5 Ways in Which Story of Seasons A Wonderful Life isn't as good as the original!

[@FavAMVs]

It’s too bad they didn’t make two different difficulties. One that has the current settings, animals don’t get sick and always produce milk; and old school settings, you need to breed animals to get milk, and they can get sick and die. I really think giving people that option of relaxing or challenging would’ve been a good way to make more people happy.

[@smaao]

They did the same with the other remake. It's just all too cutesy and easy not sure why they are moving in that direction. I've been playing for longer other farming games as a result

[@itsanditimevarietyshow]

What doesn't make sense go me... is that it seems that they are making this to cater to children... but we were all kids playing this game and we were just fine... but of they're gearing it towards kids it doesn't make sense because modern children are wiz kids at video games and complex mechanics compared to us... like make it make sense... why not give us a classic mode...

[@spacecat8511]

@@itsanditimevarietyshow There were aspects of the old system and other gameplay aspects that were Clunky as heck. Great ideas, but weren’t fully implamented well. (Breeding for milk was great. The lack of barn space and a single calf hutch was…not so much. The rooster randomly fertilizing eggs was hilarious. Ducks not producing a different type of egg even if the chickens still brooded them…bleh. ONE seed for ONE crop per square, really?!) It’s almost like they threw the baby out with the bathwater in some aspects which is…really disappointing. I wanted to see the old system improved upon, not replaced entirely

[@queenofcups3579]

I'd seriously pay DLC of this.

[@LunarEleven]

@@itsanditimevarietyshow I noticed on Amazon the age recommendation on this title is 5-20 yrs. You may be on to something. "Kids" as in 9-10+ is one thing but if they really meant this to be playable by 5 YEAR OLD children that would explain a lot 😆 no 5 year old has the attention span for this so I hope they didn't really create it with that young of children as their target demographic. But I can see a kindergartener getting upset about dead cows, so...

[@Miwako_vklolita]

when my first animal died... wow i felt like the worst person in the world it affected me so bad i think i even cried. this made a HUGE different experience between the series to be honest. i think people and children need to learn how to care for animals and this would be a good entry for that..

[@verica4b]

Omg yes! My first game was harvest moon DS. A storm came and tore down the barn and the animals died... I felt SO bad I didn't play a long time after that

[@Miwako_vklolita]

@@verica4b :OO what omg i didnt played that one. i would had been horrified hahaha so sorry you had to experience that so young :D

[@muysli.y1855]

To learn life you need also the hard way

[@LunarEleven]

Same here. I literally didn't know that could happen, my first game was HM DS and I didn't have a guide or anything. Left cows out and there was a typhoon the next day 🫥

[@Miwako_vklolita]

@@LunarEleven wooow insane. it was kinda brutal as a kid xDD like im 32 and i still remember crying hahahahah

[@bgustinjr]

The most important change that is a dealbreaker for me: they changed the 'boink' sound it makes when you hop over the fence!!

[@potato_le_chef3055]

I do agree on the cow milk birth process. It should at least be an option to have cows need to get pregnant as like a hard mode

[@AnimeRenegade]

I was also sad that animals did not die. Death was a huge theme in AWL

[@LunarEleven]

There's some serious irony in that, it's the only HM game where YOU die and yet the animals are immortal 😆 funny considering in most games where you don't die the animals do. In the FoMT remake they actually die too fast, why is this a hard concept to balance?!

[@misterlove7895]

@@LunarEleven old man takakura outlive you is funny enough, now this 🤣

[@LunarEleven]

@@misterlove7895 didn't even realize that hahaha

[@SelfieMasters]

Man, I just want this series to return to being more mature already. Please go back to E10+ rating!

[@charly.s96]

I agree, although I think Rune Factory is a good option if you want something a bit more mature!

[@leonfire99]

Personally i prefer the dirtier style and people. Just feels less perfect and more real. I want to escape to a real rural area stuck in the past, not a cutesy fantasy land.

[@spacecat8511]

I like bright colors, but I still just…do not like the remake’s Spring at all. It looks far too much like a crayon box and overall just really disappointing. I was honestly hoping for something like BotW’s Stylized Realism in the graphics, if that makes sense. And the OG AWL animals are still my favorite in the franchise, so I especially don’t like what they’ve done to the sheep and horse. The chickens and ducks don’t look too terrible, but that’ll come down to if they were allowed to keep their expressive sound effects and animations to reflect their moods, honestly (and if the ducks lay their own eggs now vs the chickens spontaneously brooding duck eggs)

[@leonfire99]

@@spacecat8511 i like bright colors too but for my farming sims that stuck in the past feel is mandatory for me.

