Gaming

The new Doraemon Story of Seasons game goes intergalactic

At least, based on the gameplay we had with it

Published

November 9, 2022

Gab Orlina

Who would have thought that you could come up with a farming game featuring one of the most popular anime franchises in Japan? For BANDAI NAMCO, anything is possible, I guess as that lovable cat named Doraemon has his own video game. Of course, believe it or not, this isn’t their first tango with Doraemon and friends.

Doraemon Story of Seasons serves as a direct spin-off to the popular Story of Seasons (formerly Harvest Moon) franchise. In essence, it’s a farming simulator complete with day and night cycles, tools, crops to sell — all to restore an old farm into a glorious one. To add its own spin on it, you also have access to Doraemon’s secret gadgets to help with the farm work.

Safe to say, the gang are back and this time, there’s a much bigger farm to tend to somewhere — say, on another planet. This is what Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom is all about, and we got a chance to try this game at the Thailand Game Show 2022.

Everything is pretty much the same as before

Like its predecessor, Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom follows a similar play style as any farming simulator. In its own basic sense, you start off with a pretty empty farm and are tasked with planting available crops within your inventory. Of course, you have some basic tools suited for farming at your disposal.

In this game, you still play as Nobita (Noby, for short) and you still have Doraemon, your friends and family members helping you manage the farm. Also, apart from managing your crops, you also have to manage the farm animals you pick up along the way. As with any Story of Seasons title, you have to do all your tasks within that day or week – especially when certain services are only available on specific days.

It’s all the same stuff as before — kind of like the whole “if it ain’t broke, don’t even try to fix it” situation. To be fair, for a game like this, it’s okay to be consistent with the formula and changing it might be confusing.

New world to explore, more to connect with

Although there’s nothing particularly different from before, BANDAI NAMCO did add some more things to Friends of the Great Kingdom, considering the new environment. One of which includes some new gadgets from Doraemon that you can use to help you with managing your farm.

During the initial playthrough of the demo, one of these gadgets was available as a farming crop called “Farm Restaurant.” Instead of planting and harvesting crops to make food or sell at the end of the day, “Farm Restaurant” allows you to basically plant full meals instead. Of course, you can also sell these for much more profit but it’s definitely a faster way to prepare your meals for the day.

Another new feature added are specific crops that require more than one person to harvest fully. With Friends of the Great Kingdom, you will gain assistance from your friends through local or online Co-Op to harvest large crops on your farm. As they say, no one can run a farm on their own (I mean the title alone already suggests that).

How did you end up on this planet?

In Friends of the Great Kingdom, you find yourself in the vast planet of Irima filled with new worlds to explore. Although the demo only gave you access to just the house and nearby areas, the trailer also hints at going to worlds underwater as well. In this world, you meet Lumis, a boy with his own dreams.

The demo doesn’t really touch on how you ended up on Irima and what you eventually need to do to further progress in the story. All we know so far is that Doraemon and friends are now starting a new farm life on a faraway planet. Although, along the way, you will be building relationships with everyone to help develop the farm into its best version yet.

So far, Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom provides something similar with a twist. With a new planet to explore, new gadgets for farming, and new bonds to build, this game has potential to provide something new for both old and new players alike. If you want to give this game a go, it is now available for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC through Steam!

Related Topics:Doraemon Story of Seasons Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom

Gaming

Project Helix is Xbox’s next console, and it plays PC games

It might be as powerful as a modern PC.

Published

March 6, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Among all the platforms in today’s generation of consoles, the Xbox has to be biggest loser. Compared to the PlayStation 5 and the Switch 2, the Xbox Series X|S isn’t as memorable. To rectify its position in the rankings, Xbox is heavily teasing its next console codenamed Project Helix.

As was hinted before, Xbox is trying something different with its next-generation console. Rather than just a simple iteration over the current-generation console, the upcoming one will reportedly double as a PC. Today, the company itself has confirmed that this is the case for Project Helix.

Through a post on X, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said that the console will “lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games.”

Great start to the morning with Team Xbox, where we talked about our commitment to the return of Xbox including Project Helix, the code name for our next generation console.

Project Helix will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games. Looking forward to chatting about… pic.twitter.com/Xx5rpVnAZI

— Asha (@asha_shar) March 5, 2026

There are two things to unpack here. Firstly, Project Helix will aim to bridge the perilous divide between console players and PC players. Unlike the past, there will be a way to play both platforms on both devices… except for games exclusive to the PlayStation and the Switch, that is.

Secondly, a “lead in performance” seems to indicate that this isn’t just a mini-PC. Most recently, Valve announced the Steam Machine. Though it offers a convenient way to play Steam games in one device, it doesn’t have the best specs. Project Helix, if Sharma’s words are to be believed, might be as powerful as a modern PC.

Xbox won’t wait long before revealing more details about the console. Sharma, who only recently started her post as CEO, will be at next week’s Game Developers Conference to explain Project Helix more.

Gaming

Ubisoft confirms Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake

It’s officially called Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced.

Published

March 5, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

If you ask an Assassin’s Creed fan what their favorite game of the series is, Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag will likely be one of the top contenders. Because of its reputation, gamers are constantly asking for a remake of the popular pirate simulator. Now, the dream is finally here. Ubisoft has confirmed that a remake, called Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced, is coming.

Released in 2013, Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag saw the journey of Edward Kenway, a vagabond pirate haplessly thrust into life as part of the Assassin Brotherhood against his will. The critically acclaimed game was something that all gamers have been clamoring for since Sid Meier’s Pirates: a true pirate simulator. It was no surprise that the game got as popular as it did.

Today, through an official roadmap shared by the company, Ubisoft has confirmed that Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced is real, and it might launch later this year. The company also released the first concept art for the remake.

Currently, there’s no official word as to how Ubisoft is remaking the game. At the very least, we can expect significant graphical upgrades to put it up to par with the modern games. We wouldn’t be opposed to more stories and missions too.

Now, though the Black Flag remake is already a big deal, the same roadmap also emphasizes that Codename Hexe, the next mainline title, is still coming. Ubisoft hasn’t confirmed the actual timeline yet, but the game will depict “a pivotal moment in history.” With post-launch development for the ongoing Shadows winding down, efforts to launch Codename Hexe should be ramping up soon.

Gaming

PlayStation will stop releasing its games on PC

A new reports suggests that Sony is going back to console exclusives.

Published

March 5, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

PC-only gamers have been eating well for the past few years. The formerly exclusive PlayStation library opened its gates and released worthy ports for PC. Unfortunately, Sony is putting an end to this short-lived era of openness to PC gamers. According to a new report, the company is once again making first-party PlayStation games exclusive to the console.

During the pandemic, Sony started releasing its critically acclaimed first-party games on PC. The new wave saw gamers get the ability to play titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and God of War on another platform. Even now, players are still eagerly awaiting the PC launch of Death Stranding 2, due out later this year.

However, as reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Sony has just had a change of heart and will no longer release any more games on the PC, beyond those already confirmed for future launches.

This will mean that last year’s Ghost of Yotei and the upcoming Saros will remain PlayStation exclusives for the foreseeable future.

It’s a big change to Sony’s direction. However, it’s not without its precedents. For one, Microsoft has started to compete in the non-exclusive market. The company is already set to launch Fable and Forza Horizon 6 on other platforms, including PC and PlayStation, concurrently with the Xbox launch. To compare, PlayStation still waits a long time before launching exclusive games on PC.

Also, now that rumors have begun to speak of a fabled PlayStation 6, Sony might want to keep things close to its chest for now. After all, selling the console might be its top priority for now.