My main concern

The first mainline Harvest Moon game developed by Natsume. Nintendo 3DS. [ Game Guide ] JP release = None. NA release = Nov 2014. EU release = Jun 2015.
caprontos
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Post  Posted:

At first the big heads with a small body really put me off, graphic wise.. I haven't really had a lot of issues with how the terrain looks though.. But as I see more pictures and such I notice the heads less and less, idk if they shrunk them or if I just really don't notice it as much.. or if it is growing on me.. Personally I would of preferred a Hero of Leaf valley look.. (like character look)..

But imo.. Good gameplay can more then make up for graphical shortcomings.. I mean.. people still play dwarf fortress.. It doesn't even really have graphics really.. its pure gameplay.. - that's a kinda extreme example..

And on the game play front this game sounds like it has a lot of interesting mechanics that could really play out well.. Compared to.. SoS which, based on what I have seen is a standard Harvest Moon, which is fine and good -I know what to expect more or less- but not nearly as interesting game play wise... IMO..

*I plan on getting both games btw*
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K8sMum
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Anonymous Fish wrote:I actually kind of find it sad often really good games get slighted for something so sad and superficial.

Wind Waker: Great game with many improvements to Ocarina of Time. Still considered a classic.

At release: The graphics are so childish, oh my « Harvest Goddess »! This game sucks we're not babies, we want the game to look mature. I'm not buying it because the graphics suck! We need mature games because we act mature!

Kirby's Epic Yarn: I will admit that this game was also slighted because it actually had little to do with the Kirby franchise. Rather than hearing that complaint constantly, I heard this complaint far more often:

This game is so babyish! Yarn? YARN? This game looks like it was made for little kids. Now no one is going to take that pink ball seriously. I'm not buying it.



I get it, graphics are important! They help immensely with the feel of the game. But seriously, the people on this forum seem to only care about how things look. I've seen more posts on how this game is "ugly" and "ugh I hate the ugly" rather than "I think these features might work because..." or "I'm worried about terriforming because...". Those discussions happen of course, but no matter what, people just have to bring up "the graphics make my eyes so sad :(".

I wouldn't mind this if people weren't calling Story of Season mature. Ha! They are just the same stereotypical anime designs that you could find in any other half baked Japanese RPG series. They use those graphics because they ARE EASIER TO MARKET TO CHILDREN. I don't know about the gameplay as it hasn't come back yet, but you know who has had an extremely childish gameplay model for the past several games? Oh yeah, it's Bokoju Monotagari!

That's the series that has dulled down any and all characters to cut bland cut outs. It's that series that mistakes fetch quests for "difficulty". It's that series that focuses so hard on marriage and yet is unwilling to give any of the dateable people any kind of personality. It's that series that at times has required you to use wifi because they made the animal caring process so tedious. It's that series that will give you a tutorial for literally anything.

Do you think they do that because they think you're mature? No. They do that because you'll buy it anyways because of the pretty graphics and name. The Lost Valley has the potential to not be very good. This is the same company that messed up basic translations and made Hometown Story. But don't let graphics be your deciding factor. This is one of the biggest problems with the gaming industry. Instead of going for the graphically challenged game that actually takes risks, they go for the same pretty big company games because it's familiar.
Judgemental opinions coming from a rant about judgemental opinions.

You seem way too invested in this
To be posting as an anonymous fish.

;-)
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Meriberry
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If the proportions didn't seem so wonky, I'd be more interested. I liked the farming mechanics that've been introduced. With the earlier games, yeah, they were cheeb style, but they were a proportionate cheeb style. Not twigs with acorns.

I'm still on the fence about the whole thing. I might buy it, I might not. I'll wait and see how it goes.
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Rice
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K8sMum wrote:Judgemental opinions coming from a rant about judgemental opinions.

You seem way too invested in this
To be posting as an anonymous fish.

;-)

Whoa there Nelly, take a step back. The whole point of this topic is to share opinions. So instead of saying "You're opinion is too judgmental", tell them why you disagree with them and give them constructive feedback; take NessEggman and Cherubae for an example. They share their opinions politely, even when both differ. Plus, it's interesting to see both sides and their reasoning. So don't be rude and be careful with how you word things, bud. It's netiquette.

On a side note; hey original poster, it would be cool if you made this into a poll to see how many people are or are not bothered by the graphics.
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K8sMum
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Rice wrote:
K8sMum wrote:Judgemental opinions coming from a rant about judgemental opinions.

You seem way too invested in this
To be posting as an anonymous fish.

