Raising a child and building a family are some of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life's most immersive and enjoyable experiences if not necessarily the most inclusive. In Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, players get married, have a child, and see those NPC relationships blossom as characters grow older across the yearly in-game progression system set across the traditional seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Shortly before or at the end of the first year, players marry their chosen companion. Whether players pick one of A Wonderful Life's bachelorettes or otherwise, they have a child together. Players can even choose the child's name and gender or leave the choice to chance. As the child grows up, players can influence their child's interests and career choices.
Child Interests And Abilities
In the second year of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, players can view their child's likes and abilities in the Resident Info tab. The bars show how much the child likes or excels in the six main child career choice areas, which are as follows.
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Ranching |
Farming |
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Athletics |
Music |
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Art |
Academics |
The child's base likes and interest is somewhat dependent on the player's choice of who they marry and their bachelor or bachelorette's interests. For instance, Gustafa is one of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life's bachelors with a passion for music and nature, so a child with Gustafa may likely gravitate towards music. That said, players can still do certain things to influence their child's career path as the game progresses.
How To Influence Child Career Choices
There are several things players can do to influence their child's development and eventual career choice in Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. During the second year, players can buy gifts for their child from Van's marketplace, such as a toy ball, drawing pad, and wooden blocks. This later triggers cutscenes of their child interacting with the items, potentially growing their interests and ability in different career areas.
Completing resident requests can reward players with more gifts for their child, such as the bucket and spade from Lou in the first year and the Plant Encyclopedia from Baddoch in the third year.
Players can also interact with their child while young such as singing lullabies, taking them to certain areas around the farm, or introducing them to other townsfolk around Forgotten Valley to have an influence. Players can also offer their child gifts while growing up and becoming a teenager, which is handy when the child won't accept cuddles from the third year onward. Child gifts might include food products or dishes, or items discovered in the mine.
The child might also ask questions during random encounters like the treasure box encounter in the third year, or when receiving gifts, so this is an opportunity to help shape their interests. Players can also make child-focused wishes during seasonal events like the Fireworks Festival to up their chances of certain career choices or endings.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is available now on PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.