Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns

Very good

I absolutely love this game. I've been a loyal fan of the Harvest Moon series since I was one of three little kids playing it on the gamecube, and I've followed the games loyally until The Split happened. Despite not being able to keep the original name of the series, the first Story of Seasons game was true to the spirit of the series before the split with fun, lighthearted gameplay and interesting character interactions. Building up a farm, friendships and a family were fun to do. The character art was really nice. Et cetera, et cetera. I preordered SOS: Trio on a whim as a birthday present to myself. I began playing it and absolutely fell in love with the game. In my opinion, it's the best one yet. Yes, it's not perfect but it's the little things - like "quick" greetings, as though you're saying hello as you pass by; like choosing a personality and more advanced dialogue; character-specific friendship events - that get you hooked. After participating in a scene between one of the Westown villagers and their child, I was nearly moved to tears. I've been overwhelmed with the warm fuzzies on occasion, I've laughed at quite a bit, and at times I have been sort of disturbed by goings-on in-game. There have been quite a few times while playing SOS: Trio where I had to just sit back and say, "Wow." The storytelling in this game is really well done - and that my character can play a part in it is pretty fantastic. One of the hallmarks of the Bokumono/Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games is the ability to build and pursue a relationship with a character of your choice. The game introduces quite a few eligible bachelors and bachelorettes that vary widely in personality, occupation, background, etc. etc. Going in, I had a mental picture of what each person was like based upon my experiences with previous games. But having played through a few hours (just broke 60) I can honestly say that I think these characters feel... I don't know, new? Sure, they've brought back some similar character roles from other games (handyman, florist, waitress) but the way that the game developers have incorporated three unique towns' culture and influence on the characters' lives and backstories makes everything feel fresh and different. (Side note: I wasn't really a fan of the way things were split between villages in Harvest Moon: ToTT, but I feel like SOS: Trio manages to pull everything off just right.) Comparing it to the first titular Story of Seasons game, I'd say they're fairly similar but I prefer the newer animation style and farming/ranching cirteria. The new contest judging criteria / star rating system makes for some interesting, individualized gameplay – with SOS: Trio, I can pretty much advance my farm and grow crops however I want. I can focus on increasing the # of items my cow produces when milked passively by feeding it special fodder and also give it treats to improve its coat for contest judging, or vice versa. There are more animal personalities available, and they can have an effect on how stressed the animal gets, how quickly I can gain its friendship, etc.; pets can have different jobs than just herding cows/sheep or chickens - I have two cats that herd the big stuff, two dogs that herd the small stuff, and three other pets (including my own Capy-san) that forage for gems and ore for me. I could get a pet that gathers fish or wild herbs if I wanted to. Pets are actually really handy to have around. Admittedly I'm not too thrilled to have to pay for the DLC that was released in Japan for free once it becomes available in NA, but I want to be able to experience this awesome game the way that it is meant to be played. Props to the devs, and I hope whoever reads this gives the game a chance. It's been a blast so far, and I've still got a ways to go! Hope you found this helpful.

Escribo esto cómo gamer casual y como alguien que ha sido fan de la serie desde Harvest Moon 64 y que jugó prácticamente todos los títulos desde entonces. Y daré un poco de historia para que fans como yo, que se sientan confundidos o indecisos se animen a comprarlo. Debo decir que llevo años sintiéndome decepcionada por las entregas que había tenido la desarrollada Natsume Inc. con los juegos que aún se llaman Harvest Moon: La calidad es mala, cómo si fueran juegos móviles y además son bastante aburridos. El último Harvest Moon que intenté y que me hizo tirar la toalla fue el Magical Melody. Así que cuando me enteré que XSEED iba a sacar la misma IP japonesa pero con un nuevo nombre (Story of Seasons) para competir contra las localizaciones de Natsume, y vi que la pura portada para el nuevo juego por fin tenía arte bonito y parecido a los juegos de antaño, me emocioné. Compré el Story of Seasons pasado y por fin re-nació mi amor por esos juegos que tanto me divirtieron cuando era niña. Story of Seasons es muy bueno, pero Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns es completamente adictivo y superior a su predecesor, simplemente porque hay muchas cosas más que hacer. El gameplay es muy sencillo: Eres alguien que tiene sueños de algún día vivir de una granja, así que retas a tu papá y a tu familia para demostrar que puedes vivir de tus sueños y te vas a vivir a una. Debes aprender a cuidar a tus animales y plantas, a ganar dinero haciendo todo tipo de actividades, ya sea de tus actividades de agricultura o participando en los festivales de los pueblos, haciendo trabajos de medio tiempo, entre muchos otros. Como en las entregas pasadas no todo es arduo trabajo, el juego también ofrece la posibilidad de hacerte amigo de los habitantes de los pueblos, participar en celebraciones y eventos especiales dependiendo de tu nivel de amistad con ellos. Incluso puede casarte con algunos de ellos, tener hijos y obtener la vida de rancho feliz que siempre quisiste. Tenía miedo por el nombre, ya que me temía que la dinámica fuera parecida a Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns en donde hay dos pueblos: uno ganadero y otro agricultor y para tener una granja exitosa debías estarte cambiando entre los dos pueblos, lo cual resultaba bastante tedioso. Por fortuna Trio of Towns no funciona así y tú tienes tu propia granja y haces negocios con tres mini pueblos temáticos (Uno de vaqueros, otro japonés y uno hawaiano.) No entiendo por qué las entregas de XSEED y de Natsume son tan diferentes, ya que son exactamente la misma IP japonesa, pero por experiencia personal Story of Seasons es mucho mejor que cualquier Harvest Moon de los nuevos. Es un juego para niños pero yo como adulta también disfrute por lo sencillo pero divertido, entretenido y retador.

