Story of Seasons: AWL remake announced!

What happened to Murrey!? A remake of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (2004) and Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life (2005) for Nintendo Switch. [ Game Guide ] JP release = Jan 2023. NA release = June 2023. EU release = June 2023.
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FarmingForDaysMan
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(I say this jokingly, but) Oh, so Marlin’s “most definitely the hardest to impress”? The man can be wooed with enough bottles of milk xD
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FarmingForDaysMan wrote: Dec 02, 2022 7:16 pm (I say this jokingly, but) Oh, so Marlin’s “most definitely the hardest to impress”? The man can be wooed with enough bottles of milk xD
I know! I'm so relieved they keep the personalities the same! I see Marlin's still as stubborn as ever :heart: honesty, the hair in his face makes him even cuter to me
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Crystal Power
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TahoeMario wrote: Dec 02, 2022 5:01 pm They made it a point to single out Gordy's design in the Famitsu interview, stating that Igusa (artist / illustrator since pretty much the beginning of the series... so, Cody's original art designer) personally pitched the redesign himself to the team. It wasn't a request made on Marvelous's part to change the character. So, you know if the original art designer felt the need to personally go back and change it then what else is there to say, really, the creator wanted it corrected.
I think Igusa understand the need for the change too, as we know the more recent titles have been adding more people of color/black characters than ever before and he is responsible for the new designs as well, Luara, her mother Sydney, Karina, Manuella, Raul and in Trio of towns the entire village of Lulukoko. When previously we'd probably get only one dark skinned bachelor if anything. ^^;;
infel wrote: Dec 02, 2022 4:32 pm They were intended to be dated in Harvest Moon Another Wonderful life. There were two games. And honestly, while I can agree they weren't being progressive, I do think they are less 'progressive' than now in terms with the designs. But for the bachelors, they were intended to be dated when the girl version came out. I find it kind of depressing though that all the guys needed to have a big update, but the girls didn't really change at all or at least barely. For the Wonderful Life series, the girls (outside of Nami) are conventional beauties. The guys weren't, but had a level of attractiveness that could catch the eye of players depending on their tastes. Even Rock, who was the most conventionally handsome of the guys, didn't really have the style they are doing now. It is interesting to now however, that Rock has not changed much or at all from his original design. To me, it's because he's was considered already conventionally handsome and so they didn't need to change much.
Oh, back then these game were developed without bachelors, when they were released the girls version were added as a after thought so the bachelors that were given to girls version were originally NPC's. This is actually very interesting because still to this day there are many NPC's that players wish they can marry, so what you said about wanting something "interesting" is actually more accurate than I previously realized! Anyway Rune Factory even started off having only bachelorettes too, sadly girls version weren't ever made for those ones so still to this day you cannot even choose your gender when they release the remaster of the 3rd game in 2023. Also another user goes more into how the classic games were developed, I'll qoute their message below.
PaleSunflower wrote: Dec 02, 2022 5:32 pm Another thing is that original 3 bachelors weren't intended to be love interests in the first game, HM:AWL, and were later turned into marriage candidates later without changing their designs or models. The "girl" versions of the old HM games tended to re-use the models and assets of the original "boy" versions, so Marvelous not changing any of the designs back then was standard procedure for them at the time. Basically, the bachelors looked as unconventional as they did because none of them were originally designed as love interests, and Marvelous at the time couldn't be bothered to change them much after they became marriage material.

(I also may be wrong, but I thought there was an interview where the developers confirmed that HM:AnWL wasn't scheduled to come out initially and only came into being because the first game was such a success at the time.)

