Harvest Moon and seasonality

SNES, HM64, BTN, STH, A Wonderful Life, Another Wonderful Life, AWL:SE, Magical Melody, Puzzle de HM, Tree of Tranquility, Animal Parade, Frantic Farming, Hero of Leaf Valley, My Little Shop, Seeds of Memories, Lil' Farmers, Light of Hope, Popolocrois: SoS, and Doraemon: SoS.
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Code_Name_Geek
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I recently watched a video that discussed the idea of seasonality, which Wikipedia defines as “the presence of variations that occur at specific regular intervals less than a year, such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly”. In this instance the word was referring to lifestyle changes caused by the changing seasons, such as the availability of certain produce, clothes, etc.

Now the point of this video was that in modern times we’ve lost a lot of our connection to the seasons through seasonality—in many places, out-of-season produce is readily available at the supermarket year round. Jobs are no longer so dependent on the seasons and people tend to work the same profession year round. There are still variations reliant on other events, like holidays for instance, but they’re less connected to nature and the elements.

Anyways I started thinking that this might be one of the reasons Harvest Moon and related games are so appealing to people. Without a doubt they’d be less enjoyable to play year after year if it wasn’t for turnips in spring, tomatoes in summer, and eggplants in fall, plus varying forageables, fishing, wild animals, etc. And perhaps the games themselves help fill in a hole that’s left by the gradual loss of seasonality in our real lives.

I found this all pretty interesting so I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has any thoughts on this! Do you think this contributes to your enjoyment of the games?

Original video I watched if anyone’s interested (not Harvest Moon-related at all):
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Kikki
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All I can say about this for sure is that I hate winter so much (I live in Canada in an area with a lot of precipitation in all seasons, and we're waist deep in snow this year) that it's even my least favourite season in the games, lol. Drab, dead, one colour...hate it. (Though it had the best soundtrack by far in SoS.) Our weather changes so drastically by season here that I don't really think we've lost our connection to seasonality...we've got to change our tires and our clothes and winterize things and change how we put out the garbage...it's pretty major, the differences. Also, I don't live in a city, so though we can get strawberries year round, they taste like plastic all winter, as do the other hot-weather crops they ship in...they're not very fresh. Also, my family grows a lot of plants, so I'm used to having a lot of harvest to deal with in the latter half of summer and the first half of fall. We live pretty seasonally, I guess...anyone who deals a lot in any type of farming pretty much has to.

Overall, I'd say that the four changing seasons are not really what draws me to Bokumono, though life would be dull if it was all one season so I certainly prefer that there be changing seasons over it looking the same all the time. Refreshes the eye and makes things variable to introduce continual change to the game, which keeps things less monotonous.
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ryume
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I enjoy the changing seasons in the games, but honestly I play them because a) they're adorable, b) they're a huge timesink because I like to collect as many things as possible (including in game husbandos) and c) the easy, repetitive gameplay makes it simple for me to collect as much as I want without having to think too hard while being treated to adorable aesthetics while I play :)
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Enjoy the seasons, seasonality drives me up a wall and is often negated by a greenhouse-type thing anyway. Seasonality do not make the games more fun for me at all.
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Code_Name_Geek
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Kikki wrote:All I can say about this for sure is that I hate winter so much (I live in Canada in an area with a lot of precipitation in all seasons, and we're waist deep in snow this year) that it's even my least favourite season in the games, lol...
Oh totally, I live in a part of Canada with extreme seasonal weather on both ends of the spectrum so that definitely causes some variation in lifestyle (though it gets too cold to snow for a decent portion of the winter here so we probably don't get as much snow). And for anyone for whom farming/gardening/hunting etc. is a part of their lifestyle the changing seasons would have more of an effect for sure. But I do think that the effect of seasonality on the average person (in North America at least) has decreased. Even the advent of electric/gas heating and air conditioning diminishes the effects of seasonal temperature changes on us because we can control our interior environments so precisely.

Also to everyone saying it's not what draws them to the game, I definitely agree--I think it's more sub-conscious than that. Certainly the appeal of collecting, building relationships, repetitive gameplay, and cute animals are some of first things that come to mind when someone asks me why I love these games. Seasonality is just one part of the formula that makes this kind of game addicting, but it was one I'd never given much thought which is why I found it intriguing.

One thing I've always found exciting about the changing seasons in Bokumono games is the seasonal music. Hearing the first notes of spring after a long winter is always so exciting! But I'm also a nerd when it comes to game music so I get excited easily :lol:
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Mikodesu
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I think the part of that quote "the presence of variations..." is the important bit for me. Contrast is a large part of what makes things interesting, be they art or life. As far as Bokumono is concerned I appreciate seasonality - I wouldn't say it MAKES the game for me anymore, but it wouldn't be the same game without it. It would be kind of awful having one season like we do where I live. Or worse, having to deal with the modern economics of farming. One crop farming, anyone?

I also really love weather systems in games. I know it's dependent on the whole three town structure but I really loved the "randomness" of having different weather in the different towns in Trio. Even better would be if we could have stray showers or rainbows and the like. It might complicate some events but I'd make the trade, personally.

Also, I thought...I think seasonality would mean more if it had a little more depth. I still LIKE it, but it needs more. Rainy season, for example, or maybe a super late season snow storm. But maybe that's just me...it might make the game more difficult. :lol:
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Kikki
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Tale of Two Towns had weather that changed by the half day, iirc. And...tbh, I hated weather in Trio, lol. It stopped me from seeing Yuzuki's event for more than an ENTIRE SEASON. Every single day his event could otherwise have been triggered, it rained. Some might be willing to make that trade off, but for me it was just too frustrating. I like the variable weather, but not to the point of being willing to let it throw off my event schedule.

Rather than wish they would throw out the rain/etc, I wish they wouldn't make so many events applicable to sunny days only. It'd be nice if they had even MORE weather, honestly, if not for that. More stormy days (but not the kind that ruin your crops...I'd just like to see flashes of lightning and heavier rain effects) and some super windy days with the trees rustling and the petals/leaves/etc blowing by at higher speed...cloudy days where it's as dark as twilight the whole day...stuff like that.

Just don't keep me from triggering my event for weeks on end, game. (-_-)

The seasons in Bokumono are important, imo. Hearing the soundtrack change up, all the colours shifting, the crops rotating...they're all very important to keep things interesting, for me...I just don't think that in themselves they're a draw to the series. Other things draw you in, and then the changing seasons keep things fresh to help keep me interested longer. But I don't think it's because people are losing seasonality IRL, because my life is very seasonal.
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I live in the tropics and we basically only have dry and wet seasons (no spring, summer, fall and winter). Despite that, I'm still most like others here who are drawn to the series by the gameplay and not necessarily the seasons. Still, I learned a lot on what types of crops can be grown each season relative to temperate countries. Like for example, strawberries are usually grown during spring/cold weather; so that must be why we could only grow strawberries at the highlands where I live. And, most crops and flowers are grown during the cold temperatures (spring, fall, winter); that must be why the vegetables and flowers coming from our highlands taste the best/freshest.

Writing this, I now find it weird that I learned from a temperate country point of view; but I never had a formal agriculture class so shrug. I guess my home economics teacher then didn't see the need to explain since we could basically grow most crops anytime, though quality varies :lol:
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