[@zakoreastwind]

I don't think we will never get a realistic SoS, sadly

[@videogameman72]

This is my biggest issue so far. The older artstyle felt like a secluded mountain town, the current one feels too anime.

[@leonfire99]

@@zakoreastwind even worse, the indie scene is just going to copy stardew valley now so even they probably won't give us an old feeling game

[@annalepper457]

Fairly level criticisms. I wonder if they got rid of the milk mini game because they were worried kids might try to chug milk? I've heard of people making themselves sick doing that

[@Z0Z33KY]

Game companies are too afraid nowadays, it limits their freedom in the game creation process. You won’t see characters with sad/traumatic backstories nowadays, everyone has to be happy and perfect because they absolutely cannot risk offending anybody. I prefer it when risks were taken, better to be original than to fit the same square everything else is in.

[@spacecat8511]

@@Z0Z33KY I’m going to push back a bit here: nearly every marriage candidate in Trio of Towns has some level of trauma, and Kasumi outright has surviving sexual assault implied for her backstory, but there’s Something Up with all of them. And if XSeed was afraid of taking risks, they flatout wouldn’t be making same-gender marriages possible, especially with how queerphobic various international markets are (but it’s something they pushed towards with canonically nonbinary characters for some time, and allowing sapphic marriages in DSCute (but in the japanese release only-again, censorship and risk of hurting sales)) I’m not a fan of some of the changes they made to the actual gameplay style. I don’t know why they did that, but I don’t think it’s because of a lack of “wanting to take risks” as animal death if your animals weren’t cared for or got too old is a staple in probably nearly every entry. So if I had to guess here? It might be down to trying to streamline things so that they were able to make the changes they did-personally I wish they made improvements to the old AWL System (great ideas but clunky as the gamecube/ps2’s limitations really showed) instead of almost scrapping the OG AWL system entirely, but on the other hand it looks like they greatly improved crop farming which wasn’t even worth it without money cheats for fertilizer and if you wanted to cook meals (which was also incredibly limited; having a cafe will get zero complaints from me.) So…personally? I wish they spent more time with the game before releasing it. I wish the MC adopted vs GameOver if they didn’t marry, the MC didn’t still hold animals so awkwardly when snuggling them is how you raise affection in this game, that there didn’t feel like a bit of a disconnect between the design and animation depts, etc But…that’s all also pretty minor?

[@dianaulait]

i’m totally with you on the graphics.. something about the dull colors back then made it feel fresh yet realistic in such a soothing way. also really wish they kept the aging process the same for the humans and cows alike 🥹

[@crepecake104]

Agree! Well, the dark vibes on the og AWL one makes the village feels a bit depressing, but overall, everything feels waaay more realistic. Even when you’re tired and hungry you’ll stop a while. Watering crops take forever and a bit annoying but realistic, bcs in real time, it will take so much time to care for our crops. Also, sickness and death are a major thing in AWL. But they missed it here 🥲 Also, small thing like you can haggle with Van when selling your goods were also fun! Everything makes me feel like I am really the character in game

[@spacecat8511]

The animals never aged in the og AWL, which always struck me as odd BUT the amount of time it took them to produce and raise affection to their price to how SHORT each year is? That would’ve been such a pain-probably why they *didn’t do that* in og AWL but they did have penalties with a heartbreaking cutscene if you neglected them Now…if they varied the Chapter Lengths to being actual years vs a fairly short game to “improve” pacing after the initial AWL gc release (and said how long each chapter was in the gamebook) then having your animals age vs be functionally immortal if you didn’t neglect them would’ve been fine. Many DS and 3DS Entries will tell you ahead of time “your cow will only live for so many years” in addition to the usual Neglect = Death. …so I’m gonna guess they sacrificed the animal care aspect in favor for something incredibly simplistic to have the resources for the changes that they did make.

[@flatfacedcat]

While the animals dying made me deeply sad as a ten year old, I appreciated that the game made me feel that way. I also liked the calf birth/milk production necessity, as like you mentioned it's similar to real life.

[@Acornion.doodles]

Thanks for this Josh! The breeding and morality of animals was such an important part of the original, just a reminder farm life isnt always peachy

[@50kekk]

I definitely agree on the immortal animals. When my animal died in the old harvest moon games, I was motivated enough to take care of them better.

[@nicoleg6284]

Honestly I wish there was more of a medium between the cutey and the realistic look. I'm tired of these bright cute games and want something a bit more level kinda similar to 3oT where it was gritty but not too dark looking. Especially considering the message of this game I think this medium artstyle will fit better

[@ApolloDawn85]

Its a shame that they cut out a lot of the realism in the remake since that’s what I liked about the original.

