Introduction
Basic information
- Developer Name: Marvelous
- Full Name: Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life
- Release Date: June 27, 2023
- Released on: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation, Xbox
- Cross Play: No
Initial thoughts
When Simone wanted to play a new Story of Seasons game, we picked up this remake secondhand, excited for a fresh farming adventure. However, as soon as I saw it, I was hit with nostalgia—I had played the original on the GameCube in my youth. I knew exactly how the story would unfold, including its emotional conclusion, but the updated visuals and refined gameplay made it feel like a completely new experience. Watching Simone experience it for the first time was bittersweet, especially knowing how deeply the ending would affect her.
Story and setting
Plot overview
Unlike other farming simulators that focus solely on managing crops and livestock, A Wonderful Life is about more than just running a farm. The game takes you through the protagonist’s entire life, from building a farm and forming friendships to starting a family and watching time pass in the idyllic village of Forgotten Valley. It’s a deeply personal story about legacy, love, and the fleeting nature of time.
World building and immersion
Forgotten Valley feels alive with its unique characters, rich backstories, and vibrant seasonal changes. Every villager has their own schedule, relationships, and dreams, which makes the valley feel like a real community. The blend of daily farming tasks with meaningful interactions creates an immersive experience that makes you feel truly connected to the world.
Character development
The character development is where A Wonderful Life truly shines. You don’t just get to know the villagers; you grow alongside them. Watching your child grow and seeing how your choices shape their future is especially impactful. It’s a game that makes you care deeply about its characters and the relationships you form.
Emotional impact
The emotional weight of the story is unparalleled for a farming simulator. The game doesn’t shy away from themes of aging, change, and loss, which hit hard as you progress through the years. The ending, in particular, is a gut punch that reminds you of the bittersweet beauty of life. Even knowing what was coming, it was impossible not to feel deeply moved.
Rating for story and setting
I have visited multiple aspects of the story and after some thought and objective thinking, I rated the story and setting with an 10.
Gameplay and mechanics
Core gameplay mechanics
The core gameplay strikes a perfect balance between farming, socializing, and family-building. You plant crops, raise animals, and upgrade your farm, but the true heart of the game lies in forming relationships with the villagers and building a family. The variety of activities ensures that every in-game day feels rewarding and full of purpose.
Difficulty and balance
The game isn’t particularly difficult, which makes it accessible to players of all skill levels. However, there’s enough depth to keep long-time fans engaged. If you’re less interested in making friends or building relationships, you might find yourself speeding through the story, but you’d be missing out on much of what makes the game special.
Pacing of the game
The pacing is leisurely, which fits the game’s reflective tone. Time moves forward naturally, allowing you to savor each season and watch the valley change over the years.
Innovation and uniqueness
While the game stays true to its original formula, the quality-of-life improvements in the remake make it feel modern and fresh. From improved controls to expanded customization options, it’s clear the developers took great care to update the game while preserving its charm.
Controls and user interface
The controls are intuitive and smooth, making it easy to manage your farm and navigate the valley. The user interface is clean and unobtrusive, allowing you to focus on the game’s emotional and narrative aspects.
Microtransactions
There are no microtransactions, ensuring a pure, uninterrupted gaming experience.
Rating
After combing through many of the mechanics, the pacing and other factors of this game, I rated the gameplay and mechanics with a 9.5.
Graphics and art style
Quality of graphics and art direction
The updated visuals are stunning, bringing the charm of Forgotten Valley to life in a way that feels both nostalgic and new. The character designs, animations, and environmental details are beautifully crafted, perfectly capturing the game’s warm and reflective tone.
Technical performances
The game runs smoothly, with no noticeable performance issues. The vibrant colors and dynamic lighting enhance the experience, making each season feel distinct and immersive.
Environment and design uniqueness
The valley is a joy to explore, with its cozy houses, lush fields, and scenic landscapes. The attention to detail in the environment design makes it feel like a place you’d want to visit in real life.
