Amongst my many, many silly ideas, becoming a farmer has to rank pretty high amongst them. My long-suffering partner will roll their eyes out of their sockets when I talk about growing crops, herding the sheep in and working outside, not least because I have zero experience in this field. But not anymore! If Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is anything to go by, I’ll be very good at being a farmer, not least because I’m willing to push myself to the point of exhaustion, I’ll work in torrential rain, and because a lot of your time seems to be spent chatting.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is both thoroughly new, and thoroughly old, standing as a remake of Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar, a Nintendo DS entry in the series from a time before you could pluck controllers off the side of your console. As all Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon games go, you’ve been given a farm, but it’s mostly full of weeds and rocks, rather than anything you would want to eat. It’s then up to you to tidy the place up, fill it with crops, nurture some of the cutest cows and chickens in gaming and, if you’re lucky, find a husband or wife to spend your farming days with.
In and of itself, that’s plenty of fun for the cosy gamer, but there’s still the Grand Bazaar part of the title to deal with. Your farm is part of a small town that’s a little down on its luck, with the blame firmly laid at the entrance of its failing weekly market. Alongside all the work you have to do for your farm and for your prospective love life, you’re also tasked with revitalising the Bazaar, running your own market stall each week, as well as trying to attract new merchants and entrepreneurs to fill out its empty plots.
If that all sounds like a lot, it is. Time runs especially fast in Grand Bazaar, with each day lasting around ten minutes. In that space of time you will find yourself running around town like a sickle-wielding maniac, desperately trying to talk to or greet every potential love interest, nurture your crops, cuddle your pets, milk the cows, groom the alpacas, shear the sheep, go mining, trim the weeds, collect some flowers, hand out gifts, craft items, go fishing, visit the shops, complete some side quests, and a bunch of other things, all while planning out what you have to do in the next day, or week, ready for the impending punctuation point of the weekly market. If you’re like me, that’s a heady and utterly engrossing mix of busy work, but there’s some clear repetition to those tasks that might not fit with other people.
The growth of your town eases some of that repetition, alongside the occasionally enlightening and often pointed conversations with the townsfolk, through to the semi-regular events that crop up, ranging from pet and crop shows to competitive showjumping events. Besides that, the focus of upgrading your tools, or setting yourself to a particular villager request, means that there are times where you have to step away from your usual routine, and these bring enough change to the formula to keep things interesting.
Your level of activity is limited by your stamina bar. Every major action, like tilling the fields, harvesting crops or mining, takes its toll on your body, and like a regular human being you’ll soon become tired. You can alleviate this by eating a meal, or taking a refreshing shower, but you always need to be aware of pushing yourself too far. Story of Seasons is relatively realistic in that sense, with overwork eventually causing you to collapse, or a late night then causing you to oversleep the next day. Broadly, there’s a lot to juggle each day, and the tight time and stamina constraints mean you can’t ever rest too easily.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is horribly addictive, once it’s sunk its crop-clearing sickle into you. I was supposed to play other games this last week, and instead I played Story of Seasons. I was supposed to go out, but instead I played Story of Seasons. Any number of things, including eating, were postponed because I was playing Story of Seasons. I’m not entirely sure it is actually a cosy game, given how far it sinks itself into your psyche and how much of it becomes about doing a job. I think it’s probably more of a farming sim than this year’s Farming Simulator, just with cute graphics, and I have been entirely won over by it.
Visually, it’s not pushing the Switch 2 all that far, but the bright, vibrant art design shines through, and the characters all look and feel like distinct people, aided by the additional artwork that can accompany each conversation. Oddly, you can make the frame rate stutter a tiny bit here and there, generally when you’re using your handy glider to get around, but it doesn’t affect gameplay at all, and one of the joys of the game becomes using the little cut-throughs or jumping across the roofs of houses on your way across town.
The only complaint with Grand Bazaar remains from the original version of the game, which is the annoyances of having three different windmills to craft items in, and having to run between the three of them as you attempt to craft the most lucrative items. Some of that has been lightened by the sprite boxes which let you transport yourself and items around the town, but it does feel like there might still be a better way to ease some of that busy work.
