I’m never one to say no to a farming sim, but for some reason, the Story of Seasons series has always been one of my big blind spots in that genre. With Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, however, I wasn’t about to let that opportunity pass me by. That being said, it’s worth noting that Grand Bazaar isn’t exactly an entirely new game. It’s a remake of Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar, which released for the DS back in 2010.
This remake offers up modern, polished graphics, voice acting, and just farming coziness in general that I’m certain will please fans of the genre. Grand Bazaar takes place in Zephyr Town, where the player character moves into a large house and takes care of a little farm plot on their estate. Unlike most other farming games where you primarily make your money by harvesting crops and dumping everything into a shipping bin, however, this game wants you to sell your items at a weekly bazaar.
This change alone makes Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar feel more engaging than other games in the genre. Each week, you get to set up a little stall of your own in the bazaar area and show off all the goods you’ve acquired. You’ll display three items on a table, ring a little bell to get the attention of passers-by, then sell your items to them. To make things more interesting, some customers may not be interested in what you have to sell, forcing you to switch your stock out every now and then to catch their attention.
There are different trending items for each season as well, which forces you to think carefully about what crops or farming goods you want to work on acquiring to make the largest possible amount of money at the bazaar. As someone who’s become so used to the good ol’ shipping bin formula over the years, the bazaar felt like a breath of fresh air and also helped to make Zephyr Town feel even more lively.
I’ll be the first to admit that it does get less exciting the more you play, especially as you get a hang of switching out your stock quickly, but the bazaar never stopped being a fun little affair that I looked forward to each week. Besides, you can still sell items at local stores on other days if you’re in need of money, though I’d recommend saving all the good stuff for the bazaar.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar makes use of a stamina system too, like most other farming games. However, I was surprised to see that the game gives you the ability to expend a bit more stamina to cover more ground quickly. For instance, jumping and using a tool like the watering can or the hoe allows you to cover three tiles instead of just one. While this does take up more stamina, it also lets you get through your farming chores a lot quicker, freeing you up for other things like town exploration.
You can also take a bath back at your home to restore stamina in a pinch, though this will take up 30 minutes of in-game time. It’s worth it, though, as you’ll eventually need to do a lot more than just tending to your crops. There are new areas to explore, along with plenty of resources to gather to help upgrade your farm further. Grand Bazaar doesn’t necessarily break any new ground here, but the systems it has in place make it feel like a more polished experience that doesn’t waste your time.
Like any good farming sim game worth its salt, there’s a disgusting amount of content to look forward to in Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. Whether its story development or town events, it feels like there’s always something just around the corner.
The one aspect that disappointed me, however, was the relationships with the townspeople. Perhaps my standards have just gotten a lot higher over the years, especially with Stardew Valley taking the farming sim top spot in my heart, but I found the conversations with the townspeople to be terribly boring and mundane. Most of these characters felt like sanded off caricatures who were just happy to be living in Zephyr Town and their story arcs, if you could even call them that, were very one-note and uninspired.
To make things worse, the dialogue and conversations don’t get any better even after you romance and marry the paramour of your choice. In fact, there were a couple instances where my spouse would still make references and tell you about their single life even though they were already married. Which, y’know, is honestly kinda insulting.
Overall, though, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar checked every box I had for a typical farming sim game. It doesn’t do anything new or groundbreaking, but it doesn’t need to. What’s on offer here, is an incredibly polished title that knows exactly what you want, and how to give it to you in the most enjoyable way possible. The relationships could use some work, but for the most part, genre fans or folks just looking for something cozy to play will find a lot to love here.
A review code for the game was provided by the publisher. You can check out our review policy here. Reviewed on Switch 2.
