Doraemon Story of Seasons: Mates of the Nice Kingdom is a farming simulation recreation for the Nintendo Swap. It’s someway each a spin-off and a sequel, bringing the second quirky story of a robotic cat and his buddies into the farming world of Story of Seasons.
For these unfamiliar with Doraemon, he’s a well-liked Japanese manga and anime icon. The truth is, he’s been round since 1969. And should you’ve by no means performed Story of Seasons, merely put, it’s a farming administration sim akin to Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon (which is definitely how the Story of Seasons collection got here to be .. however that’s one other story).
The plot includes Doraemon the blue robo-cat and his posse of pre-teens, who unintentionally journey to a different world to flee their summer season chores again house. They someway discover themselves operating a farm (which looks as if far more work than their mums and dads had deliberate for them again in suburban Japan). Nonetheless, they tackle the duty with some newfound relish to assist out the locals. There’s most likely a lesson in there someplace.
What makes Story of Seasons fascinating is the seasons a part of the title. Gameplay revolves across the passing of time, with the hours, days, weeks, and months flitting by fairly rapidly. This results in a change in season, bringing new seeds to sow, creatures to catch, and surroundings to take pleasure in. Whereas Animal Crossing additionally sports activities a beautiful seasonal change, it displays our real-world seasons primarily based on the place you reside. Story of Seasons frequently strikes by time as you play, so you may whip by a whole 12 months in a matter of real-life hours.
In Animal Crossing, you create your personal city, encouraging new neighbors to maneuver in because it progressively develops round you. Whereas there are some constructing components to Story of Seasons, it’s extra about tending your farm. Actually. There are timber, rocks and weeds to clear, seeds to plant and water, crops to yield and promote, and a property to keep up. It’s a enjoyable routine. One side I loved is that your character grows drained after performing chores. In these circumstances, that you must nap or eat to regain power. There’s a way of time administration at play, since there are solely so many hours in sooner or later; should you don’t get to mattress on time, you’ll sleep late the following morning and waste many hours of daylight.
There’s additionally a strong narrative embedded. That is each a constructive and a unfavourable side of Doraemon’s second farming sim. On the plus aspect, the story makes for a enjoyable single-player journey as you be taught extra concerning the characters round you and work collectively to develop your farm into one thing particular. Then again, this isn’t a visible novel, and the prolonged dialogue typically interrupts the circulate of the gameplay.
Sure, the plot could also be fascinating, light-hearted, and even emotional at instances, however generally it’s an excessive amount of. A protracted introduction and a number of cutscenes is perhaps simply what Doraemon followers clamor for, nevertheless it drastically slows the tempo of the sport. The forged is completely voice acted – a pleasant contact – nevertheless it’s additionally completely in Japanese. Whereas this feels genuine for the subject material, it means there’s lots of on-screen textual content to learn. I like an excellent visible novel, but I discovered myself annoyed by the fixed interruptions once I simply wished to are likely to my crops earlier than the solar went down.
Graphically, there’s loads to love about this title. Doraemon and firm are nicely designed, with anime-authentic sprites that look and transfer nicely. The atmosphere can be a deal with to behold, with detailed environment that leap off the display screen. As talked about, the seasons change to carry new components to take pleasure in; irrespective of which season, it’s at all times visually putting.
As beautiful as these visuals are, the map is one other supply of frustration. It’s not intuitive and, though it turns into simpler to navigate with observe, the pathways aren’t apparent. Coupled with the plot-based interruptions, it really works towards itself to decelerate the tempo of the sport, making trekking between locales a chore.
Total, Doraemon Story of Seasons: Mates of the Nice Kingdom is a crossover title that’s prone to enchantment to followers of Doraemon and Story of Seasons. In case you don’t fall into each camps, I’d stick to a extra generic farm-sim outing. It appears to be like implausible and has a deep narrative, though it typically will get in the best way of the particular farming.