This situation would also explain why most of the bachelors got beat with the conventional pretty-boy stick this time around. The bachelorettes already had that happen to them, more or less, because they were meant to be conventionally pretty and date-able in their first designs. Now that the bachelors are intended to be, well, bachelors, and Marvelous will completely redesign characters rather then reuse old assets, the bachelors had to brought to the relative same standard of pretty as the bachelorettes, hence their extreme redesigns compared to the single ladies. Rock only got mostly spared because he was meant to be a pretty party boy who messes around with women, so he was already conventionally attractive. Cody was not conventionally pretty at all, so his old design was almost completely scrapped and replaced with a handful of elements from his old design remaining as to keep him vaguely recognizable.
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infel
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Crystal Power wrote: Dec 02, 2022 8:16 pm
TahoeMario wrote: Dec 02, 2022 5:01 pm They made it a point to single out Gordy's design in the Famitsu interview, stating that Igusa (artist / illustrator since pretty much the beginning of the series... so, Cody's original art designer) personally pitched the redesign himself to the team. It wasn't a request made on Marvelous's part to change the character. So, you know if the original art designer felt the need to personally go back and change it then what else is there to say, really, the creator wanted it corrected.
I think Igusa understand the need for the change too, as we know the more recent titles have been adding more people of color/black characters than ever before and he is responsible for the new designs as well, Luara, her mother Sydney, Karina, Manuella, Raul and in Trio of towns the entire village of Lulukoko. When previously we'd probably get only one dark skinned bachelor if anything. ^^;;
infel wrote: Dec 02, 2022 4:32 pm They were intended to be dated in Harvest Moon Another Wonderful life. There were two games. And honestly, while I can agree they weren't being progressive, I do think they are less 'progressive' than now in terms with the designs. But for the bachelors, they were intended to be dated when the girl version came out. I find it kind of depressing though that all the guys needed to have a big update, but the girls didn't really change at all or at least barely. For the Wonderful Life series, the girls (outside of Nami) are conventional beauties. The guys weren't, but had a level of attractiveness that could catch the eye of players depending on their tastes. Even Rock, who was the most conventionally handsome of the guys, didn't really have the style they are doing now. It is interesting to now however, that Rock has not changed much or at all from his original design. To me, it's because he's was considered already conventionally handsome and so they didn't need to change much.
Oh, back then these game were developed without bachelors, when they were released the girls version were added as a after thought so the bachelors that were given to girls version were originally NPC's. This is actually very interesting because still to this day there are many NPC's that players wish they can marry, so what you said about wanting something "interesting" is actually more accurate than I previously realized! Anyway Rune Factory even started off having only bachelorettes too, sadly girls version weren't ever made for those ones so still to this day you cannot even choose your gender when they release the remaster of the 3rd game in 2023. Also another user goes more into how the classic games were developed, I'll qoute their message below.
PaleSunflower wrote: Dec 02, 2022 5:32 pm Another thing is that original 3 bachelors weren't intended to be love interests in the first game, HM:AWL, and were later turned into marriage candidates later without changing their designs or models. The "girl" versions of the old HM games tended to re-use the models and assets of the original "boy" versions, so Marvelous not changing any of the designs back then was standard procedure for them at the time. Basically, the bachelors looked as unconventional as they did because none of them were originally designed as love interests, and Marvelous at the time couldn't be bothered to change them much after they became marriage material.

(I also may be wrong, but I thought there was an interview where the developers confirmed that HM:AnWL wasn't scheduled to come out initially and only came into being because the first game was such a success at the time.)

This situation would also explain why most of the bachelors got beat with the conventional pretty-boy stick this time around. The bachelorettes already had that happen to them, more or less, because they were meant to be conventionally pretty and date-able in their first designs. Now that the bachelors are intended to be, well, bachelors, and Marvelous will completely redesign characters rather then reuse old assets, the bachelors had to brought to the relative same standard of pretty as the bachelorettes, hence their extreme redesigns compared to the single ladies. Rock only got mostly spared because he was meant to be a pretty party boy who messes around with women, so he was already conventionally attractive. Cody was not conventionally pretty at all, so his old design was almost completely scrapped and replaced with a handful of elements from his old design remaining as to keep him vaguely recognizable.
Ah, okay, thanks so much for the clarification. I didn't realize the girl version was an after thought. It makes sense then with how they decided not to update the guys. I do wonder why they didn't update them for DS Cute since they did it here, but than again these games have different teams. Still, makes a lot of sense, so thank you. And yeah, I just want them to be interesting. I don't mind redesigns, but when they do them, I just want them to be interesting. Cody/Gordy isn't bad looking, but I just find his design off. I am like you and I do try things, even if they might be off to me, so I'll play this game when it comes out. I played SoS Mineral Town and love it, so I hope I'll feel the same with this (either loving it or liking it). And you're right about Rune Factory. For anyone wanting to date the guys in the first three games, it sadly won't happen. From what I remember, those games had a lot of attractive guys.
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There is neither a HM/SoS nor RF game to date that doesn't have a non-pursue-able NPC that at least some players would love to date. :lol: Because they aren't bound by needed to appeal to as many people as possible, NPCs can take risks and have flaws that the purely love interests generally don't. Drastically tall, overweight, off-putting, or otherwise not conventionally attractive? NPC-territory only.

