With Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley receiving mixed reviews, it's no surprise that Natsume is trying to replicate more popular games from the series. The terra-forming won't be included within the new title Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories, as it is more of a throwback to retro titles in the series. In fact the new title is said to be similar to the PlayStation title Harvest Moon: Back to Nature.
The narrative is very much in keeping with its predecessors, including tending to crops, caring for your animals and choosing between a variety of bachelors or bachelorettes. Graham Markay, Vice President of Operations at Natsume, has stated that Natsume has taken their fans opinions into account.
We heard what our fans had to say. We got compliments as well as criticisms. One of the main issues was probably a town. This returns to the fundamentals. Is there upgrades? Yes. Is there giving gifts? Yes. Are there a variety of bachelors and bachelorettes? Yes. This isn't a sequel to The Lost Valley.
Although Seeds of Memories is not a sequel to The Lost Valley, it does however include fan favourites such as Andrea, a local clocksmith and Luke, the town's herbalist. Andrea and Luke will also be returning as datable characters, an interesting dimension that will hopefully intrigue Harvest Moon players. Due to fan requests, Natsume will also be including a witch bachelorette and wizard bachelor, so players will now have a host of bachelors/ bachelorettes to choose from.
Interestingly Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories will be released on the Wii U, rather than the 3DS. As well as releasing Seeds of Memories on the Wii U, the new addition to the series will be making its way to PC, Android and iOS; the Wii U and PC additions will include different features to the smartphone versions.
After The Lost Valleys mixed reviews are you looking forward to seeing more of Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories?
[source siliconera.com]
Comments 33
Has there been any trailers or screen shots for this game yet?
Going back to it's roots could be a good or bad thing...
I'll probably just stick with Story of Seasons, thank you very much.
Friends of Mineral Town is available on Wii U now, so I'm good.
@LUIGITORNADO They showed a live demo at E3. You'll be able to see it if you google it
I liked the terraforming. It was my favourite part of the game. I had no problems with Lost Valley. Probably not getting this game. Too many other Wii U games I want more.
@Hey_Listen
And there goes my interest.
Why aren't these games progressive? I loved A Wonderful Life, and to a lesser degree Magic Melody. I remember going into the 360-PS3-Wii generation really looking forward to Harvest Moon games, but all we got were yesterday's Harvest Moon with gimmicks.
I'm just going to wait and see,I'm hoping they pull something out of the bag!I don't know what I want but I know they need to change it up a bit.
I'm more of a Rune Factory fan,but they aren't massively different from each other either.
Sounds intriguing but I've been skeptical of recent entries but the Wii Ucould definitely benefit from the series. If they are returning to the basics I will pick this up, but I have always been a fan of relaxing games.
All we need now is a true AC game !!
Hasn't Natsume been saying that for a few games now?
I haven't played a Harvest Moon game in years, and it's on the not rich in third party game releases Wii U, so I'm definitely interested.
@LUIGITORNADO as others have said, they preseted a demo of the mobile version of the game. A video of it leaked, you can probably google it.
They should expand the Harvest Moon 64 idea tenfold. That game was/is the best I can ever remember.
Weird that there's no 3DS version despite being a 2D game. Did they not want to scale down their HD sprites to 3DS's "PWAHAHAHAHAHHAH"-low resolution screen?
I haven't played a Harvest Moon game since Animal Parade on Wii (my favorite one), so I'll get this one.
I have always found harvest moon games to be hit and miss but that never stops me buying them!! As long as this comes to Europe i'll buy it
I would have to see gameplay before I decide if I were to get this but it does interest me that it's on the Wii U.
@LUIGITORNADO
That's because they got rid of the team that l has been making harvest moon for 20 years. That team made story of seasons
@Mona-Reggie They didn't get rid of them, Natsume just handled the localization of the Harvest Moon games for the west. The company that owns the rights ended their relationship with Natsume and went with Xseed to handle localization. Natsume owned the Harvest Moon name since the series is called something else but not the game engine. Hence why the real Harvest Moon games are now called Story of Seasons and Natsume created their own Harvest Moon series.
