You were born and raised in a big city, a busy place full of cars, noise and pollution. One day you receive a totally blocked call from Ciudad Mineral, a pleasant town surrounded by pure nature. The person who called you was the mayor himself to inform you of the death of your grandfather and of the inheritance he left you; a farm in questionable condition and with a lot of work to do. So begins Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town.
This title is a Marvelous remake of the original game released exclusively for Game Boy Advance. Initially, the title was released in 2020 for Nintendo Switch and PC, although in the case of the second a port of the first. This is something that is clearly seen in its version of consoles with its recent launch on them, where technically it leaves a lot to be desired, but it tries to camouflage it with its minimalist and pleasant artistic section. the eye.
Technical section
As I mentioned at the start of this review, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town isn’t a technical marvel and is rather a moron port from its other versions. If we played the title on a Nintendo Switch it would be more than good; but if we transfer that experience to an old or new generation Xbox, we end up with a game that is rare in many ways. As expected, it also doesn’t have a dedicated Xbox Series version.
Although it leaves a lot to be desired in this section, it has a very nice artistic design that half camouflages the above. The city, the people and even the animals make the whole thing beautiful. Also, I think the chibi design of all the characters, including our protagonist, is a big hit.
To end this section, we will talk about the soundtrack and the translation. Fortunately Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is fully translated and localized into Spanish, it doesn’t have any dubbing, since the locals don’t speak as such. And as far as their music and sound selection goes, well, let’s say only two songs shine and over time we get very repetitive and somewhat boring.
Playability
Before moving our house to Mineral City, we are going to build our appearance and gender between 4 predefined characters, two boys and two girls, plus the difficulty of the game. The two modes are similar, although in the first we already have grown vegetables and an initial cash cushion. This is the biggest difference between the two. Once we start we will have a mini tutorial where we will talk with different characters, each with a specific function in the city and which will be very useful to us. From there we can get away from it all, the game does not explain very well where the tools and the usefulness of each are located. It is true that some are known from pure logic, but others I assure you not. If we can get past this secret tutorial, everything will be easier to understand.
As for its gameplay, it retains virtually everything from the original title, but with some improvements. Simpler controls and minimalist, easy-to-navigate menus, but I caution you that you should read all the settings carefully; a serious lack which cannot be explained at any time and you can be confused with the orders.
Our mission will be to forge a future in Mineral Town by taking care of our late grandfather’s farm, for this we will expand and improve our crops, contract new warehouses and take care of our animals such as cows or the careful ! That if you work more than the count, you can pass out. To avoid this, you need to eat the right food and be well rested. Mineral City has a day and night cycle, both with a rapid duration, too even. It seems like the game has some bad things, but the truth is that it is a straightforward game without a lot of page turns in its history and focusing on the peace that can give us by taking care of something. something a loved one left us and grow it like never before. The city and its characteristic inhabitants, each of its natural spaces, even our own house; everything makes Mineral Town what it is.
Finally, let us underline that we will be able to create bonds of friendship with the inhabitants of the municipality, even by marrying some, whatever their sex. It is a curious detail and which gives something more realism and fun to the game.
Duration
The return to Ciudad Mineral one could say that it is practically endless. As we move forward, we will expand our farm and our crops, it is true that these have a limit; but even once we reach it, which I assure you will take a long time, we can continue to plant seasonal vegetables, earn more fortune and countless activities available in the city.
However, once you have completed all the tasks and returned to the status that the farm deserves, having achieved a great fortune along the way, we are going to finish the game. After this point, our daily tasks cease to have meaning and importance. Compared to titles like Stardew Valley, Mineral City lags far behind in many ways.
conclusion
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a management and farm life simulator aimed at a specific audience or those looking for something relaxing to do in their spare time. With its shadows and lights that make this remake of its original sound released on Game Boy Advance something so characteristic and which retains all its essence by improving certain sections like its menu system.
A simple and nostalgic story with a special city for all of its inhabitants. Once again we celebrate that it has been found and translated into Spanish in its entirety. The whole is accompanied by a soundtrack not very rich in repertoires and which is repeated after a few hours.
We thank Meridiem Games for the material offered to perform this analysis.