[@Midnitethorn]

I do miss tbe old artstyle....the new game is pretty and cute but the old graphics really made me feel like I was part of a real mysterious town. And yes! They demolished our sheep and horses 😢

[@Mito383]

I hate how SoS has moved away from animals being able to die. Yeah, it was traumatizing as a kid but it also taught an important lesson as a kid.

[@kuddlykirara]

The thing I miss the most is when going into the villa, the cats meow to welcome you every time. I'd also like to see an update connecting friends of mineral town connectivity, and a challenge option for animals to be able to get sick/die.

[@benhoward3865]

Honestly I really agree with the animals and Cow breeding. I'd also like to add that the animals walk over the troughs now, I liked the three dimensionality of them before. I think they might have done it because the Cow's got stuck on them all the time in the original and would block each other from eating.

[@benhoward3865]

The game still looks really fun now.

[@justasimpleperson9836]

I honestly just miss the darkness of the original, I like the new style but if they made it gloomier or toned down it'd be perfect, I remember being scared to be outside at night when I played it as a kid and I miss that feeling when i see videos of how everything looks now. In general I'm very excited to play this game anyway :3

[@cleanerwhite9470]

Its kinda sad knowing most of these can be fixed with mods but the story of season community is too small for the games to have any mod :(

[@CactusCandy]

Oof, I hate the sheep designs. I've never been a fan of the more cartoony, pink bubble sheep look, so it's sad to see it in a remake of a game I loved for its more realistic but cute animal designs. I can handle not needing to breed the cows for milk, because I always found that to be a chore, but the sheep thing is a major bummer.

[@spacecat8511]

My complaint with the old breeding system was the lack of stall space + only one calf hutch, so you could quite literally only have two cows producing milk at a time and never have a full barn…but the game practically bullies you into having: all four types of cows, the goat, a sheep, and your horse takes a slot too. So, 7/8 with 3 of your animals basically useless…JUST to Maybe get your child to Maybe show somewhat of an interest in ranching In that regard, not having to breed my cows doesn’t bother me at all. It was a neat idea, but they simply didn’t give you enough barn space to make it productive if you wanted to raise cattle. (Heck, they could’ve had No Feedbox Space For Calves make the calves automatically sold unless you made the space. Or something??) Now…there being ZERO consoquence for not caring for your animals? Now that’s irritating. Sure the weather’s irratic and I often would rush back to use the Barn Bell (and don’t get me Started on the chicken gathering individually…THANK YOU for that Chicken Bell!!!) but, that was honestly part of the appeal? Somehow? OR…they could have made the dog and cat able to herd your barnyard and coop animals back inside during foul weather if you raised their affection and training high enough like in other games.

[@LunarEleven]

It's bizarre that this series has existed for decades and they can't strike a balance with this aspect. This is like a problem that would make sense in their early titles when farming sims were a novel concept. At this point it's just shameful, like they're not listening to player input or even common sense.

[@courtneytatefigueroa1172]

The biggest downgrade is the horse for me! He's just so motionless now 😭 he was so adorable in the OG rolling around on the ground! I also don't like how the animals are a bit lifeless too because of them taking away the OG mechanics but Im just REALLY happy I don't have to breed the animals to increase their dang hearts! FoMT and PoOT make you do that and I absolutely hate it.. I wanna keep all my animals from the first to the last not have to breed them then give them away to keep making room to breed

[@Mike0193Azul]

I don't understand the babying of the series. Every game they put out seems to get easier and simpler. The more realistic graphics of the original were inspiring and unique and the gameplay was great. Loved having to care for animals to avoid them getting sick. The fact that they are immortal and look like plushies takes away such a key aspect of the game. Would've blow Winds of Anthos and every other farming game out the park if it just stayed true to the original.

[@simchi5611]

Completely agree with all of these. Also, what did they do to Murray?!

[@sorata1343]

Thanks a bunch for the review, now I'm convinced that i don't need this new game. I just replay the original one which overall the best harvest moon game in the franchise (at least in my opinion)

[@Gravijahz]

Well, says a lot about the quality of the game that these are the only real downgrades.

[@MarcosFull]

I agree with all points. I think they could be lumped together in the consequence of releasing a game annually. Many times they need more development time even though it is a remake, but there are very small details that are discovered by replaying the title over and over again, and it seems that they did not do it.

[@markuswithak5084]

whaaaaaaaaaat? the immortal animals issue is quite a big deal tbh,considering humans still age and stuff this is actually quite bad on the developer's part

[@catandrobbyflores]

I'm glad I'm not the only one disliking the horse redesign.

