Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns Secures North American Release Date

I am doing a little old lady happy dance here! Been waiting impatiently for this one.

I would like to get it in europe, preferably a physical release

I've had it pre-ordered from Amazon since October. Was really expecting it to be released this summer at the earliest.

These games are so much fun just to relax with. Will have to pick this up for sure.

Honestly, why the heck does this series got rename? There's nothing wrong with Harvest Moon. Why give it a longer name? It just complicates the title.

Lol. The Mario costume looks weird in that body. Btw, I still found a lot of jagginess and pixelate from that game. Hm... I don't think I can grab that title since almost nobody (Character' looking inside the game) are photogenic in my opinion.

@retro_player_22 Its an issue for who owns the name. Here is the story on it if you are interested.

https://www.destructoid.com/so-what-the-hell-is-happening-with-harvest-moon--276051.phtml

Got two copies preordered. Hope I can get into it unlike the last one.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

@Mr_Zurkon Wow that actually explains why the HM game are dropping in quality nowadays. Still I don't get why they couldn't get the rights to the Harvest Moon name from Natsume. Now the Harvest Moon series will seem like a joke.

So no PAL retail release as well? Darn it, I realy like Story of Seasons as much as I love Harvest Moon. This is the sole reason why region lock should be removed. Because of this lot of 3DS owners are forced to use some exploit for homebrowser and use region unlocker. Nintendo would save us a lot of trouble. Thanks god they removed region lock from Switch.

@Anti-Matter

Then you will miss out on what is going to be a great game.

@Pokefanmum82

I have restarted SoS 3 times. The first year does have a tendency to become drudgery, just slogging thru to get the days done.

The developers do seem to listen to their customer base, so I have high hopes for ToT.

@k8sMum
Um... I have watched from Japan version on Youtube. The gameplay indeed great but the character design are killing my interest. I mean come on... Three series in a row (New Beginning, Story of Seasons and Trio of Towns) have similar character design by same artist that I don't like his/her art style. Too feminine for me. I want well balanced looking characters (both males and females characters) like Back to Nature or Save the Homeland. Also I noticed so many jagginess inside Trio of Towns, very contrary with Yokai Watch that has less jaggy. I love the franchise but I think this franchise on 3DS for me a little bit sour. The best Bokujou Monogatari that I have ever played so far was Tree of Tranquility. Animal Parade was pretty abysmal. Magical Melody was pretty charming but a bit boring ( I have Gamecube version). One biggest things that I miss from latest series is Character's facial expressions and proper gesture based on situation, like they did on Tree of Tranquility. I'm kinda bored to see character portrait style without proper gestures. Sorry, I just want to be honest. Maybe I will looking for Switch version. Who knows if there will be Story of Seasons in HD.

@Lizuka @cheonsacz At one point Harvest Moon changed developers. Story of Seasons is developed by the original developers of Harvest Moon. The newer Harvest Moon games have been and are being developed by the previous publisher Natsume (which is why Marvelous had to change the name of their series to Story of Seasons).

@Lizuka Yeah it looks like Marvelous was still developing under the Harvest Moon brand at that point.

Did you have issues with the gameplay or was it something else? From my understanding those two games had some technical issues.

@Ernest_The_Crab
Um...may I share my comments ?
I have played both Tree of Tranquility and Animal Parade. I got 2008 edition of Tree of Tranquility (The DVD disc cover is not green all anymore) probably no Calvin glitch inside. From my experience, the time flow in ToT was quite fast while AP was abysmal slow. ToT town design was very interesting while AP town looked like Greek house style, not really interesting in my opinion. Tot Map was not too huge, just right, the distance between each buildings was just right. AP has very HUGE map and buildings were separated in very Far away, made me think that was the reason why the town was almost dead (The distance from Farm/ Ranch to my farm and Town to Mine district was very far, no wonder business activity was really hard to do). Musics in ToT was quite nice but some of them sounds a bit Retro. AP had quite disappointing musics, especially Autumn theme (The violin tunes sounds annoying). ToT has quite make a sense for time elapsed (Building upgrades time progress, pregnancy time, kid growing up). AP had very ridiculous time elapsed (Instant upgrade house just in 1 second, seriosly ? I thought it was a Magic to transform your house to became bigger. Quick pregnancy time, Quick kids growing). And this is more dealbreaker. ToT has very infamous Calvin glitch but has been solved on 2008 edition retail while AP any version keep the same Nemesis glitch, Kids Disappeared glitch. I had figure it out after tried Japan version also and fortunately I can solve that glitch so no more Nemesis glitch.

