Review – Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns

Among the huge releases in the new year, some titles do go overlooked. One of those titles is a from a long-running, yet niche, franchise. This title is available for the Nintendo 3DS and it is known as Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns. In between the huge releases, will this title hold on its own or will it be farmed away? Let’s take a look at our review.

 

STORY OF SEASONS: Trio of Towns
Developer: Marvelous USA
Publisher: XSEED Games
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: February 28, 2017
Genre: RPG, Farming Simulator
Player: 1 player

 

Intro/Story:

Since you were little, your family’s never lived in one place for very long, always moving to wherever your father’s job has taken you. Wherever you went, you always enjoyed trips out to the country, where you’d pet the animals, taste fresh-grown food, and dream of a slow, steady life.

Now that you’re old enough, and as your family’s about to move again, you’ve just announced to them that you’re striking out on your own, determined to become the farmer you’ve always wanted to be. Your father has his doubts, to say the least, but he’s willing to let you try.

Your journey brings you to a unique spot in the countryside, where three different towns with three very different cultures converge as friends and neighbors. Westown, with its cowboys and corrals, has everything the classic frontier settler needs. Right next door is Lulukoko Town: a warm, friendly paradise to rival any tropical island. Rounding out the neighborhood is Tsuyukusa, which serves as the very model of a traditional Far Eastern village.

Thrown into the middle, it’s up to you to learn the ropes, tend your own farm, care for your crops and animals, navigate the crossroads of culture, prove yourself to your family, and just maybe raise one of your own while you’re at it. What new story will you write in this trio of towns?

Being the first time I have been introduced to this franchise and actually given a hands-on experience, it is rather unique. For a game billed as an RPG & Farming simulator, it has a pretty in depth story. You play as your created character of whichever gender you choose. You have a few unique features to start with as you create your character. From there you see the story develop for quite some time until you are finally given the reigns to begin creating your own story/adventure. For reference, this game is the newest entry in the series ‘Bokujo Monogatari’, which is one of the longest and best-selling farming franchises to date.

The approach on this matter is wonderful as it is not just one huge story dump and throws you in. You are given some story (sometimes rather large), a tutorial on new things you can do, and then let back into the game. What is the end goal here? You need to show your father that you are able to have a life on your own as a father and grow as an individual. How will that happen is up to the player. Will the player fail or succeed in their own way? That is entirely up to you.

Intro/Story: 4/5 – For first time exposure to this type of story and franchise, this is a unique game. However, it does have a few issues in delivery, rather huge story delivery moments, and for a farming game with RPG elements, this has a unique approach to the story. Regardless of the few issues, it has a depth that most games do not have.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is rather through in Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns. At the start, you are given little customization to your created character and starting area. From there, the player is given nearly a great amount of freedom to do as they wish to build their best farm.

You are given three different towns to visit, hence Trio of Towns. Each has their own features and different from one another to some degree. Visiting these towns you can pick up unique items, crops, and supplies for your own farm. You bring it back to your own farm and are given nearly limitless freedom to customize and create your own farm. It is a rather great approach. For a farming simulator, the depth is very mindblowing to me.

While the game is 1 player, in theory, you can have multiple players via the internet. It is not the traditional multiplayer per se, but the multiplayer that uses the 3DS features. You have StreetPass/spot pass. Players can send supplies, crops, and other items to one another. There is no competition aspect to the matter, but more collaboration. Players help each other so they have their own unique farms in their own worlds.

 

One more element to go over is part “dating-sim”. I use this term loosely.Depending on your gender, you are given eligible bachelors and bachelorettes to choose from. Will they become your potential significant other? Once again, that is entirely up to the player.

This is rather a jam-packed game which many people will love when given the chance. However, it can be overwhelming at times as well if The player is not on top of it from the start. At times I found myself overwhelmed at the sheer amount of what can be done, and the approaches of it. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but just overwhelming if you are not fully committed from the start.

Gameplay Score: 4/5 – Endless customization, and rather limitless approaches in your journey of creating the best farm/life you want to create. However, if not fully dedicated and devoted, it can be rather overwhelming.