The only times that I know of when such character is a love interest is when a NPC got repurposed into a lover, such as Woofio in SoS:3oT and a lot of the "girl" version bachelors in the old HM games. SoS:PoOT in particular played its love interests, despite them being ethnically diverse, so safe personality-, design-, and story-wise that many player found them stale. Quite a few players had trouble choosing a spouse because the players in question felt about the same towards everyone and not in a good way (not hating anyone, but not really liking anyone in particular either).

(The RF games did have an overweight bachelorette, Eunice of RF:Frontier, who was never a NPC, but, notably, she won't wear a swimsuit like the other girls and was self-conscious about her weight. One of her events allows the player to tell her that they like thin girls, and Eunice will spend the next few seasons losing weight until she's as skinny as other girls. Only after she loses the weight does she wear a swimsuit. The game also makes clear that she doesn't wear a swimsuit while overweight because she feels self-conscious about her weight.)

As for why the more recent games have more diverse love interests, I thought there was another interview where it was confirmed that Marvelous was trying to appeal to the global market by including characters of different ethnicities as well as making all love interests player-sexual. The primary intended audience of HM/SoS games, if I am remembering correctly, was originally Japanese boys, then Japanese girls and boys, then the global market (girls and boys from around the world). Hopefully, the franchise doesn't lose itself and become a more-or-less generic farming game by trying and most likely failing to appeal to a larger and larger audience. Now that "farming games" is a proper genre now, there are plenty of games boasting growing crops, raising animals, interesting stories, exploration, romance, diverse casts, etc. to compare HM/SoS to, many of them cheaper upon release to boot.
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Man, I remember the days of the Girl Versions. The internet was still young and there was no way to know if that Japanese exclusive version where you could play as a girl would ever be localized until it was shown off in Nintendo Power or a video game store flyer. I remember wanting More Friends of Mineral town SO BAD as a tween because I played the heck out of the base version. It was the same rodeo for DS Cute until game devs finally smartened up and stopped offering 'girl versions' as alternatives and just had the option of gender at the beginning of the game instead. I used to hunt down any game that allowed you to play as your intended gender because I felt so starved in a (then) mostly male populated hobby. Nowadays, unless the game's protagonist is a set character with reasons to be set, why wouldn't you give your players more options? Especially when they're a silent protag you're meant to see yourself in (I'M LOOKING AT YOU PERSONA 5, PERSONA 6 HAD BETTER HAVE GENDER OPTIONS, SO « Snuggly Bunny » HELP ME - DRAGON QUEST XII TOO).

