Your Dog — Harvest Moon

You can’t find a video game dog more like a real dog outside of Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, and Stardew Valley.

He or she has a lovely little dog house outside for those cool mornings and lazy evenings, and there’s always a place ready to snuggle down for the night inside your house. All that’s really needed to make them happy in life is a smile and a good head pat, though snacks are most welcome of course.

You’ll frequently see your four-legged friend wandering about the farm, casting an eye over the crops and keeping the other animals in line, occasionally wandering over to make sure you’re okay.

It’s getting your dog that really makes the farm first seem like home, too. Before that, you’re a newcomer to a strange place, with a massive farm to look after and a big, empty house to exist in. Add a dog, and just like in real life, you’ve got an instant home, a bright spark of life that makes the future seem good after all.

Unlike your other animals, you technically don’t have to feed your dog either, so pointing to your canine caretaking abilities in Harvest Moon et al probably isn’t the best way to convince someone you can care for a real dog.

Still, in those early days when times are tough, resources are scarce, and crops are slow to grow, it’s a great comfort knowing your dog is perfectly happy eating air.

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It's not really an exaggeration to say none of these games would be quite the same without their fabulous canines.

No matter what your favorite video game dog is and why you love it so much, though, make sure to take some time today and every day to give your real dog some snuggles, snacks, and playtime.

Oh, and if we had to make a list of honorable mentions, it would be: 

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• General Pepper (Star Fox)
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• Dog (Dragon Quest: Origins)
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• Hewie (Haunting Ground)
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• Poppy (Samurai Shodown)
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• Caesar (Wargroove)
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• Vigilance (Skyrim)
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• Chop (Grand Theft Auto V)
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• Riley (Call of Duty: Ghosts)
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Let us know which good doggos you would add by sounding off in the comments below! 

Amaterasu — Okami

Most dogs in video games are your friends, your sidekicks, or your pets. But in Okami, you are the dog — or, more accurately, you are the white lupine representation of the sun goddess Amaterasu on the mortal plane.

Okami is all about Amaterasu and her truly epic journey to preserve creation in the face of Orochi’s impending onslaught of darkness. It’s drawn straight from Japanese legends, though naturally, with some changes and embellishments for game purposes.

Being an almost all-powerful goddess, Ammy, as her villagers call her, is able to change the world around her using a mechanic that makes the game shine as a unique experience almost as much as it is a unique game. You’ll use Ammy’s powers to solve puzzles, bring objects into creation, interact with and change the environment, and take on foes throughout the gorgeous watercolor world.

Amaterasu’s story might be beautiful, but it isn’t always a happy one. She’s tested to the end of her abilities and faces defeat and despair more than once. At her weakest point, though, when all seems lost, she transforms into her true self and suppresses Orochi’s darkness for all time, before ascending to the Celestial Plain.

Now, most dogs aren’t going to have lives quite that active, and hopefully, yours won’t have a face-off against the lord of darkness. But Amaterasu’s actions still embody the essence of being a dog — putting everything on the line for the ones that need them most and trying their hardest to make sure they don’t let anyone down.

Bill Grey — Star Fox

Bill Grey is the quintessential guard dog. Data for Bill existed in the scrapped Star Fox 2 game for the SNES, but he didn’t make a proper debut until Star Fox 64. He’s one of Fox McCloud’s oldest friends, with the two having grown up and attended pilot school together.

In 64, Bill takes charge of Corneria’s defensive squadrons, aptly called the Husky and Bulldog squads because duh. He also makes an appearance in the often-overlooked Star Fox Command, also on a defensive mission with Falco, and then he returns yet again to defend Katina once more in the ill-fated Star Fox Zero.

No matter what he does, Bill is always looking to protect the things that mean the most to him.

He might not be as visible in the series as General Pepper, but he’s certainly got something Pepper doesn’t. Where the General barks orders and maintains a definite distance from the rest of the squad, Bill is right there in the space-trenches alongside everyone else, sharing their burdens as one of the team.

Unfortunately, Bill still manages to be the one left out of the big picture. He gets no special ending in Command and doesn’t have as much chance for character development as a certain frog, falcon, and donkey.

While we hope, one day, Bill gets some more attention, maybe even part of a full-blown adventure like Star Fox Adventures, he serves as a good reminder to give credit where it's due to all the goodest watchdogs in our lives.

Dogmeat — Fallout

What’s the one thing you need if you’re struggling for survival in a post-apocalyptic world that's reeling from the effects of nuclear disaster? Food, radiation protection, and survival gear are all wrong answers because a dog is what you need.

Fortunately for our Fallout hero, a dog is what they get in the form of Dogmeat.

Dogmeat’s appearance isn’t uniform across the Fallout games. He’s sometimes a large black dog, a wolf-like dog, or a German Shepherd, but the basic gist remains the same across the series.

At some point during your travels, you get the chance to find and recruit Dogmeat by helping him out and taking an interest in his wellbeing.

Typically, his owner died sometime in the past, or he just didn’t have one. Though initially spending his days guarding his territory and terrorizing anyone who comes near, he eventually takes up with you and joins your journey for survival as a party member.

Unlike other party members (and JRPG dogs), Dogmeat can’t equip gear or use weapons that you couldn’t normally fit on a dog, but he still holds his own in combat with no trouble, so long as you make sure to look after him.

In return, Dogmeat looks after you, alerting you to the presence of enemies, helping you find items, dealing huge amounts of damage in combat, and generally just being your best friend, especially in Fallout 4.

The world might be dark and deadly in Fallout, but Dogmeat is a good reminder that a loving dog by your side makes every day just a bit easier.

Koromaru — Persona 3

Koromaru is the Persona 3 version of the famous Greyfriars Bobby in Scotland. Bobby was a Skye Terrier who became known throughout the city of Edinburgh during the late 1800s; after his owner died from tuberculosis, Bobby remained in the cemetery for 14 years, faithfully waiting to see his master again.

Koromaru once lived at a shrine on Iwatodai Island with his owner; Shadows killed his owner, but Koromaru stayed at the shrine nonetheless, waiting faithfully, until the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (S.E.E.S.) comes along and adopts him.

Unlike Bobby, though, Koromaru isn’t real. That key difference means his strength of heart lets him summon a Persona — Cerberus, of course — to take the fight to the Shadows.

He’s one of the only party members with a natural defense against dark magic, has high speed, and lands critical hits often, which lets you get that sweet, sweet “One More” extra attack. Like Repede, Koromaru wields a knife in his mouth.

But more importantly, he wears an unbelievably adorable pair of tiny wings and a T-shirt.

His floofy cuteness actually plays an important role in the story as well. Koromaru keeps Shinji Aramaki from being the stereotypical gruff character with no depth, as he’s the only one Shinji opens up to and acts like a normal human around.

That’s a very important point to note later on, before the very bad thing happens ,and you learn more about Shinji, Akihiko, and Ken’s intertwined past.

He also helps you raise Social Link points with others by taking him for a walk at night. Truly, no one can resist Koro-chan’s charms.

Sandy — Dragon Quest XI

Sandy doesn’t get much screen time in Dragon Quest XI, but what she does get makes her a top-notch canine companion.

The first thing you have to do in the game is climb Cobblestone Tor for a ritual that proves you and your childhood friend Gemma have grown up. The problem with this particular tradition is that the Tor is crawling with monsters. Gemma, grown up though she may be, is no fighter. That leaves Hero to fend off the creatures alone.

He’s not entirely alone, though. Good ol’ Sandy comes to the rescue and joins the party, with some powerful attacks to help see you safely through your trials.

Doing a regular mode run, that might not seem like much of a big deal. This is the first dungeon, after all, a time for extended tutorials and enemies no tougher than pudding.

Take on a Draconian Quest, and it’s a different matter entirely. Without Sandy, these early-game monsters would kick your rear right off the Tor with no effort at all.

Sandy doesn’t play a direct role in the plot, but she’s still important. Hero grows up with Sandy, and like all good dogs, she’s part of everything in daily life — until that fateful day when their world changes.

Thinking about Sandy and Cobblestone like that makes the first gut-punch hurt that much worse and sets a distinctly different tone for Hero’s adventures from that point on.

Zeit — Trails from Zero, Trails of Azure

You’d be hard pressed to find a dog or wolf that’s more of a contradiction than Zeit is in The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero and Trails of Azure.

He’s at once massively important to the plot, themes, and backstory, but simultaneously doesn’t have a big role to play in the plot thanks to an exception in a certain contract he has. (Yes, a wolf has a contract. It’s a thing.)

Zeit is a legendary divine wolf who watches over the land known as Crossbell. After one of the mafia groups from Crossbell City starts wreaking havoc in the countryside, the divine wolves get blamed until the Special Support Section of the Crossbell Police steps in to put things right.

Despite being huge, divine, and legendary, he acts like a normal dog from then on, protecting the SSS headquarters, and generally letting the city’s kids do whatever they want with him.

Outside some indirect combat support, it initially seems like that’s what Zeit’s role is — big, loveable pooch.

As Azure gears up for its final chapter, though, that notion changes in a very big way as you learn about Zeit’s past and his connection with Crossbell. Among other things, you can take control of Zeit as a playable party member, and you quickly find out he can basically end the world with a swipe of his paw.

Yet whether you’re worthy or not, and despite his own circumstances, he chooses to be your friend and help you when times get tough.

It’s a subtle underscoring of the games’ “true bonds” theme — and pretty much what dogs do in our lives every day.

Repede — Tales of Vesperia

Games in the Tales of franchise typically have some sort of animal sidekick. While Mieu in Tales of the Abyss is one of the better ones thanks to being a barometer measuring Luke fon Fabre’s character development, Mieu isn’t a dog.

Repede from Tales of Vesperia is a dog — and one with impeccable style and presence. He carries a pipe in his mouth and swaps it out for weapons during combat, both of which make for a pretty hard act to beat.

Repede doesn’t necessarily have much story significance in Vesperia, other than being a reminder of how difficult protagonist Yuri Lowell’s past has been. Beyond plot necessity, though, he's a genuine friend to the isolated Yuri, with all the loyalty and affection we'd expect from the best dogs — and all that in spite of what Yuri did in the past to Repede's father.

Repede's also a true beast in combat.

He’s one of the first party members you get, and also one of the rare examples of using a “pet” as a full-time party member — outside Breath of Fire III, at least.

While he might not be much of a magic user, Repede is speedy and strong, with powerful technical Artes attacks and the ability to strike and retreat with haste. Add his theft ability on top of that, and he’s a character you’ll want to regularly keep on the field. 