Visual/Audio:

Visual:

Visually, this is what someone would expect from a 3DS game. It looks good for what it is, but the visuals can be improved on. The environments are all rather unique too and the colors blend very well on each thing. In addition, the visuals do change as the passing of seasons occur. Colors will change and small things will look differently.

Visual score: 3/5 – For what it is, it looks well and has some rather interesting visual elements that are time-based. However, the visuals can be improved on in nearly every aspect.

Audio:

Winter Theme

In the Audio department, the game delivers. The game has sounds that work for nearly everything done in it. Each environment has its own audio track that blends very well. Catering to your own farm too sounds wonderful. It is rather peaceful as everything mixes. However, as probably expected, there is no actual voice work in the game. You will get grunts, laughs, and other small vocal gestures, but no full on voice acting. There have been titles in the past from Marvelous/Xseed that had some sort of Voice work, at least in story terms, but there is nothing here. It is rather disappointing to me as you meet several individuals in your journey and it would be nice to hear their unique voices.

Audio score: 4/5 – With no true voice acting, the game does well with the sound delivery. The music blends in well with the environment setting, and the sounds heard during the game are well done.

Replay Value:

To keep this short, the game has a ton of replay value. Nearly every aspect of your farm and character is customizable. Every approach as to how to develop your farm is unique. There is a ton of ways to approach every matter that will keep the most dedicated player invested.

Replay Value score: 5/5 – High replay value with the customizability and the approach of your journey.

Fun Factor:

The million dollar question in all my reviews, “Is the game fun”? For being introduced to a farming simulator for the first time ever with its own unique features, I had a good deal of fun with Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns. However, I feel that the fun depends on the player and their investment level. There is a ton of fun to be had in the game, but you need to be dedicated to your goal. If not, you can find yourself overwhelmed, frustrated, and not having fun.

Fun Factor score: 1-5, scored this specific way because there is fun here, but this is very subjective. It is up to the player to find their level of fun. It can literally fall in any of the score range. My personal score is 4/5, as I found it fun, but being overwhelmed at times just got frustrating. (This is probably the first time I can’t really give a true score on an objective level, however subject score and justification is given).

Wrap-up/Conclusion:

Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns is a unique approach to a farming simulator. It is not just a farming simulator, it has much more depth. There is a unique story in the game, nearly limitless customization and approach in the journey of being a farmer, and other extra features. It is a very fun game, however, it is a game that you have to be fully invested in during your play sessions. Sadly, in the huge games that are coming out these days, this title could be overlooked and/or hardly played. I do hope people play this title as this game as in the large titles that are coming out that are all action, this is a breath of fresh air. I welcome Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns in the releases of 2017. It does hold its own on the 3DS and should be checked out if the opportunity is ever given. This will probably be one of the better handheld releases this year (if the Nintendo Switch is not considered a handheld, which I am not considering it that way).

Wrap-Up:

Intro/Story: 4/5 – For first time exposure to this type of story and franchise, this is a unique game. However, it does have a few issues in delivery, rather huge story delivery moments, and for a farming game with RPG elements, this has a unique approach to the story. Regardless of the few issues, it has the depth that most games do not have.
Gameplay Score: 4/5 – Endless customization, and rather limitless approaches in your journey of creating the best farm/life you want to create. However, if not fully dedicated and devoted, it can be rather overwhelming.
Visual score: 3/5 – For what it is, it looks well and has some rather interesting visual elements that are time-based. However, the visuals can be improved on in nearly every aspect.
Audio score: 4/5 – With no true voice acting, the game does well with the sound delivery. The music blends in well with the environment setting, and the sounds heard during the game are well done.
Replay Value score: 5/5 – High replay value with the customizability and the approach of your journey.
Fun Factor score: 1-5, scored this specific way because there is fun here, but this is very subjective. It is up to the player to find their level of fun. It can literally fall in any of the score range. My personal score is 4/5, as I found it fun, but being overwhelmed at times just got frustrating. (This is probably the first time I can’t really give a true score on an objective level, however subjective score and justification is given).

Final Score: 21-25/30; Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns is a welcome addition to the 3DS library. How much fun that can be had is up to the player. With nearly limitless approach and customization in the game, Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns delivers on the farming simulator genre with adding a good amount of RPG elements to the mix. This is one title that should not be overlooked on the 3DS despite many titles coming out or are already out.