• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

The need for a Harvest Moon experience on PS4/XboxOne

TheKeyPit

Banned
I talked about this with some friends and we're missing a Harvest Moon-like game on PS4/XboxOne. I am a huge fan of "Harvest Moon: Back to Nature" on PS1 and I played it for hours as a kid and all I want is a game like this for the current gen. (PS3/Xbox360 were already missing something similar, despite having something like "Rune Factory" or "Viva Pinata")
screenshot102horjx.png


I've googled and found the game "Wild Season" which released as Episode 1 on PC late in 2015. Back in 2014 the developers had the plan to release it on PS4/XboxOne, too. I couldn't find any info on their current plans. The game looks like it could finally be the game I was looking for.


Does GAF know about a game that I couldn't find?

I was thinking about the development of my own Harvest Moon-clone if nothing releases soon :/

Edit:
Stardew Valley is heavily inspired by the series and should be hitting PC this quarter, might end up on the consoles eventually.
coming soon

 
Stardew Valley is heavily inspired by the series and should be hitting PC this quarter, might end up on the consoles eventually.
 
I doubt Marvelous and Natsume will ever pony up the cost to develop a current gen console Harvest Moon-like game. I doubt they would recup the cost in sales either. Games like these flourish on portables because they're easier and cheaper to develop on and already have the playerbase.
 
Build something for Hololens that emulates Harvest moon. Planting crops around your house, physically walking to other villages to sell your goods. Actually getting violent when some freakish animals steals all your money for mortgage payments.
 
I doubt Marvelous and Natsume will ever pony up the cost to develop a current gen console Harvest Moon-like game. I doubt they would recup the cost in sales either. Games like these flourish on portables because they're easier and cheaper to develop on and already have the playerbase.

I doubt Natsume is in the same situation now that they have their own Harvest Moon series. They wouldn't make a native game but I can see them porting that mobile game to all consoles, a version is only confirmed for Wii U right now though. The question is, is it any good?

Marvelous probably won't ever make an Xbox Story of Seasons, but you never know if one might come to PS systems.
 
I feel you bro. I love just zoning out and playing Harvest Moon.

I heard there was a harvest Moon coming to mobile but can't seem to find and recent news :/
 
Stardew Valley is heavily inspired by the series and should be hitting PC this quarter, might end up on the consoles eventually.

you beat me to it.

as far as I know only the single player stuff is getting released soon. all of the co op stuff will be at a later time, thus I imagine we won't hear anything about console stuff until then.

on the flip side the publisher (chucklefish) has already shown console interest with starbound and risk of rain so if it does well at all (which it should) it will likely hit consoles sometime next year or the year after.
 
3DS & Mobile are your best choices, both have good entries and clones. I don't see a market on PS4 of all places.
 
Wild Season had troubles in its development (and it looks like still having trouble) and had to resort to be an episodic game so I wouldn't really hold out for an XboxOne or PS4 release anytime soon.

I was really interested in it but seeing all the complaints about the bugs and sudden shift during development put me off.
 
I gave up hoping for a good Harvest Moon long ago.

Harvest Moon 64 was one of my favourite games of all time; I sunk an ungodly amount of hours into it.

A Wonderful Life had issues, but I loved the setting and atmosphere. It was just unfortunately too slow paced for me to get into. Just getting from one place to another took a while.

I bought Magical Melody, played it once (though for a whole day, so I felt I gave it a fair chance), and hated it. It was ugly as hell, the camera was so zoomed in on your character, navigating the map was awful, the characters and dialogue were dull, and I just didn't care about anything. The only reason I played for as long as I did because I was hoping it would get better.

Every other Harvest Moon game I've seen has done nothing to convince me that the series isn't now just being milked for easy money, with none of the charm or personality that used to be there.
 
I talked about this with some friends and we're missing a Harvest Moon-like game on PS4/XboxOne. I am a huge fan of "Harvest Moon: Back to Nature" on PS1 and I played it for hours as a kid and all I want is a game like this for the current gen. (PS3/Xbox360 were already missing something similar, despite having something like "Rune Factory" or "Viva Pinata")



I've googled and found the game "Wild Season" which released as Episode 1 on PC late in 2015. Back in 2014 the developers had the plan to release it on PS4/XboxOne, too. I couldn't find any info on their current plans. The game looks like it could finally be the game I was looking for.