[@Midnitethorn]

It's face looks like a noodle 😅

[@xxChox]

What? They took away the realistic animal things? That was one of the biggest things I was excited about😮

[@TheDarkRaven]

Funny how the original game was more challanging and you really has to plan things out. I remember loving it and having no trouble and this game came out when i was in grade school. I had to be 10 years or younger i think. 😂

[@endermenhunter5383]

I agree with you. Animals dying if you didn't take care of them was a good way to teach you to take care of your animals. Don't like the 'pink' sheep. I never liked how your character dies but people a lot older then you still lived. I like how it looks now. I love this game, but yes some things, too many to list here, could have been improved on. Thanks for the video. Stay safe.

[@melleyo]

Yeah I don't play a lot of games because if I do play a game, I go all in and grind a lot. I played the original A Wonderful Life so much and to see the graphics (no more short mc, weird animals, poor horse design) really just doesn't do it for me. I'm fine with the brighter color scheme. I think my biggest gripe is that the Story of Season games never seem fully fleshed out. Gameplay, graphics, and writing-wise. The original Natsume game felt so much more intimate and cared for and this really seems like a husk of it.

[@Miss_Kisa94]

Honestly my biggest criticism with this game was the makeover they gave Cody 😂 he was so cool in the original game! I loved his mohawk and the fact he was so buff and punched metal in order to create his art.

[@TheBasil129]

Same here! I don't like that they have to bishounen all the guys 😅 I also really liked original Marlin's design 😥 Still going to play this though and probably really enjoy it 😊

[@anomalous34]

@@TheBasil129 This for real. Murry was supposed to be this dirty feral bum and kept asking for cash, that you eventually come to like (or not). Now he's this cutesy naked flower man. I hate it

[@misterlove7895]

i like nami original design, now she looks like a guy and her hair looks messy

[@Miss_Kisa94]

@@misterlove7895 I honestly didn't notice much of a change for her. She pretty much looks the same to me.

[@dontatmeimmoody2895]

@@Miss_Kisa94ts a huge change to me to nami…she looks like a bishi boy. In the original games she was clearly a girl with tomboy attributes . Oh well, i still like her

[@monicastamant]

I played the original as a kid. I agree that some things don’t look the same and it’s a little strange, but overall I’m really excited for this game! It was the main Harvest Moon game I played but I never got very far. I had a lot of trouble completing the story and knowing where to be at certain times, etc. The milk chugging contest was pretty fun but I’m glad it’s not just a button mash thing anymore and a little more visually stimulating. And the cow things are a fair point, but I also feel like when you breed and buy so many cows/animals in order to get more milk, you end up with a lot of animals. I might like this way better for the simplicity, but I agree it’s not as realistic. The horse in the original was SO CUTE and the chickens in the new one have a weird tail haha. But since I played the original a lot, I feel like I’m ready for the changes and excited to see it in brighter colors and a happier tone. Thanks for giving us so many videos about it! I’m bursting with excitement to get my hands on it. I feel like I’ll play it in Japanese at least once for an extra challenge and because sometimes the translations are a bit flat but we’ll see! Thanks Josh!

[@nidohime6233]

The drinking minigame was likely removed to avoid any references to alcohol in game. Even if the game itself says is just milk the implications where enough to its total removal anyway so they can avoid a raising on age rating. Also I do think how they change husbandry seems to be a downgraded, it seems the more they remove anything that can upset someone the more liveless they get. How much you can remove to make a game more relaxing before it gets boring?

[@joseruborio]

Ever since Story of Seasons was brought to Nintendo Switch, animals are no longer died even you weren't taking care of them. In Doraemon Story of Seasons serial, animals can be taken back if they weren't treated carefully.

[@Pichu1232]

I know in ToT, animals wpuld run away. I Remeber i couldnt find my Alpaca, go look at the book and it said "RUN AWAY"

[@eatmoreporkporky4342]

I like the original art style by far.

[@onyxsiyrin7972]

Bro I cried for DAYS when I didn’t have enough money to buy medicine for my sheep and it died. But I agree I’d rather have some consequences to learn. Nothing ever died again Bc forever after that i always had a bottle of medicine in the cabinet

[@mechacoffee]

I wish they added some stuff from ds/cute like the additional characters and collecting sprites I get if they wanted to keep it true to the original but I don't think we'll ever get another opportunity for the additional content those games had

[@Unbounded.]

Absolutely agree with you

[@Tam00393]

I LOVE ds/cute and am really disappointed they didn't add more content or concepts from the games, we got a record.

[@unlikelyhydra926]

I was never, EVER able to go up the hill. I was so excited to this game, only to skip forward time... The wind blowing made it so mysterious in the original. They could have done sm with it but, but I guess I was destined not to explore that hill.

