The Ushi No Tane websites specialize in information, FAQs, and guides about the Nintendo console versions of the Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, and Legend of the River King video games. These game genres are created and published in Japan by Marvelous (JP). In other regions, you'll find Natsume, XSeed Games, Marvelous (EU), and Rising Star involved in the series' release.

The latest version of the mainstream farming series that have been released in various regions of the world are:

• Japan: Bokujou Monogatari: Return to Mineral Town (October 2019)
• North America: Harvest Moon: Light of Hope (May 2018 [Switch/Ps4]) and Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (July 2020)
• Europe: Harvest Moon: Light of Hope (June 2018 [Switch/Ps4]) and Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (July 2020)

The latest version of River King, in all regions of the world, is River King: Mystic Valley (NA 2008, EU 2009).

Since 2000, Ushi no Tane has been run by a grouchy old lady who happens to be fond of video game agriculture along with two one feline intern. The website is not officially affiliated, sponsored, endorsed, or employed by the developers of Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, or River King. This is simply a fan site.

Latest Farming Video Game News

Happy Farm'n Friday! It is only January, but this little narcissus really wants to bloom NOW. I tried to convince the plant to sleep for a little longer, but it completely ignored my warning and started opening anyway. They never listen, do they? At least it is a nice blip of color in an otherwise muddy flowerbed.

My adventures through Rune Factory 4 SE took me to the end of the Leon Karnak dungeon last weekend. But there was nothing there except the two dog statues that asked why I was bothering them. After explaining that I was just there to hang out, they were like, "aight you're cool," and nothing else happened. Well, that was somewhat anti-climatic! Guess it's time to return to the floating empire and explore that maze.

Kickstarter Updates

Here's the latest updates to several indie-developed farming games highlighted in previous Farm'n Fridays:

Everafter Falls - Development is still moving along, with a new fishing mini-game revealed, along with changes made to farming. Initially, the player's pet would be the only one who could handle the tiling and watering seeds, but this has been updated so the player can do the same alongside their pet.

Sun Haven - This fantasy farming game is still on track for a late-May 2021 release. Pixel Sprite Studios has been cleaning up the user interface to make it as friendly as they can.

An upcoming indie-developed farming game, Coral Island, hopes to launch a Kickstarter in the beginning of February. In this island farming game developed by Stairway Games, players are tasked with managing a farm and reviving the local town and its nearby coral reefs.

PoOT JP Website Update

The official website for Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town in Japan received a big update the other day, with equivalent English screenshots posted by Marvelous (EU) and XSeed Games (NA) through their social media accounts. Marv EU also confirmed that its release of PoOT will include English, French, German, and Spanish.

The update expanded a bit on how much character customization is available. Players can choose their eyes separately. The left eye can be different from the right eye if players choose it or make both eyes have the same color. After initial character creation, the farmer's facial features, hairstyle, hair color, eye color, skin color, voice, and motion can be changed by Jeanne at the Olive Town beauty salon. She will charge a fee for updating the protagonist's physical characteristics (e.g., 400 G for changing the facial structure, 160 G for eye color, etc.) New hairstyles can be unlocked and ordered from the salon for a fee.

The beauty salon can also have new clothing, hats, and accessories (such as glasses) crafted for the main character. Karina will request money and materials (such as weeds or cloth) for crafting wearable items. Clothing does not appear to be locked to gender, and Karina's crafting is completed upon purchase. Once created, changing to the new clothes can be done at the players' farmhouse closet or in the fitting room inside the beauty salon.

When first starting out in Olive Town, players will start living on grandpa's woodland property in a spacious tent. Eventually, you'll need to collect materials and funds so you can move into a dwelling that's a bit more accommodating. You'll need a bigger house for your future family, including one cute little kiddo of your own.

There are a variety of pets that can live on the farm. The number of pets you own is based on the farmhouse's size (e.g., the Large House can hold up to 3 pets). You can care for cats and dogs, each with a different visual style based on the pet's breed. So far, we know the dogs include Shiba Inu, White Shiba Inu, Black Shiba Inu, Pomeranian, Labrador Retriever, Burmese Mountain Dog, Siberian Husky, and Border Collie. Cats include Brown Striped Mix, Black Mix, American Shorthair, Scottish Fold, Calico, Persian, and Maine Coon. Pets also have personality types and can be walked by using the leash tool. The pets can be entered to participate in the Pet Derby festival. As this festival is being described as "annual," hopefully we won't have prizes tied to winning this festival an excessive number of times. Having to spend 13 years winning the Pet Promenade in Trio of Towns to unlock all the outfit prizes was not very fun.

Besides pets, players can care for a rideable mount. Options include the standard horse, a wolf, your scooter, and even a white unicorn!

There were about 15 more villagers included in the latest website update. There are a total of 27 non-marriage villagers revealed so far, not including the ones that haven't been formally introduced yet, such as Georg the ferry captain. With the remaining guy, that would be one fewer villagers as there was in Trio of Towns (29).

Beth - Has an eye for antiques and works at the museum. Alas, not a marriage candidate.
Cindy - Jack's little sister who likes to play with Mikey.
Dosetsu - This guardian has been watching over Iori since the bachelor was a kid.
Jacopo - The adult son of Mayor Victor, who owns a tourist boat.
Jeanne - A beautician who works at Karina's beauty salon.

Jessie - A gentle older woman who is married to Simon.
Lars - Loves motorbikes and is the brother of Clemens, the tool-shop owner. Seems to be close friends with bachelor Damon.
Lovett - The local food gourmet. Also NOT a marriage candidate (double drat!)
Manuela - Has a colorful personality, also Emilio's mom.
Marcos - The town's best fisherman and Emilio's dad.

Mikey - The mischievous kiddo of Jason and Sally.
Mystery Girl - A young girl wearing a strange mask. Who could she be?
Raul - A young man who wants to learn more about fishing from Marcos and Emelio.
Simon - The other friend who founded Olive Town along with the main character's grandpa. Jack and Cindy's grandpa.
Sydney - Laura's mom who is a lawyer from the city. She visits Olive Town on her days off.

Another note is the size of the player's rucksack. It starts out small but appears to be expandable up to 32 slots. Eight slots will be displayed at the bottom of the player's screen, with an option to navigate through the other set of eight slots.

Until next time!

- Cher
(Ooh the new Iris catalog arrived in the mail!)

RSS