Grand Bazaar review – capitalism, but make it really cute

A few months ago, I had the wonderful chance to visit Paris and get my hands on Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. That small look at the game wasn’t enough. I needed more, and I needed it soon. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long before I could set up my own farm and lead a new life as a shopkeeper.

As well as my Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar preview, I covered my first month in-game, which details all things springtime. But now, I can tell you all about my full experience in moving to Zephyr Town, buying some chickens, and setting up a market stall to wow the town’s residents.

It does well to mention that this game looks fantastic on the Nintendo Switch 2. Grand, even. It’s super smooth, with no issues or crashes, and everything from the grass and flowerbeds to the round cows is detailed and delightful. Something that occurred to me is that Grand Bazaar weirdly reminds me of Pokémon Sun and Moon or Let’s Go Eevee with its bright style and doe-eyed characters. It’s also what I wish new Pokémon games look like, but that’s a conversation for another day.

Grand Bazaar offers all of the trimmings of a fine farm game. You can sow a variety of seeds for flowers, vegetables, and even fruit trees – though I stayed away from these as they take up a bit too much space at first. As you progress, you can unlock extra pasture space, allowing your cows, chickens, llamas, and sheep to roam far and wide when not kept in the barn during inclement weather. This does wonders for their moods.

While you’re not doing your daily farm chores, you can go fishing, which is thankfully a much less painful experience than that of Stardew Valley. Simply tilt the joystick in the right direction a few times, and voila, a fish springs into your hands. You can also catch bugs, but don’t wait for a net or any tools for this – you have to approach them and grab them with your hands.

Each week at the bazaar, you can sell your hard work. I find that products like milk or teas sell a lot better than just raw vegetables, but people will eventually buy anything you put on the table. Even stacks of grass, which I admit I did sell at the first couple of markets. Look, a gal’s gotta make a living somehow.

Between shifts of selling, you can visit other stalls where you can buy farm upgrades, new animals, groceries, clothes, and even materials. There’s a recycling stall that opens later in the year, though I confess I always forget and end up selling any items I could trade there instead. Woodworker Wilbur offers a second and third plot for you to plant in, along with more storage, which is absolutely key.

You can make some serious money during the weekend bazaar, though I find the sprites’ boosts aren’t really worth it. You can activate ‘fever time’ every so often, which adds different boosts depending on which sprites are on the table, like bigger bulk sales or quick transactions. However, my profits for this never exceed 10k gold, so in my capitalistic view, it’s barely worth it.

If you’ve played a Story of Seasons game before, you’ll know the sprites. There are versions of them in every game. They live in the woods and help your character out – especially in this game, as they rescue you if you happen to ‘fall’ into the water. When I say fall, I mean jump right in while trying to reach the other side…

During the week when you’re left to your own devices, I suggest checking out the windmills. There are endless items to make in the three windmills, from tins of tea to spices, oils, and pickles. Also, make note of the weather. The windier it is, the faster the windmills work, so if you have a big project like tools that need upgrading, wait for a windy day. That wind can also help you access different areas using your wind glider, so don’t try to jump across to that glowy rock of ore if there’s no breeze, or else you’ll do the aforementioned fall into a river.

While not trying to accidentally drown myself, I was looking after my pets. You get a farm dog pretty early on, but I bought two more – a husky and a Bernese mountain dog-type boy. These are big guys, but you can pick them up and carry them around. You can also teach them to do tricks, which is just an adorable addition. It can look a little cursed seeing a husky standing on its back legs practicing its tricks in the corner of your room, though.

Outside of dogs – and cats, though I only bought doggies – you get a horse. Now, the horse design is a little simpler than other animals, and it can look a bit silly next to the fuzzy sheep and detailed dogs. However, it allows you to get around town faster, so it’s a benefit. There are also horse riding competitions to take part in (that I aced, thank you very much). Grand Bazaar is a certified horse girl game.

As I entered the spring of year two, I thought it was time to settle down and work on my relationships now that my farm is in a good place and money is rolling in. Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to successfully woo any of the townsfolk as I’m tragic at picking gifts for people, apparently, but there are the embers of a sweet love between my character and Lloyd, the quiet merchant.

This is also where I started making more refined products – like the aforementioned oils – and fully upgrading my tools to make my busywork that bit easier. I don’t feel like there’s an ‘end’ to the game, other than fully upgrading the bazaar and all your relationships. We all know that farm games tend to be endless, and that’s just fine. I’m also not sure how much replayability there is, as you’re likely to get the same quests at the same times and have the same farm layouts. Though you could aim for different relationships, crops, and the appearance of your own character.

I played Grand Bazaar on the Nintendo Switch, and I’m very pleased to report that it looks and runs perfectly well on both the original Switch and Switch 2. I played through the game mostly on Switch 2 and was a bit apprehensive to try it on the original console, but I was pleasantly surprised. Some of this year’s releases, like Tales of the Shire, left a bad taste in my mouth, but Grand Bazaar runs as well as the lines of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Pokémon Let’s Go.

I did find that on Switch 2, the game runs a little better in handheld than in docked mode, but that may be down to my own monitor. On the original Switch, the only drawbacks are slightly longer load times, and overall performance is a little less smooth. However, this is barely noticeable, and graphics are just as good with no caveats or funky, ugly textures.

I really like Grand Bazaar. I wasn’t absolutely sure at first, as I found A Wonderful Life and Pioneers of Olive Town to be a bit boring, but Grand Bazaar truly captured my attention for hours. Honestly, I couldn’t put it down. It looks really lovely and has plenty to do to allow for hours and hours of play. If you’re a fan of cozy games and Harvest Moon games, I can only recommend this game.