Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is a classic farm sim remake with a slower pace that will remind you how hard games used to be. The game begins with a young adult from the city moving out to the countryside to take over a family farm and build friendships, a family, and profit. It immediately puts other recent Story of Seasons PC releases to shame with cute, higher quality graphics. The game comes with modern improvements like movement controls that don’t make you want to scream, a choice of pronouns, and eight total marriage candidates mashed together from the \boy\ and later \girl\ versions of the original release. What it doesn’t modernize is the stubborn opacity of the original, a game that was meant to come with a printed \How To Play\ manual tucked in its box which I suspect also glossed over the same details as the in-game tips menu. This quality of A Wonderful Life nearly frustrated me into giving up the farm until, like a city kid finding romance in the valley, it won over my begrudging affection for its idiosyncrasies.
The basic tenants of A Wonderful Life will be familiar to modern farm life sim players: Each morning I wake up around 6 am, cuddle each of my chickens, milk the cows, let all the animals outside into the pasture, spend about half my day’s stamina watering crops, and then decide whether I’ll use my afternoon to deliver gifts to increase my friendship with the locals, go fishing, or dig up relics in the archeology site. The game is slow-paced but rewarding as you progress through each season and year. The aging system encourages newlyweds to start raising a child into a functioning adult with their own hopes and dreams. The town also changes in interesting ways as the years pass over six different life chapters. Townsfolk will age over time, new furniture and upgrades will become available, the dig site will expand, and other changes will slightly affect gameplay.
The game has some really great aspects that make it a fun play. It is highly recommended for both beginners and experienced farming RPGs as it is its own unique experience. It is slower-paced than others like it but this may make it a less overwhelming experience.
In conclusion, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is an excellent game that offers an immersive farming experience with cute graphics and modern improvements while still retaining its original charm. It is perfect for those who are looking for a slower-paced game that rewards patience and dedication.
