Opinion on the Recent Harvest Moon/SoS Games on Switch

SNES, HM64, BTN, STH, A Wonderful Life, Another Wonderful Life, AWL:SE, Magical Melody, Puzzle de HM, Tree of Tranquility, Animal Parade, Frantic Farming, Hero of Leaf Valley, My Little Shop, Seeds of Memories, Lil' Farmers, Light of Hope, Popolocrois: SoS, and Doraemon: SoS.
User avatar
infel
Growing Garden Gnome
Growing Garden Gnome
Posts: 83
Joined: Jun 23, 2019 4:24 pm

Post  Posted:

With the new Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life being made, I wanted to ask if people are generally happy, disappointed , or meh with the more recent Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon games for the Switch (or Steam/PS/X Box). I'm asking because I see people not too happy with Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town or sometimes even Mineral Town. I just wanted to know your overall thoughts on the recent games made for the Switch(or other consoles). Are you happy with them? Or more disappointed? Or maybe in the middle?

For me, I'm in the middle when it comes to the Story of Seasons games. I feel like the series is a bit lifeless, though I still enjoy it quite a bit. SoS Mineral Town, for example, is a really fun game for me and I truly enjoy it, but do feel like it doesn't have the life the original had. Now don't get me wrong, this game didn't need to be exactly like the originals, but sometimes feels like it's missing. Still, I really do like the game a lot and it's something I know I'lll play over and over.

The real problem though for me is Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town. I've played and sort of beat the game (didn't get married), and I can admit that while I love the gameplay, I find the characters a bit boring, art bland, and music dull. Still, I loved the guys I romanced, the farming part (despite the lack of festivals), and the heart events I saw. Problem is, I have more fun with Mineral Town, older games, or other farming games outside of Marvelous. This one was kind of just there for me and I don't see myself going back to it unless I'm really bored.

As for the Harvest Moon games, I haven't played the newer ones at all. I'm not a fan of how Natsume is handling this series currently, but admit they do improve which each game. One World is a game I may get down the line, but not sure

As for Doraemon: SoS, I have never tried it but want to down the line.

Anyway, these are my basic thoughts on the newer titles for Switch and other consoles. Just wanted to know how people feel about the recent games for Harvest Moon and SoS
User avatar
PaleSunflower
Custodian of Corn
Custodian of Corn
Posts: 446
Joined: Jul 26, 2009 12:11 am

Post  Posted:

I haven't been drawn to the new games from Marvelous. I find them very disappointing, getting less to my liking the more I look into them it seems, so I've looked to elsewhere for farming games. Trying HM:OW was a part of that, and I liked HM:OW, metaphorical warts and all. The story was simple but serviceable, and the farming was engaging. The game isn't perfect (the rather empty world map is proof enough of that), but I liked it. I'm curious where Natsume is going next.

I'm keeping my expectations low for SoS:AWL (and my copy of HM:AnWL close), and so far that approach is working well for me. I'm not completely turned off by SoS:AWL yet, which is better than my feelings towards SoS:PoOT, which felt to me more like a half-rate copycat of HM/SoS than a real SoS game, especially after SoS:3oT. I am worried and curious how much SoS:AWL will be moderized and sanitized compared to the original. We'll see how the characterization and story is changed as well and how stable this game is upon release.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

Well, if we're talking the remakes...remaking old Harvest Moon games into Story of Seasons games...I don't have an opinion on those. I could have played the originals, but I never wanted to...I've tried a bunch of them and the classic HMs really bore me. I tried FoMT in case modernizing the game would make it more interesting to me, but the game was mostly modernized in looks and a few quality of life gameplay features, which didn't do much to make the content any more interesting to me. (I have so far found any game that Harvest Moon original creator Yasuhiro Wada has a hand in is irredeemably boring to me, both with Bokumono and other games, like Little Dragon's Cafe, Hometown Story and Birthdays the Beginning). It seems like what he thinks makes a good game and what I think makes a good game just don't mesh.