Does GAF know about a game that I couldn't find?

I was thinking about the development of my own Harvest Moon-clone if nothing releases soon :/

You don't want Harvest Moon, you want Bokujou Monogatari
 
I think everyone should be able to play Story of Seasons on their preferred system, but I'm pretty sure the audience just isn't there for this game to be worth the cost.
 
Hopefully Marvelous is working on Story of Seasons for NX as we speak. I'm just thankful the series is still around. I've accepted we won't get a great console version anymore.
 
tl;dr:

-the Japanese market much prefers handhelds to consoles and the Story of Seasons/Bokujou Monogatari series (ie The Series Formerly Sold In the West As Harvest Moon) are developed in Japan

-console versions cost more to make and don't necessarily sell any better to make up the difference

-most of the more recent console Bokujou/Rune Factory games weren't great and further cemented the idea that the handheld versions were the ones to get

___


Now that XSEED's handling the series, I'm sure they'll push for PC ports of the recent handheld Story of Seasons games, but that's probably not what you're after.

There's also Natsume's self-developed Harvest Moon games, the latest of which (Seeds of Memories) is planned for release on Wii U and PC this year, but even though it plays okay it looks like the worst mobile shovelware and is the complete opposite of what people think of when they hear '"console Harvest Moon".
 
Yes, agreed completely, OP! I've been wanting a Harvest Moon like game since even before the PS4 came out. I love Friends Of Mineral Town and Back To Nature a lot, but those two are pretty outdated in many aspects. In fact, I actually tried imagining a game like that on PS4. Cutting edge visuals, wind and weather simulation, tons of wildlife, much larger world with multiple towns, voice acting and refined third person camera. Would be my GOTG if done right.
 
It's not exactly the same and OP kind've already went over it, but every once in a while I play one of the console Rune Factory games and start wishing for another one in the same vein. They're way more ambitious than the handheld ones, but unfortunately I don't believe they sold as well, so there's really no reason to try again.

As for Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, I'd like another console iteration. It'd be a nice way to mix things up for the franchise, since even though they're pretty universally lauded I haven't really cared for either A New Beginning or Story of Seasons.
 
4DS will probably be on par with modern day smart devices unless Nintendo goes with some super proprietary nonsense SoC that nobody else uses (*cough* 3DS *cough*) and NX is supposed to be a unified platform (basically like Vita/PS4 but done right). You might get a HM on console tbh.
 
Looked this up and realised that that new 3DS game, Story of Seasons, is the real "Harvest Moon". Now I know. May have a deeper look into it now.

I didn't know this, too.

------------------

The least I want is a 2D game like "Stardew Valley". The next step would be a 3D game with great visuals and that Harvest Moon charme + new features etc.
 
I haven't tried Story of Seasons but I just gave up on Harvest Moon before that. The more recent ones have forced too much on socializing, decorating, and customization. Too much like Animal Crossing for my taste.

I had kind of hoped that the new Natsume Harvest Moon (Seeds of Memory) would get back to the basics like they promised, but after watching the videos of the released iOS version all I could do was cringe.
 
It's not exactly the same and OP kind've already went over it, but every once in a while I play one of the console Rune Factory games and start wishing for another one in the same vein. They're way more ambitious than the handheld ones, but unfortunately I don't believe they sold as well, so there's really no reason to try again.

As for Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, I'd like another console iteration. It'd be a nice way to mix things up for the franchise, since even though they're pretty universally lauded I haven't really cared for either A New Beginning or Story of Seasons.

The first console RF game was basically a what if semi sequel/reimagining of RF1, ruined by the runey system but otherwise a very good effort. The second console RF game is an abomination that while it made the combat fun for the first time in the series ruined practically everything else that made RF good.
 
With Stardew Valley releasing on consoles later this year I can't wait for it to become successfull there. I played the steam version and all I can say is that when this game hits consoles there won't be anything better for years to come!

I'm looking at you publishers/developers who didn't want to make such a game for consoles. You'll regret it and see how much money this will make again.
 
Do it, OP. Every year I still hold out hope that a new Tree of Tranquility/Animal Parade sequel will get announced but it never happens. I don't think Marvelous has even made a console Story of Season/Rune Factory game for the Wii U this gen, much less a game for the PS4/XB1.
 
Top Bottom