It's been a while since we've had an entry in the ultra-niche "Farm and Fight" genre. As far as I know, this genre started with Rune Factory, a Harvest Moon game with dungeon-crawling action. But sadly, that series kinda died and so I thought this unusual combo of raising plants and razing monsters went with it. It seems I was wrong, because it is reborn in Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons! So grab a hoe or kill a foe! 

The name of this game is kind of confusing because it's a mashup of the PoPoLoCrois series and the Harvest Moon series, which is now called A Story of Seasons in the States. Although technically Harvest Moon games are still released here by Natsume, they are original content not localizations of Japanese games. Still with me? Essentially, this game is a JRPG with the simplified farming elements of the Harvest Moon series added on. Which considering the story of the main character having to purify the land feels like a natural marriage. 

In this game, you play Pietro, a brave prince who gets duped into going to another land on a grand adventure only to find himself locked up in prison by some very bad people. But he soon makes his escape, gets a farm, some new friends and a lofty goal—save the world! Or at least, the land he is in from the poisonous monsters that are destroying people's ability to grow crops. Although this all sounds rather dark, the game has a light tone that balances out the heavy themes making for a rather pleasant experience. 

This is a very simple JRPG. The battle system is wonderfully old school and you won't have to wrack your brain trying to plan out complicated battle schemes to defeat baddies, you just go up and smack them. Each character can move a set number of squares as do enemies, but you never really need to plan out where the best spot to park your guy is because overall the enemies do not present much of a threat. Even the bosses don't amount to much of a pain in the neck. I'm not one to play games on hard mode, but this one could have done with a little more challenge overall. 

But the lack of difficulty is offset by the incredible amount of charm the game has. The catchy music is soothing, the graphics are adorable, the world is rustic, heck, even the fighting is kind of cute. In many ways, this would be a great JRPG for very young kids if you're worried about their exposure to violent games. And of course, if you want to relax you could focus more on farming and raising crops than exploring and adventuring. Although, eventually you'll need to fight to advance the story. 

One of the coolest aspects of the game for me was purifying the tainted farm plots. You get turned into bug-sized heroes and explore underground tunnels with giant vegetables growing everywhere. It's a neat visual effect and kinda makes you feel like you're in a Honey I Shrunk the Kids movie. You can also get lots of items along the way to finding the final boss and taking him out. This adds variety to the normal gameplay of running around the world getting into random fights. 

Not much more to say about this game, it's a simple JRPG fused with a simple farm simulator. The result is a relaxing affair the won't stress you out and might make for some good chill time. Unless you're a real farmer. Then the game might give you nightmares about being shrunk down and running around in giant oversized crops. But for non-farmers, I recommend it. 

Hint: Don't play this game to relax if you're a real farmer. 

by Urian Brown