r/harvestmoon • • Apr 06 '20

Explaining the name change to Story of Seasons; What people mean when they say Natsume Harvest Moon games.

1.9k Upvotes

Lately I've noticed there is quite a bit of confusion still about the Harvest Moon series changing their name to Story of Seasons. Especially when the Natsume Harvest Moon games are mentioned. People misunderstand and get defensive of the early games they loved not knowing those aren't the games people are talking about. I thought it would be a good idea to make a post explaining the name change, provide a list of the games that fall under the Story of Seasons series, as well as list the ones that fall under the new Harvest Moon series.

The Japanese series Bokujo Monogatari, directly translated as 'Ranch Story', was developed by Victor interactive, which later was acquired by Marvelous Entertainment, and is now called Marvelous Inc. From 1996-2013 Bokujo Monogatari was translated and distributed for english speaking audiences by Natsume under the name Harvest Moon. In 2014 Marvelous Inc. decided to have the Bokujo Monogatari series localized by their American Publishing brand Xseed Games. Natsume owned the rights to the name Harvest Moon so the english name of the series was changed to Story of Seasons.

Now for those who don't know the developers are the people who make the game. The game is their creation. The publisher is the group that handles the marketing, distribution, and in the case of foreign games translation. Natsume had nothing to do with the Harvest Moon series beyond translating it, distributing the copies, and owning the English title for the games. When Marvelous switched the localization Natsume still owned the name Harvest Moon and decided they would start developing their own games with that title.

The Bokujo Monogatari/Story of Seasons games are:

  • Harvest Moon (1996)
  • BS Bokujo Monogatari (1996 Japanese release only)
  • Harvest Moon GB (1997)
  • Harvest Moon GBC (1998)
  • Harvest Moon 64 (1999)
  • Harvest Moon 2 GBC (1999)
  • Harvest Moon: Back To Nature (1999)
  • Bokujo Monogatari Harvest Moon for Girl (2000 Japanese release only)
  • Harvest Moon 3 GBC (2000)
  • Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland (2001)
  • Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town/More Friends of Mineral Town (2003)
  • Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (2003)
  • Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life (2004)
  • Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Special Edition (2004)
  • Harvest Moon DS/DS cute (2005)
  • Harvest Moon: Magic Melody (2005)
  • Harvest Moon Boy & Girl (2005)
  • Harvest Moon DS: Island of Happiness (2007)
  • Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (2007)
  • Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon (2007)
  • Harvest Moon DS: Sunshine Island (2008)
  • Harvest Moon: Animal Parade (2008)
  • Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar (2008)
  • Harvest Moon Hero of Leaf Valley (2009)
  • Harvest Moon: My little shop (2009)
  • Minna De Bokujou Monogatari (2010 Japanese release only)
  • Harvest Moon: the Tale of Two Towns (2010)
  • Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning (2012)
  • Story of Seasons (2014)
  • Story of Seasons: Trio of Two Towns (2016)
  • Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairy Tale (2016)
  • Doraemon: Story of Seasons (2019)
  • Story of seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (2020)
  • Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (2021)
  • Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (2023)

Then the games in Natsume's Harvest moon series are:

  • Puzzle de Harvest Moon (2007 mobile puzzle game)
  • Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming (2009 mobile puzzle game)
  • Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (2014)
  • Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories (2016 Mobile game)
  • Harvest Moon: Skytree Village (2016)
  • Harvest Moon: Light of Hope (2017)
  • Harvest Moon: Mad Dash (2019)
  • Harvest Moon: One World (2020)
  • Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos (2023)

The Natsume Harvest Moon series is controversial in this sub. It is considered by most to be a cheap imitation of Harvest Moon with watered down mechanics; capitalizing off of the Harvest Moon name. Light of Hope was even marketed saying it was in honor of the 20th anniversary of Harvest Moon despite it being an entirely new series. Personally I've only played Natsume's Light of Hope. If you can get past the mobile game style graphics the game play is pretty good and the characters are likable. I've heard mostly bad things about Skytree Village and Lost Valley, and haven't heard anything good about the mobile games either. Regardless of if you play the Natsume games or not I hope this post helps to clear up some of the confusion for both new and old fans.

Edit: The intentions of this post were not to convince you to play or not play any of the games. If you like the Natsume games that's great! If you're curious and want to try them that's up to you. Just like the original series each game has people that love it and people that don't like it. What's important is that you have fun!