Repede is exactly what all good dogs are: invaluable and adorable.

Angelo — Final Fantasy VIII

Angelo is the very definition of loyal. She’s Rinoa’s dog in Final Fantasy VIII and takes things a big step further than Interceptor. For one, she’s always by Rinoa’s side. Always. Whether it’s at school, in battle, or even after that spoilery thing happens and Rinoa is incapacitated for a while, Angelo is there, offering her support.

Rinoa’s comment about learning so much from Angelo isn’t just cute dog talk either. Unlike Interceptor, Angelo plays a more defined role in combat.

For one thing, she’s Rinoa’s Limit Break, which is obviously the series’ best Limit Break. Rinoa and Angelo start with four basic attacks, but she/you have to read dog magazines to learn new abilities as an improved dog trainer.

Depending on circumstances, Angelo can even help heal an ailing party member or perform a hard-hitting attack at just the right moment to turn the tide.

She gets a biscuit for her troubles during battle, which is sweet. But the endgame is what serves as a perfect metaphor for how our relationships with our dogs usually go.

After staying by Rinoa at all times, saving the party’s skin on countless occasions, and generally just being perfect, what does Angelo get? More biscuits? Head pats?

No. She gets left behind while Rinoa has a moment with Squall.

Whatever.

Rush — Mega Man

Rush is Mega Man’s loyal robo-dog friend in the Mega Man series and spinoffs, starting with Mega Man 3 and staying by the Blue Bomber’s side ever since.

It’s not just one Rush, either. The robo-doggo takes on a wide variety of different forms as the situation calls for it.

The most familiar one is probably spring-mode Rush, aka Rush Coil, where he transforms into a giant springboard and propels Mega Man to greater heights. It’s a lifesaver in certain situations and absolutely necessary if you’re playing spelunker and want to get everything a stage has to offer.

But Rush’s trick repertoire doesn’t end there, and it’s arguable that as the mainline Mega Man games started to lose their luster, Rush himself started getting even better.

Over the course of his long career, he’s mastered the art of turning into the Rush Marine submarine, carrying Mega Man through space as Rush Space, flying through the air as jet-powered Rush, and doing all the things you’d expect from a robotic dog with near-endless capabilities.

Rush’s loyalty is a bit different from most dogs, though. It’s hard to say he had a choice in the matter of staying by Mega Man’s side, when his creator, Dr Light, programmed him to be (Mega) man’s best friend.

But he goes above and beyond to fulfill his duties nonetheless, like the good boy he undoubtedly would be — y’know, if he could make his own choices.

Interceptor — Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI boasts one of the biggest casts of playable characters in the series, and though Interceptor the dog is just a sidekick to one of those characters, he plays an interesting role in and out of combat.

Interceptor’s master is Shadow, the Ninja. Like all Ninjas in Final Fantasy, Shadow is actually pretty fragile, despite his relative strength. Even though he’s a master of stealth, enemies tend to target him rather often during combat.

Fortunately, Interceptor randomly jumps in and, well, intercepts the attack; he blocks like shields do, only more often. He also randomly attacks an enemy for Shadow, though it’s more adorable than effective in most cases.

Outside of combat, though,  is where Interceptor gets really interesting, and it’s possible to completely miss how his story unfolds. At a certain spot before the game’s halfway point, the party meets Relm, a precocious young artist with a strange affinity for Interceptor, a dog who usually just tolerates Shadow and can’t stand other people. Relm lives with her grandfather and never knew her parents.

You can probably put two and two together from that information. But whether you see it play out in the game depends on a choice you make.

If you’re heartless and leave the Floating Continent without Shadow, his story ends (because he dies, spoiler alert). If not, and you make sure to speak to him at specific points, you learn about his previous relationships and roles in life.

And it’s all because of Interceptor, bringing people together like a good boy.

Isabelle — Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Being an animal-centric game, Animal Crossing: New Leaf naturally has lots of lovely doggos to choose from; if you want to be technical, Tom Nook is even a dog, thanks to the whole Tanooki = racoon-dog thing.

Isabelle stands a cut above the rest for a few reasons, though. Apart from having a distinct personality separate from the rest of the villagers, she always says nice things and doesn’t try to get money from you. That last one alone is worthy of a top ranking.

But it’s Isabelle’s unfailing positivity and optimism that really make her so loveable and charming. Isabelle is almost always happy — and happy to help.

She helps you settle into your new village and pick a spot for your house, always organizes special events and attends big public works unveilings, and even shoulders your mayoral duties for years on end when you forget your village exists.

Of course, that cheerfulness makes seeing Isabelle so capably beat the stuffing out of Pikachu in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just a bit disconcerting, but it just helps underscore how amazing she really is.

Whether she’s keeping an entire village running or sweeping up the competition, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more amazing dog than Isabelle.

Whether it's International Dog Day or just a regular afternoon of playing games with your pooch, the most pressing question we have any time a new game is revealed — or when a new trailer is shown — that also includes a dog is, "But can you pet the doggo?"

It's a testament not just to how much we all love dogs, but to how often they show up in our favorite video games. Some, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, are pretty much there just for show, keeping the world alive and digging up stuff for you if you feed them.

These dogs are great and all, but they don't always play a substantial role; some of them can't even be pet, no matter how fluffy and oodgie-woodgie they look.

Others play a much bigger part in a game or entire series, though, and some are even the backbone of entire plots.

In honor of International Dog Day 2019, we're taking a look at those dogs playing a starring role in the world of video games.

Whether they're helping you out on the farm, hurling you to new heights, or swatting your enemies away like so much annoying dust, these dogs are versatile, loving, loyal, and everything that makes dogs wonderful in real life.

Stardew Valley Vs Story of Seasons

Story of Seasons occupies an interesting position in the farm-and-life-sim genre. It is different from Harvest Moon, but not all that different. That's because it actually is Harvest Moon, thanks to the confusing name change and company swap mentioned earlier.

Either way, what it primarily does is expand on everything old HM (when it was HM still) already established. For example, in the original Story of Seasons, you get more characters, more personality, more crops, more stuff to do, and more animals.

It also tries to hearken back to the olden days of brutal farming with a sharp difficulty curve that makes money-earning very, very challenging indeed.

Trio of Towns takes it further, trying to improve on the Tale of Two Towns concept by, again, adding yet more. The towns are bigger, the themes in each are more pronounced, there are even more animals, people, and crops, plus you have a ton of activities to do outside of farming.

Unfortunately, it doesn't really establish an identity for itself other than the more colorful, playful Harvest Moon. That doesn't mean the games aren't fun, because they are, but it takes more than loading on content to create a champion game.

Take the characters, for example. Trio of Towns falls into the same trap Tale of Two Towns did. There are more places to go and people to see, but each is fairly limited because of that.

Stardew Valley's characters might not be the most detailed and complex ever. However, they're interesting all the same, since they each represent a specific personality trait or life problem that resonates with people — even Shane the chicken man. Sure, they'll say the same line for an entire season, but you want to learn more about them.

Stardew's other mechanics are fairly basic when you think about it. However, they work well together. Mining is simple, but serves an important purpose both in expanding your farm and getting special gifts; there aren't 50 million crop varieties, but you can do a lot with a few things and shape your farm — and life — around just a handful of crops.

In some cases, simple is just better.

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Comparing these games and series isn't an easy task, since they're all top rank in what they try to do. With everything Stardew Valley has to offer, though, with the promise of even more single and multiplayer content to come, that's the one you'll find me going back to every time for a bit of quality farm fun.

Stardew Valley Vs Staxel

Staxel does a lot of things right. It's a bright and cute take on the blocky Minecraft style, and there's oh-so-much to do. Staxel even lets you customize your world and home, much like Stardew Valley, and there are plenty of relationships to forge as you go about your business.

Your days are structured much more effectively than Harvest Moon and even Stardew Valley to an extent, since you've got plenty of time to do what you want even after all your chores are done.

So why is Stardew Valley better?

For starters, Staxel treats farming a lot like Farming Simulator does. It's definitely a business arrangement before it's anything else. Farming gives you materials you need to create buildings and develop your town — and you need a lot of materials.

That's one of Staxel's biggest problems: the grind for materials. Farming is made easy, probably to account for the grind, but having the ability to cut your farming tasks short so soon, and making farming just the means to an end, takes some of the satisfaction away.

Stardew makes you work for a while before you can even get the materials for a decent sprinkler that hopefully works every day. True, the goal of farming is to make money for other things, but in most cases, that money is used to buy more goods for your farm, or it gets put back into the town in some form or another. It's not just fodder for Petals (Staxel currency) and materials.

It's an interesting drawback given how the game starts off so similar to Stardew and other farm-life sim games, putting you in charge of renovating a run-down farm.

The socialization falls short as well. Villagers don't have personalities that pop like in Stardew, and they are admittedly a bit creepy thanks to the otherwise-cute aesthetic. They do play into the game's lore, but ultimately they come across like fillers more than interesting personalities to befriend.

Stardew Valley vs. My Time at Portia

My Time at Portia is getting a lot more attention recently thanks to its Switch release, though not all of it is good attention. Still, it's a solid game with an almost intimidating amount of things to do in it.

Farming is but one of them, and it takes a side-role from the beginning. In a twist in the classic Harvest Moon formula, Portia has you work to rebuild your grandfather's workshop, not just his farm.

Doing that involves farming and raising animals, but the main emphasis here is really the crafting and exploration — which isn't all that surprising given the player's task to rebuild an entire civilization.

It really comes across more like a combo of Rune Factory and Minecraft or Dragon Quest Builders, especially when you add in the gigantic world to explore and the combat. The world in Portia is huge, and there are constantly new things to build to help you explore it even further.

That said, despite the game being billed as a life-sim in the style of Stardew or Harvest Moon, it really can't stack up in the farming department. Like Staxel, everything you do is done to get materials for accomplishing a bigger goal.

Crafting is fun, expansive, and addictive, definitely. However, when I think farming sim game, small-scale comes to mind.

Making 10 kegs to use those hops for something more profitable is small scale; building a bridge to explore new areas, make new things, and get people to come live in your town while you try and open up bigger areas for more profit is more like an adventure-sim game.

Where Portia can't compete, even with its bigger scale and fulfilling adventure, is characters. They're interesting and plentiful, but something about them felt shallow in comparison.

Now, you might think that's ironic when Shane's biggest motivating factor is his pet chicken, though what it really comes down to is the human element. Portia's characters fill a narrative purpose and have interesting backgrounds like a character from a novel — not like someone you know in your own town.

