Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar Preview

Welcome to Zephyr. This quaint town is where your young character will put down roots to start their career as a farmer. With no experience, everything is new, but the mayor of the town, Felix, goes out of his way to teach you the skills you need to successfully run a farm and sell your produce at a booth at the weekly bazaar the residents run every Saturday. This market used to be a huge draw for the community but hasn’t done as well of late, and the mayor thinks you’ll be the one to turn it around and restore it to its former glory.

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is the latest title in the Story of Seasons franchise, which includes a whopping 35 games when combined with the Harvest Moon series, where it all began. Fortunately, you don’t need to have played the previous games to enjoy this one (which is good, because it would take forever); you can just jump right in.

We begin with a cinematic showing Zephyr Town and the bulletin board located in the centre of town. There’s a poster, and moments later, someone walks up and pulls it off; this stranger is your character. You go straight into completing your Move-In Paperwork, where you’ll attach a portrait of yourself (a character creation mode), enter your name, preferred pronouns, your birthday, and the name of your farm.

Despite selecting a voice for your farmer, they don’t actually talk, just make reaction sounds, so you don’t have to worry about it getting annoying. The same can’t be said for some characters, like the mayor. The voice acting for Felix is over the top, as he seems super enthusiastic and excited about everything all the time. He’ll be your teacher, showing you everything you need to know about farm life and being an exhibitor at the bazaar. The first thing you’ll learn is that being a farmer is closely tied to running your stall. The crops you grow and harvest can be sold at the bazaar, along with other items you create.

You quickly learn that your job isn’t restricted to just growing crops. You’ll also learn how to fish, mine, work in construction (helping fix windmills), bake, care for animals, and be a salesperson. There’s so much to do, you’ll never be bored. Chances are, you’ll be running around Saturday morning trying to collect everything you need to prepare for the morning shift, which runs from 11:00 a.m. to 1:59 p.m. After a one-hour break, it resumes at 3:00 p.m. and runs until 6:59 p.m. The time goes by so fast, by the time I fed my chicken, watered the crops in my garden, and gathered items for sale, it was nearly opening time. I was basically late every time I ran across town to get to my booth and set up. You aren’t penalised, you just have less time to sell your products.

I appreciate how interactive the selling process at the bazaar is. You’re not just standing there waiting. You have a bell to ring to get the attention of potential customers walking by. They’ll come up and check out your selection of three items, and if they want to purchase something, it’ll show the quantity. When one item sells out, you can select a different item from your stock to replace it. Once you run out of stock or time runs out, you’re done. Then it’s time to start prepping for next week’s sale; those crops aren’t going to grow themselves!

If you’re looking for a wholesome and whimsical experience, look no further; Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar delivers exactly that. From the game’s cutesy visual style to the music, everything is whimsical and cosy. All the town’s residents are friendly and helpful, and it feels like everyone appreciates you being there to help the bazaar. This is the perfect game to play when you need to destress and chill. One of my favourite parts was taking care of the animals. You don’t just put food in a trough, you can hand-feed them, pet them, or, if it’s a chicken, hold them and walk around to improve your relationship with them.

This is one of those games that pulls you in so deeply, you’ll lose track of time. There are so many things to do, I constantly felt busy and kept thinking, just one more day or I’ll take a break once this crop is harvested. I highly recommend checking out Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. It’s a feel-good game, and I can honestly say I’ve never felt as appreciated by NPCs as I do in this one. Everyone is so friendly and grateful for your hard work! Keep an eye out for the game when it releases next month, on the 27th of August.