[@Phirestar]

The art style change is definitely the deal-breaker for me. (Well... and the fact that I couldn’t play the game anyway, even if I wanted to, because I don’t own a Switch.) I don’t like the shift toward this more anime / chibi-like appearance that Story of Seasons, and Harvest Moon at times, has taken. It just looks cheap and generic, which I suppose is a result of the series being an annual or somewhat annualized franchise. I like the aspect of the older games all having their own, unique look that separated each one from the rest. It made it feel as if every game was its own product and offered something special that you didn’t get with another similar game, which was certainly the case, _especially_ with A Wonderful Life. I think that’s a big part of why Doraemon: Story of Seasons was one of the few newer entries that actually caught my interest. It may still be bright and colorful, but it’s able to create its own indenting by having adopted the art style of another IP that isn’t S&S/HM. Plus I really like the canvas look, giving it the feeling of a watercolor painting in motion.

[@josie_the_valkyrie]

Absolutely agreed.

[@PugandOwn]

unfortunately, I think you may be over hyping the old games somewhat. harvest moon as a series has always been heavily reiterative, both with its characters and its graphics. you had a brief period where like save the homeland, a wonderful life, and magical melody had fairly distinctive looks (and the former two both were more experimental in story as well) but for the most part, you just got a general style and asset swap when it shifted console generation. I don't think that's a bad thing inherently - no other game series can make me feel nostalgia over the specific sound effect played when you back out of a menu - but I don't think it's fair to judge the switch era more harshly than the identical flower sprites that came before it.

[@josie_the_valkyrie]

Agreed on all points, especially the colour palette and designs. I’m still looking forward to getting the game, but the SoS games don’t excite me as much as they used to. Honestly, I’m more looking forward to the new Harvest Moon (crazy, I know). I think Marvelous needs a different team lead.

[@daniswara1164]

Let's just wait for the pc version, and hope that there's a kind soul who fix the art style problen

[@ashleykeller42]

I miss being able to get drunk at the bar.

[@dijahmedi4882]

Didn’t play the original, but from your gameplay, I am looking forward to playing it.

[@angorahm4640]

1:12 This is my first time seeing them in motion and... oof. I had to go back to make sure the sheep weren't just floating. They look like tgey just glide across the ground.

[@KupoXP]

Biggest downgrade style wise is that they completely remade most of the male romance options, I liked how weird and adorable they looked in the OG. I also find it questionable that they kept Lumina's child model and then had her grow up after you marry her.. if they're gonna completely re-design the boys why didn't they also re-design her.. It feels like they just went with the cutest saftest options for the look and models for this game. Big shame cuz this was one of my favorite games and artstyle decisions can make or break a game for me. (double so since nintendo games are pretty hard if not impossible to mod)

[@CharmedKitty143]

I liked the original AWL because of a lot of the features they didn't include in the new version. Too bad to know they're gone. 😞

[@OwlofNevermore]

Everything to do with the animals is a massive upgrade. A Wonderful Life will always share the top spot of Harvest Moon favourites for me. But the system with the animals was so frustrating in the original. It took forever to make money and I used to get burned out with it. I never played the minigames. But that Van one looks fun. The graphics are stunning in both.

[@brittany590]

i will forever miss the way the original looked. i loved how real it was. i used to press the Z button to zoom into first person POV and id stare at the designs for hours. i even drew them as little cut out paper toys i played with lol. this just looks so sad and cheap

[@AmeenSaifulazri]

Honestly, after watching this video, I really prefer the original version one. The remake one looks more cartoon and the gameplay doesn’t seems realistic compared to the old one. This is not the remake we are looking for honestly. It just ruined the joy & satisfaction of playing this game especially to those who have been playing Wonderful life the original version. We are very disappointed of the remake honestly speaking 😀

[@fivejedis]

Whaaat? I had no idea they removed animals death. I don't mind a lot of the other changes but removing animal deaths is definitely not a good choice. It made it challenging trying to keep your livestock alive for as long as possible. I'll still pick this up but that's a pretty disappointing change since it added realism and a challenge. I hope they add it with an update or add a "hardcore" mode that makes it more similar to the original with animal deaths and cows not giving milk forever.

[@yugiohlover101]

While I did love the realism of the original AWL, as an anxious preteen and now an even more anxious adult I'm relieved I don't have to juggle the need to have someone giving milk and being afraid of filling up all the spaces in the barn from pregnancies. After selling one bull because he kept impregnating the cows and seeing the cutscene, I didn't have the heart to do it again so I was constantly worried I'd run out of room and have to sell an animal. Not fully running out of milk and being able to actually choose if I want to have a calf is going to feel a lot better for me personally.