I guess you could say that they're going... back to nature.
It's not the same series. Story of Seasons is the real Harvest Moon.
I think it would be best if Natsume just sold the rights of the franchise to Nintendo. Then Nintendo could hire more people to the Animal Crossing team, split it up into two teams, and while one team continues working on the Animal Crossing franchise, the other team could be working on the Harvest Moon series. Harvest Moon would, in my opinion, really benefit from having a heavy Animal Crossing influence to it with the real time cycle, villager interation, pretty much the same mechanics you would see in Animal Crossing, except with farming, human villagers, and the whole marriage mechanic.
"Hi, we're going to steal the spotlight and hard work that the Japanese company we localized for created. We're going to promise the return to our roots for a game we previously never developed internally, aside from horrible spin-offs and an awful recent handheld game.
We own the name Harvest Moon. What's Story of Seasons? We don't know, but surely fans won't know any better because it's 2015 and Google and the internet exist. BUT LOOK, WE'RE RETURNING TO "OUR" ROOTS."
For fans of the ORIGINAL Harvest Moon games (now Story of Seasons), PLEASE don't purchase anything Natsume has tied to the name. They don't deserve it. They don't deserve the recognition.
Go with Story of Seasons.
@Tasuki
Ah ok, I was a little confused over all the licensing stuff that's happened
How can they go "back to the roots" for games they never made in the first place? All Natsume did was translate the games that Marvelous originally made. Going back and doing something like it was done 15+ years ago is an easy way out. Story of Seasons sets the standard for farming games Natsume, you need new ideas. In other words: Innovate, do something original.
I'll play it if its on ps4, otherwise it'll just go unnoticed by most cause barely anyone owns a Wii U.
"we heard the fans" so we'll end up with some trash anyway, just like with every single other company ever that says they heard the fans
hype intensifies
I like how they've been conveniently avoiding mentioning anything to do with the switcheroo between them and Marvelous. I'm pretty sure that's also been a big concern fans have had.
Its also funny how they had to be asked to put the Witch and Wizard in, 2 series staples at this point, never mind towns and such. How long have they been localizing the series again?
@JesWood13
What is it with people wanting Nintendo to buy up companies, or any company to do so for that matter? Why not just have the Animal Crossing team implement more Harvest Moon like features instead? Gardening is already a thing, and so is fishing and chopping trees. They just need to expand on those things.
Can't wait! I just want a Harvest Moon (and Animal Crossing) game on WiiU. So this sounds awesome. Back to Nature was my 2nd favorite in the series (Next to Harvest Moon 64).
@Zombie_Barioth Wow, talk about a rude response. It's just an idea that popped in my head, damn. Chill pill for you, sir!
I think I would cry if A Wonderful Life got redone in HD, or at least the town and people were reused for a Wii U or 3DS release (just please be in 3D, Harvest Moon DS was really fun but holy crap, 3D Harvest Moon was awesome). I spent a lot of hours on that game back in the days, like scarily so. That and Magical Melody. God now I feel nostalgic ;-;
I cannot say for other people, but the thing I want THE MOST from a Harvest Moon game is interesting characters, people I want to get to know, and be able to interact with as much as possible.
The farming and getting wealthier is a means to meet that goal, as often progressing relationships requires lots of resources.
@JesWood13
Sorry, I misread your post. I read it as "buy Natsume" (as in, buy them to get the IP) not just "buy Harvest Moon". I didn't mean it in a rude way though, it was an honest question. I supposed its moot now.
To properly answer your question, Natsume only own the rights to the name "Harvest Moon". The series is actually made by Marvelous AQL, and is known as Bokujo Monogatari in Japan. Harvest Moon is just the localization name. When Marvelous switched publishing to in house through XSEED Natsume kept the name. Story of Seasons is the newest game in the Bokujo Monogatari series, and what would otherwise have been known as Harvest Moon.
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