Game Review: Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (Xbox Series X)

Originally released in 2003 as Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life on the Nintendo GameCube, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is a remake of that original game. I have a lot of nostalgic love for Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. The bright and colourful visuals, the serene audio, the peaceful and simple gameplay, where there was no pressure to do anything but just exist and try to have a wonderful life.

This remake could have been a prime example of nostalgia blinding me to the game’s faults. However, thanks to a dedication to not mess with the original formula, and update only small things to modernise it, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is a delightful blast from the past with way more depth than I actually remember.

So, what do I remember about A Wonderful Life? You live on a farm, you plant and harvest crops, you care for cows, sheep, and chickens. You have a live-in farmhand who will collect and sell items in the city for you. There is a small local town with a myriad of characters to interact with and eventually, if you play your cards right, you can marry one of them.

Your goal is to simply build a life for yourself across years, making friends, finding love, having a child, building a thriving farm, fishing, and digging for goodies at the local dig site. It sounds like a lot, but thanks to simple gameplay, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life makes all these tasks a breeze. Even if you don’t have enough time in a single day to do everything. Yes, the game does involve time management, although lightly, and is mainly focused on what crops grow in what season.

That is how you will maximum your farm as well-kept crops can sell for a pretty penny and with more money, comes more improvements to the farm. Bringing in better animals who produce better quality products such as milk or buying new equipment such as the ‘game-changing’ seed-maker.

All of this is inherently familiar, as Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life stays extremely faithful to the original game. A wise choice, as any major changes might have lost the heart and soul of this game. It is not a farming simulator; it is all about living life.

The fact that it does tell a story, set over several decades and split into chapters, should make that clear. Your character will age, your child will grow up, townspeople will pass on, and so on. Telling cute stories, but also being open and honest about how life can change and even though the end is inevitable, the journey can be, well, wonderful.

To make that even more enjoyable, some of the changes surround a more modern outlook and the game benefits from them. There is the option to now plays as non-binary character. Marriage has been expanded with more options and same-sex marriage is available.

Then are the changes to the visuals and gameplay. With the former, the game has been give a lovely fresh coat of paint that makes it really vibrant to look at. Most notable with character designs, where the sharpness allows their individual looks to stand out. With the latter, we have an expanded and much improved inventory system, clearer directions regarding crops and how they work, easier ways to earn money (eventually), more manageable menus, better organisation of your records, and encyclopaedias.

All changes that are warmly welcomed.

Alas, there are areas that have stuck from the original that perhaps could have been improved with this remake, but weren’t. Watering crops is still long-winded and it will take a few chapters to be able to afford/gain the necessary tool improvements to make this more bearable.

Digging is as monotonous as it was originally, and an unfortunate necessity because of the lack of funds most will have for many of the game’s early chapters. Fishing is uninspired and lacks a challenge. Improving friendships comes about via talking and gifting items to the person over and over again, until their affection meter fills. Creating hybrid crops, something that comes later in the game, can only be done one at a time, and so on.

While these might have some charm at first, they’re niggling annoyances that date the game significantly. It’s a faithful remake, but you can’t help but think these areas could have been improved without harming the game’s original tone.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is reliant on nostalgic affection mostly, as new players will find it extremely restrictive and probably a bit boring. Which is understandable as the first year in the game is probably the worst. Where you have no money, a small farm, and have to do repetitive tasks over and over again just to make minor progress.

Like life though, it rewards your hard work. It’s not a patch on modern farming simulators, but it’s not trying to be. That is what makes this life, so wonderful.