Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar Review - A Warm Welcome Home

With every Story of Seasons release, developing studio Marvelous gets closer and closer to finding the best recipe for a farming/life simulator, and Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is its next remake that blends old-school farming sim mechanics with all of the quirks that made Zephyr Town a beloved location in the franchise. 

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is a remake of the original Grand Bazaar title, though it was called Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar at the time. The game sends players to Zephyr Town, where they not only take the role of the local farmer but also open a booth at the local bazaar.

In the latest iteration of the game, players are asked to grow the bazaar after the previous farmer left town years prior. There’s a storyline that drives this bazaar growth, making Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar more narrative-driven than ever before in the franchise (with the exception of perhaps Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life). 

Every Saturday, players will sell anything they have at their own bazaar stall. The bazaar is also where players will buy most of their things, though there is a general store that carries seeds and animal food for emergencies.

That leaves the rest of the week for farming and general day-to-day activities, like talking to villagers and foraging for supplies. 

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar Makes Every Area Shine

Whether it’s a busy bazaar Saturday or a leisurely Tuesday, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar makes every in-game day enjoyable. Between an impressive number of events around town and plenty to do, there’s a feeling that every day matters. 

Of course, the bazaar days are constantly busy. Selling to customers involves getting their attention with a cowbell and placing items they like on display. Don’t be fooled, this is harder than it sounds – things get hectic easily, and it’s easy to lose the interest of some customers while you’re serving others. 

Events crop up around the map consistently as you get to know the characters, breathing life into an already-bustling town. Not only do these give each day meaning, they’re easy to find – a map with notifications when an event is happening and where leads you to where you need to be. 

These events highlight all the villagers in Zephyr Town, and some of them are sweet glimpses into the lives of townspeople you’d otherwise know little about. These also do a great job at pushing the relationships of bachelors and bachelorettes and the main story.

All of this also helps push the idea that the player is welcome in a loving, full-of-life town. It also helps that, for the first time ever, the major events and story are completely voiced. 

Even without events, there are plenty of quests to focus on. Villagers will ask for help as your relationship with them builds. Additionally, you can endlessly gather materials and forage to donate to sprites. Not only does this give rewards, but it also increases various quality levels of the things you donate. 

Plus, crafting things is a major part of the game, and crafting takes time. As you get further into the game, you’ll be going through long, multiple-step crafting formulas using a variety of materials. 

This isn’t something that’s really a big focus in newer games in the genre. It’s definitely something that adds complexity to a farming sim in a great way without being overbearing, and its presence in the remake is a welcome reminder of where the genre was nearly 20 years ago. 

However, all of this does take a bit to set up. 

It’s easy to feel like things are slow at the beginning, as unlocking every available thing to do and starting to build relationships takes time. This does make the first Spring feel a bit slow, particularly if you know your way around farming sims or have played the original Grand Bazaar title.

After the first Spring, things progress at a nice pace, and I found I always had something to do around town the entire rest of the first year. 

Even Spring of Year 2, while a bit slower on festivals, still had plenty for me to focus on doing. As someone who’s an avid farming/life sim lover, this was something I’d never really experienced in other games in the genre. 

Zephyr Town Has Never Been More Beautiful

It’d be easy for everything already mentioned to make a great Story of Seasons game, but Grand Bazaar outdoes itself with the aesthetics of Zephyr Town. 

Zephyr Town is arguably the best-looking town in Story of Seasons history, and it’s always been gorgeous. It strikes a great balance between the natural environment and a tiny, yet bustling, town, and the windmills and traversal mechanics have always been fun. 

The wind and movement mechanics, including jumping around and gliding to other areas, feel intuitive and make running around entertaining. 

And then, perhaps the most surprising part of Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar for me was the music. Farming Sims aren’t known for their soundtracks, but Grand Bazaar had several gorgeous tracks that forced me to stop and appreciate them. 

Overall, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar Is One of The Best Yet

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is a home run for players who loved the original and an amazing introductory farming/life sim for newcomers. 

It’s cozy without being too simple, the characters and town are brimming with life, and it’s one of the prettiest Story of Seasons games. I had high hopes for the remake, and I’m glad to see that Marvelous did more than deliver – it awed. 

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar was reviewed on PC with a copy provided by the developer over the course of 49 hours of gameplay - all screenshots were taken during the process of review.