Making the past a bit more present
There were an awful lot of games revealed and updated during today’s Nintendo Direct presentation. And while the heavy hitters of the show–your Zeldas, your Fire Emblems–will be headline acts for weeks to come, it was one of the smaller announcements that has me more excited than anything else: Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. Originally released for the Nintendo GameCube as Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, the game was unique for its use of chapters to tell the story of your farmer’s life on the land. Characters age and die, and your child can be raised from an infant to an adult where they can take over the reins of the farm. It’s perhaps the best storytelling the Story of Seasons series has seen, presenting your character’s life on the farm as more than just a person starting a new life but rather a personal saga of their trials and tribulations that follows them well into their twilight years. You can get a good idea of what that all entails with the A Wonderful Life trailer below.
In a press release issued shortly after the Nintendo Direct, Xseed confirmed there will be changes to Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life beyond just the visuals. As has been the case with recent entries in the series, same-sex marriage will be a part of this remake as will the ability to make your farmer non-binary. There will also be new events to experience and improvements made to the various farming systems of the original game, though it’s currently unclear exactly what those improvements are.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life will launch on Nintendo Switch next summer. Given the release history of other recent Marvelous/Xseed titles, don’t be surprised if it ends up releasing on PC right around the same time.
More from the Factory too
There was good news in the Direct for Rune Factory fans as well. With the success of Rune Factory 4: Special on modern hardware, Marvelous is reaching back even further into the Rune Factory‘s history for another HD remaster. Rune Factory 3 Special is putting players back in control of Micah, the amnesiac with the ability to turn into a Golden Wooly who’s tasked with forging a peace between humans and monsters.
Along with updated visuals, Rune Factory 3 Special will include a Newlywed Mode that’ll feature standalone adventures for Micah and whichever of the 11 bachelorettes he decides to settle down with. For veteran players, a “Hell” difficulty option will be part of the package as well. Rune Factory 3 Special will release exclusively for Nintendo Switch next year.
If that wasn’t enough Rune Factory fun, it was confirmed during the Nintendo Direct that a new Rune Factory series will launch in the future, which is the only bit of information we got today.
