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There’s nothing cosy about the premise of the Blumhouse published Grave Seasons, which melds the oft-seen ideas of idyllic farming, in that you plant and harvest crops to stimulate the town’s economy, with a grisly supernatural murder investigation, seemingly full of romance—it’s quite literally got a bit of everything.
I do think Blumhouse has, so far, picked terrific titles to back through their video game publishing arm. Fear the Spotlight delivered a nostalgic take on classic horror games from the 90s, while Grave Seasons aims to uproot the prototypical peace and tranquility that’s often the selling point of life sims—I think that subversion of expectation is very cool.
Playing as an escaped convict taking refuge in a peaceful mountain town of Ashenridge, which has an exceptional sense of scale and verticality, you trade a life behind bars for a life tilling soil, only to get tied up in a murder mystery that captures the town’s attention. There’s a captivating juxtaposition that’s struck between farming as the sun beats down on your crops and slinking through the streets at night, trying to uncover clues that might point towards the killer.
As the catalyst of the game’s narrative, you’re made to engage with the murder investigation. The same isn’t true for the farming aspect; however, it’s definitely incentivised as the produce you harvest not only stimulates the town’s economy, but it can also help in warding off the killer to save the next potential victim. From what I tried of the farming, it felt like a surprisingly rounded mechanics set, and it all begins with the player’s tool wheel.
Armed with all of the expected gardening gear, like a shovel, hoe, and watering can, you also carry a crowbar and pickaxe. As implied by the latter, Grave Seasons even has a bit of mining, which you partake in to collect ore. You can visit the smithy with this ore to repair your tools as they succumb to general wear and tear. The crowbar, on the other hand, is handy for prying open both crates and the front doors of unsuspecting neighbours.
The gardening itself is quite relaxing; if I had more time, I’d have cleared all of the debris, prepared the soil, and planted the plethora of seeds I’d found.
With a day-night cycle that steadily marches onward, there’s definitely a perceived time pressure when it comes to completing objectives and launching your investigation. For the purpose of getting to see a few different things, I skipped several days to see the fallout of the mayor’s murder and lost my poor carrots in the process. What’s evident is the enormous confidence with which the game’s quests are designed. Not only that, but it’s impressive how much has been implemented to ensure the game’s other systems work in concert with the rest of it.
Of course, you’re able to romance the townsfolk if you put in the work, including the killer if the rizz is strong enough. Outside of this, every NPC has a schedule which you’re able to discern through simple observation. For example, if you know someone will be at their nine-to-five throughout the day, breaking into their home seems like a calculated risk.
The city’s design, as mentioned earlier, is rather vertical. With this slice of solace etched into a mountainside, it has a lot of personality, and I enjoyed doing the rounds and meeting a few of the locals. The pixel art is great and manages to walk the tightrope between the game’s duelling tones quite well.
Not only are characters well-designed, in both sprite and render form, but the fact that a few score their own musical theme is wonderful. The soundtrack, quite frankly, sounds as though it’ll be full of earworms, especially if the florist is anything to go by.
On paper, Grave Seasons is quite a busy concept, and I feel many games have lived short lives trying to do what this team has done. Full of intelligent design philosophies that don’t attempt to hand-hold, Grave Seasons is so clever, and I hope mystery fans aren’t put off by the gardening, and vice versa.
Games that attempt multiple genres often come up short in one, whereas Grave Seasons is designed in such a way that they complement each other quite well.