I was able to rent the original once back when it came out, enjoyed the few days I had with it. fast forward two decades, was excited to properly enjoy it! unfortunately, time (and some of the remade elements) have not been kind

stardew valley, which I haven't played in years, kinda ruins this experience for me. it is so densely brimming with so much of all kinds of content, and is accessible and engaging and very well fine-tuned. this remake, however, is very barren, in all kinds of ways

I can understand that the farming isn't the core element of the game—it's the chapter-based family storytelling, which can and does set it apart from its peers. but if that's true, then why is the storytelling so anemic?

why am I lucky to get two lines of different dialogue for any given character on a given day, let alone at all within a season? why do I barely have any context for this town's community, or these characters' relationships with one another? why must I stand around for 30 in-game minutes waiting for a character to uncross their arms for a brief millisecond window so I can give them a gift to maybe unlock more dialogue from them?????????

not only is it barren and unintuitive, it's also janky a lot and depends on using online guides to understand things. hell, even the game's instructions on things are wrong in some cases!

and as a minor note, I don't love the aesthetic redesign. I find many of the changes to be commercial pretty, which is my way of saying flat and lacking in character. the autumnal "muddiness" of the original game created a kind of warm, rustic aesthetic that I loved at the time, but this game feels very generically poppy and bright. and I understand some of the character redesigns (thumbs up on gordy), but in aggregate they clearly soften the original's more interesting and unique edges in favor of a generic, boring prettiness. it's unfortunate and common

very disappointed :( I still very much believe I could be in the market for a game like this, if it were more rich and bold and fleshed out and interesting. but this one isn't, and I'm gonna have to leave it behind, sadly

De todos os jogos que a minha bolha consumiu e que sempre tentaram me empurrar - já que até então, eu nunca tinha jogado -, A Wonderful Life sempre foi o mais elogiado. Dito isso, depois de ter jogado e, sabendo que esse é um remake quase 1:1 da versão original de Gamecube e sua Special Edition de PS2 - baseado unicamente em reviews de terceiros -, eu posso dizer facilmente que esse jogo é incrivelmente superestimado e que, em boa parte do jogo, é mediano.

Tecnicamente os jogos 3D de Bokujō Monogatari (nome original da franquia) nunca foram um primor técnico. Graficamente também nunca foram os gráficos mais bonitos já feitos, e pra compensar isso a franquia sempre investiu em mecânicas de jogo e uma direção de arte, muitas vezes, lindíssima. E tudo isso é válido pra maior parte desse jogo. Os gráficos não são simples, porém a estilização é simplesmente ótima, o que acaba não te tirando do jogo ou prejudicando a parte gráfica. É extremamente comum ocorrerem Pop-In de elementos gráficos do ambiente (tal qual os jogos de Pokémon no Nintendo Switch), mas, particularmente, eu me acostumei, o que não se tornou um grande problema. Por outro lado se a XSeed conseguiu compensar os gráficos, a jogabilidade está longe de ser a melhor da franquia. Por mais que, jogos do gênero tendem a ser repetitivos, A Wonderful Life ultrapassa o bom senso com folga. Durante os 6 anos (in game) em que eu joguei, foi comum eu simplesmente cuidar da fazenda e então pular o dia por simplesmente não ter mais nada o que fazer, principalmente após o terceiro ano. Se você não busca fazer o 100% e só está jogando pra relaxar ou pra jogar os 6 capítulos da história principal (como eu), não tem muito o que fazer após comprar todos os upgrades e se casar. Em teoria esses 3 anos com o personagem mais velho seriam para fazer amizade máxima com o resto dos moradores de Forgotten Valley e plantar todas as plantações híbridas da enciclopédia interna, particularmente, isso foi nem um pouco atrativo, o que tornou mais fácil só pular o dia com os minigames, indo pra cidade grande ou simplesmente dormindo até dar o horário de cuidar dos animais de novo. De longe, esse é o jogo menos divertido em gameplay de Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon. Outro ponto relativamente negativo vem da trilha sonora, não por ser ruim, mas por ser repetitiva. A música do mundo é selecionável pelo jogador desde o começo, o que quebra (um pouco) esse argumento, porém, as músicas das cutscenes, por serem apenas 3 ou 4, e quase que comum durante uma única cena ter 20 segundos que sejam de cada uma dessas 4, ao ponto que depois de ver os mesmos eventos várias vezes, foi comum achar essas músicas, mesmo que boas, insuportáveis.