As for the NEW Story of Seasons games...the ones that have been happening since Hashimoto left the Bokumono dev team...I find them soulless. Though I can't even say 'them', as the only one of those existing yet is PoOT. Olive Town had a fun gameplay loop, addictive like a mobile game, but no personality...no depth. The characters felt flat, and the farming was so empty because there weren't any festivals where people celebrated the results of farming and gave you and others a chance to show off your work...no animal festival, no crop festival. That alone completely killed the chance that I could ever love the game.

Some classic Bokumono games don't have harvest festivals either, but then, I don't like classic/old-school Bokumono. REally, I just like ANB, SoS1 and Trio...extremely busy farming-and-life-sim games with so much to do you had to optimize your tasks to make the most of your time (but all the tasks felt purposeful, not meaningless busywork, like the badly-designed makers in PoOT). That's what I like! For me, no farming festivals in a Bokumono game is a deal-breaker. The characters also need some nuance if I'm to be interested in them. They can't be stock characters, pulled out of the rickety-from-overuse trope drawer, which is how the Olive Town characters felt to me. Nothing about them was unusual or intriguing, and the events were just goofy.

I more or less like the graphics, though. The scenery and town look quite nice and the way the characters are rendered into 3D isn't ideal, imo, but it's liveable.

I'm glad they're remaking the old games so that the fans of them can enjoy them, but unless they do Animal Parade, I'm probably not interested. I'll always look in on them to see how they're doing, but I've given a pretty fair shake to the new games already. I played FoMT and Olive Town both up to getting married (which was too simple and quickly done, imo, as I achieved it by fall of year one in both games, iirc.) and I didn't enjoy them, so unless future games look to have something notably different and more appealing to me in them, I think I've given them enough of a shot already to say that the direction Marvelous has taken by consigning most of the dev work over to Three Rings just doesn't work for me.

I'll keep watching, but I'm no longer holding my breath.
User avatar
Mikodesu
Huggy Chickens
Huggy Chickens
Posts: 313
Joined: Apr 07, 2016 7:45 pm

Post  Posted:

I haven't purchased a Story of Seasons game since Trio, honestly. PoOT didn't feel different enough (or like it had very much depth), so I've never felt like picking it up. At this point, I think I'd rather put the money into trying something else. The Mineral Town remake always looked pretty cute to me, I didn't pick it up because I'm pretty happy with the original. The remake is there for those who don't have easy access to the original, and that's great! Plus a little extra content for those who want a second copy.

As for Natsume's Harvest Moon games, I've ended up buying most of those. Aside from Light of Hope (didn't play, can't judge) they've gotten better with every generation. Natsume as a COMPANY has been developing/publishing games for a long time, but we (or I guess, I) really don't know much about how long the people making Harvest Moon have been making games for. Progress is definitely slow, lots of other development teams see faster progress than this, but it's enough that I'm willing to forgive it?

Right now (in terms of gameplay) Natsume is making better games. But even with the explosion in popularity of farming sims, there aren't a ton that have really grabbed me. Most of what's out there is pretty basic. But I'm still willing to try, if I feel like the devs have.
User avatar
greensara
Carrots... yum
Carrots... yum
Posts: 486
Joined: Jul 28, 2016 12:10 pm

Post  Posted:

Personally I loved the Mineral Town remake, despite disliking a few of the changes (some animal stuff and missing rivals), but I loved the original too. I have put so many hours in on the switch version it's not even funny.

One World was a good step up from Skytree in my opinion. The characters and story are okay, certainly need improvement, but are getting better. The farming and the eventual festivals are genuinely fun in my opinion. My main gripe is locking so much, including marriage behind beating the story.

PoOT was one of my biggest gaming disappointments ever. I am so glad I didn't waste money on any of the special editions. I had such high hopes after Trio for the characters, story, and farming, for them all to be dashed by a very blah game. My biggest peeve was no competitive crop or animal festivals at all! I get if not everyone wants them or if they wanted to do less or a different style but none?! Even One World has an unlockable crop festival! Of the two games, ended up keeping One World and trading in PoOT.

