After it was previously announced as part of the September 2022 Nintendo Direct, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam alongside its Nintendo Switch version. The game seeks to be a faithful remake of the fan-favorite farming simulator, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life.
It remains faithful to the gameplay fans expect from the title, at the very least. In the time since the original game's launch in 2003, the company in charge of the English localization has changed. As a result, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life has a new translation. This may leave some fans confused as Forget-Me-Not Valley is now the Forgotten Valley, among other changes. The company change is also why the game is now called Story of Seasons, rather than Harvest Moon.
Still, despite the name change for A Wonderful Life's characters and location, the remake encourages players to come back to the valley to live a farmer's life once again in summer 2023. In a new trailer, fans can get a look at the familiar location, potential future families, and new character customization features that the original game lacked. The new trailer also specifies that fans can look forward to the game on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Considering that the previous Nintendo Switch trailers also listed the release window as 2023, it's safe to assume that the other releases will come at or around the same time.
While some fans may be sad at the lack of a PS4 version, there's a re-release of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life available for PS4, which could hinder sales due to the name change. Sony has also publicly stated that it aims to slowly cease production of PS4 releases by 2025, which may also play a part in the release aiming for next-gen consoles.
No matter which console fans choose to play Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life on, they're sure to have a nice time with the game as it was fondly remembered as one of the easiest farming simulators in the series. Critics also gave it positive reviews on the original release, but only time will tell if the Story of Seasons version will live up to it. The game is still quite a ways from launch, so fans might need to wait a bit more for any lengthy previews. At the very least, what's been provided so far looks promising.
However, one worrying detail has appeared in the new trailer. According to Marvelous' official website for the game, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life will feature a non-binary farmer. However, while the new character customization features look great, the option seems to be missing. Hopefully, more insight as to what non-binary fans can expect from the game will be revealed in detail closer to launch.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life looks to release for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S sometime in summer 2023.
