Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life has had a long, strange afterlife since its initial release on the GameCube. A couple of decades and a name change later, and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life picks up the cutesy farming RPG mantle. This is actually the third remake of the original (and that's not even counting a remaster of one of the remakes and the reuse of settings and NPCs in a couple of DS games). Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life starts with that GameCube original, but then grabs at a few of the features added in the remakes and throws a few brand new elements into the mix for good measure. But you start where you always start: you inherit a farm in Forgotten Valley from your deceased dad and find yourself with a job on your hands - turning it into a thriving business while you raise a family. The core farming mechanics remain happily unchanged, and the new additions are there to make the farm easier to run without detracting from the complexity lurking beneath the game's pleasant exterior. Improvements include features like the new fertiliser maker, the option to stick path tiles around trees so you don't accidentally plant crops that interfere with their roots and the ability to ship crops from the start of your playthrough. At its core, though, A Wonderful Life is still about the rhythm of planting crops, nurturing them, cross-pollinating to create new species, caring for animals and tending your facilities. Beyond the farm, you'll have the valley to explore and plenty of neighbours to meet. Among them will be your future spouse, and together you can start a family and turn your story into an inter-generational epic. Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is your chance to live the good life, wherever you happen to be.
