I find Harvest Moon a fascinating game, as it continues to survive the onslaught of various Facebook Farming games.
After the last iteration (Harvest Moon A New Beginning for the 3DS) it seemed Natsume had found the sweet spot. Its mix of both farming and customization led me to wonder what innovations or direction the next Harvest Moon would take. During our floor coverage of E3 2014 I was given a behind the scenes look of the newest version Harvest Moon Lost Valley. Which promised taking customization to the next level.
Now for me, the important elements of Harvest Moon are all about customization. I want my character to resemble me while my kids, farm and animals all have very personal touches to make them personal to me. While sitting down to discuss the series with Natsume, I casually asked: “How much customization this time around?”
The rep smirked for a minute and began to show me a whole new direction for the Harvest Moon franchise.
After the realization that Minecraft not only is a thing, but very popular with the youths of today, Harvest Moon decided to take it in that direction. Not only can you farm like previous titles; you can customize any and all of the land surrounding you.
Suppose you wanted to build a Fortress Farm? Be sure to have plenty of food, as we know that stamina can be a real pain, but you most certainly can do that. You can either dig or raise the ground level. This can also lead to some pretty interesting discoveries on the land.
As with most Harvest Moon titles, the game receives a new art style attempting to combine everyone’s favorite styles in one unique look. It looks like a chibi anime more resembling the N64 version of Harvest Moon. The characters are completely 3D models, and this lends to various amounts of character customizations.
(Another things to note, apparently the marriage opportunities are some of the best in the series. I also got to see the Bard in action and he was very fun, talked a lot in rhymes.)
Overall from what I saw, it looks like with the additional land customization might lead to some very interesting gameplay, hpefully bringing in both new users and veterans alike.
Harvest Moon Lost Valley is slated for a Fall 2014 release date.