Top Five Harvest Moon Games According to a Fan

With so many titles spanning over three decades, it takes quite the farmer to understand the nuances of Harvest Moon, also known as Story of Seasons, a popular farming game. Here, each game will be examined as the top five are counted down in a handy-dandy list.

5. Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland (2001)

In Save the homeland, the player is tasked with the enduring possibility of the town they are in to be torn down by builders and replaced with an amusement park. Fun! Well, not so much fun for the generations of people who have lived in the village. As the player completes their farming duties, there are specific paths they can take to complete the story. However, unlike other Harvest Moon games, not every path involves romancing one of the villagers. It is, however, game over if the player is unable to find out what the villager's path involves and what their favorite item is.

4. Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns (2010)

In The Tale of Two Towns, the player is tasked with the puzzles and fun of navigating between two towns who are now rivals of each other. It is up to the player to figure out what happened that made the towns turn against each other and restore friendship for both sides. Featuring a Western village and an Eastern village, it is amusing to see what different crops during what times that the player can acquire and the different items from shops that can also be acquired depending on the results of festival outcomes.

3. Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (2003)

A stand out game in the series, this game featured only three romanceable characters who the player needs to rely on in order to establish themselves in the town and stay there. With an interesting mechanic that the player character can age up, their spouse does the same, as well as their child. The personalities of the child depends on their mother's, such as Cecilia's child being gentle and caring while Naomi's child is distant and quiet. The game has continued replay-ability as the player has three lives to play out to see what becomes of their character and the friendships they develop in the town.

2. Harvest Moon 64 (1999)

After the success of Harvest Moon on the Super Nintendo, Harvest Moon 64 brought the 3D aspect of gaming with farming to it's players and the music plus sound effects of the environment. It was also the first game to feature a main character death, showing young fans that age is fleeting, even in video games. With five romanceable characters in this game, marriage is required in order to convince the player's father that the farm is worth saving that they inherited from their grandfather. Achieve marital bliss, have a child, build up the farm through expansions, and the game will reveal to the player if they were successful or not.

1. Harvest Moon: Back to Nature (1999)

Coming in at the top spot, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature profoundly reimagined the series with a full fleshed out town, business hours, and festivals to attend that greatly impacted the relationships with each character and the outcomes of the game. However, unlike Harvest Moon 64, Back to Nature does not end at the end of the year for an evaluation. While the player still gets evaluated by the mayor at the end of the year, the player can continue to play the game to their heart's content. However, it is still a requirement to get married, and some events only happen if you are married to certain characters.