Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life manages to toe the line between the core features that made the original great while adding and improving upon aspects that needed a little love. If all the systems had been completely modernized, it wouldn't maintain the charm that made the game so beloved in the first place. The differences between Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life and most other modern farming games will likely be somewhat jarring and divisive among players, but it's a unique journey unlike any other, and one worth going on for veterans of the genre especially.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is a remarkable experience. It takes the classic farming formula and gives it a purpose beyond just seeing how many S-ranked tomatoes you can grow. With its focus on family, legacy, and living a good life, this is a farming sim where what you do away from the fields is as important as what you do when you’re tilling that land. It’s a game that encourages a healthy work-life balance, and there is no better lesson we need in our modern era than that.

A Wonderful Life on the GameCube was perhaps the most perfect execution of the Harvest Moon (now Story of Seasons) ethos out of all in the long-running series. As such, it’s the one that also generates the strongest pathos. Heart-meltingly warm good-naturedness, mixed with a perfectly adequate remake make this wholesome masterpiece relevant all over again. With the state of the world being this lousy, these little escapes are more valuable than ever.

As a long-time fan of the Story of Seasons games, I love what Marvelous have done with Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. It’s the same game I enjoyed playing all those years ago but with a fresh coat of paint and meaningful quality-of-life updates. The controls and UI are swift and easy to navigate — the amount of time I’ve saved with the new inventory navigation and livestock bells is impressive — and the game feels right at home in the current market. You can tell the development team wanted to preserve what was already an extremely memorable and worthwhile experience, yet understood that gamers’ expectations for accessibility and efficiency are different than they were 20 years ago.

In the end, A Wonderful Life still feels like a game that was released in 2003, and whether or not you consider that a good thing will depend on what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a very simple farming game to kill a few hours with here and there, or just looking for a trip down nostalgia lane, you’ll probably find yourself enjoying it. If you’re hoping for something as full featured and engaging as the modern games that have come out of the genre’s recent indie boom, then you’re not likely to find it here. Personally, I have enjoyed my time in Forgotten Valley and the experience of building a little family. While years can feel like they crawl by slowly, the progression you get to see as kids around the village get older and new people arrive in the valley is nice and satisfying to experience. I look forward to spending a lot more of my time in this sleepy little village.

All too frequently, video game escapism means slaying hundreds of opponents. But Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life recreation of agrarian life is an entirely dissimilar experience, driven by an appreciation for life’s simple pleasures. Whether tending to a thriving garden or basking in the warmth of social interaction, its virtues largely continue to shine twenty years later.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life gets it right when it comes to updating the 2003 classic to the present day. It is not the most complete of the saga, and inherits errors, but Marvelous knows how to transmit nostalgia in this remake, as special and charming as usual. A new life awaits you in the Forgotten Valley.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life remains both an oddity and a gem, and is a must play for fans of the farming sim.

Improving old features, alongside introducing new ones, results in a delightful reimagining of a classic farming simulator.

While it is a simple farming simulator at its core, it’s also profound in its design, leaning heavily into a quiet philosophy that lends the action a sense of meaning and purpose. It’s a wonderful exploration of living, and while silly and simple at times, it understands exactly why the smaller moments are so precious.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life brings one of the most beloved episodes of the franchise back to life, with new events and a revamped (albeit still old) presentation, but the lack of new features keeps this remake away from greatness.

Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life brings some welcome modernisation to an old classic, while at times sticking a little too closely to its roots.