Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life review: This provincial life

The farming sim genre has certainly come a long way, hasn’t it? Not so long ago, the Harvest Moon games were the only ones of their kind in town. Now, thanks in part to Stardew Valley and the new popularity of cozy life sim games, we have a number of different titles that fit that mold — you attune yourself to nature, grow crops or something similar, get to know the residents of your new hometown and eventually find someone to marry and settle down with.

In fact, the genre has flourished so much that I think it may have spoiled me. Marvelous, the longtime developer of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons series recently released a remake of its GameCube-era title, A Wonderful Life. Playing the remake feels like going back to your hometown and realizing you don’t miss it as much you thought you did.