story of seasons a wonderful life changes

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life review: The final verdictĭespite the enforced name change due to issues over the rights to the Harvest Moon name, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life has managed to bring the GameCube game kicking and screaming into the modern age. There are still some minor bugs to be ironed out, such as NPCs preventing interaction with nearby squares at the archaeological dig, but on the whole, the remake is a definitive improvement.

Several of the characters have changed names or appearances to more closely match the original Japanese version of the game. The graphics have received an overhaul more befitting a PS5 game and there’s now a camera that lets players capture key moments. A big pot for a big crowd.Ī Wonderful Life, like any good remake, has plenty of other quality-of-life changes that make it more than a simple repackaging. The exception is fishing which can become repetitive for those trying to unlock all of the rewards, especially as RNG plays such a large part of the activity. For the most part, each provides a welcome distraction since they change up the game’s routine. There are also new festivals and requests to complete for bonus rewards. It’s a far cry from the original GameCube version where the male farmer had a choice of three women to marry, women to marry, and this attempt to be more inclusive is great.Īs well as running the farm, players can go fishing, cook dishes, and even help out at the nearby archaeological dig. There is then a choice of eight marriage candidates - four male and four female - regardless of the farmer’s gender. This story aspect may not have changed at all, but there’s now a choice to play as a male, female, or non-binary farmer with a small range of appearance options to further customize the character. Players can continue for 30 in-game years, but only the most dedicated will put in the hundreds of hours required to come close to that, which results in a game with a decent amount of stuff to do.

The seasons and story chapters have been shortened to make them easier to get invested in. Marriage is no longer optional and players will have to raise a child into adulthood, making a refreshing change to characters that are usually ignored after a while. The difference between A Wonderful Life and other Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games is the game’s emphasis lies more in building a new life than it does in resurrecting the farm. Players have to attend to their livestock. On the other hand, it’s a little simplistic when compared to games like Stardew Valley or even last year’s Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom, both of which were buoyed by their depth and a wide variety of features. This makes some features like the health bar and fodder redundant, but the whole process is now more relaxing. Livestock no longer gets sick or dies even if they’re left out in the rain, merely affecting the quality of their byproducts instead. Cows and goats don’t run out of milk, meaning that it’s less urgent to breed them.

Several of the livestock processes have also been streamlined, which makes it a smoother overall experience.

Story of seasons a wonderful life changes