I probably won't get the AWL remake just because those games weren't my cup of tea to begin with, but I am sure it will be better than PoOT. I am very skeptical of Marvelous' next game (or whoever they farm it out to). I am actually looking forward to seeing how Natsume's next game turns out.
User avatar
Harvest Moon kawaii
Tubular Turnip Farmer
Tubular Turnip Farmer
Posts: 384
Joined: Jun 30, 2008 1:08 pm

Post  Posted:

So, I only recently got back into farming games as genre, I guess. There was a period with the Harvest Moon (Bokumono) games on the Nintendo DS and 3DS that I lost most interest in them. (Starting around Harvest Moon Grand Bazaar; DS).

I didn't like Harvest Moon: A Tale of Two Town (DS/3DS), A New Beginning (3DS), or Story of Seasons (SOS1/Bokumono; 3DS) either. However, I loved Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (3DS), even though I only played until slightly after marriage in that one.

I loved the Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (Switch) remake as well. But, while that's mostly nostalgia. I also love the gameplay being so simple. I still need to get married in that one and unlock the fruit cows as well. (Basically, I need to play a lot more.)

I love Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (Switch). I haven't finished playing this one either, but I enjoy the addictive gameplay loop. I even bought the special edition.

As for Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (Switch), I'm mega excited for it. It might be nostalgia again, like the Friends of Mineral Town remake, but I played the originals a lot as a kid, although I never finished the originals, because as a kid, I thought even the Girl Version was too long. So, I'm excited to finally get a chance to beat the game and see the entire story.

As for Doraemon Story of Seasons (Doraemon:SOS1), I'm playing it right now and plan to play it until Pokemon Scarlet/Violet releases. I'm already in Summer Year 1, and I plan to at least beat the story. This game is getting a sequel in Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom, and is releasing in the West (or at least America/North America), on November 2nd. I'm so excited for this one now that I've started playing the first Doraemon Story of Seasons game.

As for Natsume's 'Harvest Moon' games, I've only ever played Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (3DS), and Harvest Moon: One World (Switch). Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley was boring to me. So, it was a slight risk to pick up Harvest Moon: One World on the Switch. I still need to beat One World as well, but I thought the gameplay was fun, even if the gameplay mechanics make the game difficult in some areas for me.

I'm looking forward to: Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, and possibly the next 'Harvest Moon' game that Natsume develops.
User avatar
midnighttherabbit
Carrots... yum
Carrots... yum
Posts: 545
Joined: Aug 06, 2012 12:00 am
Contact:

Post  Posted:

I've played all of the SoS/HM Switch games except for Doraemon, which I got on sale one time but was never brave enough to go past the opening screen because the kid yelling always jumpscares me.

As someone who definitely prefers the older games, I really like the remake angle. I don't like the FoMT remake's graphics or the animal breeding system, but those issues are sort of negligible when it means I can easily play a game that would otherwise be pretty hard and expensive to get. I feel the same about the AWL remake. It also adds gay marriage into those games, which is honestly super cool.
PoOT was just very lifeless and bland, it felt rushed and there was no charm to the way the characters were written. I also really don't like the focus on crafting and customisation the more recent games have had...

And the Natsume Harvest Moon games... I feel kind of bad being super harsh on them or comparing them to SoS because they're obviously a very small and inexperienced team, but honestly I just can't say that the games they make are of a good quality. I'm hoping their next game surprises me, but I'm doubtful.

And something I don't like about both series right now (and every game currently being released) is the DLC model. Releasing marriage candidates and areas as DLC (or even free updates) several months after the game is released really annoys me, since I feel like I'm playing an "incomplete" game...
User avatar
Ronin19
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 5746
Joined: Feb 14, 2007 6:49 pm

Post  Posted:

I'll go ahead and compare the influx of SoS games we got on Switch to the last newest one on a different system: Trio of Towns.