Rating
It took me some time to give the graphics and art style an objective rating. There are many things to consider, but ultimately, I rated this section with a 9.5
Sound and music
Music score and how it contributed to the game
The music is catchy and perfectly suited to the game’s tone. While the tracks are simple, they have a way of getting stuck in your head and enhancing the game’s relaxing atmosphere.
Sound effects quality
The sound effects are well-done, from the clucking of chickens to the rustling of leaves. They add to the immersion and make the valley feel alive.
Voice Acting
There’s minimal voice acting, but the characters’ expressions and animations convey plenty of emotion without needing spoken dialogue.
Rating
After a lot of consideration, I rated the sound and music section with a 9.
Replayability
Game Length and content volume
The game is lengthy, spanning several in-game years, but it never feels dragged out. The gradual progression keeps you engaged from start to finish.
Extra Content
The remake introduces a feature that allows you to continue playing indefinitely after the story concludes, which is a welcome addition for fans who want to keep building their dream farm.
Replay value
The game’s high replay value comes from its branching storylines, multiple romantic options, and the ability to shape your child’s future. No two playthroughs feel exactly the same.
Rating
After thoughtful consideration, I decided to rate the replayability of this game with a 9.5
Suggestions and comparisons
Suggestions and feedback
The remake adds so many quality-of-life improvements that there’s little to criticize. The only minor suggestion would be to include more money sinks or endgame challenges for players who want additional goals.
Comparisons
Compared to other Story of Seasons titles, A Wonderful Life stands out for its focus on family and its emotional narrative. It’s less about maximizing profits and more about building a meaningful life, which sets it apart in the genre.
Personal experiences and anecdotes
The ending hit me just as hard as it did when I first played it as a child. Watching Simone experience it for the first time was heartbreaking and beautiful all at once. Seeing her devastated by the emotional weight of the story reminded me of why this game is so special. It’s not just about farming or raising animals—it’s about the passage of time, the bonds we form, and the inevitability of change.
One aspect of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life that truly stood out to us was the inclusivity of relationships. As two female characters, you can marry and still have a child, which is explained in the game’s lore as the doing of the Harvest Goddess. The game keeps it mysterious, offering only subtle hints about how it works, leaving room for your imagination to fill in the gaps. Simone found it both funny and endearing that her in-game family could include two moms raising a child together.
Simone really embraced this feature, spending time each day bringing her in-game wife a flower and talking to her, which added to the immersion. She also dedicated herself to raising her child in-game, making thoughtful decisions about her upbringing. These personal connections made the ending hit even harder, as she felt deeply invested in the lives she had built within the game. This level of emotional engagement is a testament to the game’s storytelling and design.
Rating
Taking in all the personal experiences with this game, I give it a personal rating of 10.1
Last words
Pros
- Deep, emotional story about life and legacy
- Beautifully updated graphics
- Immersive world with charming characters
- Relaxing gameplay with meaningful choices
- High replay value with branching storylines
- New quality-of-life improvements
- Intuitive controls and clean UI
- Vibrant seasonal changes
- Option to continue playing indefinitely after the story
- Memorable music that enhances the atmosphere
- Engaging family-building mechanics
- Smooth performance with no noticeable bugs
- Attention to detail in the valley’s design
- Accessible to players of all skill levels
- A perfect blend of nostalgia and modern updates
Cons
- Limited money sinks for late-game content
- The leisurely pace might not appeal to all players
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is more than just a farming simulator—it’s a heartfelt journey about building a life, forming connections, and leaving a legacy. The emotional depth, coupled with the beautifully updated visuals and refined gameplay, makes this remake a masterpiece in the series. Whether you’re revisiting Forgotten Valley or experiencing it for the first time, this is a game that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
FINAL RATING
9.7
Please let me know what you think of Story of Seasons: A wonderful life in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
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Great review! You really captured the charm of A Wonderful Life and how it blends farming with meaningful life moments. I totally agree that the emotional depth makes it such a memorable experience. It’s a game that sticks with you long after you’ve put it down.
