Could a bank work in the Harvest Moon games?

[Jake Johnson]

I mean a bank that gives loans, charges interest, repossesses items (or stock or buildings!) for nonpayment of the loan, etc.

[Pumpkin Queen]

My vote would be no. Although that would be realistic, it would be a huge annoyance factor that the games really don't need and most gamers definitely don't want!

[Kam]

i think it could work if they're the bad guys and the plot is to get rid of them

bokumono and harvest moon games are set in very small places that can't even really be called villages. they could do something like in animal crossing, where you have a place to deposit money at the post office, but i don't think a bank that's just a bank would realistically be able to stay in business in an area with a population of less than 50 people unless they used some loan shark-esque tactics

[quigley]

One plus though would be that you could deposit all of your money and then if you worked so hard you passed out, the doctor/whoever takes you home to rest wouldn't be able to charge you. ;D

[Suzume]

I like the idea but I don't think HM really needs one. Banks would be better suited for tycoon games where the goal is to become rich and successful imo!

[Celestrian]

I don't see the point in including one. It was useful in Animal Crossing but I'd likely never use it in a SoS/HM game.

[Lenna36]

Not for loans, but maybe for savings accounts and a security boxes. Have a pile in there collecting interest. Maybe make it possible to transfer money and/or items in between save files without relying on multiplayer/stable internet connection.

[Kikki]

COULD it work? Sure, I think they have the ability to include a bank and make it work in one way or another. I don't think I'd like it if it was just stuck into the games as they are now, though, without somehow being part of the plot.

To me, the bokumono games are about idealized wholesome farm life. You know... tilling, sowing, harvesting...cooking and making preserves, going to festivals and parties with fellow villagers...and banks don't feel wholesome at all. So the 'feel' doesn't seem to fit, to me. I'm not looking for 'realism' when I play these games. The last thing I want is having my cows (or the barn itself!) repossessed because my digital turnip crop lost a star in a storm and I couldn't raise it in time to get the larger sum of money. That would just make the game stressful and unpleasant for me, and I want fun.

But if it was somehow a part of the plot, or if it was a bokumono that takes place on a hobby farm just outside a city, or something like that, maybe a bank could be interesting. But overall banks are pretty evil, so my first instinct is to say that I don't want one in my happy digital farm life

[Shan O 123]

Yes and no. Yes, because I literally have a shopping problem. No, because I don't think a town needs the actual building.

Maybe just add a tiny ATM in the town hall or something

[Bluie]

I already owe thousands to a tanuki in my other relaxing simulation game due to loans. I think i'll pass.

[Celestrian]

I already owe thousands to a tanuki in my other relaxing simulation game due to loans. I think i'll pass.

That's nothing an island trip won't solve depending on the version you play.

Ugh imagine a Tom Nook like characer in this series....

[Anna_Lynn]

Hmm... maybe a bank could work? I'm imagining a futuristic type of HM/SOS game, where your farm could be located next to a city or something. Wasn't there an option in HOLV where you could save the island by paying Alice around 50,000G? I could see a future installment in the series going that direction again, and maybe implementing a bank for a save-the-town type of payment feature.

[Jake Johnson]

Someone else that could be in the bank:

potential spouses (a male bank teller and a female bank teller.)

[Nyara]

I agree with Kam that it would be a nice addition in a game where the bad guys are those folks!

I can't see it as a permanent feature for the series, though. While from a gameplay point of view it would be kind of nice, from a plot and scenario point of view it just kind of kills the charm altogether. Rather than a bank, if they want to add such a feature it would be you can ask for a loan from your family or someone rich in the town once or twice in the game in a specific setting and little more. I really don't know, but I wouldn't be against seeing something like that.