We could argue that having options take more resources and costs more money for the devs, but by alienating your consumer you're less likely to make that money back in the long run. People like options, people like customization. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about 'girl' versions any more.
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Crystal Power
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infel wrote: Dec 03, 2022 12:26 am Ah, okay, thanks so much for the clarification. I didn't realize the girl version was an after thought. It makes sense then with how they decided not to update the guys. I do wonder why they didn't update them for DS Cute since they did it here, but than again these games have different teams. Still, makes a lot of sense, so thank you. And yeah, I just want them to be interesting. I don't mind redesigns, but when they do them, I just want them to be interesting. Cody/Gordy isn't bad looking, but I just find his design off. I am like you and I do try things, even if they might be off to me, so I'll play this game when it comes out. I played SoS Mineral Town and love it, so I hope I'll feel the same with this (either loving it or liking it). And you're right about Rune Factory. For anyone wanting to date the guys in the first three games, it sadly won't happen. From what I remember, those games had a lot of attractive guys.
No problem and yes I can really agree with wanting more interesting options! It's also a shame the developers fail to realize that it could get more people to play, they could still have 2 or 3 conventionally attractive bachelor and bachelorettes but having the remaining options more unique isn't going to turn people away though it could draw more peoples attention.
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infel
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Crystal Power wrote: Dec 03, 2022 7:14 pm
infel wrote: Dec 03, 2022 12:26 am Ah, okay, thanks so much for the clarification. I didn't realize the girl version was an after thought. It makes sense then with how they decided not to update the guys. I do wonder why they didn't update them for DS Cute since they did it here, but than again these games have different teams. Still, makes a lot of sense, so thank you. And yeah, I just want them to be interesting. I don't mind redesigns, but when they do them, I just want them to be interesting. Cody/Gordy isn't bad looking, but I just find his design off. I am like you and I do try things, even if they might be off to me, so I'll play this game when it comes out. I played SoS Mineral Town and love it, so I hope I'll feel the same with this (either loving it or liking it). And you're right about Rune Factory. For anyone wanting to date the guys in the first three games, it sadly won't happen. From what I remember, those games had a lot of attractive guys.
No problem and yes I can really agree with wanting more interesting options! It's also a shame the developers fail to realize that it could get more people to play, they could still have 2 or 3 conventionally attractive bachelor and bachelorettes but having the remaining options more unique isn't going to turn people away though it could draw more peoples attention.
Yeah, it's weird of them not to be doing this. I mean, it's been said that Marvelous is trying to appeal to the global market, but yet they still won't add a more diverse cast of characters. For example, it's really sad that none of the girls in this game or even Mineral Town are a person of color. Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town did have this and does a bit of a better job, but at the same time there's no much diversity. Anyway, I don't mean and won't turn this political. I'm just saying I wish Marvelous did more with character design and maybe changing things up. As someone here said, theres many farming games out there and it may be troubling if Marvelous cannot make themselves stand out. Still, they could also be fine. They are one of the first farming game makers after all.

At the end of the day, I'm still likely going to get this game. I want to try it out and it's nice that new players can play these old games. I'm really hoping I like the game more than Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town, which is a game I liked but had some big problems. It's cool to see another remake as well :heart:
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infel wrote: Dec 04, 2022 8:44 am
Crystal Power wrote: Dec 03, 2022 7:14 pm
infel wrote: Dec 03, 2022 12:26 am Ah, okay, thanks so much for the clarification. I didn't realize the girl version was an after thought. It makes sense then with how they decided not to update the guys. I do wonder why they didn't update them for DS Cute since they did it here, but than again these games have different teams. Still, makes a lot of sense, so thank you. And yeah, I just want them to be interesting. I don't mind redesigns, but when they do them, I just want them to be interesting. Cody/Gordy isn't bad looking, but I just find his design off. I am like you and I do try things, even if they might be off to me, so I'll play this game when it comes out. I played SoS Mineral Town and love it, so I hope I'll feel the same with this (either loving it or liking it). And you're right about Rune Factory. For anyone wanting to date the guys in the first three games, it sadly won't happen. From what I remember, those games had a lot of attractive guys.
No problem and yes I can really agree with wanting more interesting options! It's also a shame the developers fail to realize that it could get more people to play, they could still have 2 or 3 conventionally attractive bachelor and bachelorettes but having the remaining options more unique isn't going to turn people away though it could draw more peoples attention.
Yeah, it's weird of them not to be doing this. I mean, it's been said that Marvelous is trying to appeal to the global market, but yet they still won't add a more diverse cast of characters. For example, it's really sad that none of the girls in this game or even Mineral Town are a person of color. Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town did have this and does a bit of a better job, but at the same time there's no much diversity. Anyway, I don't mean and won't turn this political. I'm just saying I wish Marvelous did more with character design and maybe changing things up. As someone here said, theres many farming games out there and it may be troubling if Marvelous cannot make themselves stand out. Still, they could also be fine. They are one of the first farming game makers after all.

