r/harvestmoon Apr 06 '20

Explaining the name change to Story of Seasons; What people mean when they say Natsume Harvest Moon games.

1.9k Upvotes

Lately I've noticed there is quite a bit of confusion still about the Harvest Moon series changing their name to Story of Seasons. Especially when the Natsume Harvest Moon games are mentioned. People misunderstand and get defensive of the early games they loved not knowing those aren't the games people are talking about. I thought it would be a good idea to make a post explaining the name change, provide a list of the games that fall under the Story of Seasons series, as well as list the ones that fall under the new Harvest Moon series.

The Japanese series Bokujo Monogatari, directly translated as 'Ranch Story', was developed by Victor interactive, which later was acquired by Marvelous Entertainment, and is now called Marvelous Inc. From 1996-2013 Bokujo Monogatari was translated and distributed for english speaking audiences by Natsume under the name Harvest Moon. In 2014 Marvelous Inc. decided to have the Bokujo Monogatari series localized by their American Publishing brand Xseed Games. Natsume owned the rights to the name Harvest Moon so the english name of the series was changed to Story of Seasons.

Now for those who don't know the developers are the people who make the game. The game is their creation. The publisher is the group that handles the marketing, distribution, and in the case of foreign games translation. Natsume had nothing to do with the Harvest Moon series beyond translating it, distributing the copies, and owning the English title for the games. When Marvelous switched the localization Natsume still owned the name Harvest Moon and decided they would start developing their own games with that title.

The Bokujo Monogatari/Story of Seasons games are:

  • Harvest Moon (1996)
  • BS Bokujo Monogatari (1996 Japanese release only)
  • Harvest Moon GB (1997)
  • Harvest Moon GBC (1998)
  • Harvest Moon 64 (1999)
  • Harvest Moon 2 GBC (1999)
  • Harvest Moon: Back To Nature (1999)
  • Bokujo Monogatari Harvest Moon for Girl (2000 Japanese release only)
  • Harvest Moon 3 GBC (2000)
  • Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland (2001)
  • Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town/More Friends of Mineral Town (2003)
  • Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (2003)
  • Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life (2004)
  • Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Special Edition (2004)
  • Harvest Moon DS/DS cute (2005)
  • Harvest Moon: Magic Melody (2005)
  • Harvest Moon Boy & Girl (2005)
  • Harvest Moon DS: Island of Happiness (2007)
  • Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (2007)
  • Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon (2007)
  • Harvest Moon DS: Sunshine Island (2008)
  • Harvest Moon: Animal Parade (2008)
  • Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar (2008)
  • Harvest Moon Hero of Leaf Valley (2009)
  • Harvest Moon: My little shop (2009)
  • Minna De Bokujou Monogatari (2010 Japanese release only)
  • Harvest Moon: the Tale of Two Towns (2010)
  • Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning (2012)
  • Story of Seasons (2014)
  • Story of Seasons: Trio of Two Towns (2016)
  • Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairy Tale (2016)
  • Doraemon: Story of Seasons (2019)
  • Story of seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (2020)
  • Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (2021)
  • Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (2023)

Then the games in Natsume's Harvest moon series are:

  • Puzzle de Harvest Moon (2007 mobile puzzle game)
  • Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming (2009 mobile puzzle game)
  • Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (2014)
  • Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories (2016 Mobile game)
  • Harvest Moon: Skytree Village (2016)
  • Harvest Moon: Light of Hope (2017)
  • Harvest Moon: Mad Dash (2019)
  • Harvest Moon: One World (2020)
  • Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos (2023)

The Natsume Harvest Moon series is controversial in this sub. It is considered by most to be a cheap imitation of Harvest Moon with watered down mechanics; capitalizing off of the Harvest Moon name. Light of Hope was even marketed saying it was in honor of the 20th anniversary of Harvest Moon despite it being an entirely new series. Personally I've only played Natsume's Light of Hope. If you can get past the mobile game style graphics the game play is pretty good and the characters are likable. I've heard mostly bad things about Skytree Village and Lost Valley, and haven't heard anything good about the mobile games either. Regardless of if you play the Natsume games or not I hope this post helps to clear up some of the confusion for both new and old fans.

Edit: The intentions of this post were not to convince you to play or not play any of the games. If you like the Natsume games that's great! If you're curious and want to try them that's up to you. Just like the original series each game has people that love it and people that don't like it. What's important is that you have fun!

