Preface: Firstly, this is not a review despite the header but just my impressions from a few hours gameplay. Secondly, I’ll stick to the western name here as the Japanese name (Bokujou Monogatari: Mitsu no Sato no Taisetsu na Tomodachi) is just a little too much. I usually prefer to use the Japanese name but will make exceptions for official western titles (and not home-made translations such as the earlier ‘Cherished Friend of Three Towns’ carp or Nintendo Everything’s recent name for the new Battle For Money game – ‘Super Battle for Money: The Ultimate Ninja and Battle Player’s Top Decisive Battle!’ – really? REALLY?!). Thirdly, I’ve not played a Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon for a handful of years so please bear with me!
One thing I like about Story of Seasons is the lack of customisations thus the simplicity in starting up. Hellos to your new family soon become goodbyes and you start up your own ranch. Trio of Towns looks a little Western-y than previous entries. Chat to a few peeps, name your ranch (Vagina Ranch) and you’re soon given 2,000G although you have to be quite frugal. Speculate to accumulate if you will. To those a little rusty with harvest mooning or to those who aren’t experts in Japanese (check and check for me) then it may take a few in-game calendar days to find your feet, but then things soon become as familiar as ever. With that familiarity becomes addictiveness and chores become anything but.
It’s difficult to ascertain just how good Trio of Towns actually is in similar ways to just how good Animal Crossing: New Leaf is in relation to its previous versions. Graphically it’s great with subtly impressive stereoscopic 3D effects. The controls are simple enough even if you don’t understand the language (most of the menus are logical if a little text heavy upon occasion). I’m sure I’ll invest tens more hours into the game as I want a boy in a duck onesie, a doggie, a cow, a Toad outfit and quite a bit more G then I currently have (I’m down to a little over 1,000!) but that’ll take a lot of perseverance. I’ll check back with my progress at some point this weekend!
Buy Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns]]>