I am glad you liked the review this much!
Would really like to see some fighting, some 1v1, something? Not my type of game but think I’m having hamburgers tonight and thought about that when I saw the cow.
Maybe you like Pioneers of Olive Town, it does have some fighting and also farming!
Haven’t tried any Story of Seasons, they seem to be good games
Most of them are fun games!
I like these type of casual games and I can’t really judge the nostalgia because I haven’t played the original 🙁 It looks really fun and cute, simply what we all want sometimes to disconnect.
Thank you for the review!
Yeah, escaping from the real world is what games are for!
That reminds me of Harvest Moon on the PS1. ^^ (Secondhand is the best way to get good things cheap(er))
Yeah, we get a lot of games secondhand!
This one looks so incredibly cute. I love farming sims of all kinds, but I’ve actually never played Story of Seasons. Maybe now, that it can also be played on PC I might give it a shot at some point. It does look like something I would thoroughly enjoy. Thanks for the review 🙂
I hope you will get and enjoy the game one day!
I wonder if the game does enough to justify a full playthrough for someone who isn’t already nostalgic for the original.
Yeah, everyone can enjoy it!
Rating of 10.1? Out of how many? Good review though, almost makes me wanna play it rn!
Out of 10, lol.
Nice review! the game looks interesting!
I am glad you liked the review!
That’s an amazing high rating! and It’s a good review!
I like the relaxed atmosphere of this game series.🐑
It is indeed very relaxed, you can also own sheep in this game!
haha personal rating 10.1 out of 10, I saw that Sven. I’m always looking at whether to get story of seasons or rune factory and this may help my decision
I hope I have helped you make a decision!
You mentioned the slower pacing and focus on relationships over farming efficiency, which sounds like a double-edged sword—relaxing for some but potentially tedious for others.
Yeah, it does things different, but that is what makes this entry so darn good!
Wow your rating for this game kicked out the scale. I not really played any farming games. Usually i dont like a grind, even game like Ultima Online i didnt like servers with slow grinding. Im more inclined to try games like Rimworld, Prison Architect, Dwarf Fortress. Or some other genre like deep crpg games if we talk about relationships. But as i didnt played them i cant say i wouldnt like them. If game is deep as you say and psychology of characters is on good level it can be interesting 🙂 I just checked steam and it is only mixed there in reviews, users say it should have improved quality of life stuff and that is works too slow, then on the other hand there were another releases of SoS which made this, reviews are a little better but those negative reviews that are there says game lost a bit of deepness in gameplay because of it, what you think? And what versions you tryed? Thanks for your review, now video.
It does move slower, but this is because of the era it came from. I tried the original version, and I saw Simone play the new version. The quality of life they added makes it better, but they kept the essence of it. It does have to be your thing, but people say it is bad because it is slow, but life is slow as well, if you ask me, this game did it perfectly!
I can imagine to play it in bed before the sleep, but overall not my type of game
Everyone has their own taste!
Never been into the farming time games but this looks cute.
It indeed does look cute!
Looks like the reputation of these games is very deserved! Great review as always! 😀
I am glad you liked the review!
I’m really happy this got a good review! When I was younger I only played one of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games, and I’ve wanted to play more of this series for a while! The art is really beautiful and cozy, and I wasn’t expecting it to have such a meaningful story and characters!
I am glad you like the review, will you try this game in the future?
Lovely review and will definitely check out this series in the future 🙂
Glad you will check it out in the future!
Ah, yes, Harvest Moon at its best. It was one of my favourites while I was young. I loved cooking and trying out recipes in that game. 😀
It was the worst when those poor cows would get sick and you have to run to a vet to get the medicine, and it pours heavy rain, just to make it more depressing. :O
Yeah, a lot of memories!
I like review! I agree with all advantages and disadvantages from this game. I think,that game is cute and wonderful.
I am happy you agree!
Really interesting review! I didn’t know it was a remake! 😮
Congratz you learned something! It is indeed a remake, I used to play the original.