Quando eu zerei os 6 anos da main story, eu entendi que o foco desse jogo nunca foi sobre ter a melhor gameplay da saga, mas sim, a melhor história. Tanto a história vivida pelo personagem principal, quanto a dos demais personagens do vale são simplesmente ótimas. Acontecimentos muitas vezes que simples se tornam emocionantes. Muito por que quase todos os personagens do jogo são bem desenvolvidos, mesmo que com poucas falas/cenas. Não só isso, mas todos eles conseguem tocar em assuntos pertinentes e de forma um tanto quanto delicadas. Foi comum em momentos considerados bestas eu me ver chorando (seja por tristeza ou alegria) por que a cena foi simplesmente ótima.

Particularmente eu me considero um grande fã de jogos de Fazenda no geral. A franquia Harvest Moon moldou muito o meu gosto por jogos e consequentemente, quando a chave virou para Story of Seasons e também começaram a surgir jogos inspirados nesta (como Stardew Valley e The Graveyard Keeper), meu interesse conseguiu crescer exponencialmente. E por mais que A Wonderful Life seja - talvez - o jogo da franquia mais elogiado, tanto pelos jogadores de longa data, quanto pelo próprio criador da série, pra mim ele é só Ok. Sim, eu amei as histórias. Personagens como a Nami, a Nina, o Garren/Gary, a Ruby/Lou e o Tim/Tei conseguiram me conquistar desde o começo até a ultima cena do jogo. A filha(o) do(a) protagonista é simplesmente apaixonante, desde a primeira fala dela(e), ao ponto que em vários momentos eu me senti na pele de um pai de verdade. Mas meio que fica por isso mesmo, já que, o maior calcanhar de Aquíles desse jogo está na sua gameplay, que é facilmente superada por jogos fracos da própria franquia (como The Tale of Two Towns, que está longe de ser um dos favoritos da fanbase e mesmo assim tem uma gameplay divertidíssima até hoje). No final o sentimento que tenho referente a Wonderful Life Remake é: Uma excelente história, com personagens incríveis, presos em um jogo medíocre que dura o dobro de tempo do que deveria...

I'm unfortunately really disappointed in this game :(

I love farming sims, being a lifelong fan of the Rune Factory series and having hundreds of hours in Stardew Valley. I didn't go into this expecting Rune Factory, even though that's a Harvest Moon spinoff, because I know that those games are rather eccentric. They're also RPGs, and that adds an extra element. However, I did not expect it to be on the opposite side of the spectrum. As far as I can tell, these characters have no personality or story beyond surface level. I'm at half hearts with one of the bachelorettes, and I still know nothing about her. She never talks about herself. I didn't even know her preferred gifts until I looked up a guide online.

The same can be said for everyone else as well. They'll comment on the season, the weather, the town itself, but they barely talk about themselves or their relationships with the others. There's the occasional cutscene, but they're usually vague and uninformative. Anything they do say to show personality is archetypal, basically screaming "I'm the lazy character" or "I'm the brooding older brother". Maybe I'm just doing something wrong, but I don't know what I could do differently other than talking to them daily and giving them gifts.

I do like the gameplay. I think the realism of the crops and the animals is really fun! I like that you can train your dog tricks, and all of the animals are really cute. The town is pretty and has nice locations. The dig site is probably my favorite aspect of the game, and the things you get both act as gifts and a way to make money, which is a bonus! The only thing that frustrates me is the cooking mechanic since you have a fullness meter, but you can't cook anything until you get crops. I would have rated this game lower honestly if the game weren't fun to play. I do have a good time.

However, when I play this genre, I play it for the characters. I want to get to know the people in town, build relationships, and find a love interest that I like. When there isn't an overarching plot, the characters kind of make the game. In that aspect, this game is severely lacking. All of the love interests bore me, and in a game where you're expected to get married or else you get a game over, that is not good. I want to like them. I gave them gifts every day, I took one on a date, I spoke to them as much as I could, but they're just blank slates with a pretty face. It's immensely frustrating, especially for the price I paid.

It makes me sad because Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons is like the third piece of the holy trinity of farming sims! But it does not live up to the other two at all. It was clearly just made for people who played the original and want to see it made anew. I'm definitely going to be returning this one.

i so badly want to rate this 5 stars, but the nostalgia factor isn't enough to overlook many aspects of the game that could have been improved in the remake but weren't.

awl was my first sos/hm game - i sunk countless hours into it as a kid. this remake is very faithful to the original, including the somewhat clunky controls and mechanics. for those coming into this as a new player, they will likely find these aspects lacking in comparison to newer titles in the series. dialogue, character dev, etc. are not as robust, and the set timeline may be jarring for those who prefer a somewhat endless playstyle. however, it is near impossible to "fail" this game unless you are actively trying. this makes for very relaxing playstyle with just enough motivation to carry out your chores. i wish the mechanics had been buffed, and while i can appreciate the new art style and music, i still like the originals better. however, i believe that these updates were appropriate to reflect the intentions of the remastering.