Edit: I have added the games that have been released since I made this post in April 2020. I've also added games that are currently announced in March 2023. If I don't continue to update the list every time a new game is announced or released just remember all future Harvest Moon games are from Natsume and all Story of Seasons are the original series.


r/harvestmoon 19h ago

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Muffy coming in hard off the bat!

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281 Upvotes

r/harvestmoon 8h ago

[SPOILERS] Every unused wedding portrait

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29 Upvotes

Mod link: https://www.nexusmods.com/storyofseasonsgrandbazaar/mods/132 Uses unused wedding portrait from game files for spouse's "I do" line.


r/harvestmoon 10h ago

Opinion/Discussion Does anyone else play multiple Harvest Moon / SoS / RF games at the exact same time?

6 Upvotes

Genuinely asking, is there anyone here who plays multiple Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons/Rune Factory games at the same time?

Right now, I’m playing two games simultaneously—for example, I'm currently playing one specific Harvest Moon series and one Rune Factory series, alternating between the two.

My main reason is that I have a long backlog of HM games I want to play, and I don't want to fall too far behind or feel rushed to catch up with the upcoming SoS/RF releases. But I still make sure to actually enjoy the process.

The second reason is burnout. Sometimes, a game reaches a point where it burns you out—whether it's due to a tedious quest or just a slow period where there's nothing much to do. So, I can just switch to the other game whenever I feel burnt out with the first one.

But genuinely asking, is there anyone else like me? Or do you guys prefer focusing on just one specific game at a time?

If you play like I do, how do you manage it so that both games stay fun? Don't you get confused playing two different games at once—considering they have completely different storylines, gameplay mechanics, and even controller layouts? Do you even still remember where you left off if you haven't played one of them for a while because you were busy playing the other?

I’m asking because I feel a bit odd doing this, especially since I’ve ended up not playing either of them right now. Both games hit a burnout point at the same time (they both have heavy quests I need to finish, which exhausted me). Now, I even actually tempted to start a whole new series—though I probably shouldn't, out of fear that the previous two will get completely abandoned.


r/harvestmoon 8h ago

Opinion/Discussion I guess not TOO specifically HM/SOS related but...

3 Upvotes

I had a dream earlier

That my Mom was waking me up for my first day at work.

My supposed job was being a farmer.

So I went to the ranch where I was to work, my supervisor/mentor was a very strict Japanese man who would yell at me if I even slouched.

His wife, had a dollhouse that was very special to her, she had some sort of spyglass/telescope that went with it that her mother broke in an argument some years earlier.

This dream seemed to be building up, that I would bring whimsy into their lives and help repair the telescope. But sadly it was just a dream that never went anywhere and I woke up literally minutes later.

But to be honest, farming (in my dream anyway) sounded like a lot of fun.

When I woke up, for a few moments I briefly considered it xD


r/harvestmoon 1d ago

Question Are there any kids these days who still play the Harvest Moon series?

30 Upvotes

Are there any kids these days who still play the Harvest Moon series? I want to start an art account focused on Harvest Moon/SoS/RF series, but I'm thinking whether they still have a big fandom.

Just curious, cause I know the games played by kids nowadays are really different. And sometimes I always think only millennials know about Harvest Moon and the remake, but as for myself, I'm also Gen Z, and I'm really a big fan of Harvest Moon, I knew it from my sister, who is a millennial.


r/harvestmoon 1d ago

Opinion/Discussion Animal Parade somehow make me sleepy

7 Upvotes

I recently played Harvest Moon Animal Parade, it's fun actually. But somehow recently I can't play for more than 30 minutes cause I feel kind of sleepy every time I play that. The walk from one place to another genuinely feels very long. For now, there isn't much I can do in the game, because I've already found 3 bells and I'm still in early summer, I'm just waiting for the next bell. So every time I start playing, I only take care of the farm, animals, meet villagers, and then choose whether to go mining or not.