So of course with both remakes, I felt nostalgia when I saw the announcements and in front of that nostalgia was genuine happiness. I've watched the SoSAWL trailer every day since it got revealed; I'm so excited about it that I check the website daily for new information and hidden nuggets we may have missed. It was my first Bokujou Monogatari game, so it has a special place in my heart. FoMT was my second game in the series I played and I felt the same when the remake got announced for it.

When compared to Trio of Towns post-launch, I thought SoSFoMT was not on par with Trio, but it learned lessons from it; characters and dialogue are important in these kinds of games, and with how much content Trio had I'm glad they went ahead and added more events, both random and heart, to the game to flesh out the Mineral Town cast more. Like Trio, I had an easy time getting into the game and playing around. I still remembered villagers' schedules and their likes to a degree. It was easy to get lost in the game for a few hours and just play. I have confidence in the AWL remake because the team showed what they can do with a FoMT remake.

As for PoOT, I was happy when they were working on a brand-new game. I wasn't the hugest fan of how the bachelors looked especially when compared to the bachelorettes and showing how laggy the game was when filled with sprinklers didn't help, but I wanted to support Marvelous with another entry, so I bought it. While I did have fun, it was not on par with Trio of Towns, and definitely not with the FoMT remake. The characters felt flat, my farm had become a haven for makers that took up the whole space, and helping the town felt pointless when it didn't even look different, and this is before they implemented those fixes. I also bought the DLC, but it didn't waver my choice in marrying Jack. Of course, I beat it and had fun with it, but I struggle to pick it up again when my whole day is spent being on my farm whether it's collecting animal products, cleaning up the farm, or putting items in the makers. It's not as fun as the FoMT remake and definitely not as fun as Trio.

All that being said, I have faith in the AWL remake. More events, better QoL updates, customization, and other features we've yet to see. It seems like they used both games as an example as to where to head next and I hope AWL helps them with the next game whether it's a Magical Melody/Animal Parade remake (hey, it can happen), or a brand new game. This all started on the SNES and I don't see this series going away for quite some time.
User avatar
Chaos_44
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3535
Joined: Feb 05, 2007 5:43 pm
Contact:

Post  Posted:

I think I stopped being the audience for the series around the time the late DS/early 3DS games were coming out so keep in mind the "older" and simpler HM/SOS games are much more my style than a game like Trio which has (imo) way too much going on :lol: Especially now that I'm older and have much less time to dedicate to games. Also I haven't played that Doraemon game and probably won't ever.

SOSFOMT: I actually was really happy with this and that they didn't try to "new HM/SOS"-ify the game by adding thousands of things to do and making the clock go incredibly slow. I was kinda surprised it took Marv this long to decide to do remakes of games, and this was a great one to start with even if I'm a diehard "HM64 cast is way better!" They added just the right amount of QOL improvement and additions without detracting from what made the original great, visuals were cute albeit a little too cute, loved it being the first official game with s/s options.

SOSPOOT: I still maintain that this game gets a little too much flak, but now that some time's passed I'd certainly rank it towards the bottom end of HM/SOS games I've played. I loved that the gameplay was a little more simple and smooth in the vein of older titles and SDV, but they really bungled some I'd assume easy-to-avoid issues (initial launch load times, makers, etc.) and the characters were mostly quite forgettable. Certain "nice-to-haves" like missing portraits I wouldn't have noticed as much if there weren't as many "ugh why is THIS missing/why did they make the game mechanic like THIS" moments. I had fun with what I played and I'm tempted to make a new file now that all the updates are done but... eh.

SOSAWL: Well it's not out yet! So I guess I don't have much to say but I see myself having very similar opinions as I did to SOSFOMT. Looks good so far, both in terms of what they're trying to maintain and QOL improvements.