[@sweetpiz333]

What I never understood with both SOS: AWL and the original is that I can't marry Flora!!! She was only a candidate in DS and no where else, never understood that.

[@ambersims353]

I'm still super excited to play it when it comes out here

[@samantha953]

I wish they had an easy and hard mode so people who like the challenge of the original can enjoy it and the casual players who are used to the easier games can enjoy their preferred experience. I also wish they didn’t chibi style the animals I liked the realistic look, at least give the sheep a natural color.

[@zerosargon977]

I really missing the real feeling the original game . . . it was darker, grim, and sometime scary but that was what made it "a wonderful game"

[@PrinceMallow]

Yeah, I 100% agree with these points. I'm loving the remake but really did prefer the more "realistic" tone of the original and feel some of the character redesigns take away from their charm. I really hate that the animals can no longer get sick or die because it completely removes the consequences for not caring for them. My first Harvest Moon game was Harvest Moon 64 and the first animal I obtained was a chicken I named Ginger. I neglected to take proper care of her and, well, she died. Her grave remains in the cemetery of my Harvest Moon 64 file as a stark reminder of my negligence. I never had an animal in a Harvest Moon die on me after that because I vowed to take proper care of them from that point on. Harvest Moon was always meant to be more of a laidback game but removing features like this feels like it takes away any real challenge. In the original your wife would also leave you if you completely neglected the farm or stopped speaking to her but, in this one, your partner will stay by your side no matter what. The remake also could have been a good opportunity to have more characters pass away because it felt like a really good idea in the original that was never fully explored. It just makes zero sense that Romona and Sebastian, characters who are significantly old already, manage to outlive the player character who starts the game in their mid 20s. The theme of loss was one of my favorite bits this game explored so I was hoping to see that expanded upon.

[@MaggieLawlor]

loved the graphics on Gamecube much better. Also liked the challenges of animal care in the older games. The new version has better gardening mechanics. The dig site suffered the worst damage in the new version. Gamecube version was perfect and graphically beautiful. Liked the original character names which fit the characters' personalities better. Liked Another Wonderful Life and it's improvements over the first Wonderful Life game. It was the one I replayed most, yet know that all these years later would probably find cutscenes and events I hadn't seen before. Original designers made an incredible game.

[@lonesagittarius890]

The original game have many flaws but it was still meaningful & beautiful. Consequences should be added in the games & competitions. I really don't mind about the new art style but i prefer the original because it's more realistic.

[@Cnw8701]

I remember years ago, there was a glitch on the Player's Choice version of the game where cows would refuse to drink water out of the outdoor water trough, and would sometimes either get sick, or just flat out die of dehydration. I had to keep reloading an old savs just to get the glitch to stop!

[@winterdragon275]

I miss the bird-shaped birds. I've never been a fan of the egg-shaped ones from any of the farming sim games that have them. I don’t mind cutesy, but this is just... eh. I can barely tell the hens from the roosters they're so simplicity shaped

[@E61171]

A wonderful life had a lot of unique aspects and features that set it apart from the other farming sims that are currently popular. Its disappointing to see them gone and replaced with more lazy ways of doing things. I'm all for quality of life improvements in remastered games, but part of the fun IS the work you put into running your farm.

[@naviproductions]

This makes me want to just buy a refurbished Wii to play the original again lol. Also just found out Samantha isn’t in the remake? Why??

[@rexy773]

she still there in the remake

[@dewoiski]

Só they made the animals more unrealistic in the remake! I agree with your point there Josh, it removes the challenge and the sense of urgency and danger!

[@indigoenergygamer4350]

The incentive to breed imo would be to sell the animals. Especially star cows. Since females can sell for like 25k, that's quite a bit of money, especially since they will produce a ton of milk after to make up for the most of the season missed.

[@MalkavianGhoul]

The changes to the animals is what makes me sad. I am glad the cows are still similar to they they orignally did. I don't hate the big round cows, but the wonderful life cows style were my favorite and not just because it was my first harvest moon, but because they just are cuter to me than the round cows who were annoying with how much space they took up trying to get around them to pet and milk the others. The sheep are really cute little pink cotton candy like babies, but you're right the style differences between the animals should have been all consitent. They really didn't need to change the sheep,chickens,ducks to the new cutsey versions when they kept the cows pretty much the same as cute as they are I liked the more realistic look the animals had in a wonderful life had in comparison to the other games. I really don't like when they give the horses wonky legs like that especially while running and reminds me of the horses the Valkyries have from that one episode of Courage the cowardly dog. Also apprently the new horse doesn't roll around or age with us anymore? One of the only animals that changed with us ever even though they were immortal in comparison to the other animals that could get sick and die. While I was not a huge fan of my animals dying, becuase it made me feel bad if I failed them they could at least given us modes like other story of seasons have where they have easy and harder mode for players who want more challenge and played the older games.

