The Story of Seasons series has certainly had its fair share of highs and lows when it comes to the Western market. You got the whole mess that is the split on how it was previously called Harvest Moon. And all of that while Japan just hums along peacefully, knowing that it’s still the good ol’ Bokujou Monogatari they all know and love, but that’s neither here nor there now. Thanks to Marvelous, Final Weapon got the chance to try out the latest title in the Story of Seasons franchise, which is Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. We will be publishing a full review of the game soon on Final Weapon, but for now, here are my first impressions.
Welcome to Zephyr Town!
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar begins its story with you, the player, who picks up a flyer in a bulletin board, telling you that Zephyr Town is in need of a new farmer. Interested, you immediately head on over to the town and are greeted by Felix, the town’s mayor. According to him, Zephyr Town was once home to a bustling bazaar, attracting people from near and far with their wares and goods.
Sadly, after the previous farmer had left the farm, the bazaar slowly lost its luster, and nowadays, it’s merely a shadow of its former self. But Felix is confident that you have the ability to get the town back to its glorious days. Sounds like a huge job. But don’t worry, you have the full support of the mayor. And so it begins. Grow and harvest crops, sell them at the Grand Bazaar, and turn your hard work into profit!
To Farm and Sell
As its name implies, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar has you do a pretty easy-to-grasp gameplay loop. You got your farm, and then you have the town. You can tend to your crops and harvest them. Likewise, you can also raise some animals and get their byproducts. The town’s Bazaar opens up every Saturday, and you can set up your stall in town to sell your crops and produce, and gain some money.
This is where you’ll immediately realize that there is practically no other way to sell your items other than the Bazaar. This is because your farm lacks the traditional Shipping Bin, which does mean you’re sort of forced to think ahead when it comes to earning money in this game. That’s not to say you can’t sell anything. The local market will happily take some of your products, but you’d be stuck with a much lower potential profit when compared to selling that same item at your stall.
This creates a sort of strategizing, where you must always be prepared to earn as much money as you can. Fortunately, the tutorial mentions that at the beginning of each month, you’ll also receive a letter in your mailbox informing you of the current market trends. Items that are considered to be trendy will sell for a higher price than usual, so it allows you to carefully plan out your harvest and stay within the trends.
The New Face in Town
Naturally, it’s not all about just farming, of course. Zephyr Town is home to a lot of villagers, and they’re all eager to know more about you, the newbie farmer who just took over. Once a day, you can speak to them, and that will deepen your relationship a tiny bit. You can also just press ZL to give them a small greeting, though that comes at the cost of you not earning as much relationship as opposed to just talking with them.
However, this is where Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar immediately caught my attention. You see, for the first time ever, the game features full voice acting, with the option to pick between English and Japanese. This is something the series has not really had since then, and I must say that the amount of immersion this adds to the game left me awe-struck.
Not only that, but the classic expressive 2D portraits have also made a glorious return. I can’t remember how long I’ve been begging Marvelous to add these back in, because while the 3D models have vastly improved compared to the previous games, I still prefer seeing the expressive 2D portraits.
The Bazaar Opens
With the little time I’ve had with Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar so far, I can already say that this game has my interest hooked with a fishing rod. I honestly forgot that this is technically a remaster of an old DS game for a moment, but even when I did remember, that just proved to me: This isn’t your run-of-the-mill remaster. And there are a lot of things to check out. Look forward to our full review coming soon.
