Repair a bridge, beat down some bad slimes, collect and deliver a rare resource, and so on. Each morning, new requests come in from the villagers. So Concord will arrive at a bustling beach town, meet the townsfolk, be given a place to crash, plonk themselves down on a big leaf, make the most heart-melting resting animation, then conk out. Protecting, restoring, and helping the residents flourish.

Lay your grape hat in your grape home, and start pitching in. You can rush through the story, but you can also get comfy. I mentioned a twist earlier, and here it is: Garden Story gives the player the opportunity to live in - not just pass through - the four main villages. Concord will travel from village to village, collect equipment, complete side and main quests, delve dungeons, solve puzzles, and fight bosses. The story is much better for them.Ĭoncord’s journey takes the form of an A to B quest to stop the source of a gooey sentient rot that’s getting itself all over everything, gumming up the natural order of things. These aren’t the only hints of sadness and introspection in this seemingly whimsical adventure. “Even a harvesting tool like a pick carries the connotations of battle now,” a large plum named ‘Plum’ laments as they bestow Concord’s first weapon on the fledgling guardian. Instead, Concord spends more time fighting to defend this idyllic world than they do gardening, decorating, or other such activities from the “B&Q departments” school of game design. There’s a fair chunk here for completionists, but it's largely optional.

There’s also unlocking and building cosmetic fancies, fish tanks etc. Much of the profit is used to buy nice hats for Concord. There’s some farming later on, for resources and profit. It’s a Zelda-like ARPG, with an important twist I’ll talk about in a moment. Important: Garden Story is not Stardew Valley nor Animal Crossing. M&S Holiday advert charcuterie board arrangers. It stars Concord, a purple vineyard-venturer so stalwart and noble that my empathy for grapes is now at its apex. I hadn’t either, but playing Zelda-like Garden Story has changed things. Have you ever seethed at the injustice of juicy, happy grapes being crushed underfoot? Probably not. The frequent combat in this ARPG is hit-and-miss, but behind it is a sweet and sincere tale set in a land you’ll care about saving and starring the G.O.T.Y (grape of the year).

Garden story game