[@itsanditimevarietyshow]

How could you mess this up Marvelous?! Like if they were competent they would have made a classic mode or a difficult setting. The fact that your animals could die was what made you feel so attached to your animals. It made you move with urgency to take care of them. The cows not giving milk until they got pregnant gave us early time and money management skills as kids. It's why this is the best harvest moon. Dude I pre-ordered two copys of the deluxe... one to play with and one to keep sealed. Sad to say I'll probably cancel both now and just boot up my gamecube...

[@ariarrivederci6254]

Is that one teddy bear in this game? The weird one that you can buy from Van in the original? I never knew what was up with that thing

[@matthewsvic]

I just feel like the soul from the original was lost.

[@MaggieLawlor]

Exactly!

[@xXHollysoxXx]

I want to thank you for saving me. I will be selling my breeding star cow now to save space in the barn. I thought it was the same as the original because Takakura said the first cow will produce milk for “a while” and I was unsure what that meant. Good thing I only bred once and just to get the Star cow female!

[@rebbekahcannons9805]

I wonder if maybe the hill will be used for later DLCs

[@creepypastafand1213]

I agree with the animal deaths, as much as it sucks it emphasises you should treasure how much time you have with your animals and be greatful for what they give you and the time spent not just with friends and family

[@ThomasCassonActor]

Theres's a gritty-ness to the original. Very early 00's! The likes Im not sure they will make anymore as it isnt pleasing to modern eyes.

[@mike1024.]

Yay I've been waiting for this video! Not long now before we finally get to play the English release. Meanwhile, I started a new playthrough in PoOT haha.

[@Dimentioxx]

I will never forget when I was a little girl and started crying so hard I puked because my animal passed away from being old in Harvest Moon ToT

[@kinasakuraba]

Omg, my little sister cried for days when her cow died... I had to help her look up online how to stop that from happening next time.

[@syahrulshiddiq9733]

I agree, the original needs good planning and it trains you to keep an eye on animal food stocks, and you can't always get milk. The very first time I played 13 years ago, I thought the grass will just grow until I almost ran out of fodder and panicked because I couldn't get any grass. The good fodder made things worse as it was very expensive and made the cow hungrier, it was a very chaotic first play haha. Oh I also didn't know I can milk it twice a day. The thing with you have to get it pregnant so it will produces milk taught the little me a bit of realism, also less milk during summer. The hardest part was always the first year since you have to manage money to invest in trees, chickens, chicken feeds, crops, it was pretty nostalgic

[@lissrckstdy7855]

well i feel like this convinced me i don't want this game. I used to play the ps1 Back to Nature and the ps2 Save the Homeland and now i play Story of Seasons Friends of Mineral Town. I am a die hard Back to Nature ps1 fan, and i feel like from what i've played/seen, Friends of Mineral Town fills my nostalgia feels for Back to Nautre the best new version i've played or even seen so far. i appreciate these video breakdowns so much!

[@SotheBee123]

Oh nice. This answered a question I had about the goat. I remember that being a trap in the original game haha

[@fuxleep.]

I cannot believe they changed this in AWL...and I was so worried about it from the SoS:FoMT remake. I agree, animals getting sick and passing away was just part of the story in AWL. It was all about life and death. I'm so disappointed. The first cow you get from Takakura actually passes away from old age and it sucked but it really added emphasis, as you said. These changes are so lame... meh. I'm wondering if they're hoping to market these games towards kids or something? because they've watered them down so much.

[@justintheninja5687]

Hmmm...interesting, In my experiences in the times I've beaten the original, my animals have never died of old age (even the animals I've had since year 1) as long as I took good care of them.....Then again, I guess taking good care of them lowers the chances, IDK..... (If you want an example of my first cow living through the full game, check out the first and final episodes for my series on the PS2 version) Just my theory... :)

[@rexy773]

I personally think they should make 2 different mode just like in the other SOS game. Eventho they increase the price from the original version, it's still too easy for me. I can even buy all of the building in my 3rd year in the game while i also spent my money to buy each type of livestock. And i also need the milking room to be in this remake

[@Icyangel10]

While I'm not sure on the milk thing that & some features with the animals are an understandable down grade. It's a little unfortunate for some stuff(like the mini game, unlockables from the hill & why does this already have 5 hearts?) at least there aren't that many issues. Maybe if some are lucky some mods to adjust stuff might come out or the studio might have an adjustment patch. Either way glad despite everything it's still a good game.