Well, that's all my experience. I don't think I can enjoy Trio of Towns as I had enjoy Tree of Tranquility due to worse character design and lack of proper facial emotion + gesture like Marvelous did on Tree of Tranquility. I miss muscular guy like Owen or Bob. I don't like at all Bishonen looking boys like on Trio of Towns. That's the reason why it killing my interest. Horrible character design, I can't enjoy the game if I saw a lot of Weirdo characters like that. I felt discomfort, bored easily. I neglected my New Beginning for some reason due to bored with the character design. Sorry for very long comments.

@k8sMum You seem to be a bign fan. How is Story of Seasons compared to HM A New Beginning?

Wasn't a fan of the first Story of Seasons, but I'm willing to give this entry a shot.

But honestly I'm more interested in a new Rune Factory. I wish we could hear something regarding the series...

@NESlover85

I found A New Beginning too sparse and boring. I detested the town competitions to improve it, but were poorly advised how to do it. I was disappointed in it. SoS starts out v-e-r-y slowly but gets better, imho.

I'm hoping Trio of Towns resolves some problems. Those who have played the Japanese version really like it. The new pets are gorgeous.

Already pre-ordered! Can't wait!

The Japanese Nintendo website has confirmed Story of Seasons is coming to Switch so I'm pumped I'll be able to play Harvest Moon on the TV again. Hopefully it's a brand new entry that takes advantage of Switch's hardware. Could you imagine HD Rumble with tilling the land, brushing animals, and yes cow milking??!!! Tree of Tranquility on Wii was such an awesome game so hopefully it's a sequel to that.

Can't wait for this... and Stardew Valley... and SoS Switch... man, I'm going to be covered in the farming sim department for quite a long while. hehe

I really, really want this game, but I need to save money for the Switch! Trio of Towns comes out way too close to the Switch launch date. I will probably pick it up closer to summer, maybe.

@capitalism
Eh ?! Really ?!
Story of Seasons for Switch ?!
Gosh...!
I hope Marvelous hire different character designer artist since I don't like the art style from New Beginning until Trio of Towns (Too feminine, too many Bishonen looking). I miss Back to Nature / Save the Homeland /Magical Melody character design style. I hope Full Dynamic Camera angle return on new series since Wonderful Life. More photogenic looking characters, no more weirdos. Well, I will wait and see that new Story of Seasons.

...Still waiting on a Rune Factory revival Marvelous...or whoever it was who said they were bringing the series back.

Of course I'd like an European release date! Harvest Moon sits among my all time fav franchises, and the 3DS titles have improved greatly over the "meh" DS entries, so I'll be definitely getting it one day.

@Anti-Matter

I have the original SoS on 3DS and I liked the character designs in that. I also liked the character designs in Tree of Tranquility and Magical Melody, but honestly I wouldn't mind if they kept the same style from the last SoS game, just with better textures and graphics for the Switch version. And a Harvest Moon with photo realistic graphics would look weird to me, especially since I've been with the franchise since 64. I actually like the anime/cutesy graphics. If you want realism, Farming Simulator is also coming out for the Switch.

And yeah, Story of Seasons on Switch sounds awesome to me since I can play Harvest Moon on the TV again and in full HD. To each their own I guess.

@capitalism
I'm not interested with Realistic style. I prefer Anime / Cartoonish style but not too feminine like Story of Seasons style. At least as cute as Animal Crossing style or Nendoroid style or MySims style or Magical Melody style, I will be so happy.

@Anti-Matter

I never thought SoS had a feminine style. It's basically the same as the earlier HM games that came out on 3DS, but once again to each their own. I will say though if they brought back the Magical Melody style in HD i would freak out with joy. I'm definitely with you on that.

@capitalism
Ok, I will explain. My complaints about Trio of Towns character design style and also the previous titles just simple, Bishonen looking boys. Ew...I don't like Bishonen looking guys. Bishonen = Feminine looking boy usually they have long hair, so they looks like a girl rather than boy. Yuzuki and Inari from Trio of Towns & Julius and Doctor Jin from Tree of Tranquility are example of Bishonen looking guys. At first, I thought they are girls but I was wrong after that. They are both men with female looking and I felt gross about that. I want Manly looking man like Owen from Tree of Tranquility / Bob from Save the Homeland or Cool looking guy like Gray from Back to Nature / Blue from Magical Melody / Kurt from Save the Homeland or Nice looking guy like Basil from Save the Homeland / Rock from Wonderful Life. If only Marvelous change the artist, I mean the character design that can deliver well balanced style for both boys and girls looking, not Bishonen style that Japanese really addicted so much. Sorry about my trivial complaints.

@Anti-Matter

Ok, we get it, lol. You want your Monty Pythonesque lumberjack manly men!

@k8sMum But even lumberjacks can wear dresses. It's OK right?

@Ernest_The_Crab

Only as long as they don't mix lumberjack plaid with prints.