A pretty rudimentary entry but it's an incredibly faithful remake as far as I know. Character portraits are sweet and expressive, there probably won't be a townsfolk you don't vibe with. Being able to enlist sprites as your laborers instead of waiting until your child is just old enough to walk is a nice addition. Time flies in this game so it'll take half the time to get to noteworthy events than you'd expect. This won't blow your balls off or anything but it's still charming and cute and very cathartic.

Review on Reddit with Images

IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE

-Farm sim

-Endless gameplay with no ending

-No voice dialogue

-Main character's gender and name can be picked, but has no actual dialogue

INTRODUCTION

Friends of Mineral Town is a remake of a GBA game from many years ago. Having never played a Harvest Moon, Story of Season or Farm Sim game, FOMT is my first so this review won't go into any comparisons with other similar games.

What's new in this Remake other than the graphics are that there are updated character portraits, two new dateable/marriage candidates, name reverting back to the ones in the Japanese version, the removal of "Rival Marriages" while keeping some of the events in and some QOL features like being able to walk on crops and a mining elevator to name a few.

STORY

The player character was acquainted with a farm owner when he/she was a child. At the beginning of the game, the farm owner died leaving the farm to the player who decides to start a new life in Mineral Town. That's pretty much the entire plot of the game as there are no other main plot lines continuing from there. As such, it is as basic as it gets which isn't too bad considering the type of game it is. Having said that, a goal of sorts like paying off the farm debt would have been appreciated and a good drive to move the game forward.

CHARACTERS

Despite its small size, Mineral Town has a good number of citizens living there. Other than some mandatory moments, players are free to interact with them how frequently they want. None are really deep characters and most of them are one-note, but they are all still enjoyable to interact with and learn more about. There are some optional story lines to get invested in like the sickly mother of the chicken shop, the daughter who was left in the care of her grandfather as the mother left town, the former rich girl who threw away everything to be closer to nature and the young man who wanders from town to town without a purpose. The characters are all charming in appearances and personality.

The game does a decent job at creating this fictional close knit community, but one issue is that there's very few life developments with them. What I mean is that they don't really grow older or have any change in their lifestyle. The sole exception is the one guy who gets a new job in town. Other than that, the lack of relationship building among is the characters hurts the game. No longer will the non-married love interests get married with somebody else. The effect makes it as if the town is frozen in time.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is where's it at with this game though. There's a lot of freedom to do whatever you want whether to work on your crops and farm, mine ores, fishing, interacting with the townspeople, or gather materials.

The farming mechanics aren't incredibly complex. As long as you plant a crop that's in season, then it will grow and be ready to harvest at a fixed date. That's assuming that they are watered everyday of course.

Farm animals and livestock just need to be fed everyday by manually feeding them or let them out to roam outside during the day. They can be brushed and talked to for further affection points.

If there was one aspect of the game that's a chore, then that would be mining. To get the high quality ores needed to upgrade the farm tools, then you need to dive deep into the mines. My problem with the mines is that it's heavily RNG reliant. The ladder for the next floor is randomized every time so you could waste vitality and stamina trying to find it. Not to mention that the appearance of rare ores are also RNG too.

This game is great to dive into every now and then due to the nature of the game. There's no real ending to this game so you can advance as far as you want and stop. That said, by the end of the first year, you'll see about 80% of events and things that the game has to offer. The subsequent years recycle most of the dialogue so there's not much to look forward to then.

FINAL REMARKS

The game is a decent entry to those that want to experience one of those farm sim games, but don't know where to start. While it does lack some of the deeper farm mechanics and other related features that one might expect, it still is a solid experience overall.

I feel like Rune Factory has ruined me for the traditional Harvest Moon experience, honestly. Like I can’t really say the farming itself is bad even if the animal breeding mechanics are absurdly grindy, as the sprites are reasonably helpful. At the same time, while I can’t really say the actual characters and their relationship storylines are necessarily bad, I’ve been super spoiled by how much variable dialogue there is in the Rune Factory end of things. Like, if talking to the townspeople every day to improve their friendship is a game mechanic, you should probably change it up often enough that the characters are interesting and have some fun things to say, right? And the game actively punishes you by decreasing people’s friendship if you don’t feel like mashing through the same dialogue every single day.

