Story of Seasons

 3DS
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 73
  3. Negative: 8 out of 73
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  1. Gammalad
    Apr 3, 2015
    10
    Outside of the few frame rate hiccups the game had (which went away when I started playing this game in my New 3DS) I can say that I am really enjoying this game and it is a huge breath of fresh air after playing "Harvest Moon" The Lost Valley, old time and new fans alike will find things to love about this game. I personally think this is one of the best games in the series to date.
  2. BrieCheese
    Apr 3, 2015
    10
    I just want to say that this is, by far, my favorite game in the series. I'm one of those people who doesn't really care about the social life of my character. Farming is the most important thing to me, and oh my goodness it's crazy how much they improved it from A New Beginning. Crops and animals are so much easier to manage. I feel like I can actually have the farm I've always dreamedI just want to say that this is, by far, my favorite game in the series. I'm one of those people who doesn't really care about the social life of my character. Farming is the most important thing to me, and oh my goodness it's crazy how much they improved it from A New Beginning. Crops and animals are so much easier to manage. I feel like I can actually have the farm I've always dreamed of. I can acquire everything I need to make that dream a reality at a nice, steady pace, without having to grind an insane amount for money or items to unlock things (I'm looking at you, A New Beginning). I can easily see myself dumping hundreds of hours into this game. I'm currently 30 hours in, and I have only just reached Fall of Year 1. That means I'm having a really good time with the game because, normally, I'd be in Spring of Year 2 at the very least by this point. I'd rush through days and "skip" days. Not with Story of Seasons, though.

    I would have rated the game a 9, but someone gave it a completely undeserved 1, so I'll help even it out with a 10. Hah. There are some not-very-important things that annoy me a bit, like the fact that your horse follows you around all the time and can get in the way, the fact that you are not handed a pitchfork in the beginning of the game, etc. Little things.

    Also, everyone is talking about frame rate issues, but I don't experience it the vast majority of the time on my NORMAL 3DS. I sometimes get SLIGHT frame rate drops when riding my horse, but that's it.

    All in all, amazing, amazing, amazing game that I know I won't be putting down for a long while. I'm enjoying my time on the farm way too much.    … Expand
  3. MJMello017
    Apr 5, 2015
    10
    Unfortunately , many fans of Harvest Moon do not know the original series is called Bokujou Monogatari and that today, in the occident , the series is now called Story of Seasons and there are those who think that The Lost Valley is the sequel of A New Beginning , one of the best , if not the best game in the series .

    Story of Seasons brings all that was good in A New Beginning and    Unfortunately , many fans of Harvest Moon do not know the original series is called Bokujou Monogatari and that today, in the occident , the series is now called Story of Seasons and there are those who think that The Lost Valley is the sequel of A New Beginning , one of the best , if not the best game in the series .

    Story of Seasons brings all that was good in A New Beginning and expands the experience of being a farmer, like being able to have a safari to administer , and also features two bachelors(ettes) of past games, with a simple story , Story of Seasons brings everything that one of the old Harvest Moon fan wanted a game with beautiful graphics, a village to explore , good people to meet and be the best farmer in the city.    … Expand
  4. KoolAidColin
    Apr 3, 2015
    10
    I Love this game. Yes the frame rate has a hiccups but that happen with most Marvelous games but playing on the New 3DS it goes away. The games is a fresh taste on the harvest moon series even thought it doesn't have the original name. i say its a MOST BUY.
  5. klkevinkl
    Apr 28, 2016
    6
    Story of Seasons was my second trip into the 3D farming of Harvest Moon. The game revolves around your character who is chosen to run a new farm because their own community is dying. By building up your farm and shipping things, it builds trade with neighboring countries and unlocks new products and opportunities for you. The biggest problem I have with the game is that there are noStory of Seasons was my second trip into the 3D farming of Harvest Moon. The game revolves around your character who is chosen to run a new farm because their own community is dying. By building up your farm and shipping things, it builds trade with neighboring countries and unlocks new products and opportunities for you. The biggest problem I have with the game is that there are no obvious hints on unlocking the last two countries other than what the Rose Country merchant says when they are first introduced. There's a massive barrier for unlocking the last two because you have no idea what you are supposed to do other than ship four categories of products (online research stated it to actually be 6 once I looked it up). On top of that, a lot of the features are locked behind time. As of writing this review, I have played the game for about 85 hours and I'm only at the second week of Spring on the 3rd year. That means I still have nearly two years of the game's time (probably another 50 hours) before I am able to unlock everything in the game. Gating content behind these things rather than accomplishments from shipping 30+ million G of materials just felt like something dumb. If they were going to make such high milestones for unlocking those last two countries, they should have added tons more in between to fill it.… Expand
  6. masc
    Mar 5, 2016
    7
    Nice farming sim with some quirks:
    - Framerate issues even on New 3DS XL
    - Bad animations
    - Lack of love for detail e.g. char swims in clothes instead of under- or swimwear.
    - Bad and ugly city layout
  7. dualbunny
    Nov 20, 2015
    7
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  8. pinkmellow
    Nov 12, 2017
    4
    This game was often compared to Lost Valley & considered to be the better of the two farming games released that year. However despite its better quality in art and content amount being more similar to previous Harvest Moon titles I did not find it to be any more enjoyable than Lost Valley, and in fact even found it to be less so. Why?

