Topic: Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley

I haven't got the axe yet. I'm waiting on one of the sons to make it for me.

I'm still in Spring, but I've met Doc and got my first building. It's hard work, and the sprites hardly help do they? I had the water sprite help and he managed watering 4 squares...wow

You have to keep requesting their help. Eventually they become a lot more useful.

Didn't want to doublepost, so I just edited my last post. I have new pics up of my valley 'renovations' thus far. Hope you like them :3

First off, here's a map view of the waterfall + 2 ponds:

Next up is a screenie of my work-in-progress marsh. I plan to fix that giant cliff and add a bridge spanning it. I hope I can make the bridge change directions though 'cause I don't think a straight bridge is going to work.

Now here's the map view of the same marsh:

I finally got the wardrobe with the first set of clothes and a hat. I wonder how many outfits are there.

Nice. I haven't gotten the wardrobe yet. Maybe that should be my next major purchase.

I'm going to have a big orchard above my marsh

@Donjwolf, you are really good at visualizing the layout of the land you want to go for! I'm afraid I still lack that vision, but hopefully your pics will inspire me! z👍

I've already finished my orchard (it wasn't hard to do), but now I'm considering making more of them. What sounds better? An orchard with all different fruit trees growing, or the same fruit trees growing?? I can't really decide. The benefit of the latter is that they can all 'bloom' at once since they're all the same fruit, meaning it'd make for better screenshots, as opposed to having different trees which 'bloom' at different seasons so not all trees will be having fruit when I take pics. ...Okay I think I just answered my own question.

My windmill sits on a high plateau. I can't go around planting tons of crops and stuff until I finish transforming my valley into something cool Unfortunately, I've no idea what to do with the bottom left of the valley, where all the stones are.

I plan to make a nice fortress there when/if I get the ability to use rocks as a building material.

I'm not sure Donjwolf, I think I would go for an orchard with all the same trees! More of a real orchard, right?

I already decided to make orchards with the same trees, as you can see from this updated pic of my valley
From left to right it's apples, peaches and oranges. There's 6 trees in each orchard. I'm planning to somehow have 6 grapefruit trees alongside the path to my house. I have 2 so far, and one's already old enough for harvesting

Morpheel, I'm not good at making structures. I'd like to see what yours look like after it's completed though

Okay I got the seedling. I keep having these dreams about a wizard at the Harvest Spring but she is never there. It's driving me nuts.

She only appears at night randomly. Could be 8 or 10, or whatever. Just keep checking. She won't actually appear on the map until you meet her.

Thanks

I missed Tabitha (the witch) on the day I had the dream... I haven't been able to find her since. What do I do?

Also, am I the only one who wishes Tabitha was an eligible bachelorette?

So I have to ask. This is coming from a seasoned Harvest Moon gamer.

I'm concerned about the quality of this game seeing as Natsume owns the Harvest Moon universe and split from Marvelous Entertainment (who now has to call their work "Story of Seasons" in North America and Europe). I am appalled by the graphics completely compared to Story of Seasons, a game that has an art style more like Harvest Moon we've come to love.

I ask that you sell me on the game play.

I hear it's too simplified and boring. That Natsume dumbed everything down and is treating the players like children. IS this game worth my time to get? Or should I just wait for Story of Seasons to play the "real Harvest Moon"?

@ClassicJetterz Actually, when it comes to the art, I contend that it is closer to the style used in earlier Harvest Moon games (perhaps before A New Beginning, which took a less chibi approach).

Exhibit A (from Back to Nature):

Compare it to Lost Valley:

Versus (Story of Seasons):

In terms of the gameplay, I'd say it isn't too horribly dumbed-down. The best comparison I can make is to Rune Factory: the farming system itself remains the same, but small details, such as having to water crops at least twice a day, were removed. Honestly, it all comes down to how you play the game.

Anyone who says this game is a dumbed down children's first Harvest Moon has clearly never played it.

If the characters in TLV looked anything like their animated manual art it wouldn't be so bad. God the models are hideous.

I was a bit bitter about the whole Natsume/Marvelous separation but I thought I'd at least give it a chance. I just don't want to waste $30 on it (when I know I'll enjoy Story of Seasons more). Maybe this will help:
Some of my favorite Marvelous developed Harvest Moons were
-Animal Parade
-A New Beginning
-Tree of Tranquility
-Magical Melody

Sorry for being so needy. I'm just hearing more bad things than good and wanted to see if it was worth even giving it a chance.

I'd recommend to visit the miiverse community and see the graphics directly on your 3DS. I don't think they look bad at all the characters are actually pretty expressive.

I have also seen people comparing it to Animal Parade and the first Harvest Moon for GB.

I personally think its a great Harvest Moon, but in the first year you'll need a lot of patience, because everything must be unlocked. everything. It's a slow start and it may seem like the game is poorer than it actually is.

That alone sounds like A New Beginning, where you have to unlock anything to get the options to move on.

I'll check out Miiverse.

Story of Seasons was moved to February 2015, so I need something to tide me over. I've done just about everything in A New Beginning...