Future SOS games: I know most people are pretty pessimistic about the future of the franchise but the company did seem quite responsive to all the criticism that POOT received, both in terms of actually implementing all those updates and their social media response. I'll definitely keep a hopeful eye out for their next series, but if it looks "eh" then I won't really care about skipping it.

Natsume: I haven't played any of their new in-house HM games, and apologies to the people who really like them, but when I watch pretty in-depth videos of the games the gameplay looks terrible so I don't think I'd ever bother purchasing a HM game unless it's more in tune with its competitors. Can they PLEASE just release the original Harvest Moon and Harvest Moon 64 on the NA Virtual Console please?!?!?! I know there's all the complication of licensing and whatever but they got both on the Wii U E-shop... :(
xeiroedawn
New Seedling
New Seedling
Posts: 2
Joined: Aug 30, 2022 9:37 pm

Post  Posted:

Hello - very, very long-time lurker, here. I first found this site looking for help with a new game I imported for my Playstation - Harvest Moon: For Girl. The last time I posted here was about a wine bug in RF 2, under a lost log-in. So, yeah Long time. I just felt compelled to post again, on this topic in particular, to kinda gather my thoughts.

I love the old HM games. Every Nintendo console/handheld past the SNES(except the switch)I have purchased has been because of an HM/RF game(I didn't buy mu SNES for HM, but I got it as a gift and it sealed my fate). N64 - HM64. Gamecube - Magical melody. Wii - Tree of Tranquility. Wii-U - Animal Parade. I even bought a PS3, my final PS console, for RF Oceans. I also have imported every HM and RF game before the English version. I even bought(and then got rid of) the horrible Innocent Life spin-off.

That being said, I have no more faith in the marvelous games.

The FOMT remake was fun, if bland. I didn't mind the re-designs so much, but I hated Gray. He was my absolute favorite from classic HM. I wouldn't have minded his new look so much if they had kept his thick eyebrows, and not given him that pretty-boy plucked look that the artist seems to think is mandatory. Anyway, the game was OK. I got married, played like half a year, then quit, but I could pick it up later.

Olive Town. Blech. The farming was kind of fun. I liked finding new crops via wild plants, but that's it. The entire game just felt like some kind of FTP Harvest Moon rip-off. Others here have described it as soulless, lifeless. That couldn't be more true. As soon as I started having to deal with the makers, I took a critical look at the game, and it just reeked of low-effort, mobile rubbish. I am still astounded there was never a recurring paid DLC to "speed up" the makers for x amount of hours. The townsfolk were bland. The love interests were worse. For the first time, ever, I just picked a spouse based on how they looked. And it was hard because they were all so boring and just...I dunno...stale? The dialogue was just phoned-in and the designs were just boring as hell. I started having a problem with the artist in 3towns, because in some portraits Hinata's eyes were drawn way too far apart. As a failed artist, I tend to get all pissy about stuff like that, but the Olive Town characters would have been bland even if I wasn't!
Also, No relevant festivals. Unless you are a rabid completionist, there was no incentive to ever raise cooking or crop levels. Mind you, this was all before all the "glorious" updates, but I just didn't have it in me to play again, to see all the "improved" dialogue. I married Ludus as soon as I could, played for maybe 3-4 more days, then quit to restart DQB2 for the 500th time. I would rather re-play the wretched, final chapter of DQB2 for the rest of my life than play Olive Town again.

As for the AWF remake, I really couldn't care less. Which sucks, because I loved the game. Marvelous has broken my gaming heart.

I ended up loving HM:OW. Aside from Tristan, I really liked all the bachelors. I even blushed like a moron a few times during the "confession" scenes. The previous new HM games went from meh-to-okay. I loathed how short the days were, but hell... I would love to see someone cry about how fast the time moves in OW, then try and play HM:64. The short days and the idiotic character expressions are the only problems I had with OW. I can't tell you how much I hate the anime "Gaping mouth smile" (Don't get me started on how much I hate Alice from RF5 - or do, I could rant all day.).