    1) The characters are bland. They all have the same    This game was often compared to Lost Valley & considered to be the better of the two farming games released that year. However despite its better quality in art and content amount being more similar to previous Harvest Moon titles I did not find it to be any more enjoyable than Lost Valley, and in fact even found it to be less so. Why?

    1) The characters are bland. They all have the same personality which is tepidly nice. (Well, excepting Giorgio that is, he's....different...)

    2) Competing over fields & only being able to have them a certain amount of time is stressful. I loved the Harvest Moon series for its signature peaceful and relaxing nature. Furthermore there is no real purpose to getting most of these fields anyhow as you can still grow the crops on your own field, who cares if you can grow them slightly faster?

    3) I hate the vendor set up. The merchant seems to come once in a blue moon. This means I make money very very slowly and as a result the game's pace drags. I am on year 2 and still don't even have a dog! Adding to this drag you also unlock certain animals/tools/etc very slowly on a set timer so I don't have sheep or anything either and have only just recently gotten a chicken. By year 2 in Lost Valley I already had all the house upgrades, full barn and coop, and was married. This is the biggest factor to me that makes this game unlikeable.

    4) The tutorial is unnecessarily long, especially when there is an option in game to select if you've played these types of games before. You should be able to skip it almost entirely. It actually took me forever to really start this game because of how long it took to finish the tutorial because I kept getting bored, setting it down and not touching it again for ages.

    5) After playing with Lost Valley's very streamlined controls where you automatically use the appropriate tool based on context the constant tool switching and putting away-even with quick equip & remove (which by the way I had to look up because for some reason it ironically wasn't included in the lengthy tutorial how to do so) seems terribly clunky.

    6) Am I the only HM fan who didn't miss gift giving? First of all in real life you don't befriend people by giving them the same generic object every day, you do so by talking & being friendly with them regularly, helping them out, etc. I really appreciated no longer having to look up who liked what and having to them farm up those objects to keep in big piles only to accidentally throw on the ground or hand to the wrong person when trying to give it to the recipient. Not to mention if your marriage candidate of choice likes things you can't even obtain until much further along in the game it just slows the pace down that much more.

    7) In Lost Valley my role as a farmer felt important. I supplied many of the town's shopkeeps and vendors with things to sell, whereas in this game I was yet another farmer in the already farmer-filled town. Though it was a nice touch being able to see other peoples' crops grow it just took away from the charm of becoming a farmer and made it more about competition. (I have not been a fan of hm games in the past that added in rival farmers)

    Overall I can't give this game a higher rating because of how painfully slow paced it is. I just don't find it to be an enjoyable game and don't find anything innovative about it. The market idea to me was done much better in Grand Bazaar. The wildlife park idea was taken right out of Animal Parade. I barely play this game anymore but still play Lost Valley regularly. I hope Story of Seasons 2 is better.    … Expand
  9. billgates0904
    Apr 20, 2015
    10
    It's true that there are a few frame rate hiccups, but they're absolutely tolerable, provided you're not a pc gamer that can't bear with some occasional low fps.

    Now, aside from this slight issue, the game is amazing. It's among the best Harvest Moon game's I've ever played, tied with Friends of Mineral Town and Back to Nature. The gameplay is amazing, the graphics are pretty and full    It's true that there are a few frame rate hiccups, but they're absolutely tolerable, provided you're not a pc gamer that can't bear with some occasional low fps.

    Now, aside from this slight issue, the game is amazing. It's among the best Harvest Moon game's I've ever played, tied with Friends of Mineral Town and Back to Nature. The gameplay is amazing, the graphics are pretty and full of details and there are tons of things to do. If you're a Harvest Moon fan already, don't miss this one!    … Expand
  10. Underpants158
    Dec 8, 2015
    7
    What is this game?!: A farming game that takes place in a small quaint village with quirky japanese characters. Build your farm, home, relationships, get a wife, compete with other farmers for land, water your crops, and milk them cows!

