YvoCaro Plays: SoS Grand Bazaar

Welcome to another YvoCaro Plays. This time, I want to talk about Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, or SoS Grand Bazaar for short. I’ve played the game for my review, but even after finishing that, I couldn’t help but stay in the very addictive gaming loop of working towards the Bazaar Saturdays! If you like these bits of gaming thoughts, you can find the previous ones here.

Playing a Game for Leisure

As you can imagine, when you review games for a hobby (or for your actual job), you tend to move from one review game to the next. There never seems to be a lot of time that you actually can enjoy a game you adore. Fortunately for me, I’m in between review games at the moment of writing this, so I can dive wholeheartedly into Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar.

I didn’t reward the game with our highest score (read my review here) because of some small quality-of-life things. Like not being able to access the storage when cooking or crafting in the windmills, and a camera that doesn’t move freely. And the bug catching is a real pain: I haven’t managed to catch any yet! But boy, this game has a fantastic gameloop like in games where you tend to think: “Just one more turn, and then I’ll shut it down”. In this case, it’s more like: “Just one more week, till the Bazaar next Saturday”.

Just One More Week

To be able to have enough to sell at the next Bazaar takes some management skills. You plant your crops, try to get maximum yield. Manufacture things in the windmills that have the highest selling price. Juggle storage space as there’s never enough, and with dishes and crops losing their freshness, it’s important that you use or sell them in time.

I truly love the management element in the game, which is why I’m seriously hooked. I never bother talking to the villagers; they must think me a recluse or at least very rude. But I don’t have time for romance, gotta make sure I have enough to sell at good prices at the end of the week!

Every day for my little farmer looks roughly like this:

Get up and run to the stables. Brush all the animals and pet the chickens, milk or clip them and pick up the eggs. Pick up the dog and the cat, pet them and pet the horse.

Go to my fields to water the crops and harvest the ready ones. Sow new seeds, but keep tabs on how many days are left in the season. Of course, I don’t want to see my crops wilt when the season turns.
Pick up nature’s bounty, like the hazelnuts, chestnuts and cut the wild flowers.

Go to the bath in my own farmhouse to replenish my stamina.
Go to the red windmill on my property and have it make what I have handy, such as cheese, mayonnaise (I seriously love mayonnaise in real life too, as my waistline shows), or items like bottled chestnuts.

Run into town to see if there are requests. My poor horse never gets to go with me; it’s really too cumbersome to bring him. On foot, I can jump and glide over every shortcut I thought out, but I can’t do that with my horse.

Visit the other windmills to see what they can produce, and pick up things that are ready.
Go to the bazaar area and store non-perishables in the bazaar storage. Gotta use my space wisely!
Go into the mountains to check on my mushroom logs and bee hives. Cut down loads of wildflowers, break ores and wood.

If I have some time left, I’ll try to squeeze in some fishing.
Rush back home, check the red windmill again to make planks and stone.
Turn in, and try not to be too late. First of all, a girl needs her beauty sleep, and otherwise, I will lose too much time in the morning!

Surely, there will come a time when the daily activities will suddenly feel like what they truly are: chores. But for now, I’m having a great time! As I knew I would, as the original DS game had the same effect on me. Only the Switch version with its full visual overhaul, controls and IU that fit with the Switch and the addition of the glider and romance options (which I don’t use, but you might love it!) makes this game even better!

Small wonder Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar has officially sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. It’s just that good, for farming sim fans and fans of management games alike!