It's just sometimes I want to greet people at Marimba Farm, but walking there feels long, and even the loading screen feels long. It feels even longer when I forget something and have to go back on foot.


r/harvestmoon 1d ago

Story of Seasons Recommendation

6 Upvotes

I always loved Harvest Moon growing up but I haven't played any of the Story of Seasons games. I'm a bit overwhelmed with which one I should play first and was hoping to get a recommendation. I played a lot of A Wonderful Life and Magical Melody. Needs to be available on the switch.


r/harvestmoon 1d ago

Harvest Moon: Animal Parade How you get used to the visuals and controls of Animal Parade?

1 Upvotes

I've only ever really played the 2D and isometric Harvest Moon games. I started Animal Parade based on positive comments and have planted some crops and handed the brige guy his toolbox and need to get his strawberry and milk. However, the controls do feel jankey and the 3D visuals and environment can feel a bit hard to navigate after being accustomed to sprites and simple controls. How did others adapt to the change? I do look forward to the rival marriages and seeing the families they will all have.


r/harvestmoon 2d ago

What if SoS GB had a free camera movement?

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51 Upvotes

r/harvestmoon 2d ago

Question Hi-Res Harvest Moon 64 Photos?

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180 Upvotes

Hey everyone, wondering if there are any high resolution photos of all the photographs you can get in Harvest Moon 64. Can't find any online myself, maybe I'm looking in the wrong places I hope? Thanks!


r/harvestmoon 2d ago

Harvest Moon GB Been stuck here since 11 am

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96 Upvotes

Live HM3 GBC but sometimes there are little things. This sheep has kept me trapped here. It’s currently 11pm.

WHY DOESNT IT MOVE


r/harvestmoon 3d ago

A little fanart of Muffy from Harvest Moon DS! 🐮💕

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36 Upvotes

r/harvestmoon 2d ago

Question Which Game to Play Next?

2 Upvotes

Hello, everyone! I was hoping to get some advice on what games I should be looking at next.

I have played:

Rune Factory (my fav): 3S, 4S, 5, and GoA

Harvest Moon: Winds of Anthos

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar

From those, RF4S was certainly my favorite. I'd love to get my hands on some of the older RF, but I am currently limited to Switch, Switch 2, or PC.

I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I did not like Grand Bazaar. I hated that everything was in the city or the single mountain zone. Conversely, Winds of Anthos had me traveling all over. A lot of it was somewhat empty, but I still much preferred that to never going anywhere. I quite liked Winds of Anthos overall.

I am looking for one that has some amount of exploration or time in the wilderness, at least decent farming mechanics (I think they probably all are good enough in that regard), and great characters. I am kind of fine with the non-bacchelor/bacchelorettes being less fleshed out as long as the marriage candidates are good.

From looking through what is available, it seems like Pioneers of Olive Town or One World might be my best bets? Grand Bazaar put something of a bad taste in my mouth, so I am somewhat inclined away from Pioneers of Olive Town. I am intrigued by A Wonderful Life and it's generational setup, tho.

Could I get any opinions or advice? Thank you!


r/harvestmoon 2d ago

Opinion/Discussion Who do you think would be possible bachelors?

7 Upvotes

Just a random question, I used to play Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley and Rune Factory: Frontier, and both only feature a Male MC. If they had a Female MC, who do you think would be the possible bachelors, and who might their rival marriages be?

In Hero of Leaf Valley, we have rival marriages like Kurt and Dia, or Joe and Katie, but what about the rest? Like, who would be a good match for Parsley maybe(?), etc.?

And for Rune Factory: Frontier, I could only think of Erik and Danny. I didn't even think Kross could be a bachelor until someone mentioned it!

Well, I'd love to hear your thoughts!


r/harvestmoon 2d ago

Opinion/Discussion I need a review

0 Upvotes

So, I want to play a few Harvest Moon / Story of Seasons / Rune Factory games that look interesting to me. I’m planning to play two games at the same time, and I want to pair games that are balanced enough so I don't get burnt out playing both.

Right now, I'm playing Harvest Moon: Animal Parade paired with Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny.

To be honest, Animal Parade is super fun, and it didn't take long for me to collect 4 bells—I just have the purple bell left. However, I haven't really upgraded my house or other things yet, so I'm trying to make more money. Also, raising friendship levels with the villagers takes quite a bit of effort.

Meanwhile, Tides of Destiny is going pretty smoothly too. It’s easy to make money and raise friendship levels, but because this game features combat, fighting monsters and bosses gets kind of exhausting—though it's still fun!

