so apparently this is the fusion of two different ongoing franchises I've never heard of?
watched the E3 trailer, looks like a farming sim plus some combat
Read my first few posts in the thread! It's actually the opposite of that: it's a traditional '90s-style JRPG with a little farming added as an ongoing (but entirely optional) minigame.
Basically, you know how older JRPGs always had game-spanning minigames that you could dump a ton of time into, like chocobo breeding in FF7 or Triple Triad in FF8? This game basically does that with farming.
Farming does play a big role in the plot, but you don't actually have to DO it if you don't want to.
The general spiel I've been giving to people at E3:
The story opens with PopoloCrois Kingdom being plagued by black beasts who corrupt the soil and prevent anything from growing. The king of the land summons an ambassador from a foreign country called Galariland to assist PopoloCrois with this problem, since Galariland faced a similar threat not long ago but was supposedly able to overcome it. The ambassador in question suggests that Prince Pietro go to Galariland personally and learn the ways they discovered to combat the black beasts... but upon being transported there, Prince Pietro gets stuck, with no way home. No one believes he's a prince of a foreign land, and everyone there is suffering from famine due to the black beasts corrupting their soil as well.
With nowhere else to go, Prince Pietro (and his newfound wolf companion) settle into a farmhouse on an abandoned plot of land, where they encounter a fairy named Connie who uses her magic to shrink the two of them to the size of ants and pull them into the farmland itself, to directly seek out and destroy the dark forces corrupting the soil. After successfully doing so, Pietro is able to farm the land to get by, and realizes that if he can go from town to town in Galariland and help un-corrupt all the soil, he might be able to revive Galariel (more or less the harvest goddess), who can use her magic to send him back home to PopoloCrois.
Thus begins his long world-spanning trek, which will take him to the four corners of Galariland as he encounters various whimsical characters (like a dude with a pumpkin for a head, who goes by the name "Pumpkinman"), gets involved in a ton of local conflicts, and continues to shrink himself down to minuscule size so he can clear out farmland and stave off famine for the local populace.
It's all got that fantasy children's storybook feel to it, and is very much a feel-good JRPG -- it's a game to play whenever you need a pick-me-up, because let me tell you, it is the ultimate pick-me-up game! Very sweet, wholesome, and charming, and sure to jerk a few tears every now and again as well.
-Tom