In short, My Time at Portia is good at what it does, but it's better suited for a long, sprawling adventure instead of an intimate story of building relationships with your neighbors.

Stardew Valley vs. Farming Simulator

If Rune Factory emphasizes the fantasy element and exploration too much, Farming Simulator does the exact opposite.

The series' focus shouldn't be too difficult to figure out, given its name. Farming Simulator is basically the agricultural version of Sim City or Cities: Skylines. You're in complete control of your farm, from purchasing plots and fields to buying machinery, keeping everything watered, and pretty much everything an actual farmer would do.

It's an impressive management and business game, and while the realism in the graphics isn't tremendously impressive, the more recent iterations certainly look good. Farming Simulator 19 even introduces John Deere machines for the first time, and you can't get more farm-y than that.

It also represents the main reason why it can't stack up to Stardew Valley. On its own, FS is fine, but there's no denying Stardew is a better game all around.

For one thing, FS is a rather lonely experience. Since the focus is farm management, you don't get the social aspect that's practically synonymous with "farming game" thanks to Harvest Moon. It's a business, so there's no place for getting attached to your animals either; they're just another asset to manage.

No magical or even monstrous small creatures to help make your farm a bright and lovely place either.

Stardew Valley respects the fact that people need to leave their farms and businesses every now and again, even if it's just to wander around in the forest — the forest that can't be bought and turned into another field.

Then there's the other problem of reality: it's too real. The appeal of managing one's own farm quickly withers when you live in a rural area. You see farms and John Deere when you leave the house, it's all anyone talks about, it's on the news every day, and unless you're really dedicated, it's the last thing you want to see when you jump into a game world.

Sometimes, a bit of fantasy isn't a bad thing.

Stardew Valley vs. Rune Factory

The Rune Factory series is probably one of the stronger contenders for the farm crown. A lot of it is built into Stardew Valley after all, including monster ranching and the mine acting as a sort of dungeon.

The Rune Factory games are also quite charming, though one could argue the series didn't really come into its own until Rune Factory 4 with its expanded story, more interesting character roster, and excellent localization.

Where Rune Factory fails against Stardew is in how the former deals with the farming mechanic, particularly in RF4.

The Rune Factory games aren't about runes or factories. They're about upgrading as much as possible — your gear, your farms, your relationships, and your crops and soil, but not your own farming or growing abilities.

Growing quality crops in Stardew is part RNG and part planning. Fertilize the soil, and you'll get some good returns, if you're lucky. Over time, you can expand your operations as you take back your farm from nature and plan everything the way you want. It's your corner of the world to do with as you see fit.

Rune Factory has you upgrade crop levels so they're consistently worth more, and there's even a Giantizer to help ensure giant crops more often. It fits the series' fantasy theme, and it frees up time to do other things, sure.

However, it takes away some of the charm and satisfaction of seeing those gold star melons pile up in your inventory or waking up one morning to find a giant turnip peeking in your window.

That's because Rune Factory isn't really about that kind of satisfaction.

Farming is one of many activities, but after a short while, it clearly takes a backseat to other tasks, like relationship building or exploration, most of which doesn't rely on slowly creating a viable, vibrant farm. Shoot, you can even get a monster army to do everything for you, a lot earlier than you can recruit Junimos in Stardew.

In short, Stardew puts the farming first and lets everything else grow as a natural offshoot from that. Rune Factory has its place, but not necessarily as a top farming sim game.

Stardew Valley vs. Harvest Moon - To a Point

Pitting Stardew Valley against Harvest Moon (Natsume's Harvest Moon, old and new) is like demanding a grandparent fight their grandchild. Without Harvest Moon, there would be no Stardew Valley. However, there's also no denying that Harvest Moon has lost its way over the years.

You could argue the best Harvest Moon is Back to Nature, 64, or Friends of Mineral Town.

Harvest Moon 64 improved the graphics in a meaningful way, added a memorable soundtrack, and Back to Nature added further depth to the game and the characters of Mineral Town, and FoMT did it all again in a slightly different and even more robust flavor. Farming was the core focus, and everything still felt fresh in the series.

From there, things started to deteriorate a bit. A Wonderful Life and Hero of Leaf Valley, along with Save the Homeland, were interesting ways to add a different sense of accomplishment — though why someone thought making you die at the end of AWL was a good idea is beyond me. Still, they missed the point of a Harvest Moon game in the process by centering them around a definite point.

Later entries were fun, if iterative, including Sunshine Islands and Grand Bazaar. The last good Harvest Moon was A New Beginning, which despite not doing a whole lot to shake things up did at least include new design and customization mechanics.

Part of the issue is how Harvest Moon hamstrung itself with the adventure hybrid series Rune Factory, relegating the base series solely to farming with Rune Factory taking the more dynamic approach.

Today, the Harvest Moon we get in North America and Europe isn't the Japanese series Bokujou Monogatari, as it's traditionally been. Instead, recent Harvest Moon titles are unique games developed by Natsume, rather than the Marvelous-developed series we've all come to know and love over the years.

In the West, Bokujou Monogatari (which used to be called Harvest Moon here) is now called Story of Seasons, and that's seen its fair share of changes as well.

Harvest Moon: Light of Hope shows how that all's been going.

Stardew takes advantage of all those different styles, then wraps them up in the simplicity of an older Harvest Moon game. You've got the dungeon exploration aspect, farming, socialization, quirky townsfolk, building, and customization.

There are several, varied goals to work towards as well if you want to restore the Community Center, which goes a long way in keeping things interesting.

ConcernedApe's Stardew Valley took the world by storm when it launched a few years ago. It was yet another farming simulation game in a market full of them, and at first glance, it doesn't seem like it really does much different.

If you give it a longer glance and compare it to its biggest competition, you find Stardew Valley isn't just unique among the farming-life sim genre. It's the best offering out there right now.

Rune Factory has monsters, and Farming Simulator has...farms. Harvest Moon is an all-time classic, while Story of Seasons tries to improve on the formula with more and bigger of everything. Staxel and My Time at Portia take the farming sim in a completely new, and much bigger direction.

They each revolve around a specific trait or activity that gives them a unique identity.

Stardew Valley manages to combine elements of everything, though, including combat, exploration, crafting, and life-sim. The characters are a big draw too. Yes, Penny tells you a thousand times that she likes helping kids learn, but she's an easily recognizable character — a trope, but one that's tied more to everyday life instead of media conventions.

More importantly, it makes farming the core focus, which is typically what you're looking for in a farming game. It's not just a fun mechanic thrown in out of obligation. It's integral to progressing in the game and to getting a sense of satisfaction.

Bandai Namco recently announced that the crossover title Doraemon Story of Seasons will be coming West some time this fall for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. The title, developed in collaboration with Brownies studio, was initially thought to be a Japan-only release slated for summer.

Doramon Story of Seasons features the well-known characters from the Japanese anime and manga series, Doraemon, living in a Story of Seasons setting, performing daily farm tasks, and interacting with the local townspeople in Shizen Town.

Doraemon, as one might expect, tells the story Doraemon. He's a cat from the 22nd century who traveled back in time and now lives with the Nobi family and is particular friends with the other main character, Nobita.

Famitsu recently interviewed Bandai Namco producer Kouji Nakajima and Brownies' development planner Kasumi Sugita about the game's structure and focus to give fans a better idea of what they can expect from the game.

Nakakima is known for being a fan of Harvest Moon: Back to Nature, and some elements of Doraemon Story of Seasons reflect that, most notably the farming elements.

For instance, the early game's farming tasks are rather difficult. Despite Nobita having access to Doraemon's signature gadgets that can make some tasks easier, these aren't endless, meaning players will still encounter challenges.

The Story of Seasons crossover blends the story beats from Doraemon into traditional farming sim gameplay as well.

Sugita mentioned the town's central story revolves around a giant tree said to have been grown by a goddess. Players uncover the connection between the tree and why the Nobi family arrived in Shizen Town to begin with, which gives the game more of a central narrative and adventure elements than previous Story of Seasons titles.

Doraemon's themes of family bonds and doing one's best regardless of what talents and abilities one has also play a significant role. Along with developing the Nobi family's bonds, players will discover the backstories of the numerous shopkeepers and townspeople, all of which relate to familial love — for siblings, parents and children, and even pets.

In fact, Shouhei Yamashita, another Brownies development planner, said the total volume of sub-stories is actually five times the main narrative's size.

Doraemon Story of Seasons launches June 13 in Japan and, as mentioned, is set for a fall release date in the West.

Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons continues to grow with fans today. Though the series is decades old, the overall formula still works. Farming, friendships, and family still lie at the heart of both Marvelous' and Natsume's series. The choices of removing more challenging aspects of the series, such as rivals and mining for more farming is damaging the Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons games more than improving it. If the developers want to hold onto fans attention, they should experiment to keep us interested. If not, they risk losing longtime fans.

Do you think the developers, Marvelous and Natsume, should change up the formula in their future Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons games? What changes would you want to see? Or do you disagree and believe the games are great as is? Let us know in the comments!

Increase Family Interaction

The most welcomed addition to the Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns game has been more family interaction. Previous games have assumed you are living on your own, never to speak to your family again. Phones exist, but only to call in a mail-order from the shopping network.

In Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, the game begins with a fight between yourself and your father, Daryl. As the game progresses, your mother and little sister can come to visit you for a week. Your Uncle Frank is a few farms away, welcoming you in for meals or offering advice. But after marriage, the visits and letters mostly stop.

As for your spouse, you may never meet their family. Adding more family interaction could add more gameplay possibilities and more depth to each of the series. Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons always emphasize family and friendship, but strangely lack interactions with your own.

Add After-Marriage Goals

Is marriage boring? Marvelous and Natsume imply this in the farming series. Marriage has become too easy in the Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons series. Give your love interest their favorite item every day, see their love events, get married, and have a baby. There is life after marriage, afterall. The addition of after-marriage events could (and should) be added.

Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns allows you to have three meals a day with your spouse, and you can spend festival days with them. But after that, it’s a regular work day. Having the option to take a walk (like with pets), go on vacation, work on the farm together, or have additional love events would be a welcomed addition.

As much as I enjoy these farming simulators, I find myself losing interest after the baby is born. There are few goals to work for after that. Adding more events after marriage could extend gameplay.

Bring Back Rivals

Rivals are a sore subject with many fans of the series. Some gamers don’t want their love interest to get swept away from them while they’re busy tending to their farm. While I can understand some jealousy, the newest games have totally removed the feature. Your farmer is the only one that can get married. The rest of the candidates end up alone, forever, or until you put down the game. This just seems really sad.

In Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (or Harvest Moon: Back to Nature), after getting married, you could help others discover love. I found it fun to help the other candidates get their happily ever after. But if I was not yet married and trying to romance a candidate, I found it a motivator to work harder to impress them.  

Aside from rivals, it would be fun to help other non-romanceable villagers get married. In Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, helping Miranda romance Frank would have been a welcomed addition.

Add More Helping Hands

The Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons games are primed for people who love to micromanage tasks. But after days of doing the same chores over and over again, gameplay gets monotonous.

The older Harvest Moon games allowed you to delegate tasks to the Harvest Sprites. After befriending them with gifts of flour, they would help water plants, harvest, care for animals, and bring them inside and out each day. Of course, this may seem too easy for more hardcore players. Having the option was great.

In the current Story of Seasons games, you’re alone except for pets. Pets with a high heart level can herd animals, but everything else is up to you. It would be helpful to request aid from your spouse, a high-level friendship villager, or even your child, like in Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. Doing everything on your own is a great accomplishment, but it shouldn’t be a punishment to ask for help.  

Make Festivals More Challenging

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature made festivals fun. The tomato throwing festival was challenging and diversified gameplay. Harvest Moon 2: Game Boy Color allowed you to have a snowball fight during a mini-game.

In comparison, the newest installments of the series are lackluster in terms of festival interaction. In Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, the most complicated festivals are mixing a new brew of tea or collecting money from villagers. Once the festival starts, you watch a few people talk and the event ends.

having challenging festival mini-games would make farm life a little more exciting. It would also increase villager bonds by perhaps befriending a specific villager, so they’ll train you in the mini-game.

Increase Friend Interactions

In Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands, you had to speak to villagers daily. If not, your friend level would decrease, and you would get reprimanded. Building relationships between villagers is  of high importance, but little will come from it. In Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, you may receive a few extra items, but nothing after that.

Adding more friend interactions would increase the immersion of each game. In Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, Komari and Carrie excitedly tell you how much they adore you as a friend. But besides a few friendship events and festivals -- or perhaps sharing a meal with them -- you rarely interact with either character, which kind of makes the friendships moot at a certain point. 

Except when being forced to befriend someone for a service or item, friendships currently don’t add much to the game. Adding more events and interactive sequences could make friendships more meaningful.

Bring Back Mining

In the latest Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons games, mining has been reduced to striking a mining node (usually a large rock marked with an "x") for a few gems a day. Mining is now too easy and not a challenge at all. No longer are we stocking Elli Leaves for a trek down 100+ levels of the mine.

Some users may welcome the change, but during long Winters where lakes are frozen over, trips to the mine were a welcomed time waster. The mines were similar to mini-games, where you had to trace your path to the next stairwell or destroy the hazards that would sap away your stamina.

Reintroducing mining would bring more activities back to the series. It would make upgrading tools or creating accessories more challenging, too.

Don’t Remove Content from the Original Version

In the previous installments of the Harvest Moon series, marriage was an end-game requirement. If you kept to your farm, didn't get to know your neighbors, or get married, you would ultimately face a game over screen. This requirement was eventually removed, allowing you time to tend to your farm and woo your romantic interest. If you didn't want to get married, that was a choice, too. Not every marriage candidate may interest you, and you may rather marry someone of the same gender.

In Harvest Moon DS Cute, you had the option of having a Best Friend instead of a husband. Your female farmer would go through love events for the Harvest Goddess, Witch, Leia the mermaid, or Kera, and your love points would only be displayed if you equipped the Love Ring accessory. After meeting the marriage requirements, you could present your choice with a Blue Feather, triggering the Friend Ceremony. This ceremony was similar to a marriage. A child would be later sent you, instead of going through pregnancy.

For unknown reasons, this feature was removed when the game was localized. Are best friends too offensive? The only way to play the game the way Marvelous originally intended is to obtain the original Japanese version.

The Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons games were originally known as the Bokujou Monogatari series in Japan and developed by Marvelous Entertainment. Natsume held on to the name of Harvest Moon, while Marvelous continued work of Story of Seasons, making two separate series. 

Both Natsume’s Harvest Moon and Marvelous’ Story of Seasons series started off simple enough: you were a city dweller in need of change, or you inherited a farm from a relative. You are then tasked to make the farm successful, make friends with the villagers, get married, and have a baby. After having a child, though, the game seems to get stale.

Marvelous and Natsume kept reusing the same formula, with only slight deviations in art styles and some mechanics between each game. The most recent installment, Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, has brought new life to the series, but still lacks after-marriage content. Natsume has promised to bring back SNES era Harvest Moon gameplay in their upcoming title Harvest Moon: Light of Hope.

I do believe developers should have the freedom to create any game they want, and I would never make demands from them. But as a fan, I think there are a few ways both Marvelous and Natsume could refresh their respective farming simulator series.

I remember when I was a kid, I picked up a copy of Harvest Moon 3 GBC out of the bargain bin at Walmart. I had no idea what it was, but a game was a game. I’ve been farming ever since.

If you’ve never played a Harvest Moon game -- or as it’s now called, Story of Seasons -- it’s a farming simulator. You play as a farmer, usually a person from the city who moved to a tiny town to run a broken down farm left to you by a grandparent. Life simulators are nothing new, and Harvest Moon definitely wasn’t the first. But, for some reason, it’s always been my favorite. There’s a lot going for the franchise, but I’ve always wondered why I get so hooked on these simple little games.

I think one reason is that the game is DIY fun.

There’s usually some kind of goal you need to complete—like stop a company from destroying the village, or awaken the Harvest Goddess—but other than that, the game lets you roam free. Don’t like a certain villager? You can probably avoid them for the entire game. Want to have 10 chickens? Go for it.

You set your own goals, which is a refreshing experience when so many games are quest-oriented and hold players by the hand from destination to destination. Harvest Moon gives you the game’s setup and then you’re on your own.

Another reason is because the games are very good at pacing and rewarding players.

There are several festivals and events specific to each season. While players are not required to participate in these events, winning them usually yields monetary rewards or useful items associated with the event. Players are awarded for their hard work, but aren’t punished for not making the cut like some games might do.

Harvest Moon was a staple of my childhood and I love it to this day. Even under a new name, it continues to be a fun experience that pushes itself to change with each game. If you haven’t checked it out, I definitely encourage you to.

Story of Seasons was released back in 2015 as a Nintendo 3DS title re-branding the franchise formerly known as Harvest Moon. The game is a farming simulation game and a sequel for the game is already on the horizon.

Xseed Games announced today the sequel to Story of Seasons, Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, will be released some time in 2017. Trio of Towns will feature 3 towns that farmers can travel in between. The 3 towns consist of a Western-style village, a Japanese-inspired area, and a mysterious beach town. Each town comes with their own unique crops, animals and bachelors. Players can connect over WiFi to enhance the experience. These and more features will be revealed at E3 2016 and closer to the game’s release in 2017.

Harvest Moon hasn’t completely died though. Natsume announced that a new Harvest Moon title, Harvest Moon: Skytree Village, will be coming to the Nintendo 3DS. There is currently no release date for the game, but it will make an appearance at E3 2016.

Source Images [Header Image, Trio of Towns Box Art, Harvest Moon: Skytree Village Logo]

Natsume is continuing the Harvest Moon series with a brand new game for 3DS -- Harvest Moon: Skytree Village. They announced the game's release on June 1st and promised that it will be playable at E3 later this month. Sadly, no release date has been promised as of yet.

A few details have surfaced about the game's plot. Apparently the Harvest Goddess is at it again, losing all her powers and letting the land wither away. What's up with this lady anyway? I guess it's up to us to bring the rain -- literally. According to the official press release, it has something to do with bringing the seven Skytrees back to life and helping the Harvest Goddess recover her long lost powers.

We will be able to play as a boy or a girl in this version -- a fact many ladies are happy to hear, I'm sure. In addition, the game will feature a new art style, character models, crops, flowers, residents, and easy to understand tutorials. Natsume has also promised several new features that should bring a fresh approach to the classic farming gameplay.

Players will be able to mold their farms in new ways using upgradable tools to raise and lower the land, create rivers and ponds, and much more. This will allow for customization on a whole new level, making your farm really feel like your own creation.

Players can also acquire a boat that they may use to purloin fish from the aforementioned rivers and ponds. New fishing mechanics will make this a new experience all around. There will also be a new herd animal called a Poitou Donkey. It's unclear what resources may be gained from a donkey, but it's in there all the same.

Harvest Moon: Sky Tree Village is coming our way soon. Keep an eye on Natsume's website for more details and for the official press release.

Before I start my actual impressions, I’d like to mention a couple things of where I’m coming from with this.  I’ve been a fan of the series (which I will be calling Farm Story) since the original SNES title.  So much so that back before Natsume lost the localization job for the series (on the last game they localized of the series before they started making their own games with the series name) I wrote a personal retrospective, it’s hanging around the Natsume forums and it’s also on Destructoid (and just for kicks I’ll link it if anyone wants to read it for a better view of my stance on this series.) The idea of someone else handling the translation was a thing that actually excited me, so I could see someone else’s take on the series.  Well that’s enough of a preface, let’s get started.

Introduction

Story of Seasons is the latest game of Marvelous AQL’s “Bokujou Monogatari” series, of which I will refer to as “Farm Story” for the rest of this piece.  Translated for years by Natsume under the title “Harvest Moon” in the United States, the series was given to XSEED for this newest installment.  XSEED being part of Marvelous, it only makes sense.  However Natsume owns the “Harvest Moon” title, so a new name has come to the series.  Does the new localization team give substance to this new story?  If my first year in the game has any say, I believe so.  The piece has been written in several segments where I talk about various things I’ve noticed or found or done in the game, some are just informative, others have my personal thoughts on them.  At the end are my overall final thoughts.

Oak Tree Town:

Story of Seasons is a farming/life game.  The set-up for the game is your character (which you can customize) receives a pamphlet in the mail advertising the idea of moving away from the city to settle down in some little unknown town in the middle of nowhere to be a farmer.  Sending in the application you find you that you were selected.  The game begins as your character arrives in Oak Tree Town.  Oak Tree Town is a bit different from other towns in this series.  See this town has no actual mayor; the town is owned and run by some guild.