I can say both games have their own kind of exhaustion, but they’re still enjoyable. To be honest though, after trying to defeat a boss in Tides of Destiny, I thought to myself, "Maybe I should take a break from playing Rune Factory for a bit, because I need a rest from all the monster fighting and combat."

My plan for the next pair of games was Magical Melody and Rune Factory: Frontier. Could I get a review of Frontier? I vaguely remember someone saying it's also pretty exhausting because of its Runey system, which I don't fully understand. Should I save Frontier for later and maybe start pairing MM with Tree of Tranquility first? Or perhaps Trio of Towns? Or actually still stay with frontier and maybe its not going to be that bad.

For context, regarding the older games, I plan to play Trio of Towns, Hero of Leaf Valley, Magical Melody, Tale of Two Towns, Tree of Tranquility, and perhaps Back to Nature (I’ve played it before, but I think it’s best for nostalgia). I also want to replay it as the other gender, but maybe later when I feel like diving back in.

I'm saving the newer games available on Steam for later.


r/harvestmoon 2d ago

Question If the last/only versions I played were Magical Melody and (Another) Wonderful Life for GameCube, what version should I buy on the switch?

3 Upvotes

Obsession level with these games for decades now. I want to branch out to a newer one since I finally have a switch, but I see there's a couple different ones available. Which would be better if I'm expecting a similar vibe to these older GameCube versions?


r/harvestmoon 3d ago

Opinion/Discussion Which Harvest Moon game would you like to see get a remake next?

9 Upvotes

Which Harvest Moon game would you like to see get a remake next? Past Story of Seasons games count too, up to you! Personally, I really miss Trio of Towns and Animal Parade, or maybe even Hero of Leaf Valley (I know its already a remake, but still)


r/harvestmoon 3d ago

Question Harvest Moon MFOMT Question!

2 Upvotes

So I'm at a yellow heart with Cliff but I can't seem to trigger the yellow heart event is there some other requiremnt I am supposed to have ? :( Right now it is Winter does that matter? I've read online that I should wait for Spring?


r/harvestmoon 3d ago

Rune Factory Help: Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny

8 Upvotes

Sorry for posting here because I can't post in the RF community yet due to low comment karma, but I really need help right now.

I'm currently playing Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny, and I'm at Fall 12, Year 1. I've already maxed out a few characters' heart levels, leveled up my cooking skill, tamed more monsters, done farming, mining, etc. But the one thing I forgot to do is crafting, especially Forging. My Forging skill is only level 4, and I can't even craft a Wind Rod or any other rod. My character is also still level 14. I have Dual Blades at level 14, but my other weapon skills are low because I barely use them.

What should I do? The boss monster at the Flame Shrine (Crabotron) is so hard to beat. I don't really know how to level up my Forging quickly since there's barely anything I can craft.

Note: By the way, am I playing too slowly? Is being in Fall Year 1 while still struggling against the Flame Shrine boss considered slow progress? I feel like I'm falling behind.

Are there any other tips just in case, to prepare for the next shrines and even the final boss of the main story? But for now, what should i do for beat the Crabotron?


r/harvestmoon 3d ago

Opinion/Discussion SoS too bright in colours..

0 Upvotes

Does anyone find SoS too bright compared to HM games?

My eyes can relax on HM animation


r/harvestmoon 5d ago

I've been sick recently and thought a feel good game would make me feel better

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197 Upvotes

r/harvestmoon 4d ago

Harvest Moon: Animal Parade How is the Witch as a character and wife?

11 Upvotes

I started a first playthrough of Animal Parade. And I would like to see all the rival children but only the Goddess and Witch can be married to do so (since the other bachelorttes can only have the kid if they marry their default bachelor pair). The Goddess is abscent and since I prefer to have a spouse I can see daily, the witch is the only option. How is she as a character? Normally don't care for special candidates since they tend to rely on gimmicks but is the witch in this game a well written spouse and character?


r/harvestmoon 5d ago

Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life Playing another wonderful life on switch and just got the kitty, she matches my girl that jinx we adopted a few months ago! 🐾💓

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332 Upvotes

Played the original on gamecube as a kid and loved this game so much !


r/harvestmoon 5d ago

Curious if anyone knows if there is a translation for this language in tree of tranquility. I can't see much online at all. Is it just random scribbles by the game devs?

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73 Upvotes