Marvelous just can't help themselves. They have this addiction, you see, that forces them to release indiscriminate amounts of the Harvest Moon series on the DS. It's not their fault. They were born this way. Don't judge them, okay?! You don't know what it's like! STOP YELLING!!
The latest hit, I mean title, is called Bokujou Monogatari: Futago no Mura, which translates into Farm Story (Harvest Moon): Twins' Village.
Unlike previous Harvest Moon titles, Futago no Mura features two separate villages for your farming/life-sim exploits. The first, Konohana Village will have a Japanese feel to it, and will be full of flowers and plants to harvest and raise, while the second, Bluebell Village, will be Western in its culture and appearance, and will be focused on raising animals.
There appear to be two main characters, but it is unclear at this point if both are playable, or if players are expected just to pick a gender for their protagonist.
Bokujou Monogatari: Futago no Mura will be available for Nintendo DS sometime this Winter in Japan.
Just in case you've been living under a rock for the last decade or so, Marvelous Entertainment makes a farming-RPG series that has been around forever. Known as Bokujou Monogatari (Farm Story) in Japan, nearly every iteration of the series has also made its way to North America under the name Harvest Moon.
Marvelous announced that they will be putting their next iteration of the series on the PSP titled Sugar Mura to Minna no Negai (Sugar Village and Everyone's Wish). It will feature the same farming and relationship building and life simulating that you have come to expect from the series.
But what if you still just don't get how this Harvest Moon thing works? Well, don't worry. Marvelous has just released a new trailer to give you the skinny on the game, including some info on the game's story portion (yes, there is a story portion this time around). Check it out below.
Bokujou Monogatari: Sugar Mura to Minna no Negai will be available for PSP on March 19, 2009 in Japan.
I imagine that somewhere, lost amid the happy console gamers of the world is a lonely RPG fan who has little more than the shirt on his back and a PSP. This poor victim of circumstance can see the joy that other gamers have when new RPGs come to their console of choice, but unfortunately he has to make do with random ports and spin-offs.
If only, he pleads, someone would think of the poor PSP owners.
Well, Christmas has come to you, little PSP owner, and Marvelous has decided, in an act of unselfish goodwill to mankind, that it will bring a brand new Harvest Moon game to the PSP - just for you!
Announced via the latest issue of Famitsu, Marvelous has revealed Bokujou Monogatari: Sugar Mura to Minna no Negai (Harvest Moon: Sugar Village and Everyone's Wish) for the PSP.
Unlike recent Harvest Moon spin-offs, Sugar Mura puts players back in control of the orginal blue hat, blue overalls would-be farmer, and sets him against the world to acquire livestock, a wife, and maybe some fame and fortune.
Bokujou Monogatari: Sugar Mura to Minna no Negai will be available on PSP on March 19, 2009 in Japan. There is no word yet on a North American or European version.
P.S. Sorry about the quality of the scans. I'll keep my eyes peeled for better ones.
UPDATE: Famitsu.com covers some of the topics from the magazine article. If you're interested in a translation, please let me know in the comments.
Marvelous recently announced Bokujou Monogatari: Youkoso! Kaze no Bazaaru e! (Harvest Moon: Welcome to the Bazaar of the Wind) for the Nintendo DS, along with the launch of the game's official website.
There are currently no solid details on the title, but it is scheduled for release on December 18, 2008 in Japan. This makes probably the 700th Harvest Moon game announced this year alone. Must be doing well, I guess.
There are currently no details regarding a North American release, but we're pretty confident Natsume will get around to it once the other dozen or so in front of it hit our shores.
So, anyone need their fix of Harvest Moon this Christmas?
Natsume knows which side its bread is buttered on, and that side is called Harvest Moon. Though they occasionally throw something else into the mix (read "River King"), Natsume pretty well exclusively releases Harvest Moon titles. Thus, it really shouldn't surprise anyone that their E3 presence in 2008 was completely about Harvest Moon.
Check out the coverage (that I neglected up til now) below.
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (Nintendo Wii)
Developed by Marvelous Published by Natsume Available August 26th, 2008 in North America
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (Nintendo DS)
Developed by Marvelous Published by Natsume Available August 26th, 2008 in North America
Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (Nintendo DS)
Developed by Neverland Published by Natsume Available Fall 2008 in North America
Marvelous just can't help themselves. They have this addiction, you see, that forces them to release indiscriminate amounts of the Harvest Moon series on the DS. It's not their fault. They were born this way. Don't judge them, okay?! You don't know what it's like! STOP YELLING!!
