Although most of the content still follows the original Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, the remake introduces several changes and new features to align with the Story of Seasons series.
One of these changes is the game mode selection when starting a new game. In Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, you can choose between two modes: Simple and Normal.
The game also retains the characters from the original version released in 2003, although all of their visual designs have been updated.
Interestingly, the designs of the characters were still handled by the series’ main illustrator, Igusa Matsuyama, allowing the classic visual style of the original version to be preserved.
In addition to the visual upgrades, the remake introduces several changes to the game systems, including:
- Supports same-sex marriage and adds two new marriage candidates.
- Each marriage candidate has two additional romantic heart events.
- Items in your backpack can now be stacked, making inventory management more efficient.
- The mining system has been updated with the addition of Pitfall Holes and an Elevator.
- Crops now have a quality system represented by one to five stars.
- Adds new crops, such as soybeans and chili peppers.
- The protagonist can now walk through crops.
- The Barn is equipped with a Shepherding Bell outside the building, allowing you to release all livestock at once.
- Adds several new types of livestock, such as Strawberry Cow, Fruit Cow, Coffee Cow, Angora Rabbit, Brown Chicken, and Alpaca.
- Horses can now be ridden outside the farm area.
- The selection of pets has been expanded with several dog and cat breeds, as well as penguins and capybaras.
- The mirror inside your house can be used to change into outfits you already own.
- Adds a new area located between the farm and the Inn.