The point of the game is to build up the village through your farming and shipping to bring more people to the town and more businesses from other countries as well.  This is all added to the normal “Be a successful farmer, build a family” stuff the series has almost always had in the main titles.  Overall I enjoy Oak Tree Town, its layout confused me a bit at first, mainly the stair placement, but after a few days I learned and started navigating just fine.  It’s nice to have a set town again, as “A New Beginning” had you build the town yourself, which while an awesome idea, didn’t feel as… decent as one prebuilt in the game.  There’s still village customization, but only in specific points that are given to you over the course of the game.

The Characters:

So far I like the new batch of characters.  Veronica is the first person you meet in the game, as she gives you the tour of the town and surrounding area.  Then you meet Eda, who for your first in game week takes you under her wing and serves as the basic tutorial.  She also happens to be your next door neighbor, running the farm next door.  Oh did I forget to mention that there are 4 other farmers?

Yup, that’s another new thing, you are the fifth farmer to start living in Oak Tree Town. You are in competition with the other farmers for the public fields, spot in the game world that grow different types of plants better.  You have to win some kind of competition to get one, and then it’s yours for 30-31 days.  I haven’t really done much with the public fields, so my knowledge of the mechanic isn’t that great. 

Aside from the other farmers, there’s quite the bunch in this game, including five candidates for marriage for each sex the player could choose.  More characters come as the town gets more popular.  I still don’t have all the main characters in my town yet.  However each one is great and fun to talk to in their own unique way.  Also, Iris is mine, back off. (Joking of course, as I can’t control who each person chooses to go for.)

Farming:

Story of Seasons has some “Oh man these new changes are fantastic!” moments in the game.  For starters, your crops all work on a 9x9 grid.  When you till the soil with the hoe, it creates one of these grids.  One bag of seeds will fill this grid (or be one large plant, like a tree) and when you water them with the watering can, it waters the entire grid.  This also applies to harvesting, just stand in the grid, press the A button and all nine crops are harvested into a box that you pick up.  All crops remain “fresh” for 3 days too, so you have a decent chance of getting the most G for your crops.

The game probably has the largest variety of crops I’ve ever seen in the series, all the main staples are here, plus a whole lot more.  I’ve grown things from Potatoes and Turnips to Tea Leaves and Flax, and that’s just the stuff I can plant on my own farm land, there’s also mushrooms, patty crops and flowers to grow as well, and the above mentioned trees.  It really is impressive how many different crops there are to grow.

Animals:

The animal selection in the game is great too.  There are different breeds of cows and chickens, as well as alpacas, angora rabbits, and animals that will live in the game’s safari area, like elephants.  Yes you can own elephants in this game.  Caring for the animals is rather simple, just make sure they have food, brush them, talk to them, and harvest their produce.  Taking them to the safari will eventually lead to a better, but different produce, like Milk+ for cows (though they could have called it Golden Milk) and Golden Eggs for chickens.

You can also have pets, as in more than one.  One of the structures you can build (which more on that will be in the crafting section) is a pet house.  You can have five pets in it, plus one that can live in your house with you.  Pets will do various things, for instance the cat I have in the game occasionally brings me gifts.  It’s a nice dynamic with the other animals.

Crafting:

Crafting is a huge part of this game, more so than in any other game of the series.  Everything is useful that you find to some degree.  To craft you need the blueprints for the item, and the ingredients to make it.  Using the crafting system you’ll improve your house, upgrade your tools (sorry, no blacksmith in this game), build barns, chicken coops, and pet homes, as well as decorations like fountains, wallpaper for your house, chairs, your kitchen, etc.  Everything that can be crafted uses the system, just not the same piece of equipment to craft.  For instance to build a structure or upgrade your tools, you do it at the craft and edit table.  To cook, use the kitchen.

The edit table allows you to move around things in your house or on your farm to set it up how you like, just note you CAN’T move your house.  This brings us to how deep this crafting system is.  Say you want to get the seeds from your 2 star crop at the end of the season, so that you can use 2 star quality seeds from the start of the next year’s season to keep improving.  First you need to build the seed maker building and place it on your farm.  Then you need to take those 2 star crops and put them in the crop drier.  Wait about 25 in game minutes, and remove the dried crops, then place the dried crops in the thrasher, and when that’s done, you harvest the seed bags.

There’s a bunch of crafting structures, I have 4 built, and a fifth in my blueprints binder.  The Seed maker I explained above (you can also use weeds to make fertilizer to improve your star rating on crops, required to win the harvest festivals on the 30^th of each season), the winery, the spice shed, and the sewing studio, the pottery shed is not yet built, but each of these uses this multi-step process to make the stuff.  So far making clothes for you to wear, or sell, or display in the fashion show is the one with the most steps and time to do.  To make an outfit you need the studio, then you need the base components, like wool, the wool needs to be turned into yarn at the spinner, then turned into cloth at the loom, and then finally use the sewing machine to turn it into clothes, this process takes over a day (mainly on the actual sewing machine).

To get some of the components you’ll need to mine, and there’s only one spot you can do that at (really, only one node).  It’s in the safari, so you won’t be mining until Fall of year 1.  But you can mine once a day, and get between 5 and 10 items (it’s random) when you do mine.  It seems limiting at first, but since you can ride your horse there, and your animals like it there, it’s not a HUGE problem in the long run.

Shipping and Traders:

In most of the previous games in the series, the player would take their produce or stuff they find in the mountains/forest/whatever and put it in a shipping bin on your farm, and the money would be added to your wallet either at the time the shipper comes or the next day.  Some games changed it up, in Hero of Leaf Valley and Save the Homeland you sold your items directly to the npcs, and in A Wonderful Life you could ship stuff, sell it to Van, or set up your own shop.

Story of Seasons handles this differently.  You can only sell your goods to foreign traders who visit occasionally.  While at the start there’s only one, so there could be upwards of five days without any traders in town, as you ship stuff, more come, adding not only more places and opportunities to sell, but also new items, recipes, blueprints and clothing patters to buy.  Some of the traders also sell animals.  One trader sells a mystery seed on occasion, which is a clever crossover with Nintendo, as this seed will grow into a Super Mushroom, a Fire Flower, or a Starman, having a different positive effect on your crops depending on which you get. 

Festivals:

What’s a Farm Story game without festivals?  Holidays really help bring these games to life and Story of Seasons is no different.  Most festivals are expos/competitions like the harvest festival, the various animal festivals and the fashion show, but there are a few others that aren’t like the fireworks display.  There were however two festivals I felt were weak in this game.  Those would be the Starlight Gala and New Year’s.  The Gala is underwhelming because of the graphic they used for the sky…  It’s not good, in fact you can’t really see any STARS in it, which hurts the whole point of showing the sky.  New Years is ok for what it is, but when some games in the series past showed the first sunrise of the new year, well it’s not quite as memorable without it.

Presentation:

Overall the game is decent to look at, it has a simple art style with lovely character portraits.  The User Interface is clean and the font looks great even on the 3DS XL.  Framerate is solid, even if where crops can be planted run at a lower FPS than the rest of the game, it’s never bothered me, but I can understand why it does bother some.  The 3D effect works ok, and on occasion I turn it on, but considering the camera angle the game is at, having the 3D on doesn’t really do much usually.

On the audio front, I think it’s about time Marvelous got a different set of UI sounds, they’re the same ones from A Wonderful Life and it’s starting to get old.  The music is hit or miss in my opinion. Most of it sounds ok, but it’s a lot of really short loops, spring is easy to find the looping point.  My personal favorite is the winter theme.  At least the season themes have a nighttime variant, it’s a nice touch.  Some of the festival music seems to be a remix from a song in Back to Nature.

Final Thoughts:

Overall I feel Story of Seasons is a strong game.  It takes the deep crafting system of A New Beginning and adds to it.  The new cast of characters is a great bunch, the new setting is nice and it plays well.  I’m excited to see what Marvelous and XSEED do with the next installment.  The Farm Story series is on a great path with these changes.  Now maybe they can make one that fully takes use of the New 3DS, and make a fully 3d, not top-down game that incorporates bits and pieces of every title into an even more wonderful experience.

Based on my first year in the game, it’s one of the best titles to come out for the series in recent years, and should be looked at by anyone who’s been a fan of this series for any length of time.  Story of Seasons is very much a story worth experiencing.

Here is the personal retrospective I previously mentioned. 

I recently picked up the newest entry in Marvelous's beloved Bokujou Monogatari series, which due to various levels of corporate shenanigans lost its localized branding of Harvest Moon in favor of the moniker Story of Seasons. Due to this confusion, a friend of mine accidentally picked up the newest entry in Natsume's knock-off series Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley thinking that it was the sequel to A New Beginning. I feel very sorry for him.

In a farming RPG like this franchise, which is heavily based in daily grinding for rewards over time, I do not like to feel frustrated. This is not to say I do not like the formula of the game: the daily watering of crops, brushing of cows and offering of random things you found on the ground to the townsfolk in hopes of earning their favour or unlocking new recipes are all part of slow but rewarding processes of building your small-town empire.

However, many entries in the past of this series have been marred by lengthy tutorial cutscenes, annoying animations, difficult RNG for simple tasks, and guide-dang-it hidden values that are nearly impossible to track without meticulous pen-and-paper bookkeeping. I do not like these things. In some circles these may be considered 'part of the challenge', but generally to me they are just annoying and force you to slog through mechanics that are uninteresting.

Story of Seasons owes many of its good ideas to its predecessor, and many of its character models as well. 

Prior to A New Beginning, my favorite entry into the series was GameCube's Magical Melody. The game had an easy-to-navigate town, a LARGE cast of characters (10 bachelors and 10 bachelorettes!), tons of optional goals in the musical note acheivements, and the world was modular enough to suit my needs for control over my farm without being cumbersome. There were many things in this game that gave me a headache (mining was an enourmous part of this game, and lengthy animations slowed gameplay to a halt at times). I have played several titles since then, but been turned off by weird camera angles, boring world design, and uninteresting bachelor/ettes, or absolutely ridiculous mechanics (sun and water points from Sunshine Islands, anyone?)

A New Beginning instigated many good things. The near-abolishing of the mine and the implementation of the character customization system were some of these things. Story of Seasons owes many of its good ideas to its predecessor, and many of its character models as well. However, there were many things in A New Beginning did that were downright annoying that Story of Seasons sought out to fix.

1. Limited marriage candidates.

I struggle with this one a little bit, because the two titles offer the same amount of marriage candidates, which I think is too few. However, I appreciate that the reason for the shrinking of the cast is because they have put more thought into the storyline for each character. Playing as a male character, I think that there are good options for either game, but the female options are vastly improved in SoS. ANB's candidates were all very similar to each other, but there is more of a variety in SoS. Overall, I was a lot happier with the options. (that said, its a bummer you can no longer marry the witch).

