Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns – Summer, Year 1

We are back! If you remember when the last Story of Seasons game launched on the Nintendo 3DS, I did a number of diary entries breaking down what I was doing each month. With this new release, Trio of Towns, I plan to do the same, instead of doing a traditional review. So, let’s not waste any time and get into this! We already looked at our first season in Story of Seasons here, and although I haven’t finished season 2 (Summer), I have too much to talk about already!

Ramping Up

Things quickly got going after the completion of Spring, and the game slowly began to hold your hand less. Within the first couple days, you will unlock your third town, which for me is the most disappointing of the available options aside from the fact that there are tons of things to pick up off the ground from there. It was about this time I also realized my next house upgrade was going to run me 150,00 dollars, so it was time to start saving.

There are lots of plants available for each season, but I stuck with two regrowable options: tomatoes and corn. While the corn has turned out to be a great investment, paying off huge dividends after the 13-15 day growing period, the tomatoes have been a big disappointment. If I could go back, I’d scrap the tomatoes for something else. While the rate at which they grow is pretty quick, you only get to harvest one tomato – with the chance of harvesting a bonus tomato – every few days, which in the long run isn’t as good as harvest 9 of something else.

Upgrading the Tools

After you get your hammer, tackling the various mining opportunities in the town is one of those activities you want to make sure you do each and every day. While generally you are likely to just get basic common crafting materials – stones, bricks, etc. – the game doles out a healthy number of valuable gems, which serve two purposes. If you want to make cash quick, the least expensive of the gems wills till fetch you 3000 dollars, with the most expensive going up to 8000! However, a number of these gems will be required for upgrading your various tools, something I highly recommend.

I won’t get into all my upgrades here, but I need to suggest upgrades for one tool in particular: your hammer. When you first get your hammer, only two of the four mining opportunities are available to you as your hammer isn’t good enough to smash the others. However, with a few quick upgrades to your hammer’s efficiency and power, and you can tackle all of them.

Like I said earlier, what you get from mining can range from cheap construction items to expensive jewels. If you double your mining odds, you are effectively doubling the number of resources you can gather. And trust me, nothing is more valuable when compared to time spend doing the task, as mining.

Animals

Your initial coop and barn will definitely be too small for keeping large numbers of animals, so upgrading that will be a priority. But, with what you currently have, you can at least nab your first cow, which will be an extra source of income, as well as give you the ability to complete more of the part time job missions. These mission will not only net you high rewards – 300 – 500 dollars, compared to 100 or 150 for other jobs – but also help you increase your various town ranks.

When purchasing your first cow, you’ll want to make sure you grab the appropriate tools to go along with it, including a brush to keep your cow clean, a pitchfork to keep the barn clean, and obviously a milker. Like other tools, these can all be upgraded.

Half Way Through Summer

I’ll be back with more of my Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns play through, but for now, look at my season 2 stats and prep yourself for my next diary entry!

First Season Info

Crops Planted – Tomatoes, Corn

Favorite Crop – Corn

New Tools Acquired –  Milker, Brush, Pitchfork

Tools Upgraded – Hammer (Power and Efficiency), Watering Can (Efficiency and 3×1 Area Coverage)

House Upgraded – None

Towns Available – 3

Money – 75,890.00