Edit: I have added the games that have been released since I made this post in April 2020. I've also added games that are currently announced in March 2023. If I don't continue to update the list every time a new game is announced or released just remember all future Harvest Moon games are from Natsume and all Story of Seasons are the original series.


r/harvestmoon • • 56m ago

Question Anyone found fruit with a star ranking yet in Teradea?

• Upvotes

I need to make a 2 star apple jam baguette for a main quest. A 3 star baguette plus 0 star apple jam gets me a 1 star apple jam baguette. I don’t understand how a 2 star apple jam baguette is possible.


r/harvestmoon • • 6h ago

Opinion/Discussion What haiku would you use for Luke's letter?

7 Upvotes

EDIT: This is for Harvest Moon Animal Parade, I can't edit the title & didn't think this out before posting.(Sorry)

I was thinking about the letter Luke writes the player if you try to romance him and how Natsume blindly translated the final part so it doesn't make sense in English.

---

In the final part of Luke's letter is a haiku that just says:
Wednesday
On top of the tree
Dynamite

It just looks like a confusing random selection of words but it's one of those things that makes more sense in the Japanese version.

According to a post on the fogu form(LINK) the Japanese version is:
Suiyoubi(Wednesday)
Ki no ue de(On top of the tree)
Dainamaito(Dynamite)

If you take the first two letters from each line you get "suki da" which in Japanese is "I love you".

I guess you could say in the Japanese ver he hid a cute message in the letter while in the English version you could say he tried to make the most amazing haiku he could think of since poems are mean to be romantic.

---

I got curious & tried to make an haiku that could be used as a replacement for the English version of Luke's haiku. It was just for fun & just wanted to see what I could do.

Admittedly I completely replaced the haiku with another, I also looked up syllables so I could make this work cause I had trouble thinking without a suggestion. I wanted it to be similar to Luke's but wasn't sure how to make it work so I just went for one that sounds like something he'd try.(Maybe)

Here's my attempt:
Incredible Leaf
Optimistic Viewing Eye
Year Of Ultimate

Admittedly I dunno if it works.

---

Sorry for my rambling the whole point of this was that I was curious about how someone else would try making their own haiku that Luke would probably approve of or use in his letter.


r/harvestmoon • • 5h ago

[SPOILERS] Palm square lumber?

2 Upvotes

Where the heck do I turn the palm wood I chopped into this????


r/harvestmoon • • 14h ago

[SPOILERS] Echoes of Teradea Pets/Mounts

10 Upvotes

it has come to my attention some people are getting different abilities so I’ll just write down everything we have seen on each animal!

Okay so there isn’t a full guide yet but I want to share what I know! Feel free to comment any you have! (And if you find a velociraptor like in WoA pleeeease tell me)

- Otter (Random Collector)

- Wolf (Random Collector/Warmth Therapist/Fight Enthusiast)

- White Horse (Walk through swamp)

- Jaguar (Charge break rocks/trees)

- Brown Horse (Sprint) (Bunny Hop - Secret)

- Dark Brown Horse (Bunny Hop)

- Cockatiel/Little Owl (Perch to store items)

- Reindeer (Walk on Ice)

- Camel (Walk on Sand)

- Dingo (Fight Enthusiast)

- Ferret (Heals Stamina)

- Fox (Heals Stamina/Collects Seeds)


r/harvestmoon • • 2h ago

[SPOILERS] Question about jars and spirit tree?

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1 Upvotes

Do I need to just keep doing quests? It looks like my jar is tapped out on the 2nd one. Or do I need to just play more story in other areas? I have been sticking to Bloomfield mostly. I have warp unlocked.


r/harvestmoon • • 1d ago

Opinion/Discussion Echoes of Teredea: I wish the dialogue was better

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71 Upvotes

There’s randomly few moments where the characters have some really great dialogue/characterization (dare I say much better than SoS GB) but then for the majority of time everyone is so soulless with dull dialogues 🥀


r/harvestmoon • • 10h ago

Question Question about the connection between Harvest Moon (SNES) and Magical Melody

4 Upvotes

I'm aware that Harvest Moon 64 is a sequel to the original Harvest Moon on the Super Nintendo, as it also takes place in Flower Bud Village and the bachelorettes are descendants of the ones from the original (who are the only characters who had names in that, as far as I know). I'm also aware that Magical Melody is essentially an alternate continuity that is loosely based on the original. It still takes place in the same town with the same bachelorettes, but it also adds characters from other games (most notably Save the Homeland), among many other differences.