    Pros: -For anybody with any fond memories of a Harvest Moon game this is that under a different title. If you wanted the same experience but with new    What is this game?!: A farming game that takes place in a small quaint village with quirky japanese characters. Build your farm, home, relationships, get a wife, compete with other farmers for land, water your crops, and milk them cows!

    Pros:
    -For anybody with any fond memories of a Harvest Moon game this is that under a different title. If you wanted the same experience but with new faces that is exactly what you are going to get
    -A lot of customization, things to build, animals to buy, the list of chores and improvement can keep you going for a long time.
    -Denizens of your village have personalities and likes and dislikes. Admittedly they all fit into archetypes and don't expect any character development.
    -Festivals, trading caravans, and villager birthdays change up your daily routine occasionally.

    Cons
    -It can get very monotonous as you'd expect. I like to play it while listening to podcasts. I personally think the game works best while multi-tasking. Helps keep fresh the cycle of waking up, watering crops, brushing animals, holy crap I'm tired, go to sleep.
    -Goals can take awhile to complete and can feel like you aren't getting things done.    … Expand
  11. D3adlock
    Apr 16, 2015
    9
    The only big problem I've seen in this game, is the annoying grab sound effect, this drop sound is constantly used in almost every action.

    Still an awesome game!!
  12. iipotato
    Aug 12, 2017
    7
    I've played FOMT, mFOMT, AWL, SI, then ToTT before this. And most definitely is Story of Seasons a step up in terms of many aspects! There are however several flaws that have really impacted my opinion on this game.

    Pros: - Improved graphics! - Memorable and unique characters - Farming is more efficient (You plant 3x3 at a time instead of 1x1) - Many activities and chores that will    I've played FOMT, mFOMT, AWL, SI, then ToTT before this. And most definitely is Story of Seasons a step up in terms of many aspects! There are however several flaws that have really impacted my opinion on this game.

    Pros:
    - Improved graphics!
    - Memorable and unique characters
    - Farming is more efficient (You plant 3x3 at a time instead of 1x1)
    - Many activities and chores that will keep you occupied
    - You can stay up until midnight before you oversleep

    Cons:
    - The trek from your farm to town takes a while
    - Villagers dialogues don't change that often
    - Bit of a slow lag for chat bubbles to pop up
    - No actual mine, only one "mining spot" w/ limited use each day
    - Music is OK, some memorable tunes

    SOS is a game you really have to immerse yourself into. When I first loaded up SOS in late 2015, i set the game down after playing only 20 hours. There's so many items and blueprints you can get, but so little you can obtain during Spring and Summer! Mid 2017, I've decided to pick up the game again and I've achieved way more during Fall than the previous two seasons combined. I don't want to go into the details, so overall I have to say like any HM/SOS game, you've got to have the patience.

    SOS has much more content than that of ToTT and below, but not as easily immersive as RF4 for sure. Still, I don't regret purchasing SOS. It's a nice game to play when you need some time to just relax, de stress, and get your mind off things.    … Expand
  13. darkcover
    Mar 1, 2016
    10
    I really like this game. I often play it whenever i have time to relax. It is a lot of work to maintain friendships with everyone because i am renting all of the public fields and have 2 barns and 2 coops with at least 6 animals inside each. and I never have time to be social.
  14. thenerdoftech
    Jul 14, 2020
    9
    It's a great time! If you grew up playing Harvest Moon, then I highly recommend you check this out if you haven't already! Slow start, but picks up nicely and has a good pace overall! One thing though, beware of the difficulty, veteran difficulty can be challenging if you don't know what you are doing.

Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Best 3DS Game of 2015
24
#24 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2015
12
#12 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 39 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 39
  3. Negative: 0 out of 39
  1. CD-Action
    May 31, 2016
    80
    A hundredth sequel to Harvest Moon delivers what you expect from it – a chance to experience a simple yet happy farm life. [05/2016, p.75]
  2. games(TM)
    Feb 3, 2016
    70
    Story Of Seasons can be laboriously repetitive at times, but it somehow manages to keep you playing anyway through a combination of charming dialogue and the eventual satisfaction of a farm you’ve sweated buckets to bring up to scratch.
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  3. Eurogamer Italy
    Jan 29, 2016
    80
    An enjoyable and refreshing Harvest Moon-like experience that deserves your attention.
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