Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns Review

Intro:

“Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns” has finally reached European shores after a lengthy six month wait, but luckily it was all worth it. Trio of Towns pays respects to its roots whilst blossoming into something new and exciting.

Story:

Trio of Towns is a story about proving yourself – both to yourself and your overbearing father – as someone who’s cut out to become a farmer. The game’s initial goals revolve around this set up, and plot-furthering cutscenes and dialogue all work towards that goal of self-realization. It didn’t click with me, as I was more obsessed with the actual farming rather than taking an introspective look at whether or not I had the right stuff – I mean of course I do, just look at my Strawberries – but it serves its purpose just fine.

Gameplay:

The story of farming sims is irrelevant when the gameplay is so routine – and that’s not a bad thing. Getting your chores done, making money, meeting new people and starting a family, these are the narratives that truly drive this type of game and they grow organically.

Trio of Towns is just the right kind of lazy. When compared to other farming sims out there it feels like there’s a lot more to do, but it’s fine with you taking your time to get there. There’s a progression of unlocks that come at all the right times, just when I started to tire of my daily routine, that really mix things up and give you new things to shoot for, and this is one of the most important aspects of the genre to get right.

Your standard Harvest Moon activities are here: planting and watering your crops, selling your produce, getting a lively selection of farm animals and caring for them, fishing, meeting (and potentially marrying) villagers – the works. It’s plenty to keep you going in your early hours, but Trio of Towns does a lot to add to that formula in exciting ways.

The namesake of the title – the trio of towns you can visit – is a really fun way to keep things interesting. Once you start unlocking them you’ll find new people to meet and crops to grow. These places – including a classic eastern town and a beach village – look and feel starkly different, with wholly unique cultures to bring into your own farm (and wardrobe) back home. This helps massively in delaying the feeling of repetition the genre is known for, and in countless hours I never resented the time I was putting in to the title.

This is thanks in no small part to smart improvements on the classic farming formula. The act of farming has been streamlined by allowing you to plant and water large sections of your farm all at once, minimizing mindless chores where you’d previously water ever single seed. This is great, and allows you to focus on more important stuff. Stamina also lasts longer, though if you’re a seasoned farm pro who likes going to bed at 11am after raking three patches of soil, you can turn on Veteran mode. As someone who has less time (and perhaps more importantly, patience) I opted for the generous Seedling mode and never looked back.

The side-quests, or jobs, are a little dull compared to your day to day life. They seem a bit inane and useless (especially as they barely give you two gold to rub together for your efforts) but I still felt indebted to complete them when they rolled around. It’s one of the game’s few missteps, but thankfully they’re over quick enough.

Presentation:

Trio of Towns looks absolutely fantastic on Nintendo’s little portable, with bright colourful graphics that really make the most of the hardware. Character models are lively and unique, with some truly diverse design (especially when it comes to the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes of the towns). The locales are a real treat too, and the cartoony aesthetic does wonders to endear you to every animal in your barn.

It sounds great too, with fun, playful tunes making up the score. It’s background music through and through however, with no piece of music really demanding your attention, but as this is a game to be played in long stretches that’s absolutely fine.

 

Conclusion:

“Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns” is a fantastic farming sim that will inevitably take up far too much of your free time. I lost many hours of sleep because I was eager to play just one more in-game day, but I don’t regret any of that. Even with the formidable opponent of Stardew Valley recently hitting the Switch, I’d still say Trio of Towns is the best on-the-trot farming experience you can have right now.

If you have any love for the genre, don’t hesitate in picking this one up.