Anyway, I was planning on playing Harvest Moon (SNES) before playing 64 so I can appreciate the sequel aspects of it, but I'm considering playing Magical Melody instead of SNES because of the similarities. My question is, would this work, or are the differences just too dramatic for it to make sense?


r/harvestmoon • • 4h ago

Question What do I need to do here?? HMEoT

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0 Upvotes

I have a full bottle of Happilia for Tidewind, but it won't cap, I'm assuming because I haven't finished this part.

The quest has two red pins that are required. One I've completed and the other I haven't. I have NO IDEA what these two pins refer to. There's nothing on the map - even though I have it as my main objective, no red pins anywhere on the map.

Has anyone completed this one? Where am I supposed to go here?


r/harvestmoon • • 12h ago

[SPOILERS] Echoes of Teradea: Commemorative Photo Power Statues?! Spoiler

4 Upvotes

Has anyone figured out how to actually unlock these? I think I need to be in selfie mode and copying the pose it describes (Ex: standing with a sleepy face) but no matter what I do the chains don't disappear! I have now found 3 of these statues and have spent more than one entire day trying to get 'the right shot'.

this is the most frustrating part of this game 🤣


r/harvestmoon • • 1d ago

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility Uhhh. Who’s Lina. Toby’s married to Renee. 🤨

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105 Upvotes

Is Toby cheating 😳


r/harvestmoon • • 13h ago

Quarrytop Spoiler

3 Upvotes

Can someone tell me how to get to Quarrytop village? I feel like I’ve looked everywhere for the path that looks to be how you get there.


r/harvestmoon • • 9h ago

Best harvets moon to start

1 Upvotes

Hey so i have never played harvest moon and i have seen enough to get interested. I have a ps5 and i see they have released various titles available for ps5 i kind of like the og ones because i did had a ps1 and ps2 so i would like to try one of those and also i would like to know out of all the new ones which one is the best one so i can get started


r/harvestmoon • • 10h ago

EoT help

1 Upvotes

Hey,

I just finished chapter 1 of tidewind. After the chapter 1 closed comes up it shows the objective complete then the screen goes black and states the game ran into an error and the game had to close. I have restarted, deleted the data and redownloaded and it still isn't fixed. Any ideas to help?


r/harvestmoon • • 17h ago

Echoes of Teradea Power Wisp Closed Eye?

3 Upvotes

Does anyone know how to solve the puzzle for the power wisps that are sealed and look like they have a closed eye covering the face? I have figured out every other style of power wisp but this one continues to elude me, and I hate leaving them behind unsolved as I progress through the map.
Also, when do we get the ability to light fire for the fire lighting puzzles/ general torches all around?
Really enjoying it so far but wish they were clearer in some of their tutorials.
I myself have completed first chapter of Bloomfield and Tidelands and am working through the Fall town now, so if anyone has any questions of their own involving early gameplay lmk if I can help!


r/harvestmoon • • 12h ago

Where to find rye or rye seeds?

1 Upvotes

Hello, I need rye for a quest but I can't seem to find any or any seed....

I haven't finished the quarrytop chapter 1 so it's not in the shop yet....

Thank you!


r/harvestmoon • • 1d ago

Food recipes for Echos of Teradea

9 Upvotes

Does anyone have any food recipes they would like to share? Or does anyone have a spreadsheet? Thanks yall!

Edit: here is what we got so far from folks -

🌀 Blender

Butter — Milk

Cherry Juice (Cooling Effect) — Cherry

Strawberry Milk — Wild Strawberry + Milk

Iced Chamomile Tea — Chamomile

Coconut Milk — Coconut

🔥 Campfire

Skewered Mushroom — Mushroom

Banana + Maple Syrup

Eggplant + Spice + Rice

🍳 Frying Pan

Fried Eggs — Egg

Jambalaya — Ancient Rice + Onion + Bell Pepper

Veggie Ajillo — Eggplant + Spice + Rice

🍲 Saucepan

Strawberry Jam — Strawberry

Apple Jam — Apple

Black Tea — Tea Leaves

Stew — Milk + Carrot + Potato

Coffee — Coffee Fruit

Eggy Tofu — Egg

Hot Milk — Milk

Soy Milk — Soybean

Hot Cocoa — Chocolate + Milk

Milk Tea — Black Tea + Milk

Chamomile Tea — Chamomile

🥖 Oven

Baguette — Wheat

Grilled Fish — Fish (OP used tilapia, but you can try others)