[@SoldierforJesusChrist]

I 100% agree with the design and life span of the animals.

[@zelda_stark]

How come Skye wasn’t added in as a bachelor? he was a bachelor in Forget-Me-Not before and they ended up adding an extra bachelor anyway. Was there a reason Skye wasn’t added? Will the other original Harvest Moons continue to be remade as SoS games?

[@monkaymonkay6471]

Honestly, the original version of AWL still masterpiece

[@francisco646]

Josh, we haven't seen many mods for most of the Rune Factory and SoS games that released on Steam. Do you have any hopes it'll be different with this game? Could be a good opportunity to go back to the old artstyle via an ENB or even make the animals more realistic.

[@snailcoochie]

I was wondering the same thing!

[@justafan6535]

It’s the hill supposed to be a connection to mineral town? honestly I don’t know where that other side is in mineral town

[@melolatte]

The new magenta colored cherry blossom trees are my least favorite part, soft pink was much better. I feel like im also going to miss the cloudy weather look.

[@Tam00393]

I think there should be a difficulty option, like easy mode could be as the sos version is now, hard mode could involve things like animal deaths and higher prices, hell mode could involve things like animal deaths, necessary animal husbandry, much higher costs, and lower prices.

[@StarlightBettaGamer]

i always loved the feel of realism that came with a wonderful life, that majorly set it apart from the other harvest moon games and it does make me a little sad that some of those aspects got taken away in the remake. this game had consequences if you didn't take proper care of your animals and now it feels like there's never anything to lose.

[@lucindaflynn2016]

I didn't play the original, so most of these things don't really bother me. I actually prefer the graphics but I have to agree there is little incentive to breed. I do it just to try it out, it seems fine for sheep, but for cows idk. It also really annoys me that my horse takes up space in my barn since I never use it anyway :x

[@Patchuiko]

Looked at both positive and negative list and the negative outweight the positives where my hype for the game remake disappeared. It feel so watered down, wished they just made an repackage of the original and Another Wonderful Life with some quality of life changes and more events without changing the core mechanics and artstyle/characters designs of the old game.

[@ClovertechProductions]

Its too bad they made the animals so easy, kind of takes away from the bond you can create, I remember being so proud to get my original cow to live for so long through the ups and downs. I feel like this remake has a lot more ups and they removed a lot of the downs, I still like it through bought it on steam two days ago

[@sprinklesoup2815]

Thank you for your videos discussing these changes. I still remember being a little girl and seeing the ad for the original game in Nintendo Power magazine. I was blown away that you could raise a family and played through the game countless times. Even more so when they released Another Wonderful Life despite what I find to be a rather lackluster cast of bachelors. I feel like they were so close to nailing this remake as amazing. The new animal art direction and some character design changes are a downgrade to me for sure. The cows really show what could have been. Also bummed about the change in realism for how the cows function such as needing to give birth first. I feel there are already too many people who believe cows just permanently give milk their whole lives, though they likely aren't playing farming sims, haha. I still intend to play and am particularly grateful for the ability to have a daughter and marry any of the bachelors or bachelorettes (though Lumina still feels too young to me...Flora would have been a better option). Can't wait for the English release! Thank you again for your thoughtful discussions.

[@itsanditimevarietyshow]

This game literally taught me that cows have to get pregnant to give milk when I was a kid.....

[@TabbieKattie]

Now Im scared for if they ever remake Save The Homeland

[@yoshiyajoshuakiryu3198]

As long as it doesn’t need constant patching, doesn’t stutter if you do too much to the farm, doesn’t crash randomly so hard it doesn’t make an error report, and doesn’t glitch where you can’t get certain items, I’ll probably give it a go. I love Pioneers of Olive Town only now because they fixed most of the issues after a year or so. When it first came out good lord I couldn’t walk to a heavily plowed field without a crash.

[@eitrtine3448]

Ogh those graphics 😵‍💫 I can't believe that older games looked like that once, I got spoiled as I got older I guess, because those old graphics look AWFUL, I do remember enjoying this game a lot back when though. Ngl though, I'm still a bit angry that they demolished my hobo neighbor moi and replaced his old model with some... flowery, cutesy model. Like I'll get used to it, it is what it is, but... I'll never forget my hobo neighbor, I used to love finding him when I was little 😂 Really says a lot that he's really the only character I can remember from this game, mad about the sentimental value being lost, but he seems like he's having a better life in this remake of the game, so I shouldn't be too upset lol