Remake STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar marks the series’ jump to the Nintendo Switch 2. Learn more about it in our STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar review!
Remake STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar marks the series’ jump to the Nintendo Switch 2. This new release from XSEED and Marvelous takes us back to Zephyr Town for a revamped experience based on Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar, which was originally released for the Nintendo DS portable back in 2010. You’ll be diving into a colorful and chill journey in which you’ll need to make the most of your farm so that you can breathe new life into the once-famous bazaar that would provide a lot of joy to the people in Zephyr Town, as well as to visitors. This bazaar was so great that it ended up being the best bazaar in the world! Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. Can you give it your all to bring prosperity back to Zephyr Town?
I’m definitely what you would call a fan of the franchise, having gotten my start with the original Harvest Moon on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System – and yes, I still own my original console and my original copy of Harvest Moon – and also getting a chance to review several games, remakes, and spin-offs. This has included, so far, STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town on Nintendo Switch, which is a remake of the game that was released on the Game Boy Advance way back in 2003, STORY OF SEASONS: Pioneers of Olive Town on PlayStation 4, as well as STORY OF SEASONS: A Wonderful Life on PlayStation 5 – a remake of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life on the Nintendo Gamecube – on top of the fun nonogram puzzler spin-off Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons on Nintendo Switch. I was definitely ready to check out STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar on Nintendo Switch 2!
The game is also available on the original Nintendo Switch console, and those of you who end up getting that version will have a chance to buy the STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar Upgrade Pack to play the Nintendo Switch 2 version. As expected, the Nintendo Switch 2 version gives us a chance to enjoy a game presented at a higher resolution, a better framerate, as well as support for mouse controls with the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con! Oh, and before I forget, the game is fully voice-acted, which certainly helps to bring each of its characters to life.
Speaking of which, once your new adventure begins, you’ll take control of your character by using the left analog stick, jumping by pressing the B button, and interacting with objects or other characters by pressing the A button. The item bar is set to the L button, with the tool bar mapped to the R button. From there, you’ll be able to grab the item and tool needed for this or that job, so that you can then use it by pressing the Y button. You can zoom in the camera by pressing in on the right analog stick as needed. Open up the map by pressing the – button, so that you can see where you are and where you should be going next.
Using the mouse controls on Nintendo Switch 2 – which is activated by simply twisting the right Joy-Con 2 so that it sits vertically over a surface – makes it a lot easier to select your character’s look during the customization segment of the game, as well as using the tools at your disposal. I was able to customize my character in a couple of minutes using the mouse controls, as it greatly speeds up the process. Same goes for entering my character’s name, pronouns, birthday, and the name of my farm. When using the mouse controls, you’ll be using the R button to click as you move from dialogue to dialogue, as well as to confirm your choices along the way. Simple, right?
If you’ve played a STORY OF SEASONS game before, you’re probably familiar with the overall gameplay loop. You’ll need to first start working on fixing up your new farm so that it can hopefully soon return to its former glory. That way, you’ll get to focus on harvesting lots of goodies at your farm so that you can bring them to the bazaar to be sold. But since you’re new to Zephyr Town and the bazaar for the day is currently getting started, the Mayor will kindly provide you with some goods so that you can get the hang of things and earn some money to fix up your farm.
Any items that you wish to sell must be moved from your bag to the stall’s stock. This is as simple as clicking on an item and then pressing the Y button to remove it from your bag and place it in the stall’s stock. Once that’s sorted, you’ll open shop to try and sell some of your wares to the customers that are walking around the plaza. You’ll have to place items from your stall’s stock onto the counter to be able to display them. This is done by pressing the X button at the counter and then picking the items that you wish to present to potential customers. You should definitely use the bell and ring it away by pressing the ZR button so that you can get the attention of as many customers as possible!
