Is Harvest Moon losing its touch?

[Ronin19]

I honestly thought this when GrB came out and up until SoS came out. I have more faith in the series since SoS, but not as much as before GrB.

[Emurii]

Pretty much sums up how I feel. I look forward to seeing what Marvelous will be releasing but there's hardly any substance in Harvest Moon these days, and it worries me a lot :/ I'm waiting for a game with the same life as ToT/AP.

Oh yes, or... they make a 3DS remake of AP. That'd be amazing.

I would love that, but idt it's likely since there's a lot of stuff in that game and it might be too much for a handheld :T let's hope though

Honestly, all that's missing is good writing. If they cut out blueprints, cut down on the number of animals, and put more effort into festivals, villager interaction, and writing quality, it would drastically improve the games within the space they already have.

[Ronin19]

With the New 3DS a remake of AP could be possible. If a remake of Xenoblade Chronicles can be handled on the New 3DS model it could be possible. I wouldn't mind it as it's one of my favorite casts, but I would like a new cast instead of them being reused; as much as I like the Mineral Town cast as much they were used SO much and I don't want that to happen to the ToT/AP cast.

[Cal]

i'm still waiting for a 3DS rendition of Back to Nature.. that's like the only game that deserves a comeback tbh!

[moonbox]

Pretty much sums up how I feel. I look forward to seeing what Marvelous will be releasing but there's hardly any substance in Harvest Moon these days, and it worries me a lot :/ I'm waiting for a game with the same life as ToT/AP.

Oh yes, or... they make a 3DS remake of AP. That'd be amazing.

I would love that, but idt it's likely since there's a lot of stuff in that game and it might be too much for a handheld :T let's hope though

Honestly, all that's missing is good writing. If they cut out blueprints, cut down on the number of animals, and put more effort into festivals, villager interaction, and writing quality, it would drastically improve the games within the space they already have.

The amount of animals they've added is almost absurd considering how much else is lacking. Like ok that alpaca is cute and all but why ಠ~ಠ

[FoolishGhoul]

Honestly this topic has been talked about to death and it's going to be the same story for all game franchises and other media outlets. You have the LoZ fans who won't think anything except OoT is the best; whatever generation you started with is always the best one for pokemon; people who think all music now is « Puppy Doodoo » compared to 'back in their day'; how 'stupid and weird' cartoons are now compared to when you were a kid (or adult) watching them; the list goes on and on. I honestly think most of it is a nostalgia factor that people won't move past. Yes, the dialogue and character development is lacking. Yes, some people don't like the newer features. But more people are getting into HM now than before and things are going to continue to change. Music, social media, movies, shows, games, whatever are going to change and there is always going to be that group of people that aren't happy with the changes and want things to go back to how they were. Which is fine, I'm a strong believer of "if it ain't broken, don't fix it", but I've heard from some friends of mine that joined the series later that it's really disheartening getting excited about a new HM game and seeing posts like "it's not HM64, this sucks".

Sorry, sort of a useless ramble that I'm sure I'm going to get « Cow Poopoo » for but I've just seen so many topics like these lately it's tiring.

[Ronin19]

^No, you spoke the truth and it's spot on. This can be said for any series really. I like the series and there are strong entries and weak entries and I state my opinion on where each one is. I've seen lots of fandoms doing this to the series I love and it's disheartening and irritating when someone flat out says they hate it because it isn't *insert best series game to them* without even trying the blasted game. I'm a firm believer of what you said along with, "Don't judge a book by it's cover;" both are important factors to keep in mind.

[Emurii]

I also agree, and I'm always wondering in the back of my mind how much I'm comparing to the actual early game itself and how much I'm comparing to my younger self's experience of the game and the amount of time I had to just play back in the day.

That said, RFF and TOT/AP were stellar games that came out long after I started playing Harvest Moon. STH and HoLV are also amazing games. AWL, too. HoLV lives up to 64, honestly. When I think about it that way, I really don't think it's all nostalgia -- the games and characters lately are shallow.

[FoolishGhoul]

Oh exactly. And especially since the 90's generation is probably one of the worst ones for being stuck in the nostalgia frame of mind. That being said, I also understand that some game series don't lose their touch. The only LoZ game I didn't beat at least 5 times is skyward sword. All of the others I absolutely love and would still go back and play them (I actually bought a 3DS just for OoT lol). Super Smash Bros is still doing very well too. But a similar series complaint, and I agree with this and about HM btw, is that they've become more focused on adding new features to the game rather than substance. Pokemon has become almost unbearably easy imo. I love the new graphics and features and such, but the games used to be a challenger and they've slowly gotten easier and easier. Which is fine, it's supposed to be a kids game so it shouldn't be super difficult. But the two newest installments were just too easy and I flew through them. Especially with mega evolutions? Forget it. At first I thought it was just that I was older so the games weren't getting easier, I was just better than when I was like 10.

Bokumono has sort of done the same thing where they're more focused on adding new things to the games rather than substance. Again, I like a lot of the new features. I actually enjoy growing crops in SOS. But the game was incredibly simple back before they started adding things that they have now, so they were able to put more time into dialogue and character development. It's just a matter of give and take. They need to even things out a bit more and I think that's where they're getting to. GrB and ToTT were awful imo, but that's when they started playing around with adding new features, so they basically forgot about dialogue. Now they're still adding things, but not making the characters as bland.

I honestly thought I was done with with series until SOS came out. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and that's fine, and it's not perfect. But it's a step in the right direction. By taking a step back, they're being able to take two steps forward. I just hope things continue to improve this way

[Guest]

It was doing fine until story of seasons took over...