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 (USA), 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: Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (January 2023)
• North America: Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home (August 2024) and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (June 2023)
• Europe: Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home (August 2024) and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (June 2023)

The latest version of River King, in all regions of the world, is River King: Mystic Valley (JP 2007, 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 feline helpers: Intern Captain Bootu and Intern Hondo Mewnaka. 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

HM: Winds of Anthos Release Date, Marv Announces 2 SoS and 2 RF games, and Pacha returns to Steam Store | Posted at 04:01 PM 26 May 2023

Happy Farm'n Friday! The carrots are sprouting! Oh joy! Attempts at growing carrots in the backyard didn't turn out last year, as insects and slugs kept eating the seedlings. Nothing terrible against insects per se, they're just doing what they do, but I didn't want them to eat my seedlings. I'm not a fan of using pesticides after a post-application wind drift caused all my pot-based crops to die (oh, it hurt..). There must be a better, non-toxic way of handling hungry millipedes and rolly-polly pill bugs.

No mercy for slugs, though. Bah.

The internet suggested using potatoes to entice the critters away. Cut the potato in half, hollow out the inside a bit, and then stick it in the garden cut-side down in the evening. I placed a couple of these around where I had planted the carrots in the front yard garden boxes, and sure enough, the next morning had lots of pill bugs and multi-legged critters hanging out inside and under the potato. Success! Then I just had to pick up the potato (and its passengers) and move it somewhere outside the garden. Ah, the magic of the mighty potato.

Anthos Preorders

Natsume released more information about their upcoming entry into their farming series, Harvest Moon: Winds of Anthos, defining the game's expected release date in North America to be September 26, 2023. Being released on all major consoles and Steam/PC, physical edition preorders are now open on Amazon.com (Switch, Ps5, Ps4, and Xbox One), at Gamestop stores, and at Natsume's new online store, natsumestore.com.

(Amazon.com currently has the release date incorrectly defined as September 12/13.)

In Anthos, players will be tasked with restoring the Harvest Goddess, who used up her powers protecting the villages of Anthos from a devastating volcanic eruption 10 years prior. Besides knocking out HG, the eruption resulted in land barriers that isolated the once-connected villages, with some residents completely separated from their hometowns. Doc Jr will be around once again to help the protagonist save the world (though uncredited because we all know he's the true hero of the game), along with the Harvest Wisps and the townsfolks. There will be 10 marriage candidates to woo, yearly festivals and contests to participate in, warp points so you don't have to run everywhere, and even a camera for taking pictures and selfies.

Physical preorders cost $49.99 USD and include a special cuddly bovine, the Sleepytime Cow plushie, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Harvest Moon brand. Preordering directly from Natsume will grant a second preorder bonus that has yet to be revealed. That's not the only option, though.

NIS America has partnered with Natsume again to offer a Limited Edition bundle for Anthos preorders. The NISA edition contains a copy of the game (Switch, Ps4/5, or Xbox), a CD game soundtrack, 6 lapel pins, and the Sleepytime Cow plushie, all packaged together in a collector's box. The LE bundle can be preordered for $84.99 USD from the NIS America online store.

The Natsume store also has a few leftover preorder plushies from past game bundles as well as old console games such as Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility and Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny.

Marv Showcase

Yesterday, Marvelous aired a 30-minute online video to present the consumer games the company was working on. About halfway through the showcase, they announced new information about the Bokujou Monogatari series. You can see it here on the Marv USA (i.e., XSeed Games) Youtube channel:

• Marvelous Games Showcase 2023 starting at 14 min, 52 seconds

The start of the Bokumono section of the presentation included scenes from past entries such as Sunshine Islands, Tree of Tranquility, the first Rune Factory game, Back to Nature, and even My Little Shop.

The four-seasons montage is for the new mainline Bokumono game currently in development, according to Hikaru Nakano, the series' overseer since Yoshifumi Hashimoto left to create his own studio, HAKAMA. While it is pretty, the presentation includes the same stylized animals from Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town; chickens, chicks, the bubble cow, a sheep, butterflies, and Pomeranian dogs were all in the last mainline game entry. Given Marvelous' history with the series, it makes sense (to me) that the next mainline game will be a successor to PoOT. The company has a pattern of producing Bokumono games in pairs that are similar to each other: Tree of Tranquility and Animal Parade, SoS1 and SoS: Trio of Towns, Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands, Grand Bazaar and Tale of Two Towns, etc. Nakano notes that they've worked hard on the game's natural environment and hopes this new game will deliver a great adventure for its players.

The presentation then moved into a second announcement: another new Bokujou Monogatari game. Nakano explains that they will be making a Bokumono game that we can play with all our friends. It's a direction they haven't taken before. The concept artwork displayed during the presentation shows various Bokumono protagonists all playing together: fishing, farming, bug catching, and having a merry 'ol time.

Multiplayer in Bokumono isn't entirely new, as there have been entries that have a multiplayer function but are, essentially, single-player games. There are also online Bokumono games, such as the defunct Minna de Bokumono and the current Japan-only web-based version that almost had an English release. Still, those games don't have real-time activity with other players. Since Nakano noted that this was a new direction they hadn't taken before, it is safe to assume that this new entry will have a fully interactive element rather than a simple multiplayer mini-game. This announcement doesn't confirm the next Bokumono remake, despite the recognizable protagonists from ToT and AP in the artwork.

It'll be interesting to see how these two games will turn out!

Marvelous also revealed that two Rune Factory games were in development under the theme of East and West. Rune Factory: Project Dragon (or "Dragon Country" in the JP version) will be an Asian-themed spin-off from the mainline series placed in the mysterious eastern country hinted about in previous Rune Factory games (e.g., Sakuya and Shino from RF3 moved to Sharance from an eastern country). The game will be directed by Shiro Maekawa (Rune Factory 4 SE, Rune Factory 5), with Tsukuda Kenichiro (Doraemon: SoS1, No More Heros 3) as General Producer and Fujii Hisashi (DEADCRAFT) as Producer.

The western-themed game will be Rune Factory 6, placed in the western country of Adonea. Director Maekawa wouldn't reveal much information about this game, but it's clear he's excited about it!

So many new farming games coming out! How can we keep hold of all this farm'n! Oh my gosh... squeee...

Roots of Pacha Page Restored

The conflict between developer Soda Den and indie-game publisher Crytivo has concluded, and the Store page for Roots of Pacha is once again available on Steam. The result was that the partners decided to go their separate ways. The game can now be purchased directly from Steam again:

• Roots of Pacha on Steam

Until next time!

Cher
(Replanted the watermelons last week and still no sprouts! Bah, these seeds are stubborn...)

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