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.
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.