PixlBit

I've come to a very big conclusion that Story of Seasons has set a bar for farming simulation games and if Natsume really wants Harvest Moon to continue on their gonna need to step up the game. For those who don't know,  Marvelous acquired the  Bokuj? Monogatari series in 2003 which for a long time was being published here in North America as Harvest Moon under Natsume. Well within the last year they decided to not use Natsume and instead gave it to Xseed which is  company under them. However with that choice came a price, they could not use the name Harvest Moon for the title. Not only that Natsume has decided to carry on Harvest Moon now has its on IP. Natsume released their very first Harvest Moon title last year and it kind of gave alot of people a bad taste in their mouth. The game was really a cut down verison of what it use to be.  I can say for myself that while I liked a few things about the title, I traded it in not long after purchase. The things I did like we're the minecraft style create your own huge farm and stamina seemed to last a long time. Things I didn't like? There was no town, no tool upgrades, and for some odd reason they thought having 3 bachelor's and bachelorette's per gender was a good idea. Now I know the last reason sounds silly has hell but bear with me. 

With the loss of a town you had to wait for specific days to see certain people and to buy certain things. "Had a request ready to turn in to so and so oh too bad their not here till Friday night." The town not being included was one of the biggest complained things that I believe really killed the game for people. Waiting for certain times and days for someone to pop up was a pain. Not to mention if you saw them wandering outside in the farm area, nope can't turn anything in nor can you buy anything if they happen to sell stuff. They have to be in the area where your house is. The only person that was there everyday when you walked out your door was the general store guy. The area where your house is isn't customizable either.

Tools are a crucial thing in the these games. One of everyone's very first goals in any of these games is getting the tools upgraded so that you can achieve alot more and get done alot quicker with the crops and farm animals. It doesn't leave alot of time for scavenging and socializing if your still on your farm 8 hours after starting the day. In Harvest Moon The Lost Valley there is no tool upgrades. It takes forever to water and care for crops. It takes forever to take care of all the animals. I do like scavenging and socializing  but yea know I have 40 to 50 crops to grow so I'm stuck at home! Tool upgrades are a must and they did not deliver.

Now the last thing I'm gonna talk about I know several might think this is a reason why? Well for alot of people Another big goal is getting to that point where their character is married and has a family. It's another fun lil thing you can do but at the sametime avoid it if ya want. I do like having my lil family in these games, it's fun and you have extra helpers to scaveng and help with the farm. In Lost Valley there were 3 apiece for male and female players. Now I don't know about you but I believe if you have atleast 5 there is a better chance for everyone to find someone they like. I didn't like any of the bachelor's in game. The one guy that I did like was untouchable in that department. Actually the funny thing is pretty much half the female fan base wanted that same person. 

The overall thing I don't get, is why Natsume made this game in such a ass backwards way. For fucks sake, they handled the game and saw first hand what previous installments carried to the table. They didn't make them, I know but they know what the finished products where and knew what was well liked. I just look at it and see them shooting their own foot for no fucking reason. Harvest Moon:The Lost Valley could and should have been ten times better.

Now in my next blog I'll explain Story of Seasons and how it revived me after the cold death touch of The Lost Valley.