Wikipedia

Story of Seasons (video game)

For the series, see Story of Seasons.

Story of Seasons, known in Japan as Bokujō Monogatari: Tsunagaru Shin Tenchi (牧場物語 つながる新天地, lit. Farm Story: Linking the New World), is a farming simulation video game developed by Marvelous Entertainment for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in Japan on February 27, 2014, and in North America on March 31, 2015. This was the first game not under the Harvest Moon franchise title in North America due to Natsume Inc.'s ownership of the name.[2]

Story of Seasons
Developer(s)Marvelous AQL
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Takahiro Yura
Producer(s)Yoshifumi Hashimoto
Artist(s)Igusa Matsuyama
Composer(s)Riyo Kinugasa
Noriko Ishida
SeriesStory of Seasons
Platform(s)Nintendo 3DS
Release
  • JP: February 27, 2014
  • NA: March 31, 2015
  • EU: December 31, 2015
  • AU: January 9, 2016
Genre(s)Farm life sim
Mode(s)Single-player

The game follows along the same lines as the rest of the series, in which the player takes on the role of a farmer. The player can choose to play as a male or female farmer and between two difficulties at the beginning of the game. The difficulty cannot be changed once chosen by them. There are a variety of things to do in the game such as producing crops and raising livestock. The game also introduces new characters, including a tiny goddess and a tiny witch.[3]

Story

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The player, Johnny (male) or Annie (female), is bored with their regular life and receives a flyer announcing the recruitment of farmers in Oak Tree Town. Wanting to risk it all, they move to the small village to meet Veronica, the village's mayor. There are four other farmers living in Oak Tree Town: Eda, Fritz, Giorgio, and Elise, who will teach the player how to run their new farm. They must unlock all seven vendors by fulfilling certain requirements and make Oak Tree Town a renowned international trade city. Large variety of seeds, items, buildings, and animals become available through unlocking the vendors. Together, the NPC farmers and the player will help each other become successful. The player will also meet five Nature Sprites: Flick, Mora, Gusto, Torque, and Pepita, a young witch named Witchie, and a young Harvest Goddess named Dessie. At one point, Eda dies from an illness and her farm is passed to the player. In the end, once all traders have come to town, a meeting is held to thank the player for their efforts in making the town into a popular trade city.

Gameplay

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The main feature of the game is connectivity according to Yoshifumi Hashimoto, the producer of the Story of Seasons series. Players sell their crop and dairy products to other countries in the game via a Trade Station. Some countries prefer one type of item over another, and may have to travel to the other countries to make deliveries. Personal farm data can be swapped with other players using StreetPass.[4]

The player can set up a wildlife Safari, housing a variety of exotic animals such as monkeys and parrots. The Safari will be toured by the other villagers, similar to the Garden Tour in A New Beginning. The exotic animals are added through the Safari through unlocking them from vendors in the game through having good relations with them. Other animals the player can only keep by meeting certain conditions. If the player becomes friendly with the animals through interaction they will be able to keep more animals in the Safari. Farm animals that are brought and taken care of within the Safari become happier and less stressed. In the Safari, there is a mine where rare gems and minerals can be found through use of the hammer tool.[5]

Reception

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The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[6] IGN said, "Story of Seasons successfully integrates both supply-and-demand economics and personality into the farm life sim."[12] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of all four eights for a total of 32 out of 40.[8]

The Escapist gave it four-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "a refreshing game offering a positive place of escape, and while it is definitely a niche title, it gets everything it does right."[17] National Post gave it a score of eight out of ten, saying that it takes the series "back to its basics."[19] However, Metro gave it six out of ten, saying, "For better and worse this is Harvest Moon in all but name, with a few useful new ideas but still the same old crop of problems."[18]

Story of Seasons was the top selling game in Japan in March 2014, at 131,000 units sold.[20]

In July 2015, Xseed announced that the game became their fastest-selling game ever, with over 100,000 units sold in North America.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Calvert, Darren (September 15, 2015). "Nintendo Publishing Story Of Seasons In Europe Due Q1 2016". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  2. ^ Moriarty, Colin (May 28, 2014). "Harvest Moon returns in Story of Seasons on 3DS". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  3. ^ Kořenek, Antonin (February 24, 2014). "(Japan) New Characters Introduced for Harvest Moon: Linking the New World". Operation Rainfall. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  4. ^ Groenendijk, Ferry (March 2, 2014). "Top 10 Bestselling Video Games Worldwide in Week 9, 2014". Video Games Blogger. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  5. ^ "The Safari Park". Story of Seasons. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Story of Seasons for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  7. ^ Vincent, Brittany (March 31, 2015). "Review: Story of Seasons". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Valay, Brian (February 18, 2014). "Famitsu review scores (2/18/14)". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Juba, Joe (March 31, 2015). "Story of Seasons Review". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  10. ^ "Story Of Seasons review". GamesTM. Future plc. February 3, 2016. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  11. ^ Halestorm, Bradly (March 31, 2015). "Review: Story of Seasons". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Sullivan, Meghan (May 1, 2015). "Story of Seasons Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  13. ^ DelVillano, Ron (March 31, 2015). "Story of Seasons Review [Import]". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  14. ^ Hollada, Becky (March 31, 2015). "Story of Seasons Review". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  15. ^ Wachter, Sam (May 8, 2015). "Story of Seasons - Review". RPGamer. CraveOnline. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  16. ^ Tucker, John (April 14, 2015). "Story of Seasons". RPGFan. Emerald Shield Media LLC. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  17. ^ a b Bonanno, Janelle (March 31, 2015). "Story of Seasons Review - Harvesting Adorable". The Escapist. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Story Of Seasons review – shine on harvest moon". Metro. DMG Media. January 5, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  19. ^ O'Rourke, Patrick (April 8, 2015). "Story of Seasons review: A return to Harvest Moon's roots". National Post. Postmedia Network. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  20. ^ Whitehead, Thomas (March 5, 2014). "Harvest Moon: Connect To A New World Dominates for 3DS in Japan". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  21. ^ Cowan, Danny (July 16, 2015). "Xseed reaps record-breaking sales from Story of Seasons on 3DS". Digital Trends. Digital Trends Media Group. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
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