2. The gradual 'trickling' of important villagers into the town.

Story of Seasons starts you off in a town that's already built up enough to be workable, and replaces the modular system with a series of plazas you can unlock customization rights to.

I understand that part of this series has always been about building up a quiet small town into an economical powerhouse, but ANB was just ridiculous. Nearly all of the villagers had up and left the town, and it was up to you to get back what I would consider essential characters. I understand the gradual unlocking of characters keeps the game interesting, but ANB was just too much. Also, the entire system had several flaws- many items required to advance the story were seasonal and difficult to predict you would need in the future, so you ended up needing to either look up what you would need to advance the story or just hoard everything. It was difficult to find room to place the buildings in town, often requiring days of cutting town rampant trees that seem to self-plant and regrow in less than a week and carefully squishing buildings as close as possible to have enough room. It was absolute madness!

Story of Seasons starts you off in a town that's already built up enough to be workable, and replaces the modular system with a series of plazas you can unlock customization rights to. This keeps the spirit of ANB's editing system- allowing you control over what the town looks like- without all the headaches of trying to find space to put someone's house just to unlock them. It is an incredible improvement and I think its the most important one on this list.

3. Wonky crop & fertilizer system.

ANB eschewed tradition and adopted a 2x4 field system. One bag of seed yielded 4 plants in a 2x2 pattern, and large crops such as trees would take up the entire 2x2 area. I found this to be a weird system, although it was workable. What made this worse was that after planting, each crop was considered to be its own entity, requiring separate watering and fertizilizing. In addition, fields were crafted with soil and placed in Edit Mode instead of being directly tilled from the ground, allowing you to shuffle your crops around even while they were still growing in the earth, something I found to be useful but in the end story-breaking.

Harvesting crops is easier too.

In Story of Seasons, each field is a 3x3 area, tilled directly into the earth and treated as one entity. Watering and fertilizing the field effects all 9 plants. This allows you to manage much more crops than in the past. On top of that, fertilizer in ANB was expensive, and sucked up most of my early-game money. Fertilizer in SoS can still add up, but the cost is much more managable for a few fields. Harvesting crops is easier too- instead of picking each crop individually, you harvest the whole field into a box that you can pick up at your leisure (useful for managing limited rucksack space!)

4.  Increasing animal productivity.

In the past there were ways to improve the quality of your animal goods, usually just by increasing friendship with the animal. In A New Beginning, this would net you quality points in the form of star rank, but that alone could never get you to the best quality of goods. They would need to spend a 50 hours in the Animal Sanctuary in order to attain 'Great' rank, and there was not much else to do other than care for your animals. This ended up being really boring for a lot of players.

I no longer find the treat-feeding process a  cumbersome chore!

Unfortunately, this wasn't really changed in SoS. In order to get '+' quality products you need to spend a lot of time in the Safari Park. The only improvement is that the Safari Park contains the mine, a lot of foragable goods and unique animals, so its worth visiting even without your animals, but its still pretty boring to wait for your animal to stand around for weeks on end in your free-time whenever you buy a new one.

The major improvement to this system is the volume-increasing one. This was an absolutely infuriating part of ANB. It required me to keep detailed records of every time I fed my animal a treat, and what kind I fed it. I had no way of knowing what progress I had made if I took a break from playing the game and couldn't find my notebook, and it made casually playing the game in bed impossible. Luckily SoS streamlined this system, adding a 'Treat' bar to their information window and no longer requiring that a certain ratio of 'normal' and specialized treats be fed to the animals, as well as adding a Treat Bin to the barns and coops. I no longer find the treat-feeding process a  cumbersome chore!

5. Goodbye, shipping boxes!

As far as I know, the Harvest Moon game Grand Bazaar attempted to do what Story of Seasons did with its merchant system and failed at it, but I never played Grand Bazaar because of its very poor reviews. In that regard, I will not laud Story of Seasons for being the first to abolish the shipping-box system, but I will talk about how well it works.

The idea that I have a wooden box in front of my house that I can fill with any amount of fragile and perishable farm goods... was silly at best. 

Shipping bins are the farthest stretch of my suspension of disbelief that Harvest Moon has ever asked me to endure, even more than the Breadfruit days of yore. The idea that I have a wooden box in front of my house that I can fill with any amount of fragile and perishable farm goods thrown haphazardly inside, and that someone will want to pay me for them and will whisk it all away as I sleep, was silly at best. However, they have been a mainstay of the series simply because it streamlined the process of selling your farm goods.

Story of Seasons implements a trading hub, where merchants from foreign countries will set up shop and sell goods from their homeland, and buy your goods to take back to their home country. At the beginning of the game this can be challenging because you will be lucky to see a merchant twice a week, but as you progress the system gets much more interesting. This also effectively replaces the "travel agency" system from ANB, which existed in order to allow the character access to goods from foreign countries. In SoS, the merchants bring the items to you, cutting out the airplane ride. Another thing I like about SoS is that all merchants- including the local ones- have a limited stock of items, which also makes more sense than allowing me to buy 99 bags of turnips at a time (and another layer of tasty challenge managing your resources). The merchants will only come a few times a week, but they are not affected by random effects such as weather, and it appears that the game tries to schedule the appearance dates around festivals as much as reasonably possible.

Overall, Story of Seasons is a streamlined game with a lot of interesting challenges. I didn't cover all of the good aspects of the game, but these are the ones that stood out to me after being frustrated at A New Beginning.

What were your favorite (and not-so-favorite) parts of these games? Leave your comments below!

Kamil- Florist

He unlocks in Spring of year 2 by having at least 3 trade depot vendors and going to the Trade Depot on any sunny day.

Personality

\n
• Spends time wandering the wild areas and Georgio's farm
\n
• Tends to be a loner
\n
• Always on the lookout for new flowers
\n

\n
• Birthday - Fall 1
\n
• Liked animals - Cats
\n
• Favorite Wrapping Paper - Blue and White
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1,000 FP) - Tom Yun Goong. You get this recipe from Recipe Set #3.

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• Tea recipes
\n
• High quality blue fabric
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP)

\n
• Herbs
\n
• Flowers
\n
• Normal blue yarn and cloth
\n
• Fireflies
\n
• Tea leaves
\n
• Curry rice, salad, and powder
\n
• Herb soup, salad, and pie
\n
• Gold Araucana and Silkie eggs
\n
• White jewelry
\n
• Shrimp Chili
\n
• Fruit wine
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Fruit shakes, juices, and jams
\n
• All insects except fireflies
\n
• Animal food and treats
\n
• Snack recipes
\n
• Fish bait
\n
• Milk recipes
\n
• Baked yam
\n
• Poison mushroom
\n
• Carrot soup
\n
• Lumber
\n
• Weeds
\n
• Rocks
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Fruit punch
\n
• Desserts
\n
• Junk from diving
\n
• Sea shells
\n
• Dried poison mushroom
\n

Worst gift (-800 FP) - Chocolate cake - Recipe.

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Kamil
\n
• Go to inn room 204 from 22:00 - 23:30 on any sunny day, except festival days
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Purple

\n
• 10,000 FP or more with Kamil
\n
• Have seen Kamil's White flower event
\n
• Leave town from 9:00 - 11:00 on a sunny Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
\n
• 1.a. - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• 1.b. - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• 40,000 FP or more with Kamil
\n
• Have seen Kamil's Purple flower event and given him the commitment ring
\n
• Go to the Piedmont from 9:00 - 10:30 on a sunny  Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 4 - Takes away 3,000 FP
\n

Pink

\n
• 50,000 FP or more with Kamil
\n
• 10,000 FP or more with Melanie and Lilie
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events
\n
• Go to the inn from 6:00 - 10:00 on a sunny Sunday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 3,000 FP
\n

Nadi - Landscaper

He unlocks in Winter of year 1 by going to Elise's farm from 8:00 - 11:30 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday

Personality

\n
• Spends time working at Elise's farm and restaurant
\n
• Does not use flowery language
\n
• Works hard
\n

\n
• Birthday - Summer 31
\n
• Favorite animals - Rabbits, Penguins, Weasels, and Lemurs
\n
• Liked animals - Chickens, Dogs, Sparrows, Angora Rabbits, Spoonbills, Monkeys, and Foxes
\n
• Favorite Wrapping Paper - Green and Black
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1,000 FP) - Green Juice. You get this recipe from Suzanne the traveling salesperson.

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• Bouillabaisse
\n
• Angler's Dream Potion
\n
• High level fish recipes
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP)

\n
• Fish, Fish feed, and bait
\n
• Dry Curry, Curry Rice, and Spicy Curry
\n
• Drink recipes, except tea
\n
• Fish recipes
\n
• Omelette
\n
• Rice
\n
• Black cloth+ and yarn
\n
• Cactus
\n
• Green jewelry
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Crops and Crop recipes
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Golden Crops
\n
• Mixed salad
\n
• Tomato salad
\n
• Coleslaw
\n

Worst gift (-800 FP) - Summer salad - Recipe.

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Nadi
\n
• 1,000 FP or more with Melanie
\n
• Go to the inn from 19:30 - 21:30 on any sunny day, but Sunday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP to Nadi and 500 FP to Melanie
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP from Nadi
\n

Purple

\n
• Purple flower friendship level or higher with Nadi (10,000 FP or more)
\n
• 1,000 FP or more with Fritz and Iris
\n
• Have seen Nadi's White flower event
\n
• Walk from the River area to the Bridge area from 8:00 - 11:30 on a sunny Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• Yellow flower friendship level or higher with Nadi (40,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen Nadi's Purple flower event and given him the commitment ring
\n
• Go to inn room 201 from 19:30 - 21:30 on a sunny Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Pink

\n
• Pink flower friendship level or higher with Nadi (50,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events
\n
• Go to western area of town from 12:00 - 15:00 on a sunny Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,500 FP
\n
\n
• 1.a. - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n
• 1.b. - Gives 1,500 GP
\n
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n

Mistel - Antique Shopkeeper

Personality

\n
• Spends time working at the Antique shop and leaves town on Thursdays
\n
• Calm and independent
\n
• Tries to break away from Iris' overprotective nature 
\n

\n
• Birthday - Fall 11
\n
• Liked animals - Cats
\n
• Favorite Wrapping Paper - Purple and White
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1,000 FP) - Penne Arrabiatta. You get this from the Rose Country vendor.

