasions are tailor-made to every character and usually contain their household life and alternatives so that you can facet with them to realize bonus factors. These play out like an fulfilling cleaning soap opera that gives light-hearted drama at each flip.Mineral Town captures the sensation and look of a cheerful small city properly, and the moments spent with the individuals on the town virtually make the tedious work value it.All romanceable characters have distinct personalities, likes, and dislikes–even the city physician, fittingly named Doctor. The dialogue repeats ceaselessly, normally depending on relationship ranges and site of the character. Despite this, every character speaks with distinct slang and elegance, which makes them really feel distinctive. The recreation’s charming artwork model and design create the sensation of pleasantness that interacting with townsfolk ought to. Mineral Town captures the sensation and look of a cheerful small city properly, and the moments spent with the individuals on the town virtually make the tedious work value it.Throughout annually, city occasions happen, starting from horse derbies to cooking contests and even rooster fights. While these occasions are colourful and showcase the city, within the first yr you ceaselessly get sidelined for not having the correct upgrades or animals to take part, which is irritating. The organizer of the occasion will normally guilt journey you upfront for not with the ability to take part, including to the frustration.After a whole yr has handed, new objects and upgrades grow to be obtainable to you, however the timing of these things may be inconvenient. In Spring of Year 2, strawberry seeds grow to be obtainable within the normal retailer, however not till midway by way of the season. Strawberries produce a number of yields from one plant, so planting them midway by way of the season feels pointless and also you as a substitute have to attend a whole yr to really plant them. Other points, like the overall retailer being closed the primary two days of the season occasionally–so you possibly can’t purchase that season’s seeds till three days in–are frustrations that serve no actual objective.Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town feels nearer to a remaster than a remake, with nearly all of in-game mechanics feeling antiquated by fashionable requirements. Shallow programs mixed with inflated improve costs makes progress a sluggish trudge, with the rewards hardly ever feeling value it. Interacting with the individuals of Mineral Town provides a pleasant, romantic take a look at small-town farm life, however the remainder of the sport fails to promote it.