Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is releasing soon for the PC and Nintendo Switch, and pre-orders for the game are still available. To those unfamiliar, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a farming simulator that tasks players in revitalizing the dilapidated farm that was left to them by their deceased grandfather. Apart from tending to crops, players can also raise animals, mine ores and other gems, participate in town festivals, and date other villagers.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a remake of the 2003 game, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. However, due to a falling out between developer Marvelous and publisher Natsume, who handles distribution of the game to the west and owns the Harvest Moon name, all Harvest Moon games that are developed by Marvelous are now labeled as Story of Seasons and are different than the current Harvest Moon games developed by Natsume.
Now, most veteran Harvest Moon players would probably agree that Friends of Mineral Town remains to be one of the best installments in the franchise, which is why many are excited for the upcoming remake of the game. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town PC Version is a first for the series, yet it remains faithful to the original game. Marvelous also introduced several exciting new features to Friends of Mineral Town, and here is a breakdown of all them.
New Protagonists and Outfits
First, players are now able to choose four new protagonists to play with. Classic characters Pete and Claire make a return alongside new characters Naomi and Yuuto. All four characters are immediately selectable when starting a new farm, unlike in the original game where players who prefer the female character would have to purchase the female version of Friends of Mineral Town separately, which is called More Friends of Mineral Town. Of course, it is worth noting that the names listed above are just the default names of these characters, and players can change them at the very beginning.
Apart from the two new protagonists, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town also added new outfits for players to try out. The best part about these new outfits is that they are accessible from the start of the game, and players can change as often as they like using the mirror that can be found inside their houses. There are twelve new outfits in total, and this includes the classic overalls that Pete and Claire wore in the original game. This means that those who prefer the look of new characters Naomi and Yuuto can still don the classic outfits from the original game. Additionally, players who will pre-order the game will get a cow costume for free, and this costume, alongside many others, can be purchased separately at the Nintendo eShop.
Updated Character Designs and New Villagers
One of the best elements of Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is its adorable cast of NPCs. These villagers give life to the game, and it is always interesting to see their dramas and antics, which players will witness in their new life at Mineral Town. All characters from the original game are making a comeback in the remake, and Marvelous have updated their sprite design and character portraits. However, what did change are the names of some characters, and the reason for this is that Marvelous wanted the English names of these characters to be closer to their Japanese counterparts. Here are all the villagers who had their names changed in the remake (Left: original, Right: new):
- Ann - Ran
- Doug - Dudley
- Elli - Elly
- Gotz - Gotts
- Won - Huang
- Luu - Lou
- Mary - Marie
- May - Mei
- Barley - Mugi
- Stu - Yu
Apart from the name changes, all characters received an updated design, though a good number of them were remade from the ground up. Two new villagers are also introduced in Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town: Brandon and Jennifer, who are both romanceable characters. Brandon is the eccentric and passionate artist who takes up residence at Gotts' workshop. While Jennifer is a free-spirit nature loving person, who, just like the player, escaped city life to be surrounded by Mother Nature's wonders.
New Animals and Pets
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town also introduces a new variety of livestock that will also produce new items for players to sell. Originally, Friends of Mineral Town only included cows, sheep, and chickens. However, the remake added more variations of those animals and here is the breakdown of all of them:
- Brown Chicken - Egg
- Coffee Cow - Coffee Milk
- Strawberry Cow - Strawberry Milk
- Fruit Cow - Fruit Milk
- Angora Rabbit - Rabbit Fur
- Alpaca - Alpaca Wool
Apart from livestock, new pets are also included in the remake. Originally, players were only limited to having a dog and a horse in the game, but the new game adds more species of dogs, cats, penguins, and capybaras.
Inclusive Dating and Marriage System
One of the biggest changes that Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town introduced in the game is an inclusive dating and marriage system. In the original game, players can only romance a villager of the opposite sex. However, in the remake, players can date, marry, and witness the heart events of all romanceable villagers regardless of the gender of the player's character.
This provides players with twice the amount of heart events than the original, making the game much more interesting and inclusive. However, it is worth noting that while the Western versions of Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town allow same-sex marriages, the term used in the Japanese version is called the best friend system, though both are similar apart from the label used.
Updated Gameplay and Quality of Life Upgrades
Apart from all the huge additions detailed above, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town will also include a plethora of new features and much-needed quality of life upgrades. To start, all festivals from the original game and Harvest Moon: Back To Nature makes a return to the remake, with some changes to mechanics. Additionally, new festivals are also added to the game, which will make each playthrough even more exciting. Players can also play background music from previous games with the record player, but it is worth noting that old music will only play on the farm and the forest.
Moreover, players can now save and load their progress at any point in the game, which is extremely convenient, especially when the player wants to redo an action that they made on a particular part of the day. There are also eight save slots available in the remake, which is 6 more than the save slots available in the original Friends of Mineral Town. Lastly, fishing, mining, and cooking have all been updated, and the game now features two difficulty options.
The Simple Mode gives players a headstart with a handful of Turnips and Gold from the very beginning, more money earned when shipping items and villagers are easy to befriend. On the other hand, the Normal Mode is the classic gameplay that veteran players are familiar with, and the only thing players have at the start of the game is 500 Gold.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is set to launch in North America on July 14, 2020, for the PC and Switch.