That's it. Sorry for the wall of text. Back to lurking.
User avatar
fancypurincup
New Seedling
New Seedling
Posts: 31
Joined: Sep 15, 2022 11:26 am

Post  Posted:

Loved SoS FoMT. It felt like coming home all over again, says me who's still playing the same gba fomt file from when I was like, eleven or something lmao. Had no problems with it really.

Haven't had a chance to play Doraemon yet, but it looks cute!

Olive Town.... Man, we really could have had it all. At the end of the day, it felt like a concept game where they tried out a of new ideas all at once, and how many of those will continue on from there? We'll see. I really liked the cast though! I've been wanting to go back and play to experience it after all the updates, maybe I'll finally start dating someone and get married.

I'm so stupidly excited for SoS AWL i may explode. Can't wait honestly. It's all I've been legit wanting for years. :heart:

Haven't remotely bothered even looking at Natsume's games lmao and I don't wanna.
User avatar
JayDucky03
Huggy Chickens
Huggy Chickens
Posts: 264
Joined: Dec 14, 2016 3:37 pm

Post  Posted:

fancypurincup wrote: Sep 22, 2022 5:34 pm I'm so stupidly excited for SoS AWL i may explode. Can't wait honestly. It's all I've been legit wanting for years. :heart:
Same :heart: :heart: :heart: after the FOMT remake it's all I wanted. I hope it has a linking system with SOS:FOMT like what AWL had with the original FOMT.
For my general opinions in the franchise. I do feel more disappointed nowadays. It's similar to how I feel about the Star Wars franchise nowadays if you'll forgive the comparison. Too clean and no more risk taking on weird ideas. AWL was the peak of Harvest Moon for me (just like Clone Wars was peak Star Wars for me) but up to Trio of Towns I've loved the franchise. POOT just sucked the life out of me and even RF5 was just a bit disappointing. I hope they can make a game with real character but I feel like they've lost their way a tad.
User avatar
Somerandom
Wacky Weed Puller
Wacky Weed Puller
Posts: 122
Joined: Aug 13, 2019 8:29 pm

Post  Posted:

For a bit of background on my experience with the series. I started with both SoS 1 and Animal Parade. I like both games for different reasons. While I do enjoying playing the older games, the ones I prefer are the ones from the 3DS era (ANB-Trio) as they offer lots of items and customisation, characters also improved over this era. So I’m not a person who prefers classic HM over SoS.

The farming game scene has seriously changed in the last 5 years, with many indie games being alternatives to Marvelous’ games and the genre becoming so popular that they were heavily featured in the last Nintendo direct; even larger devs like square enix are trying to take on the genre now. Marvelous can smell the money now, the games they previously had a monopoly over are now becoming popular. So what are they doing now? Releasing as many as possible. Long rant on my thoughts on the current series below.
Spoiler:
Before I get into the core SoS series, I’d like to mention the spin offs. Doraemon story of seasons is a fun and cute game. I am worried about the sequel as it’s reportedly not being made by Bandai Namco who made the first one and instead Marvelous, who have many other games in development, why. Rune factory 4 special was Rune factory 4 with fun extras that enhanced the experience. I love Rune Factory 4 enough said. Rune factory 5 was a disappointment. I have talked at length already about why I dislike it, but all I will say here is that I hope they learned from the mistakes in 5 to make their new Rune factory series good. RF3 special is also coming out and I’m thinking this is too many games for Marvelous to be working on at once, no wonder RF5 felt rushed!

Now for the core SoS games:
I liked the friends of mineral town remake when I played it in another language. The game was fine even though the additions felt tacked on, not like they enhanced the game but because they thought the consumers would want them. Jennifer, the pink and coffee cows, new designs, lack of rival events and the new heart events didn’t feel like they belonged in the game to me. This should have been the warning of what was to come.

