![]() You have time - and the game gives you plenty of incentives to use it. The game takes place over your characters entire life, meaning you don’t have to grind hard from the outset. In AWL, you have no choice but to slow down. In other games, even other Story of Seasons entries, you’ll hustle to make money and buy your way to a better farm by the end of the first year. This game is also slow-paced compared to other farm sims. Just till your soil, talk to your neighbors and pet your animals - that’s it more or less. This isn’t a game where you’ll be battling off enemies in your pursuit of the perfect pumpkin patch. The basic controls, including the actual gameplay of farming, harvesting and exploring, is simple and intuitive. The graphics are nothing to sneeze at, smoothly transitioning from the bright, cheerful village to the slightly supernatural aspects along the periphery. ![]() A simpler life: What’s to likeĪ Wonderful Life is a beautiful game, with cute character designs and the most huggable animals. While it’s no longer Harvest Moon in name, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is held back by the original game’s simplistic, provincial design. At this point, most gamers will expect more from their farming sims, and they’re not getting it here. This all sounds very standard, right? That’s the problem: experiencing a cozy, rustic life may have been enough to sustain a game at the time of its initial release, but now that’s the bare minimum for this genre. You also socialize with a small town’s population, finding one special someone with whom you can settle down into marriage and parenthood. From that point, your character can spend years of in-game time doing exactly that, raising crops and livestock into a proper business. When you arrive, his old buddy Takakura tasks you with bringing the farm back to its former glory. The story is a familiar one: You’re a city kid who inherits a farm in Forgotten Valley from your late father. ![]() Playing the remake feels like going back to your hometown and realizing you don’t miss it as much you thought you did. Marvelous, the longtime developer of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons series recently released a remake of its GameCube-era title, A Wonderful Life. ![]() In fact, the genre has flourished so much that I think it may have spoiled me. Now, thanks in part to Stardew Valley and the new popularity of cozy life sim games, we have a number of different titles that fit that mold - you attune yourself to nature, grow crops or something similar, get to know the residents of your new hometown and eventually find someone to marry and settle down with. The farming sim genre has certainly come a long way, hasn’t it? Not so long ago, the Harvest Moon games were the only ones of their kind in town. We're thrilled to announce the return of GamesBeat Summit Next, hosted in San Francisco this October, where we will explore the theme of "Playing the Edge." Apply to speak here and learn more about sponsorship opportunities here. ![]()
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