This also applies to the sprites, who can fall below a given friendship threshold at which point they won’t help you with farm work, which means you won’t be able to make the big harvest bucks. Also, their dialogue is harder to mash through because it keeps bringing up menus! I’m sure it’s probably easier to just shove gifts at them but it’s still a real pain. In terms of characters I ended up settling for the Doctor, but like, honestly, I wound up liking Carter way more than the rest of the cast and wouldn’t you know it, you can’t marry him! It sucks! I mean I guess it makes sense given he’s of the cloth even if there’s no reason to assume the Harvest Goddess requires a vow of celibacy, but I loved his absolutely unhinged dialogue. I want more sermons from that weirdo.

Aside from that I think the game’s pretty solid, and there is a whole lot of game there to keep you going. Like, it’s definitely not bad by any means, even if there’s a little jank and grind in the way (don’t talk to me about the horse’s hitbox), but damn, I did not feel terribly compelled to keep playing past my character getting married. Maybe I’m lacking some of the nostalgia factor, but I kind of just wish… I’d been playing the princess and demon lord tv show… that shit slapped honestly let me play that shit.

Also the game should warn you if the name you enter is the same as a character in the actual game because holy shit using “Ran” like I usually do made things confusing. I guess that’s a me problem but lmao.

Ran is the cutest and best wife. I will murder anyone who says otherwise. Even in 2003, I chose Ran. And I'll choose Ran until I die. #RanStans

It's alright. I mean, it was awesome back in the day, but in 2021, I'm more of a Rune Factory guy. Still, it's charming as all hell, and the graphics are...fine. It's crazy how much the music has stuck with me, though. Within two notes I was humming the tunes.

The game gets a 5/5 in my heart, but playing it now, yeah, it's dated. BANGER spring and summer soundtrack, though.

Having played the original in my childhood and wanting a "chill farming sim" game after burning out on Stardew Valley earlier this year, I thought to myself "why not?" only to find myself predictably regretting this impulsive purchase shortly afterwards.

My problem with the game isn't its simplicity. If anything, that's what I was looking for. It's that the game lacks any of that chill, relaxing vibe it should strive for. Sim games need a good art style, music and overall atmosphere to keep you going. This game just doesn't cut it. The art is serviceable at times, but why the hell do the bachelorettes look like 8 year-olds? Actually, don't answer that.

The music is all out of whack, instruments that should be rhythmic at most are holding the main melody. Some of the tracks, notably the new ones not present in the original such as the summer holiday steel drum one, are way too upbeat and feel like they trigger an underlying anxiety due to being at odds with the laid-back gameplay, not unlike a big chunk of Animal Crossing New Horizon's soundtrack.

Just listen to the autumn song yourself. Does this evoke the relaxing atmosphere of a beautiful fall day when you hear it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E7rsLCKo7g&ab_channel=HarvestMoonAllSeries

And what really bothered me was that there's only one footstep sound effect. You spend the whole game running; over grass, dirt trails, hardwood floors, cobblestone streets, and yet it all sounds exactly the same. It may sound like a nitpick but it really plays a big role in taking you out of the game IMO.

The gameplay elements are basic, yet solid. There's a good game underneath, but it needs to be a complete package for it to work.

This game has charm.

Great, better alternative to the most known game of this genre.

I also applaud the inclusion of same-sex relationships, against the wishes of the japanese publisher.

However, not for me. I have to finally accept that farming games like this bore me to tears, sadly.

When I finished up my play of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I didn't think there be a game out there that would fill the void New Horizons gave me, but thankfully I am wrong. Friends of Mineral Town may be a remake of an older GBA game, but with enough fixes to make gameplay easier, and the access to gay marriage has enhanced this little GBA game to be just tops.

Honestly it's shocking how good a game can be by simply adding Lesbians into it, and along with the simple yet addictive nature it is to make crops and build your farm from scratch really makes you feel like you accomplished something. There is still plenty of game to be made, but it's nice to know that I have a wonderful wife, a neat little town to visit, and a farm to build even further.