All farming sims are grindy to some degree, not only in the farming itself, but also in foraging for resources whenever you inevitably want to upgrade your house and the like. Some games, like Rune Factory 4, handle this well. Others, like this game, don't.
I think the main problem is that unlike other Harvest Moon games, where the grinding comes in a bit later, this one has you do it from the very start. I played this game for something like 12-15 hours and it felt like I spent 80% of that runtime grinding. It was kind of relaxing at first, but eventually I wanted to actually play the game. Supposedly it does open up after you grind enough to further expand the town, but I never expanded it enough to get to that point.
I think the main problem is that unlike other Harvest Moon games, where the grinding comes in a bit later, this one has you do it from the very start. I played this game for something like 12-15 hours and it felt like I spent 80% of that runtime grinding. It was kind of relaxing at first, but eventually I wanted to actually play the game. Supposedly it does open up after you grind enough to further expand the town, but I never expanded it enough to get to that point.