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• White Pearl
\n
• Beautiful Large Jar
\n
• Pointing Farmer Figurine
\n
• High Quality animal products
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP)

\n
• Butterflies
\n
• Tree fruit
\n
• Glazed pottery
\n
• Pasta recipes, except sweet potato
\n
• White jewelry and flowers
\n
• Seasonal tea
\n
• Cheese
\n
• Milk
\n
• Mayonnaise
\n
• Fruit drinks, jams, and desserts
\n
• Watermelon, pineapple, and melon
\n
• Gold Araucana and Silkie Eggs
\n
• Gems
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Vegetables
\n
• Frogs
\n
• Cicadas
\n
• Fish, fish feed, and bait
\n
• Spicy Curry, Curry Rice, and salad
\n
• Chocolate Juice and Iced Cocoa
\n
• Herb salad
\n
• Milk tea
\n
• Fertilizer
\n
• Scrap ore
\n
• Plum
\n
• Rocks
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Fruit wine
\n
• Carrot, Carrot seeds, and juice
\n
• Boiled Broccoli and Broccoli Saute
\n
• Vegetable Saute
\n

Worst gift (-800 FP) - Carrot Soup - Recipe.

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Mistel
\n
• Go to the Antique Shop from 11:00 - 14:00 on any sunny Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Purple

\n
• Purple flower friendship level or higher with Mistel (10,000 FP or more)
\n
• 1,000 FP or more with Fritz and Iris
\n
• Have seen Mistel's White flower event
\n
• Walk to town from 11:00 - 14:00 on a sunny Wednesday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• Yellow flower friendship level or higher with Mistel (40,000 FP or more)
\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Raeger
\n
• Have seen Mistel's Purple flower event and given him the commitment ring
\n
• Walk from your farm to the Forest Path from 11:00 - 14:00 on a sunny Monday, Tuesday, Friday, or Saturday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n

Pink

\n
• Pink flower friendship level or higher with Mistel (50,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events
\n
• Go to the Antique Shop 11:00 - 14:00 on a sunny Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
\n
• 2.a. - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• 2.b. - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
\n

Raeger - Chef

Personality

\n
• Spends time working at the restaurant every day but Wednesday
\n
• Loves to find new recipes and sharing them with people
\n

\n
• Birthday - Summer 9
\n
• Liked animals - Parrots, Lemurs, and Long-haired cats
\n
• Favorite Wrapping Paper - Red and Yellow
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1,000 FP) - Sea Urchin Bowl. You get this from Recipe Set #12 from winning competitions.

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• Yellow Pearl
\n
• Seaweed
\n
• Yellow yarn+ and cloth+
\n
• Yellow Downy tuft
\n
• Glazed Black Platter
\n
• Zebu Green cheese+
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP)

\n
• Sea Urchin
\n
• Tea leaves
\n
• Spices
\n
• Yellow flowers
\n
• Coffee pack
\n
• Red and Yellow cloth and yarn
\n
• Ruby
\n
• Agate
\n
• Pink Diamonds
\n
• Turnip Salad
\n
• Boiled Spinach
\n
• Squid Rice
\n
• Yam Rice
\n
• Cucumber Namul
\n
• Grilled Fish and Fish Ice Cream
\n
• Soy Milk recipes
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Foraged items
\n
• Plain animal wool
\n
• Pumpkin recipes
\n
• Fish feed and bait
\n
• Wine
\n
• Milk, Milk Rice, and Milk Stew
\n
• Lumber
\n
• Old tools
\n
• Fertilizer
\n
• Soil
\n
• Dried poison mushroom
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Poisonous Mushroom
\n

Worst gift (-800 FP) - Mango Wine - Recipe.

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Raeger
\n
• Go to the Restaurant from 14:00 - 17:00 on any sunny day except Sunday or Wednesday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n

Purple

\n
• Purple flower friendship level or higher with Raeger (10,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen Raeger's White flower event
\n
• Go to the restaurant from 18:00 - 21:00 on any sunny day except Sunday or Wednesday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n

After work is done.

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,500 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 500 FP
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• Yellow flower friendship level or higher with Raeger (40,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen Raeger's Purple flower event and given him the commitment ring
\n
• Go to the restaurant from 19:00 - 23:00 on a sunny Wednesday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - No change 
\n
\n
• 2.a. - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n
• 2.b. - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
\n

Pink

\n
• Pink flower friendship level or higher with Raeger (50,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events
\n
• Go to the restaurant from 11:00 - 21:00 on any sunny day, but Wednesday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - No change
\n
\n
• 2.a. - Takes away 1,500 FP
\n
• 2.b. - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 500 FP
\n

Klaus - Perfumist

Personality

\n
• Spends time working on perfume in his house
\n
• Researches new ways to use perfume and does not sell it
\n
• Very formal
\n

\n
• Birthday - Spring 24
\n
• Favorite animals - Dogs and Foxes
\n
• Favorite Wrapping Paper - Black and Blue
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1,000 FP) - Bouillabaisse. You get this from Rose Country starting in Winter.

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• Most fruit wines except Lemon wine
\n
• Black cloth+ and black yarn+
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP)

\n
• Lemon wine
\n
• Tea drinks and tea leaves
\n
• Juices
\n
• Flower bouquets and blue flowers
\n
• Cheese
\n
• Purple jewelry
\n
• Perfume
\n
• Fruit Syrup
\n
• Gems
\n
• Mac and Cheese
\n
• Stew
\n
• Dried Golden crops
\n
• Animal wool
\n
• Tomato Risotto
\n
• Cabbage Roll
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Foraged items
\n
• Junk
\n
• Shakes, smoothies, and snack recipes
\n
• Herbs, herb butter, and herb cheese
\n
• Animal food and treats
\n
• Fish feed and bait
\n
• Soil
\n
• Milk
\n
• Lumber
\n
• Spices
\n
• Honey
\n
• Fertilizer
\n
• Curry powder
\n
• Jam
\n
• Dried poison mushroom
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Poisonous Mushroom
\n
• Pepper
\n
• Chili Pepper seeds
\n
• Squid stir fry
\n
• Kimchi
\n
• Grass Juice
\n
• Spicy Curry
\n

Worst gift (-800 FP) - Tom Yun Goong - Recipe.

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Klaus
\n
• Go to Klaus' house from 19:20 - 21:00 on any sunny day
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 800 FP
\n

Purple

\n
• Purple flower friendship level or higher with Klaus (10,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen Klaus' White flower event
\n
• Go to Klaus' house from 8:00 - 12:00 on a sunny Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 500 FP
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

After work is done.

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,500 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 500 FP
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• Yellow flower friendship level or higher with Klaus (40,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen Klaus' Purple flower event and given him the commitment ring
\n
• Walk from your farm to the Forest path from 14:00 - 17:00 on a sunny Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday.
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 1,000 FP 
\n

Pink

\n
• Pink flower friendship level or higher with Klaus (50,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events
\n
• Go to the Antique Shop from 12:00 - 15:00 on a sunny Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 4,000 FP
\n

Fritz - Energetic Farmer

Personality

\n
• Spends time on his farm or in town
\n
• Not great at farming but tries his best
\n
• Will encourage you to do better 
\n
• Optimistic and works hard at improving
\n

\n
• Birthday - Spring 8
\n
• Favorite animals - Dogs and Weasels
\n
• Favorite Wrapping Paper - Orange and Green
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1,000 FP) - High Quality Crab Soup. You get this from Recipe Set #4 for winning a competition. You must have Recipe Sets 1-3 first.

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• High Quality Rabbit, Camel, Angora Goat, and Sheep fur
\n
• Gold Silkie Egg
\n
• High Quality Jersey and Zebu milk
\n
• Pink Diamond
\n
• Mystic tools
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP)

\n
• Insect
\n
• Fish
\n
• Snack or Drink recipes
\n
• Green Downy tuft
\n
• Green cloth
\n
• Golden crops
\n
• Fermented items
\n
• Yellow Rabbit cloth
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Foraged items
\n
• Pottery
\n
• Bottles
\n
• Wild herbs
\n
• Flowers and flower seeds
\n
• Lumber
\n
• Wine
\n
• Dried crops
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Poisonous Mushroom
\n
• Spicy Curry
\n
• Pet Leash
\n

Worst gift (-800 FP) - Fish bone.

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Fritz
\n
• Walk from east to west of town in the northern area from 11:00 - 14:00 on a sunny Wednesday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,500 FP
\n
\n
• 1.a - Gives 1,500 FP
\n
• 1.b. - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
\n
• Choice 2 - No change in FP
\n

Purple

\n
• Purple flower friendship level or higher with Fritz (10,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen Fritz's White flower event
\n
• Go to Fritz's house from 11:00 - 14:00 on a sunny Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,500 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• Yellow flower friendship level or higher with Fritz (40,000 FP or more)
\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Raeger
\n
• Have seen Fritz's Purple flower event and given him the commitment ring
\n
• Go to the second floor of the Restaurant from 19:00 - 23:00 on a sunny Wednesday.
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP from Fritz and 300 FP from Raeger
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 1,000 FP to Fritz and 300 FP to Raeger
\n
\n
• 2.a. - Gives 1,000 FP to Fritz
\n
• 2.b. - Takes away 1,000 FP from Fritz
\n
• 2.c. - Takes away 2,000 FP from Fritz
\n
\n
• Choice 3 - Gives 1,000 FP to Fritz
\n

Pink

\n
• Pink flower friendship level or higher with Fritz (50,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events
\n
• Go to the General Store from 6:00 - 9:00 on any sunny day, but Sunday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n

There are several men you can choose to marry in Story of Seasons, each with their own personalities. You could give someone their favorite gift, but that same gift could be a terrible one for someone else.

Birthdays, favorite animals, outfits, and accessories are just some of the things you'll want to know to get closer to your chosen partner. I'll help you by going over all of this for every bachelor in Story of Seasons.

If you want info on how to get married, check out my How to Get Married guide. You can check out my Bachelorette Guide if you're looking for the women. Also, check my Beginner's Guide for any other help with the game.

This guide will cover each bachelor in Story of Seasons including:

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• Personality Description - Things they like to do and where they like to go.
\n
• Gifts - Each person's likes and dislikes.
\n
• Birthday and More - Each person's birthday and other helpful info about them.
\n
• Flower Events - Requirements for all 4 flower events for each person.
\n

The main feature in Story of Seasons is growing crops. Most crops can only grow in certain seasons, though.

They also take different amounts of time to grow and sell for different prices. It is hard to keep up with everything and it would be nice to have one reference guide to display all this information.

That's what this guide is for, showing all the info you need for each crop in the game. I hope to make figuring out which crops to plant, easier for you. For help with anything else related to this game, please visit my Beginner's Guide.

