Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar (Switch 2)

Having enjoyed yet another season of Clarkson's Farm (I grew up not far from there) having a farm sim land in my lap was quite appropriate. Hopefully I'd have a cosier time than Jeremy, who seems to walk into every wall he comes across. I've also dated farmer's daughters in my time (one of them had a pet peacock), so time to see if the game is accurate to the real-life experience...

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is a remake of Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar, so while everything has a new lick of paint, the game itself has been around for a while. You're cast as a farmer in a small town with a failing market, leading to a downturn for all the residents who need it to thrive so that they can too. Not only will you have to manage your farm, but you'll need a stall at the market and the skills to encourage new merchants to set up their own pitches to bring business back to the town. On top of all this, you'll need to be on the lookout for romance so you can start your own breeding program.

There's a lot to manage in each day (which in-game takes roughly ten minutes) and the end of each week culminates in a bazaar, so you'll have to plan ahead.

In terms of managing the farm you'll need to find/buy materials, nurture crops and cattle, milk anything with an udder, shave anything hairy for wool and maintain your environment. It's perfect for the OCD gamer, but these virtual chores may become more like everyday ones if this sort of thing isn't your bag. The game is made for a very targeted audience of time-management fans and those who enjoy the satisfaction of being rewarded for careful and thoughtful planning.

The game keeps things a little more realistic by adding a stamina bar, which can be boosted with meals and rest, but generally you can only do so much in a day and that's where planning comes in. Doing the right jobs on the right day becomes crucial, and eventually you'll be doing well enough  to upgrade your tools and take things to the next level. And then the next. Speaking of, you'll be crafting items in one of three windmills. This seems needlessly time-consuming if I'm honest, but I understand it's a design holdover from the DS version, but it does seem like a redundant mechanic that could easily have been dropped in favour of a super-windmill. Probably not an idea you hear every day.

As you progress and the bazaar improves, you'll open up new events such as showjumping and pet shows. These bring their own rewards and if that's not enough, you can take on specific jobs tasked to you by fellow townsfolk. It's enough to keep things feeling organic and not the repetitive hellscape of real farming. Romance elements keep things spicey and there are plenty of potential partners to choose from.

Graphically the game is very appealing - all bright colours and cute exaggerated animals. The townsfolk are a cheery lot and things run generally smoothly as you'd expect when superior hardware runs an older game. There are some stutters when you push things by gliding around or jumping over the odd rooftop, but nothing too distracting or unforgiveable. Honestly, I'm still trying to find a standard on Switch 2 where I can understand what it can do really well and where it suffers, but I think devs are still in that space too, and these rougher edges might be patched away in time.

Grand Bazaar is almost exactly what I expected it to be, a cute time-management sim with cute and cuddly characters to interact with. I know there's a fanbase for this genre and I'm sure they'll lap it up. While I found the game's rewards came at a pleasing pace, I did occasionally find myself longing for something a little more spontaneous. It's a happy way to spend some time, but it's neither action packed nor spontaneous. But then if you're interested in this genre, you knew that already.