Cutesy farmer Story Of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town is out now
Strawberry calves
Grab your pitchfork and put on your sturdiest boots, readers - it is once again time to reap the pastoral delights of small-town farm life. Story Of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town, Xseed Games' same-subtitled remake of the 2003's Harvest Moon release, is now out on Steam. One to watch out for, if you fancy Stardew Valley's mix of farming, fishing and romancin' with more of a cutesy chibi flair.
I could do with a soak in a hot spring myself once the day's over, mind. These tiny farmers don't know how good they have it.
If you've played, well, any of our favourite Stardew Valley-likes, you'll know the drill. Coming into ownership of your gramps' old farm, you'll have to sow your own crops, stable up some delightfully chunky animals, all while getting to know the folks hanging around in Mineral Town. You'll probably get to know one or two of them real well, if you catch my drift.
As the first Story Of Seasons game to launch on PC alongside its console peers, FOMT has been given the 4K treatment and should properly support mouse and keyboard controls. The 17-year-old handheld game's also been given a soft 3D look, with plump characters waddling over watercolour landscapes. It's hardly the sharpest looking game around, sure, and the style isn't quite my bag. But it's got a cutesy charm, and certainly looks a lot nicer than Harvest Moon's rather naff PC debut, Light of Hope.
When she penned her list of games like Stardew Valley, Katherine lamented that Light Of Hope just "wasn't as satisfying to play as Back to Nature or Friends Of Mineral Town." She'll be glad to know, then, that Story Of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town is out now on Steam for £43/€50/$50.