News
Xseed Brings Latest in Harvest Moon Franchise to N. America
posted on by Egan Loo
Xseed Games will offer the latest farming simulation game in Marvelous AQL's popular Bokujō Monogatari franchise — known in the past as Harvest Moon in English — in North America on the Nintendo 3DS system this year. The company will release Bokujō Monogatari: Tsunagaru Shin Tenchi (literally, Ranch Story: Connecting New Worlds) as Story of Seasons.
Natsume published the previous games in the franchise as Harvest Moon in North America. However, since Xseed Games — Marvelous AQL's own subsidiary — is publishing the newest game in North America, it cannot use Natsume's Harvest Moon title. However, Story of Seasons shares the same development team, including producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto and character designer Igusa Matsuyama, as the previous Harvest Moon games.
Players can raise cows, sheep, and chickens. Dogs, cats, deer, alpacas, llamas, and Angora rabbits also appear in the game. The player will be able to play as either a female or male character who is fully customizable, and will be able to marry a spouse of the opposite gender:
Fieldwork has been improved to make the process simpler, but the basic mechanics remain the same as in the previous game's. In addition, as the story progresses, players can take care of various animals by going on a “safari,” and can trade their produce and other products with other countries using the Trading Post.
Marvelous AQL shipped the game in Japan on February 27. The previous game in the franchise, Bokujō Monogatari: Hajimari no Daichi (Ranch Story: The Great Earth of Beginnings), shipped in Japan in February 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS, and Natsume released the game in North America and Europe under the title Harvest Moon: A New Beginning later that year.
