Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is a remake of a 2004 Harvest Moon game of the same name, that features many quality-of-life improvements and other changes to make it more enjoyable. In the original Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life there was the sad fact of death that even came to the animals of the farm. Although this added to the realistic nature of life in the game, it also could create some heartbreaking moments for players who, naturally, became attached to these animals that they cared for every day.
Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life.As a remake of one of the most popular Harvest Moon games, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life adds a lot to an already wonderful game. Developers changed many things beyond just updating graphics, such as allowing players the freedom to choose their pronouns and marry whoever they wish from the romanceable NPCs. One of the biggest complaints players had for the original was how sad it was to have farm animals pass away, as many times people want to play a cozy game like this to escape the sadness of real life.
Animals Don’t Die In Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life
With the remake of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, animals on the farm are now immortal. During the game, players are regularly having to take care of these animals by brushing, feeding, and talking to them often, and even though they are just video game animals, it is very natural to become attached to these critters. Previously, the animals could die of neglect or even if they were as happy as possible and perfectly cared for. They could still die of age after a certain amount of time. Thankfully, this can no longer happen in the Story of Seasons version of the game.
Other Deaths Are Still In SoS: A Wonderful Life, Including The Player Character
The entire theme of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life revolves around life and death, which is why animal deaths existed in the original game in the first place. Unfortunately, though animals are now immortal, others in the game are not. An elderly woman named Nina passes away at the end of Year 1, and eventually, the players’ own character will grow old and pass away. This doesn’t have to signal the end of the game, however, as players can choose to load a new save file following the cutscenes of the village mourning their death, and Chapter Seven can begin. In this chapter titled “Beyond,” everyone is young again except the main character’s child who is still an adult living at the farm with them, and players can enjoy normal gameplay as long as they want from then on.
Death is a much darker theme than many players of cozy farming sim games want to be faced with. The fact that the player’s character can grow old and pass away is still a very sad one but is softened by the ability to reload the game and continue playing. Losing beloved animals who one cares for multiple times a day can actually be even more heart-wrenching and therefore changing this aspect to make them immortal was a good move for Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
