I’ve played a few Story of Seasons games, but it’s been quite a while since I last ventured into that serotonin-pumping gameplay loop. Then comes the opportunity to preview Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, and I’m raring to dive back into the life of farming, buying, and selling. This time around, the “Selling” side of the game has gotten quite an update with the titular bazaar, which works quite well as a gimmick. I played the majority of the first month, and had a great time overall – pacing issues aside.
Right from the beginning, you’re thrust into a situation that’ll be familiar to anyone who’s played a Story of Seasons game. You’re in charge of a farm in a quaint little town filled with quirky villagers, to grow crops and gather resources to make some moolah. The classic loop of farming and raising animals is as satisfying as ever, but it’s made even better by the grand new feature.
Credit: Marvelous USA
The big differentiator in this new game is the Bazaar – a weekly gathering of villagers in a central area filled with shopping stands. You get to take part in a little minigame where you try to attract people to your stand and sell them anything you’ve brought with you, all while quickly swapping out items at the whims of your customers. It’s a fun distraction from the usual daily adventures in the game, and I look forward to seeing how it changes later in the game as you sell more and upgrade the bazaar in general.
I also experienced some neat little activities as the month went on. The Flower Festival was a neat one, as you gather as many flowers as you can to give to all of the different villagers. This both boosts your friendship level with them, which will no doubt be massively useful as the game goes further, but the game actually keeps track of how many flowers you gave out. Giving out the most means you win the festival and get both a culinary prize and a neat little trophy that you can display in your house, reminding you of your accomplishment.
Credit: Marvelous USA
The one issue I see so far in Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar comes from its pacing. The first few hours of the game are spent learning the very basic methods of farming, animal-rearing, interacting with people, and all that. It feels like it takes a bit too long and goes a bit too slow, especially if you have experience with previous Story of Seasons games, which makes for a bit of a bumpy start to the game. Once things get rolling, it’s all good, but that beginning is just a tad slow.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is shaping up to be a rather enjoyable farming sim. The new bazaar feature is a lot of fun and makes Saturdays worth looking forward to in the game, mixing up the weekly routine. I look forward to getting further in the game and seeing how things continue to shape up, as I could see myself losing a good bit of time to this one.
