Missing Older HMs

[Guest]

So don't get me wrong I enjoy the newer harvest moons but I really really miss the simplicity of the older games. I personally loved hm64 and magical melody as my top 2. I feel like after MM they just started adding to much into the games and making them all to similar. Especially with all the ds and 3ds Hms out there now. Is anyone else feeling the same way? Like I don't enjoy the 20 different animals and 200 different crops and customization of everything. I also could care less about the 20 different makers you now need. It just is to much.

[Getaris]

I could complain because I definitely prefer old school 'Moon, but the truth is I can just go and play the older games whenever I want.

In fact, the only HM game I've been playing for the last few months is DS Cute.

[The Ninja]

I feel like after MM they just started adding to much into the games and making them all to similar.

I disagree. Adding more into the games encourages variety and keeps them from becoming more tedious than they already are. It actually helps make the newer games feel less similar to each other in my eyes.

[Lon Lon]

I can understand the new mechanics being overwhelming. There was quite a bit added, especially in the 3DS games (LOTS of animal types, fertilizers and their qualities, machines, etc.) compared to how simple some of the older games are and consequently way more things to manage and keep track of. I love many of the new additions and agree with the above poster that I feel they make the games stand out from each other but I also kind of miss the simplicity of the older games from time to time.

[Kikki]

I'm another of the folks who feels the opposite from the OP's position, for the most part. I didn't start to enjoy the bokumono games until ANB (which is probably the game where things really started to get complicated and a bit hectic...yes/no?) If I don't have a load to do, I start wondering why I'm even playing. It's not like I can stand around and enjoy the breeze in a game, you know? So I want to be meeting goals all the time. I do play these games for the escapism, but not for zen relaxation (I have other, super-simple games for if I just want some brain-numbing chill)...I play it for the whisk-me-away fun.

I don't like the animal part of the game so I could do without them entirely, though I know for others, the animals are way more important than the crops. But I like the makers and everything else (it feels more fun to present a jar of jam or bottle of wine as a present than, say, a turnip)...I'd just take out more than a cow, a chicken, and maybe a sheep, since I don't enjoy taking care of them. I also really dislike pets in the game, as they always make them so painfully slow to raise the ability/affection that it takes years to finally have a reliable one. :/

But I like all the crops and the many festivals and catching different fish in every area and foraging by location and season (bug catching, too) and etc, and I can't live without loads of customization...the more, the better. So I'm definitely much more a fan of a less-simple game. I didn't enjoy the earlier games at all.

[AmazingFarmer]

I agree about the newer HM games. They have so much and it's getting hard.Now for expanding your home you need more than just lumber and material stone. I wish they had more games like FOMT and DS Cute.

[Shan O 123]

From someone who never played AP/ToT/MM/etc, and hated DS cute, I actually like the newer games. At least you don't have to keep up with the sun/water point system in SI.

[Sanne]

The older games are "simpler", but the newer games offer a lot of customisation.

Every game has its good and bad :p points.

[ChaosAzerothCat]

The older games are "simpler", but the newer games offer a lot of customisation.

Every game has its good and bad :p points.

Definitely this.
I can see how newer games are intimidating and feel like they have feature glut some, but some of the newer things are nice as well. Though Trio simplified deco too much and at the same time left no real room outside for what deco you can really do which bummed me out. I wish my SoS hadn't gone missing just to play with my house sometimes in a farming game.

[AmazingFarmer]

The older games are "simpler", but the newer games offer a lot of customisation.

Every game has its good and bad :p points.

Agreed

[Celestrian]

I can do without another DS Cute but I wouldn't mind a game like FOMT or AWL again. I guess I'm fine either way.

[Kam]

"I don't like the new games because they're too similar to each other. They should be making games that are exactly like the older games."

The older games were even more carbon copies of each other than the new ones are. HM64, BtN, and (M)FoMT all have pretty much identical casts and gameplay. After DS Cute there was a period when they were doing a lot more experimentation, but that only lasted for like four games and happened during a period where the series was arguably at it's worst as they kept putting out lackluster games every year.

There's a lot of variation between MM, ToT, and AP while still keeping enough common elements that they're definitely part of the same series, and it would be nice if the whole series was like that, but most video game franchises aren't. Developers either make more or less the same game with a fresh coat of paint every time (this is kinda Nintendo's whole business model), or make completely unrelated games that share just enough common elements that they can claim they're the same franchise (like Final Fantasy). Neither approach is necessarily good or bad, though the latter tends to be more risky and leads to higher highs and lower lows.

The newer games definitely have a different energy to them than the older games, and it's fine if you don't like them as much, but the way gamers tend to complain about new franchise games makes it seem like they think the older games are always recalled and deleted or something whenever a new one comes out (though I do understand that the expense of tracking down older games for obsolete consoles can get prohibitive). It's a perfectly valid thing to complain about if you feel like changes to a series have taken it too far from it's starting point or the developers don't understand why people like their games to begin with (which I don't feel is at all the case with BokuMono, but it's a matter of opinion), but the fact that everybody and their mom complains about it makes it kind of incredibly annoying.

[Bluie]

I kinda miss the simplicity of M/FoMT. It was very basic and overall very easy to get into. The new innovations are great, but sometimes I miss the little town and the smaller cast.

[ChaosAzerothCat]

I have to personally disagree with one of the points Kam made tbh. I feel like they did forget what got people into the games to begin with, and that's in fact why so many complain. Doesn't make them bad, but they feel completely different tbh.

Actually also disagree with the experimenting period being lackluster tbh, but this is all perception and opinion so neither one of us is more wrong or right than the other.

[AmazingFarmer]

I'm glad they are experimenting because with the older characters they did have the same characters and town and Main Character. I like when they change it up but in some of the games are a little hard. I wish for some of the other HM games they have something like a Seedling Mode I Trio.Over all it's good that they are experimenting but they are making the game a little too overwhelming