{"id":13375,"date":"2015-04-24T00:01:32","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T00:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=13375"},"modified":"2015-04-15T11:53:40","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T11:53:40","slug":"story-of-seasons-3ds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/24\/story-of-seasons-3ds\/","title":{"rendered":"Story of Seasons (3DS)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SEASONS_BOX\"<\/a>Spring is in full bloom, and what better way to celebrate than with a video game about being down on the farm?\u00a0 One of the most beloved farm simulation titles, Harvest Moon, has found a new publisher, and therefore, a new name, too.\u00a0 Now called Story of Seasons, the game provides all the farming goodness you\u2019d expect from this long-running series.\u00a0 In the game, you move to Oak Tree Town to start up a farm, raise crops and livestock, and help increase trade in the town as well as make a few friends along the way.<\/p>\n

One thing I noticed right away after opening the box is that the game comes with a well-written, full color instruction booklet.\u00a0 That may not seem important to some people, but games hardly ever come with instructions anymore, and I find them most helpful and appreciated.\u00a0 Anyway, much of this game is like others in the series.\u00a0 You\u2019ll grow crops and harvest them, as well as take care of livestock on your farm.\u00a0 In your spare time you can catch bugs, befriend wild animals, swim, and go fishing.\u00a0 The fruits, vegetables, and flowers you grow, as well as products from livestock (milk, eggs, and wool) can be used in a variety of ways.\u00a0 You can sell them to make money, or combine them in recipes to cook food, make clothes, build structures, or give them as gifts.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, there are many fun and colorful people in the town you can talk to, such as a TV news weather lady, a novelist, and more.\u00a0 By giving them gifts and befriending them, you might get special items in return.\u00a0 Also, just as in other games in this series, you can date and even marry one of several eligible bachelors or bachelorettes who live in the town (Farmer Man Cary is leaning towards Iris the novelist).\u00a0 There\u2019s so many things you can do in this game that there is no way I can list them all!<\/p>\n

Time progresses in this game in its own time cycle. Each \u2018day\u2019 lasts about ten minutes, and you\u2019ll have to manage your time to get everything done, from watering crops, tending livestock, socializing in town, and more! There are four months in a \u2018year,\u2019 each representing a different season. You\u2019ll grow different crops in each season, as well as find new bugs to nab, fish to catch, and festivals to attend.\u00a0 Just make sure to watch your stamina meter and not overwork yourself or stay out too late, or you may oversleep or get sick!\u00a0 If you do, get some medicine at the clinic.<\/p>\n

Story of Seasons has a few new features for the series.\u00a0 The main one is the farming guild in town.\u00a0 At the guild, you can rent and even compete for extra farm field space, which lets you grow crops from different seasons (handy for when you need a crop that you can\u2019t grow right then).\u00a0 The guild also lets you manage online features like StreetPass, which lets you visit other farms, or online multiplayer where you can visit others and help them out on their farm and give presents.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the game does have some small problems here and there.\u00a0 First, this is one of the slowest games in the series (maybe not as slow as the ones on the Wii, though).\u00a0 The first full week you don\u2019t even get to see your farm, just do tutorials.\u00a0 While this may be fine for beginners, players more familiar with the series may want things to move at a faster pace.\u00a0 Luckily you can set between two different difficulties at the start.\u00a0 Also, I found one of the major changes to this game a bit annoying.\u00a0 The guild also runs a trade depot and this is how you sell your crops and other products.\u00a0 In the past you could just put them in a box near your fields, but now you have to walk into town and shops may not even be there that day.\u00a0 That can slow down your cash flow and fill up your bag quickly.\u00a0 Luckily, later on more shops will open up and you can even set up your own, but it sure does drag on in the beginning!<\/p>\n

But other than that, this is still a pretty decent entry in this beloved series.\u00a0 It may have a new name and publisher now, but it\u2019s just as good as it ever was.\u00a0 Fans of past Harvest Moon titles, as well as Animal Crossing games, should check this one out.<\/p>\n

\"SEASONS_SCREEN\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kid Factor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Story of Seasons is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Alcohol Reference, Mild Suggestive Themes, and Violent References.\u00a0 You can make wine from grapes that you grow on your farm.\u00a0 Since you can date and marry other townsfolk, there is some mild suggestive topics in the text, but most of it is presented in a campy way.\u00a0 The story line has some violent references in the text as well, but nothing is ever shown and that happens way later in the game anyway so you may not even read it.\u00a0 Strong reading skills are needed for all the text, as well as lots of patience, so it\u2019s better enjoyed by older kids anyway.\u00a0 The game could be considered somewhat educational, however, as it teaches time management and money skills, as well as facts on agriculture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spring is in full bloom, and what better way to celebrate than with a video game about being down on the farm?\u00a0 One of the most beloved farm simulation titles, Harvest Moon, has found a new publisher, and therefore, a new name, too.\u00a0 Now called Story of Seasons, the game provides all the farming goodness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13375"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13378,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13375\/revisions\/13378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}