…AND IT’S NOT BEING CAUSED BY THE HAY IN THE BARN! HURRRR.
God. That was awful. Don’t ever let me do that again.
::ahem::
So. What is it with me and Harvest Moon?
On paper the games sound ridiculously boring. “Spend hours upon hours clearing land, growing crops and bringing up livestock. Woo the woman of your dreams! Have a child! Upgrade your home!”
Nah’msayin? But for whatever reason, I become ADDICTED to the farm life. Many games in my collection have been left incomplete because of Harvest Moon. Example: I was literally hours away from completing Final Fantasy VIII when Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility launched for the Wii. I thought I’d spend a few hours with Harvest Moon ToT and later return to FFVIII to wrap things up.
Well, Final Fantasy VIII remains incomplete to this day. DUNDUNDUUUUN…

I eventually burn out on Harvest Moon. There always comes a point when I can’t stand the idea of having to water my crops one more freakin’ day. I don’t want to milk my cow nor shear my sheep. My wife? Meh, she doesn’t need a gift today. And when I get to that point, I’m done with Harvest Moon for a long, long time.
But it’s been a few years since I’ve gone back to nature or saved the homeland (Harvest Moon junkies: see what I did thare?) and yesterday Natsume released their E3 line-up. Aaaand one of the titles listed was Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns. This isn’t a game reveal or anything like that, but that little Harvest Moon fangirl inside of me is squealing like a schoolgirl.
But…you just gotta read this plot description.
“Konohana and Bluebell Villages were once great friends, despite their differences. They were connected by way of an underground tunnel through the mountain, and there were many people that passed through it each day. But there was one thing the two villages just couldn’t agree on… FOOD! Yes, food. Their cooking styles were too different! This feud went on for a while until things got so bad that the tunnel connecting the two villages was closed off! Pick a village, build a farm from the ground up, win some cooking festivals to settle the differences of the villages and clear out the caved in tunnel! Only you can reunite the two villages once more!”
Bahahaha. Man, they are releasing grasping at straws aren’t they? I mean, lately the stories have been pretty whack. What’s wrong with keeping the story of Harvest Moon on the straight and narrow—after all, this isn’t a complex series—and keep the goal the same? Bring your inherited farm rags to riches.
Then I skim over the paragraph about characters.
“Brand new cast of characters with a few exceptions: Pierre, Nathan and Alisa (who seems to be a marriageable character), from IoH and SI, the Harvest Goddess from all the DS Harvest Moon games, and the Ucho brothers and Dirk (who also seems to be a marriageable character) from Grand Bazaar.”
Who are these people?! What happened to tomboy Ann, sassy Karen or good girl Maria? Who is Pierre, Nathan and Alisa? Have I really been away that long? o_O?

There’s more.
“New animals like Alpacas and Honey Bees.”
Okay, I remember bees producing honey in either the N64/PS1 Harvest Moon games (or both), but Alpacas? I suppose fleece could be sold. But damn. I’m old school. I remember cows, sheep, chickens and a horse or two.

Oh, balls. LOOK WHAT I’VE DONE. Now I’m super excited for this game. I wonder when it comes out? In fact, I would justify purchasing a 3DS for a Harvest Moon title. Yep, I’m that twisted, and I’m now fighting an extreme urge to put Portal on hold so I can get my Harvest Moon fix. ::bites lip::
Have you played the Harvest Moon games? Have you enjoyed them, or did you find them boring as hell?
The Harvest Moon games are great, particularly the early ones. I’ve never played a handheld version.
I don’t know how many hours I put into Harvest Moon 64, but it was probably well over two or three hundred. It’s still my favorite, though my N64 is stored away.
The bees producing honey is in Back to Nature. One of the best things Sony has done with PS1 classics is make Back to Nature available on PSN for $5.99 back in February. Nothing like playing PS1 Harvest Moon on a PS3.
Would love to see a new Harvest Moon, more back to its roots, released on Playstation 3.
I’m much more interested in Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny coming to PS3. That’s actually one of my more anticipated E3 titles, even if it is just Oceans being released in the states.
YES. I spent countless hours on HM64 and Back to Nature. And I agree. The Harvest Moon games have kinda…strayed…since those glory days on the old consoles. A nice ol’ farming sim is all I need :D
I tried some of the DS Harvest Moon games and I liked them, but have you tried playing Rune Factory? It´s basically a Harvest Moon with more RPG elements, heavier focus on fighting monsters and it has Quests to do. I enjoyed those much more.
I haven’t. They sound like a blast though.
I got Back to Nature from the PSN store and quickly found it was a great way to mindlessly lose an hour…or five, haha. For it’s simplicity, it was kind of impressive how much you had to do on the farm and around town. Would definitely look into a new one if it were on the PS3 or 360.
I’ve only played Harvest Moon way back when on the SNES and loved it!
It’s an easy way to escape back to a friendlier time, the 90’s, where great, innovative games made us do things that others do for a living.
Like: Farming (HM), Civil Engineering (Sim City), playing American Football (Tecmo Super Ball) and of course saving the Universe (Starcraft).
YES! HAHA! I love Harvest Moon 64 and BTN. Those are THE best Harvest Moon games ever. I also played the crap out of Harvest Moon 64. I loved Karen in that game. She was the best. I loved working hard all day and then going to the bar to woo her and get a free glass of water. What can I say, I’m conservative. Ann was great fun, but I found Karen to be the best. She would be at the beach at night in the summer time. She’s my “dream girl”. :P