Topic: Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town

@Eel
I haven't played Lost Valley. At least I don't think. The last Harvest Moon-titled game that really ruined the franchise for me was for the PS2, and honestly I don't know what it was called. It was 3D, the controls were so clunky and it seemed to be going for a more realistic vibe. It was just weird.

Stardew Valley really does strike such a fantastic balance, even if personally I think it's a tad on the bloated side. But my favorite Harvest Moon games will always be the original for SNES (also one of my all-time favorite games of all genres), the GameBoy ones, and Harvest Moon 64.

I think that's maybe Save The Homeland. I've played the PSP reimagining and found that extremely boring. Though both games have their fans.

I never really played any of the home console entires after A Wonderful Life, which was really relaxing and great looking but also extremely slow and narcoleptic, and Magical Melody, which had fun concepts with classic gameplay but ridiculously boring characters and unfitting sound design.

@Eel
Ah - have you played Harvest Moon 64? I think that's the one most people entered the series with, and it's really good.

Ah yes, that was my first!

Absolutely loved it, it was such a great game, it’s really sad that they’ve never considered remaking that one, it could really benefit from some quality of life improvements.

Like, I love you HM64, but having to waste 20 seconds to enter the pause menu to take one item out of my backpack or switch tools is just not ok anymore.

Got my physical version yesterday and ready to dive in! Perfect time of year for this game.

@Eel
AHHHH!! Yes, the bag loading was INSANE! I hated it sooo much, but the game was soooo good! You know a game is good when you're willing to overlook something like that haha

A remaster of HM64 would be one of the few games I would ever purchase like a 100+ dollar collector's edition lol

@rallydefault I'm right there with you on HM64. It's my favorite in the series even with it's flaws and bugs. I would pay an exorbitant sum for a remaster haha. I've said it before, but the style of the Link's Awakening remake would be perfect for it.

Not sure if it's already been stated on here, but XSEED Games launched a fan art contest to coincide with the game's release. I read about it on Nintendo Enthusiast. Winners receive some kind of prize pack.

@chownk
That's cool. They did some neat little things with the launch of this game (cow plushie).

@tzahn
I would be all over that!

Oh cutting down weeds and unwanted crops with your scythe can turn them into colored herbs, that’s a really nice addition.

@Eel
Have you triggered Swimming Festival ?
I remembered on HM BTN it was really hard to win the competition as i oftenly ran out of breath. I didn't really understand the way to mash the button correctly in order to swim faster.

That wasn’t in the gba game, so I don’t think it’ll be in this one either, I’m just a few days into summer though, so who knows!

As a related tip, if a festival takes place at the beach, you have infinite time and energy to fish as much as you want. However, your tools won’t gain experience during festivals, so it’s only good for fishing.

I've only played a few hours, but I really like the majority of the changes here. The days are brisk which will make the seasons go by faster. Maybe a bit tight early on, but with the tool upgrades, that will become easier. Time stops in buildings and the mine which is a feature I've always liked. Not sure how I feel about the Stardew Valley style for the grass in this game. I liked the old way of planting patches that you could harvest Spring-Fall.

I guess the new style of grass gives fences a new use, now that wild dogs don't seem to be a factor (you can't let your animals outside overnight after all).

You'll want to plant several patches and have plenty of pasture for your animals, but at the same time you'll need to add a fence if you don't want the grass to overtake your field.

Edit: so I had to look up how to unlock the pet shop, and it makes so much sense that now I feel a bit dumb for not thinking about it myself.

@Eel I was very happy that they included A Wonderful Life characters in some form again. It may still be tedious, but it's still easier than it used to be.

Yeah it’s kinda genius how they kept the exact same method to unlock them... Just skipping the part where you need a game cube, a copy of A Wonderful Life, a gba-gc link cable, hoping the cable still works, and having to progress in the game cube game.

It’s like, it looks really annoying without context, but it’s actually a 1/10th of the hassle it was on the original.

It's taken me a bit to get the rhythm of the game, but now that I am I'm enjoying it much more. I'm only on Spring 10 as I got the game from XSeed on Friday. Life got in the way of playing.

My favourite SoS game is Trio of Towns and I've had to get that one out of my head completely to play this one.

Is there a way to control movement with the D pad instead of the stick? The way the character in this game moves feels so strongly like it should be a D pad.

Not that I know. It's kinda like Links Awakening in that sense.

You could always get the 8bitdo Lite I guess!

Edit: oh haha! I just saw one of the NPCs mention the place from A Wonderful Life directly by name! That was super cool.

Not sure I like the new localized name though.

This game is available on Gamepass and I was thinking of checking it out. However alot.of people were saying that this one plays more on relationships more then farming, is that true? I don't remember playing the original much or at all. Just curious what I am getting into.