I like that farming games are becoming more popular but I feel a certain farming game that begins in S and ends in Y is constantly looked upon by many people as the best farming game ever. I can see why people like it, however It isn’t for everyone and some people liked the older direction of the SoS series) Enter PoOT which copies a lot from this game and yet makes everything much, much more dumbed down. First the positives: I liked the motorbike we got and I loved Laura’s design and the fact she was a tour guide. That’s it. The story and gameplay felt copy pasted from that game and the designed of the harvest sprites were changed to look like Junimos. The characters were very boring, dialog was constantly repeated and they had no dislikes. Animals couldn’t die and farming wasn’t essential which misses the whole point of a farming game. On top of that there are only 2 festivals per season like the other farming game, but they are all so boring. I hated what they did to the DLC characters as well, they felt boring and dumbed down from their original games. To exemplify how bad PoOT was, I completely finished the game in winter of year 1 and quit. My sister who had never played a farming game before, didn’t feed her animals at all and didn’t grow crops until summer year 2. I believe she still finished the main story though. Needless to say but to me it was a disappointment.

So, I am worried about the AWL remake due to the quality of the last few games. I will get it if it’s on sale but not before.

I’m actually warming up to Natsume’s games. Sure they aren’t as polished as Marvelous’ but at least when I play them I know what I am getting. One world pleasantly surprised me, while I don’t like it as much as a lot of the pre PoOT Marvelous games I still think it’s a huge improvement on their previous games.
Basically I want Marvelous to focus more on one or 2 games rather than release many mediocre games.
User avatar
Reyvin
New Seedling
New Seedling
Posts: 4
Joined: May 29, 2022 6:34 am

Post  Posted:

To add my own two cents: I started playing with Tale of Two Towns, actually. It was my first game and after that I went to Trio and then backwards from there (first SOS, then ANB). By the point I got those "done", I played a tiny bit of Animal Parade and then went to the FOMT remake and then POOT.

For me personally, SOS peaked with Trio. It is my favourite of all the farming games, I have played it probably like 6 times already. The reason for that was mostly the characters and the number and depth of character events. When I went on to FOMT - not knowing the original - I found it cute, but it felt more basic to me regarding dialogue and events, and this is always my main focus in games. Sure, the farming is cute and I like it, but if I don't get to interact with characters that make me think about them, then the game is not gonna become a top favourite. And I think that's the issue I have with FOMT to a lesser extent, but mostly with POOT. It's a cute game, but it doesn't feel especially interesting to me. I can't get invested in it, and that's why I personally feel like the series is slowly moving away from the focus I would have liked it to have: the characters and interactions.

With the announcement of AWL coming, I'm cautious, because the trailer didn't wow me. I haven't experienced the original game, so I don't have any amount of nostalgia that might contribute to the hype. But to me it doesn't look particularly interesting yet, to my personal taste. However, I will try it and I want to believe that I can enjoy the series more again. :)
User avatar
JustABeautifulGuy
Tubular Turnip Farmer
Tubular Turnip Farmer
Posts: 366
Joined: May 30, 2016 9:10 am

Post  Posted:

I have finished all of the HM/SoS games and here's my take on what's become of the series. Every time a new game was released, it seemed to me that the series was continuously evolving. There were enjoyable aspects in the busy farming life concept as well; while some people didn't appreciate the change to make the game busier, I for one truly enjoyed it. I didn't consider the FoMT remake as a mainline game because I assumed it would only be a side game when it came out done for sake of nostalgia. Sadly, the following SoS games made this remake as its standard. Therefore, PoOT became a return to our classic simple old formula. I guess I just felt let down that we went all the way back to square one. All the new and fun elements the new games added were simply taken away from us. Early Bokumono games, though very simple, had a charm that helped them stand out on their own. PoOT, however, lacked both the charm and soul.

I believe there is now a divide between traditional and contemporary Bokumono fans. Now, the developers most likely need to find a middle ground if they do care that much about all the fans. Personally, I believe the new team will eventually return to where we were at 3OT after learning from remakes one at a time.
Post Reply