;-)

Whoa there Nelly, take a step back. The whole point of this topic is to share opinions. So instead of saying "You're opinion is too judgmental", tell them why you disagree with them and give them constructive feedback; take NessEggman and Cherubae for an example. They share their opinions politely, even when both differ. Plus, it's interesting to see both sides and their reasoning. So don't be rude and be careful with how you word things, bud. It's netiquette.

On a side note; hey original poster, it would be cool if you made this into a poll to see how many people are or are not bothered by the graphics.
Oh, my. Perhaps you didn't bother reading the whole thread but a number of posters, including myself, had made mention of the issue of graphics affecting interest in the game. It was met with a posting about how shallow that was and how wrong our opinions were. I found it quite ironic. I don't think I made a big deal other than a short post. I didn't insult the poster as that's not something I would do. It is all opinion based, after all.

Your post, 'bud', is much ruder than mine, imho. You decided to call me out in no uncertain terms and educate me in proper behaviour. That's quite arrogant and presumptuous; not exactly good netiquette.
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Dark Angel
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@Posters above Guys, I think we all did something the other didn't like here, including me for even getting involved here but let's just agree to disagree before this gets out of hand, kay?
@K8 Whilst I'm not targeting you in any way, I'm afraid I should point out that being an anonymous fish should not be an insult. Just because we have accounts and they don't doesn't make us more important. I'm not sure if I misunderstood though so if I did I am very, very sorry and ask that you'll ignore that.

Now if we all just put this behind us Ushi will be a better place, m'kay? (^^;;
(I'm not trying to be pushy just I don't want a mod or even Cher herself coming in and having to talk to us. :'D Again really sorry because it seems like I'm pushing through into this. I just remember arguing doesn't end well in these threads (>_>))

---------------

Anyyyywaaayyyss I guess for me, the graphics affect the game, but they don't? Pre game they certainly do and I pretend to judge a little but after playing so many old games it's starting not to matter? I mean look at old Bokumono games, it's pretty outdated XD The skinny thing is a bit grating on the eyes though I must admit but I think the terrain and backgrounds actually look quite cute (^_−)−☆
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K8sMum
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@Dark Angel

Your input is very welcome.

Please let me clarify that my little poem was in no way intended to be an insult to anonymous fishies. There have been other threads where the identity of anonymous posters who are passionately positive 're: HM:TLV were being questioned as to true identities. That is all I meant. That it wasn't clear is a failure on my part.

I am not a rabid poster here but have been around long enough to feel a part of the community, if only on the fringes. I would never purposely insult or hurt anyone here, or anywhere else for that matter. I would not call someone out as was done to me in such a manner.

To the OP whom I responded to: my point was the irony of you negating the validity of others' opinions with your own opinions. Nothing more. If I failed to be clear about that, then I apologise.
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Getaris
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Post  Posted:

I am really not bothered by the graphics. I certainly like their big expressive faces more than the in-game 3D models used for the people in A New Beginning.

The limbs could be less thin, but its nothing that will hurt the gameplay anyway, so eeehhh.
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SerpentTailedAngel
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I think... graphics certainly aren't my biggest concern, but they certainly aren't as appealing as what SoS is doing or even what some classic HM games with older technology did. You can see that there was a look they were going for but... I think they didn't quite pull it off. I usually love chibi designs (and was quite pleased to see them in Forbidden Magna) but these one's don't look quite right. The eyes are too scary big. The bodies are too wiry. It looks less cute to me and more... distorted.

As for the blocky landscape, I would be more okay with that if they characters and items weren't rounded. I know games will sometimes blend a few different styles for convenience and/or aesthetic purposes, but seeing the rounded off characters set is those minecraft like fields is jarring. They don't mix properly.
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K8sMum wrote:Oh, my. Perhaps you didn't bother reading the whole thread but a number of posters, including myself, had made mention of the issue of graphics affecting interest in the game. It was met with a posting about how shallow that was and how wrong our opinions were. I found it quite ironic. I don't think I made a big deal other than a short post. I didn't insult the poster as that's not something I would do. It is all opinion based, after all.

Your post, 'bud', is much ruder than mine, imho. You decided to call me out in no uncertain terms and educate me in proper behaviour. That's quite arrogant and presumptuous; not exactly good netiquette.
I did read the posts. My point was: why not tell the anon why you disagree? It would be interesting to see why. I don't see how I was being arrogant or presumptuous, I was trying to be nice and offer pointers. I just thought it was kind of rude or mean to just tell someone that they're being judgmental without telling them why they are. At least you explained to me why I came across as arrogant or presumptuous. Thanks for that, so next time I'll take my own advice and word things better, hahah. :lol: No, I'm not angry, nor was this sarcasm. I know it can be hard to tell on the internet, but if my first post sounded sarcastic or this one, it was not intended to be.