Ya tenía tiempo que quería revivir la esencia de un Harvest Moon, lo llegué a jugar en Emulapobre y en PSP, siendo maravillosa la esencia de estos juegos de granja. Ya tiene un año que salió a la venta y hoy me decidí por comprarlo, por desgracia acá en México salió muy caro aún recuerdo, y por adquirirlo hasta ahora en ninguna tienda lo tenían, lo tuve que pedir por este medio desde EUA. Lo único negativo es que el juego viene completamente en Ingles, ya lo había leído en otro comentario aquí, pero es mejor recalcar para próximos compradores, para algunos cómo yo que comprendemos un poco el ingles no veo mucho problema, son textos simples, pero en ocasiones si son algo complicados. Conociendo que México es parte de la región América, hubieran puesto el español, siendo que en la región Europea sí lo añadieron, sería bueno que pusieran un parche de idioma aunque sea el español de España, no veo problema con eso. En caso del envío, me llego un día antes de lo previsto, así que en ese caso fue muy bueno.

Game and Character Notes Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns is everything that the first Story of Seasons wanted to be, but wasn't. The opening of the game isn't quite as glacial as that of Story of Seasons, and serves more as a functional tutorial than a frustrating click-through of endless dialogue. However, you still don't have an option to skip cut scenes, which is frustrating. You can, however, set the text to auto-play, so at least you can turn it on and walk away if you need to. You get to meet the player character's whole family for once: both parents, a younger sister, and an uncle. This made me actually restart the game and go through as "Holly" instead of making up my own character: I wanted to fit in with my family. This intro is about five solid minutes of click-through before you get to start farming, and then maybe another ten minutes at your uncle Frank's house before you get to your own farm. After this, the game opens up gradually, with functionality increasing throughout the first year and thereafter. On the note of graphics, although pleasant for the most part, it is somewhat disappointing that many items and the food have the blurriness of what it would look like if, on another game, the graphics were refusing to render. Pizza being a vague white and red blob is just irritating in this day and age. Elements of personality have been upped for the player, the animals, and the NPCs in town. NPCs perform actions when idle, such as sweeping, serving food to customers in the inn, et cetera. This is something they did in Rune Factory 4, and I'm happy to see it in a Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon game. Characters also have distinct schedules and personalities, and their mood might change day-to-day. There's a feature where they greet you as you walk past them as well, by a box popping up in the lower left hand corner of the screen. It's worth it to go to the inn in the evenings, since there's a stage and live music, as well as a slew of diners. NPCs have completely populated the town, creating a comfortable, bustling feel. Both the players and the animal have personality, but it doesn't affect much. Player personality affects starting bonuses, and animal personality changes their stats like how easy it is to keep them healthy, their affection level, etc. Still on the note of character development, dialogue isn't the same every day!!! Though you can get repeats sometimes, it's still interesting to walk up to a character, greet them, and find out what they think. This makes it less of a slog to build relationships Crops and Animal Husbandry Crops have different ratings for size, juiciness, scent, etc. These different ratings affect star level, as well as harvest festival ratings. Stamina drain is fairly severe, so initially you can hoe, plant, and water maybe two fields at a time before you're tired. This can lead to you going to bed at 13:00 sometimes, since you're out of energy and have done everything for the day. On the note of stamina drain, when you can get a kitchen to make food-- or if you eat food at the restaurant or grocery store-- different food has the possibility of giving you various boosts, à la Monster Hunter. This is a welcome modern twist on the traditional Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons cooking mechanic. As soon as you can upgrade the weight of your tools, do so! Shipping boxes are back, and pick-up at a specific time! You no longer need to hope for the vagaries of the market place, like you did in Story of Seasons! Shipping to different towns can increase your relationship with that town, and will sometimes be a requirement for upping your town link rank, which will unlock new items in the shops. I don't believe that the shipping price goes up if you ship Westown items to Lulukoko, for example, though-- which is unfortunate. I wish there was more of a system of barter and demands between the three towns. Other Features Part-time jobs are back, and are actually implemented correctly. You can take a slew of different jobs that actually feel like part-time jobs: delivering some items for the local store or doing some chores like weeding, harvesting, or brushing, for example. There are also a few shipping requests. These odd jobs change daily, making each day unique. Doing part-time jobs, talking with townspeople, and shipping also build your relationship with the town itself, and has ranks ranging from E to S, with S being the highest. This really serves to deepen immersion and give you real stakes for socializing and being an active townsperson every day. Initial impressions for this game are very, very good. I'm looking forward to enjoying more of the game and seeing how interactivity builds as I go along; I will update this review accordingly when I have played more hours.