Story of Seasons A Wonderful Life finalizado después de algo más de 50 horas.

Desde hace mil horas ya no tenía nada que hacer, así que solo seguí jugando por morbosa 🤣

¿Mueres o no mueres al final? Ese era mi punto y por ese motivo jugué los 6 capis 😜

This is the best rendition to play if you want to experience the A Wonderful Life story in all of its glory and then some.This faithful rendition takes everything you love about the original and expands upon it with well needed Quality of Life changes and new content.

I have to say though- if you haven't played the original, it's tough to say whether or not you'll like this game. This is based on an old game- and because it's so faithful to the original- it plays like an old game too. Farming sim fans that have only played modern farming sims might see this game and its lack of complex mechanics and they might find it boring. This is a slow, small game. Focused on a small sleepy town with basic mechanics. You don't customize your farm like you would in Stardew Valley. You don't travel to faraway places. It's you, your spouse, your kid, and the old folks in town.

Where the game shines is definitely your child. Unlike most farming sims, your child grows up. Their interests change, their personality changes. And they might grow up and decide- instead of inheriting the farm- they might want to be a musician instead. Or an artist. Or even an athlete. You watch your child from toddler to young adult- becoming their own person. It's unlike any farming sim out there. Likewise- the people in town change too. Some come and go. They get older. You spend a lifetime with them. They may not be super complex- I honestly wish there were more dialogue and even more cutscenes to flesh them out more- but regardless- you can't deny that they are memorable, strange people.

If you loved the original, you'll adore this. And if you've never played the original- and you're willing to play a simple game on a simple farm- give this a try.

There's always the hybrid crops, at any rate. That can get preeetty crazy!

The original A Wonderful Life's mundanity and slower gameplay diverted it from the series other entries, but what it did succesfully was add for a relaxing experience bundled with a cozy little island wrapped around a neat dynamic weather system and beautiful lightning effects.

It certainly had its share of flaws in several aspects, some of the story chapters were too long ,
Festivals were scarce and not nearly as interesting as the rest of the series, and the characters, while cute and eerie, didn't do anything new past the first 2 chapters. The farm tools didn't offer much expanded flexibility other than the water can having more capacity and other tools spending less stamina.
Even still, I absolutely adore the original, and it has always been a game I get drawn back to when I need to dial out after a stressful event of any sort. It is very relaxing and therapeutic with its slow monotone nature and longwinded crop cultivation and dairy farming.

In comparison the remake is a faithful adaption with some of the same qualities, while also diversifying itself with its share of new nuances.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is slicker and shortens down the chapter spans to only one year, while drip feeding various content throughout the span of the game.
You get new facility expansions and faster tools to compensate the huger scope of what you need to do daily, and the game just gets a lot busier if you max out the capacity of the farm. Festivals are altered and boasts some different dialogues throughout the years, they are still just cutscenes, but the slight differences per year is a nice touch.

There are monthly requests from villagers to cultivate specific crops, or make dishes in return for rewards, some more interesting than others, but regardless it's a nice extra insentive to have more to do in the game which still may last for 100+ hours. There are plenty of costumes, gender change (non-binaries included) at your choosing whichever point in the game as well as a solid choice of both male and female bachelors to date.
The best thing about the remake is the new achievement system and a encyclopedia you can fill out as an extra challenge.

Even despite the fact that the remake makes the game more feasible to complete, the game still loses some significant steam in the later chapters due to nothing new really happening with the community aside from your kid and some npcs growing up slightly moreso cosmetically.

The remake has a plain, but pleasant look, with brushed up models more in line with story of season's current art style, while a couple of the characters are altered from their gamecube/ps2 counterparts, due to making some bachelors look more appealing and younger.

However, the gamecube versions completely conquers over the remake with its lightning effects and draw distance.
Running around the valley and watching the scenery change, while light and shadows gradually marked the landscape added so much to an otherwise very restricted environment.
Instead pop-ins and poorly rendered shadow effects recides over the remake and leaves the visual spectacle for dust.

Story of Season: A Wonderful life is very niche even for its own genre, but if I were to recommend one to the general player it would be the remake due to the improved pacing, extra content and more busy nature, even though personally I'd rather go wind down to the lush aestetics and slower mundane comfort grind of the original version.