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Alexina
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Post  Posted:

I guess everyone has their own tastes eh? I personally find this game adorable; the graphics certainly aren't anything to ogle at, but they don't turn me away. Graphics are typically the least of my concern anyway - if something looks really pretty then I just see it as an awesome bonus. I'm more interested in the farming and ranching mechanics, which sound very different and interesting thus far. I hope it turns out to be really fun to play.
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Post  Posted:

I'm terrible when it comes to how things look. Books, video games, you name it. If i don't like the art then I find myself not wanting to give it a try.
I'm sure this game is gonna be good, but I just don't think I'll be able to enjoy it because I really don't like the graphics in it..... -_-
Maybe I'll change my mind and pick it up, but for now I think I'm sitting this one out.
Story of Seasons on the other hand...*throws money at screen*
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NessEggman
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chocolatechip wrote:I'm terrible when it comes to how things look. Books, video games, you name it. If i don't like the art then I find myself not wanting to give it a try.
I'm sure this game is gonna be good, but I just don't think I'll be able to enjoy it because I really don't like the graphics in it..... -_-
Maybe I'll change my mind and pick it up, but for now I think I'm sitting this one out.
Story of Seasons on the other hand...*throws money at screen*
I think that's a perfectly fine way to be. A lot of people will say it's shallow or whatever, but aesthetics are important. I mean, you have to stare at the screen the entire time you play, and this is the kind of game you can play for dozens if not hundreds of hours. Why would you want to stare at something that looks displeasing to you?

Personally I don't mind what it looks like as long as I have fun, because I grow attached to the look if I enjoy playing it. But there are many types of people and some people are more sensitive to aesthetics or value it more and that's fine too :)

After all, part of designing a game is creating a style, and you can't just make it whatever. A lot of hard work is put into making it look a certain way, so I think it's silly for some to say that it simply "doesn't matter." It matters to some people :)

Just wanted to say that since I think an opinion like yours has become unpopular to admit as of late :P
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Am I in love with the graphics? No. Do I think the graphics could probably be a lot better? Yes. Do I think that the graphics are probably a result of some not-so-great art style decisions as well as budget concerns? Yes.

But, is that going to make or break the game for me? No.

I really hope the core HM audience won't abandon this game because of something like graphics. We have a real opportunity here. First, we have Natsume making a game for us, based on what we (the non-Japanese consumer base) have been asking for. What are we usually asking for? More things like 64. More old school games. Better farming. Better personalities. More interesting stories. We should see what they're going to give us.

Second, we have a game that nobody has seen before. One of the things that made the older HM games so magical, at least for me, is that I didn't walk in already knowing all about all of the characters' likes and dislikes, dark pasts, how to trigger their events, what events existed -- it was just life and exploration. I remember the first time I played HM64, it took me until about year 5 to get married because I didn't know that you even could. It took Mary confessing to me, 5 years into the game, for me to understand what I was supposed to do. But I was having so much fun with it, because everything was so new.

Now, with walkthroughs, guides based on the Japanese version, and forums, it's so hard to have a novel experience in these games. I know that I should get a silkie egg over wifi to unlock them early. I can look up every conceivable plant combination in AWL to breed the weirdo plants. But with TLV, we won't have those luxuries. We'll have to actually play the game/i], not just keep a notepad of heart points or sun points or Runie distributions. We can explore.

In the end, that's what Wada wanted HM to be about. Exploring, living life, having fun and relaxing. I'm totally stoked to be able to do that again. If the story and mechanics can deliver, I won't mind the graphics.
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encas
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Post  Posted:

I'm not really worried about this game's graphics. Sure, they could probably be a bit more polished, but I actually think the art style itself was a good decision. Keep in mind that by attempting to make this game more like HM64 or BTN, Natsume probably thought that making the character designs reminiscent of those titles would help.

Then again, I am pretty open-minded about art styles; I found Grand Bazaar's designs to be utterly adorable (and not overly childish), and I like the more detailed art in Story of Seasons in its own way.

In reality, I am not too concerned about TLV. If anything, I worry about the game's characters trying too hard to be dark, or that the gameplay may not be as solid as it could be, but even those are more like afterthoughts to me. I'll give TLV a fair chance before denouncing the Natsume-developed Harvest Moons as a whole.
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