Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town brings the classic GameBoy Advance farming sim Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town to the Switch and PC with a fresh, 3D coat of paint and some quality of life tweaks. Those who plowed and planted through the years on the original will find a faithful farming recreation, but players more familiar with modern farming games like the indie darling Stardew Valley or the ubiquitous town simulator Animal Crossing: New Horizons will likely find themselves disappointed with the lack of content.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a remake of the 2003 GameBoy Advance game Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town and its female counterpart Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town (the Harvest Moon name currently belongs to a different publisher). Players choose one of four player models (2 boys, 2 girls), and take over their grandfather's farm. During a day, players can tend to their crops, pet their animals, forage in the forest, mine in caves, and talk to the townsfolk to befriend or romance them. It's the formula that inspired Stardew Valley, down to the backstory of the farm's inheritance, and it's largely gone untouched. The graphics have been changed from pixel art to a cute, crisp, chibi 3D style. Players can save anywhere, not just from their rooms. In the West, same-sex marriage has been added. An easy mode has been added, and some names have been changed. Beyond that, this is largely the same game from 17 years ago.
While those looking for a dose of nostalgia will find plenty, the genre has simply evolved beyond the gameplay on offer. Stardew Valley provides a larger map, combat, hidden secrets, player and farm customization, and more. Animal Crossing: New Horizons, while being a slightly different genre, is constantly updating with new gameplay additions, such as swimming in the ocean. Harvest Moon games helped establish the farming sim as a genre, but the old formula is hard to justify when it has been so improved over the past few years.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town still works on some levels, and even exceeds Stardew Valley in a few ways. The relationship between the player and their animals, especially pets, is deeper. It also helps that the new 3D animals are particularly adorable and a highlight of the new visuals. A band of elves can be befriended to help with farm tasks and play minigames, which is a delightful alternative to sprinklers and automated feeders. The game also benefits from its original design as a mobile game, with pick-up-and-play gameplay that suits the Switch nicely.
Ultimately, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a serviceable and cute farming simulator, albeit a little shallow. The genre that the original helped popularize is having a bit of a renaissance at the moment, with more realistic options coming along with an ambitious new Harvest Moon game. For those that are a little tired of their Animal Crossing village or have already dumped hundreds of hours into Stardew Valley, a change of scenery might do them good. Still, it's extremely hard to recommend Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town to newcomers when they can get Stardew Valley so cheap these days.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town releases on the Nintendo Switch and PC on July 14th, 2020. Screen Rant was provided a Nintendo Switch review code for the purposes of this review.