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We’re firmly in the era of Nintendo Direct presentations having announcements relevant to PC gamers and that’s especially true when it comes to the cozy farm sim genre. This year’s harvest of pastoral sims now includes Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, announced with an August 27 release date during today’s Direct.
Farm sim lifers will know the series as the one that was the original inspiration for Stardew Valley and all the many farm sim games after it—now separated from the name Harvest Moon through a convoluted naming rights situation but carrying the series’ legacy nevertheless.
Marvelous has dipped into the back catalogue of old Harvest Moon games already, most recently with my childhood favorite A Wonderful Life, which turned out to be a pretty solid PC remake. It’s pulling that trick again with Grand Bazaar, which is a remake of the 2010 Nintendo DS game with the same subtitle.
“Players will raise animals, harvest crops, craft rare delicacies, then sell wares at their very own stall in the bazaar,” Marvelous says of the remake. “As the bazaar business grows, new goods and services will arrive, which players can use to improve their farm. Help return prosperity to the bazaar, settle down for a cozy life and start a family, and Zephyr Town is sure to thrive once again!”
My first impression of Grand Baraar’s debut trailer is that it looks excellent, which was actually one of my big asks for wherever Marvelous wound up taking the series next. It’s got a soft, painterly sort of aesthetic, adorable character dialogue busts, and conversations that bring you right up into the faces of the townsfolk.
Back during a teaser from 2023 Marvelous mentioned that it’s “putting a lot of extra effort into the visual presentation of your farm and the surrounding natural environments” for the next Story of Seasons game. That does genuinely seem to have paid off into an even fresher visual overhaul than what it managed for A Wonderful Life.
On top of that, the year is 2025 and we’re still getting a game with a glider. Some things just don’t go out of style, huh? Grand Bazaar also looks like it has a very active market stall management system with a dozen different slots to eventually sell from and a whole lot of customers hustling by.
Grand Bazaar is getting a simultaneous PC and console launch so we’ll be able to play it day one on Steam when it launches on August 27.
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Kurt Indovina
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