Customers will walk up to the counter when you manage to draw their attention and want to get an item from you. You’ll need to be ready for this, since you’ll have to press the A button to confirm the transaction before they lose interest and walk away! The faster you are at selling an item, the easier it will be to move on to the next transaction, so as not to keep the rest of your customers waiting. Do know that sometimes your customers might be interested in an item that you’re not currently displaying, which is why it’s easy to swap out items.
When you’re working, there’s only so much you can do in a day. Each action you take will consume some of your stamina, and once you run out, you’re in trouble! You can recover a bit of stamina by taking a bath at home so that you can unwind. A bath will require 30 minutes of your time. Once you’ve taken a bath, you won’t be able to take another one until a certain amount of time passes. You should also recover in full by going to bed, so that you can wake up the next day fully refreshed. If you stay up too late and go way past your bedtime, you’ll end up sleeping less and will recover less stamina. If the clock strikes 5:00 a.m., you’ll pass out and will end up waking up in bed the next morning.
The Mayor will provide you with a hoe and a watering can to get you started with the farm. You’ll use the hoe to prepare the land, so that you can then plant some of the seeds you’re provided with. After planting the seeds, don’t forget to water them with the watering can so that they start to grow healthy! Your crops will grow little by little with each passing day. Each season will allow you to grow different crops, so you’d better be ready for it! Fully grown crops can then be harvested. If you want to boost their quality, you can also purchase some fertilizer for your crops. The higher their quality, the more money you can get for them when you sell them. Use the sickle to cut down weeds, wilted crops, and fully grown grass. It can also be put to good use when you need to harvest some wheat or rice!
You also have a barn where you’ll be able to tend to a variety of animals that will provide you with even more items for you to sell at the bazaar. On top of the different colors you can get for each type, there are also different rarities for each animal that you’ll need to keep in mind. The rarer an animal, the more valuable it will be! There are cows, buffalo, sheep, alpacas, and chickens for you to add to your farm, so that you can sell the different produce they provide you with as long as you keep them fed, clean them up, and make sure they’re healthy.
Be sure to search every single nook and cranny during your time with STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar. That way, you’ll be able to collect additional items to aid you on your adventure. You could find special Gold Medals, which can be traded for rare items, gifted to others, and even sold for a good chunk of change. You might end up finding a recipe for, say, toast, a yummy herb pasta, or you might find a recipe for making some delicious ice cream!
Remake STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar marks the series’ jump to the Nintendo Switch 2. This new release takes us back to Zephyr Town for a revamped experience based on Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar, which was originally released for the Nintendo DS portable back in 2010. You’ll be diving into a colorful and chill journey in which you’ll need to make the most of your farm so that you can breathe new life into the once-famous bazaar that would provide a lot of joy to the people in Zephyr Town as well as to visitors. This bazaar was so great that it ended up being the best bazaar in the world! Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. Can you give it your all to bring prosperity back to Zephyr Town?
You should interact with everyone in Zephyr Town to get to know them better, and so that you can receive some requests from the residents. These will ask that you provide them with a specific item they want, or that you fulfill certain conditions. Do this, and you’ll be rewarded for your efforts. And if all goes well, who knows, you might end up finding love in Zephyr Town as well! Just be sure to pay attention to what each potential romance candidate has to say, and you’ll be able to grow closer to them with each interaction. It also wouldn’t hurt if you got them a gift or two along the way, especially on their birthday! There’s even a new bachelor and a new bachelorette for this remake, so there’s certainly going to be someone who can win your heart.
STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar is out on Nintendo Switch 2 with a $59.99 price tag. If you own the Nintendo Switch version, then you can go and get the STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Upgrade Pack for only $10, and this will allow you to, well, upgrade your copy of the game to the Nintendo Switch 2 version. And as a heads-up, if you get the physical copy of STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar on Nintendo Switch 2, the cartridge will include both the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2 versions!
Disclaimer
This STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar review is based on a Nintendo Switch 2 copy provided by Marvelous.