At the end of the day, I'm still likely going to get this game. I want to try it out and it's nice that new players can play these old games. I'm really hoping I like the game more than Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town, which is a game I liked but had some big problems. It's cool to see another remake as well :heart:
Theres no need to apologize thats what these forums are for. Its exactly why I want a remake of Trios of Town so we can finally get more diversity again. I don't think I will be getting this game, I am so sad to the way this series had been going. Don't really like the direction these last 2 since the 3ds until then we don't have much to talk about unless theres screenshots or information revealed.
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Thomaster
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I'M REALLY EXCITED! :lala: I've actually never played the original Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life before, surprisingly. I've never owned a GameCube - so this is very exciting for me, as it gives me the opportunity to try the game out for the first time! I'm really fond of the style of models this game has, I just think the characters themselves look very cute. Love the concept of growing your own family and I can't wait to try it out for the first time with this remake! Gives an opportunity for people like me who juuuuust about missed the GameCube train. I hope everyone else is just as excited as me, too! :)
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^^^First post, first post! Just registered today!^^^ Welcome to the forum, Thomaster; I hope you enjoy your time here. :)
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Crystal Power
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infel wrote: Dec 04, 2022 8:44 am Yeah, it's weird of them not to be doing this. I mean, it's been said that Marvelous is trying to appeal to the global market, but yet they still won't add a more diverse cast of characters. For example, it's really sad that none of the girls in this game or even Mineral Town are a person of color. Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town did have this and does a bit of a better job, but at the same time there's no much diversity. Anyway, I don't mean and won't turn this political. I'm just saying I wish Marvelous did more with character design and maybe changing things up. As someone here said, theres many farming games out there and it may be troubling if Marvelous cannot make themselves stand out. Still, they could also be fine. They are one of the first farming game makers after all.

At the end of the day, I'm still likely going to get this game. I want to try it out and it's nice that new players can play these old games. I'm really hoping I like the game more than Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town, which is a game I liked but had some big problems. It's cool to see another remake as well :heart:
Most of the users here are surprisingly kind (surprisingly because how toxic the internet can be) so I'm sure it's no problem, we are talking about the game as well. Also I want to say I'm secretly hoping there would be two new candidates just for the possibility of a dark skinned/black girl to be added and I was hoping the same with FOMT and it sadly didn't happen but oh well.. I really get a spark of joy whenever I see girls of color in anime and anime styled games so I'll continue hoping for this in the future! :lala:
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Thomaster wrote: Dec 04, 2022 4:32 pm I'M REALLY EXCITED! :lala: I've actually never played the original Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life before, surprisingly. I've never owned a GameCube - so this is very exciting for me, as it gives me the opportunity to try the game out for the first time! I'm really fond of the style of models this game has, I just think the characters themselves look very cute. Love the concept of growing your own family and I can't wait to try it out for the first time with this remake! Gives an opportunity for people like me who juuuuust about missed the GameCube train. I hope everyone else is just as excited as me, too! :)
I'm so glad there's someone like me! I'm super excited. I watched my older brother play some on the Gamecube before my parents sold it and I played a little of the DS games so I feel familiar with some of these characters. I just can't wait to finally play for myself for the very first time!
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Miko wrote: Dec 04, 2022 9:27 pm
Thomaster wrote: Dec 04, 2022 4:32 pm I'M REALLY EXCITED! :lala: I've actually never played the original Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life before, surprisingly. I've never owned a GameCube - so this is very exciting for me, as it gives me the opportunity to try the game out for the first time! I'm really fond of the style of models this game has, I just think the characters themselves look very cute. Love the concept of growing your own family and I can't wait to try it out for the first time with this remake! Gives an opportunity for people like me who juuuuust about missed the GameCube train. I hope everyone else is just as excited as me, too! :)
I'm so glad there's someone like me! I'm super excited. I watched my older brother play some on the Gamecube before my parents sold it and I played a little of the DS games so I feel familiar with some of these characters. I just can't wait to finally play for myself for the very first time!
YAY!! I'm so happy you're just as excited as I am!! :lala: So I'm assuming you've played Harvest Moon DS - the main DS game - if you recognize the characters. Which is AWESOME, because that's actually my favorite in the series, so it already looks like we have a lot in common! :) I'm so excited for you to experience it along with me, this is gonna be so much FUN!!
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Am I allow to ask a question about this game? Sorry if i have to make a new topic for this. I'm wondering if this pic they shared is really the Starlight night of this game. I know ppl has said the event with Gustufa is the Starry festival I think. Idk if they are the same but this looks like the Starlight night event from Friends of Mineral Town to me. https://twitter.com/marvelouseurope/sta ... 1745131522
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