Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is set to release in a couple of days and takesplayers back to the charming and relaxed community of Mineral Town. To the uninitiated, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a remake of the 2003 Harvest Moon game with the same subtitle, and while the remake introduces many changes and improvements, it could have borrowed some key features from another game in the same vein, Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
While Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town and Animal Crossing: New Horizons share some similarities, the focus of both games is vastly different. One mainly revolves around running a farm, while the other focuses on establishing a community on a deserted island. However, one important similarity between the two games is their focus on relaxed gameplay, which offers players a sanctuary to escape the harsh realities of life.
Of course, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is already a good game, especially since it mostly remained faithful to the classic Harvest Moon game, which is one of the best in the franchise. However, there are some key features in Animal Crossing: New Horizons that Friends of Mineral Town remake developer Marvelous should include in future updates, additions, DLCs, and more to offer players new experiences that were never included in the original game.
Mystery Island Tour
Despite being stuck on a deserted island, Animal Crossing: New Horizons allows players to leave the island and embark on a Mystery Island Tour. During these trips, players can gather resources that are not typically found in their villages, and meet characters that they can invite to live on their islands. This feature gives players a chance to explore other locations beyond their village, which balances out the game's secluded island feel.
In Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, players can only explore the charming community of Mineral Town for the rest of the game. Of course, given that the game is open-ended, having to play on the same location forever could become repetitive, especially for those who are in it for the long run. Offering a chance to temporarily embark on a trip somewhere else could alleviate the feeling of isolation that some players of Friends of Mineral Town could feel after years of playing, whether in-game or in real life. Adding this option in an update could also allow Marvelous to open new storylines and mini-quests, such as visiting the player's previous residence, seeing where Kai usually lives when he is not in Mineral Town, or finding former villagers such as Popuri's dad, Mei's mom, or Mana's daughter.
Customize Village Look
Another key feature in Animal Crossing: New Horizons that should be included in Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is to allow players to customize their villages. In Friends of Mineral Town, the village's design will remain the same throughout the game. Maybe Marvelous can introduce side-quests that will task the player to lead a renovation project. Or maybe even expanding the town itself to allow more villagers to move in. Again, given that the game doesn't end, adding a feature that will allow players to customize Mineral Town will definitely be a welcome inclusion, especially since it will add variety to the gameplay.
Another reason why village customization should be added in Friends of Mineral Town is that it will be a good incentive for players to keep playing the game. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players spend countless hours crafting and unlocking items, moving building around, and terraforming, in hopes of making the island their own. Of course, given that Mineral Town is an already established village unlike New Horizons' deserted island, the village customization feature shouldn't be as extensive.
Multiplayer
One last Animal Crossing: New Horizons feature that should be added as an update in Friends of Mineral Town is multiplayer functionality. This feature has become an essential part of New Horizons, given that it allows players to interact with one another and visit each other's islands. Additionally, it also gave birth to an active Animal Crossing: New Horizons community, where players trade items, villagers, and even turnip prices.
Adding a multiplayer option in Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town could also allow several players to work on a single farm. Of course, those who have played the first game would know too well that it is difficult to run a farm alone. Apart from growing crops, players are also tasked to raise animals and purchase supplies from the town, which can be overwhelming given the short amount of time players are given on a single day in-game. This feature also became popular in Stardew Valley, which is another farming game that was inspired by early Harvest Moon titles.
In the end, given that Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town has already finished development, and is even out in certain territories, the possibility of having these features can only come from a post-launch DLC or update. Of course, if Marvelous really wants Friends of Mineral Town to be a game that people will play for a long time, then it should continue to support the game with updates even after it is released. Historically, support for Story of Seasons games post-launch was only limited to additional characters, festivals, dialogues, and events. However, if Marvelous wants Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town to compete with the likes of Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, then it would need to step up its game when it comes to post-launch support.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is releasing on July 14, 2020, for the Nintendo Switch and PC.