Back in June I found out the one of my favorite game series, Harvest Moon, was going to be switching from its long held name and becoming Story of Seasons outside of Japan. While I found the switch a bit weird it wasn’t until I heard Natsume was releasing a new game under the Harvest Moon name that I became concerned.
For me, Harvest Moon has always been an amazing series that takes things I dislike in real life (like being outside and work in general) and makes them an interesting experience full of wonder and magic. It really showed a younger me how much my hard work can pay off. (Nothing was sweeter than getting that greenhouse the first time am I right?)
I’ve noticed over the years that Harvest Moon games have been becoming a lot simpler in their approach to giving you an amazing farming game. While Harvest Moon DS had a truly amazing mine (going all the way down 65,535 Floors!), the newest, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, only had 3 spots you could hammer at.
I can’t say I was looking forward to Natsume’s Harvest Moon as much as I was looking forward to Story of Season but recent information has definitely changed my mind. The newest Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley updates have been very promising.
This will be the first Harvest Moon game where your animals will have “its own personality traits, called “skills” in the game.“
This isn’t the first time news has come out of the Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley camp that has been interesting, but it is the first time I’ve heard a truly innovative feature that expands on parts of the game I love and not watering it down.
Not only will your pet have different traits (e.g. Preferring winter and getting more affection when it is winter or preferring to be kept clean so it will appreciate being brushed more), there will also be a feature in the game to let you breed the traits you like into your future animals.
In an earlier update, Natsume said
Everything in Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley has been reinvented, renewed, and reinvigorated!
Guess whose starting to believe them? While it’s hard to let go of something old, I’m looking forward to this title a lot more now. I’ll definitely be buying both where as before I was only planning to get Story of Seasons.
How about you? Willing to give Natsume’s Harvest Moon a shot? Or will you be sticking with Story of Season being translated by XSEED? If you’re interested. check out the posts from Natsume on Facebook!