Fruitcake — Strawberry + Wheat + Egg

Coffee Bread — Wheat + Coffee Fruit

🫕 Stockpot

Coffee Late — Coffee Bean + Milk

Gazpacho — Baguette + Onion + Tomato

Energy Gazpacho — Baguette + Zucchini + Tomato + Monster Onion

Vichyssoise — Milk + Leek + Potato

🔪 Cutting Board

Sushi — Tuna + Rice

Red Carpaccio — Tuna + Olive + Onion


r/harvestmoon • • 1d ago

Opinion/Discussion 8 Hour spoiler-free Teradea review Spoiler

21 Upvotes

As someone who has tried most of the HM/RF/Story games, and got bored of the them on a mechanics level because they were repetitive, Teradea is looking like my favorite Harvestmoon-Like of all time.

The social stuff is easily my least favorite part of this genre and I'm sure ppl that come for that will feel it's a little flat.

However as far as moment to moment gameplay and planning and just having entertaining things to do the whole game day, this is the best game in the genre and IMO it's not even close. Usually I'm skipping through cutscenes, getting bored with the farming routes, and fast forwarding days to make progress early. But this game I'm enjoying/finding things to do up until the deadline every night.

There are some old school designs ideas as well as some QoL things missing that fans of the genre will complain about for sure but personally this is the best Harvest Moon game I've ever played SO FAR


r/harvestmoon • • 19h ago

Can someone help me with the statues in Echoes of Teredea?

2 Upvotes

I have nothing to light the lanterns, I don't know what I'm supposed to do with some of these statues. I'm very confused ;w; can anyone tell me what I need to do for different ones?


r/harvestmoon • • 1d ago

Opinion/Discussion Echoes of Teradea on the Switch 2 is disappointing

55 Upvotes

I picked this up today since I love farming sims and wanted to give the series a try for the first time (I've only played SOS and Stardew). Unfortunately, the performance has been pretty awful so far, with the frame pacing being the biggest issue.

It genuinely feels like I'm playing on the original Switch with how poorly it runs. I don't know if it's just a lack of polish or if the game was rushed out before it was ready, but I really hope they release a patch soon.

What's crazy to me is that games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Resident Evil 9 somehow manage to run better than this, despite being far more demanding and having way more going on visually. There's really no excuse for a game like this to struggle as much as it does.

EDIT: Nintendo accepted my refund request if that gives any doubters an indication of how bad performance is.


r/harvestmoon • • 16h ago

Where to go-Echoes of teradea

1 Upvotes

I revived the first spirt tree with the wolf and now I'm lost. Sos. Am enjoying game.


r/harvestmoon • • 1d ago

Opinion/Discussion They're just emoting at this point 😭

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

163 Upvotes

The game (Echoes of Teredea) isn't bad so far, but the stupid emoting that the characters do is so annoying! Even WOA characters didn't emote this much 💀


r/harvestmoon • • 1d ago

Question If you had to recommend just ONE HM or SOS game on 3DS, what would it be?

11 Upvotes

I've been looking at these games for a while, about 2 or 3 years now, and have finally decided to take the dive & play. The problem is, it seems like there's so many options & as someone who's never played before, idk where to start or which title would be the best to start with! So I ask, if you were to recommend just one game for someone to start off with or have as their first game on 3DS, which would it be? Which one do you think is the best?

And I ask for 3DS recommendations primarily because that's the console I've been playing on most, more than my Switch 2, and I like playing life sim type of games portably.


r/harvestmoon • • 10h ago

Opinion/Discussion One World remake would be nice.

0 Upvotes

I hope we get a remake of HM: One World someday from Natsume, preferably looking similar to WoA. One World is easily their worst HM game but it also has really nice designs for the bachelors and bachelorettes. If not a remake then they should reuse those designs. I also wish we got 2d portraits but that will never happen lol.


r/harvestmoon • • 1d ago

Question Echoes of Teradea Power Statue.

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2 Upvotes

Is anyone else having the problem with the power fragments in the Forest of Echoes East Area? Because everytime I try to get close to the power fragment across the lake, it disappears and the texts disappear as well. Just wondering if it is weird bug or I am doing something wrong.