This guide will go over every crop in Story of Seasons including:

• Season - 5 tables that separate the crops by the season you can grow them in.
• Name and Type - The name and type of each crop.
• Seed Price - How much the seeds cost and how to get them.
• Growth Days - How long each crop takes to grow.
• Selling Price - How much each crop sells for at each star level.

Click the links below to jump to each section:

• Spring
• Summer
• Fall
• Winter
• All Year

Story of Seasons has a Trade Depot that lets you ship your items to other countries. This is also the only way to sell anything and get money. You start with the Silk Country vendor, but there are several more you can unlock.

You must fulfill certain shipping requirements to unlock the rest of them and some of them could take forever if you don't know what you need. I'm going to help you there by listing each vendor and how to unlock them.

Check out my Beginner's guide for more help and general info/guides on the game.

This guide will go over unlocking all the trade vendors in Story of Seasons including:

• Trade Vendors - Brief description of what they are.
• Unlock requirements - What is needed to unlock them.
• Important Products - Some important items each vendor sells.

Trade Vendors

Trade vendors are the only way for you to make money. Anything you have, can be shipped through a vendor at the Trade Depot. Different Vendors also sell different things and some of these are only available from certain vendors.

There are also recommended shipping items that change for each vendor. These items will sell for more money for as long as they stay on the list. You can check the entrance booth at the trade depot for those items and how long they will sell for the higher price.

• Be sure to check your calendar often to see when vendors will arrive
• When vendors arrive at the trade depot, they will stay for 2 days
• It is good to try to plan your crops around the vendors
• Crops stay fresh for 3 days, so try to have them ready during their freshness period to increase the amount of money you get for each crop.

Finally, there are trade requests. Each vendor has multiple requests for shipments. Fulfilling these requests not only get you money, but extra rewards items. The items are listed on the request.

Silk Country

How to Unlock

• You unlock this automatically by going through the tutorial.

Important Items

• Refrigerator blueprint
• Coop blueprint
• Sewing Studio blueprint
• Seed Maker blueprint
• Pet House blueprint
• Hoe and Copper Hoe blueprint
• Watering Can and Copper Watering Can blueprints
• Pitchfork blueprint
• Basic Soup, Grilling, and Starch recipes

Cabin Country

How to Unlock

• Ship at least 100,000 G worth of items.
• Get to Summer 1 of year 1 or later.

Important Items

• Sheep
• Various animal treats
• Sickle blueprint
• Axe blueprint
• Hammer blueprint
• Milker blueprint
• Brush blueprint
• Pet Whistle blueprint
• Basic Snack Recipes

Sakura Country

How to Unlock

• Unlocked Cabin Country
• Ship at least 200,000 G worth of items. This is total and doesn't have to come from a specific vendor.
• Get to Fall 1 of year 1 or later

Important Items

• Pets
• Water Paddy Seeds

Wheat Country

How to Unlock

• Unlocked Sakura Country
• Ship at least 500,000 G worth of items.

Important Items

• Gems
• Higher level seeds and Animals

Rose Country

How to Unlock

• Unlocked Wheat Country
• Ship at least 1,000,000 G worth of items

Important Items

• Wine 
• Herbs 
• Cheese
• Flower Seeds

Tropical Country

How to Unlock

• Unlocked Rose Country
• Ship at least 3,000,000 G worth of items
• Ship a number of items depending on difficulty
• Normal - 500 seeds, 15,000 crops, 100 tools, 600 clothes, 15,000 cooked recipes, and 10,000 processed goods
• Seedling - 350 seeds, 10,500 crops, 70 tools, 420 clothes, 10,500 cooked recipes, and 7,000 processed goods

Important Items

• Various fruit tree seedlings
• Cocoa tree seedling
• Various Downy Tufts
• Orichalcum Hoe blueprint
• Orichalcum Watering Can blueprint
• Master Fishing Pole blueprint

Ice Country

How to Unlock 

• Unlocked Rose Country
• Ship at least 3,000,000 G worth of items
• Ship a number of items depending on difficulty
• Normal - 100 streets, 200 garden objects, 100 fences, 100 furniture, 200 decorations, and 100 flooring/wallpaper
• Seedling - 70 streets, 140 garden objects, 70 fences, 70 furniture, 140 decorations, and 70 flooring/wallpaper

Important Items

• Large amount of ice
• Orichcalcum
• Mythic Tools

That wraps up my guide on unlocking trade vendors. Let me know if you have any questions. For more help with Story of Seasons, please visit my Beginner's Guide.

Licorice - Botanist

Personality

\n
• Loves nature and plants,
\n
• Believes plants respond to how humans treat them and often talks to plants.
\n
• Spends most of her time wandering wild areas and interacting with plants.
\n

\n
• Birthday - Fall 27
\n
• Favorite animals - Cats and Foxes
\n
• Favorite wrapping paper - Blue and Green
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1000 FP) - Soybean Salad. You can get the recipe from Raeger after eating the recipe 59 times at the restaurant.

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• Herb Soup
\n
• Boiled Spinach
\n
• Boiled Potato
\n
• Vinegar Salad
\n
• Mixed Salad
\n
• Burdock Root Salad and Soup
\n
• Baked Pumpkin
\n
• Soybean Hamburger
\n
• Chopped Lotus Root
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP) 

\n
• Flowers
\n
• Tea Drinks made in your kitchen
\n
• Carrot, Aloe, and Tomato Juice
\n
• Elli Leaves
\n
• Green jewelry
\n
• Gold crop seeds
\n
• Herb, Radish, and Tomato Salad
\n
• Onion Soup and Sliced Onion
\n
• Mashed Potato
\n
• Soy Milk
\n
• Snowball
\n
• Normal Mushroom
\n
• Peaches and Cherries
\n
• Bamboo Shoots
\n
• Flower Bouquets
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Gems and Ores
\n
• Wild materials
\n
• Fish and Fish based recipes
\n
• Frogs
\n
• Wasabi
\n
• Animal food and treats
\n
• Milk Rice and Stew
\n
• Wine
\n
• Lumber
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Fish food and bones
\n
• Seafood Rice Bowl
\n
• Chirashi Sushi
\n
• Sea Urchin
\n
• Venus Comb
\n
• Giant Fish
\n

Worst Gift (-800 FP) - Giant Snakehead

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Licorice
\n
• Walk from Rice paddy to Bridge area from 7:30 - 10:00 on a sunny Monday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Purple

\n
• 10,000 FP or more with Licorice
\n
• Have seen Licorice's White flower event
\n
• Walk from Rice paddy to Bridge area from 7:30 - 10:00 on a sunny Monday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• 40,000 FP or more with Licorice
\n
• Have seen the first two events and given her the commitment ring
\n
• Go to inn room 202 from 6:00 - 10:00 on a sunny Sunday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
\n
• 1.a. - Gives 500 FP
\n
• 1.b. Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• 1.c. Takes away 2,000 FP
\n
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n

Pink

\n
• 50,000 FP or more with Licorice
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events for Licorice
\n
• Walk from river area to mountain area from 7:30 - 10:00 on a sunny Monday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 3,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n

Elise - Rich Farmer

Personality

\n
• Even though she's a farmer, she doesn't like doing much farming and has her servants do most of the work.
\n
• Very bold and has a superiority complex, but you can soften her mood.
\n
• Spends most of her time ordering her workers at her mansion.
\n

\n
• Birthday - Winter 22
\n
• Liked animals - Dogs, cats, and Angora rabbits
\n
• Favorite wrapping paper - Gold, Pink, or Red
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1000 FP) - Chocolate Fondue. You can get the recipe from Recipe Set 16 from winning a festival. Must enter a dessert category cooking festival at least once.

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• Chocolate Cookies and Ice Cream
\n
• High Quality Zebu Milk
\n
• Cream Puff
\n
• Punk diamond
\n
• Almond Pudding
\n
• Mango Cake and ice Cream
\n
• Gold Watermelon
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP) 

\n
• Bread
\n
• Tea Tree Leaves
\n
• Dessert Recipes except vegetable ones
\n
• Gold Araucana and Silkie Eggs
\n
• Drink recipes except Grass
\n
• Pineapple, Watermelon, and Melon
\n
• Pink and Red Flowers
\n
• Gems
\n
• Tree fruit
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Foraged Items
\n
• Insects
\n
• Crops other than the ones listed above 
\n
• Wine
\n
• Fish and fish recipes
\n
• Soup and Salad recipes
\n
• Old Tools
\n
• Lumber
\n
• Cooking Ingredients
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Spinach, Carrot, and Tomato soup
\n
• Mixed Salad
\n
• Small Rock and Lumber
\n
• Large Eels, Catfish, Snakehead, and Octopus
\n
• Weeds
\n
• Snowball
\n
• Bouillabaisse
\n
• Seafood rice
\n

Worst Gift (-800 FP) - Tuna Steak recipe

Flower Event Requirements

Elise is special because you have to see all 5 of her rival events before you can start seeing her flower events. 

Rival Farm Events

Farm Inspection 1

\n
• 3,000 or more FP with Elise
\n
• 500 or more reputation points with Elise
\n
• Walk out of your house any sunny day but Sunday
\n

After she leaves take a vegetable with you to her mansion.

\n
• 5-star vegetable - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
• 2 and a half to 4 and a half stars - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• 2 or fewer stars - Takes away 500 FP
\n

Farm Inspection 2

\n
• 3,000 or more FP with Elise
\n
• 1,000 or more reputation points with Elise
\n
• Walk out of your house any sunny day but Sunday
\n
• Completed the Farm Inspection 1 with Elise
\n

After she leaves you need to bring Milk to her mansion any sunny day except Sunday from 6:00 - 10:00 or 16:00 - 21:00.

\n
• 5-star milk - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
• 2 and a half to 4 and a half stars - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• 2 or fewer stars - Takes away 500 FP
\n

Cow Birth

\n
• 4,000 or more FP with Elise
\n
• 1,500 or more reputation points with Elise
\n
• Walk to the Margot Farm area any sunny day that is not a festival from 9:00 - 11:00 or 14:00 - 17:00
\n
• Completed the Farm Inspection 2 with Elise
\n

Farm Inspection 3

\n
• 5,000 or more FP with Elise
\n
• 2,000 or more reputation points with Elise
\n
• Walk out of your house any sunny day but Sunday
\n
• Completed the Cow Birth event with Elise
\n

A Farmer's Heart

\n
• 20,000 FP or more with Elise
\n
• When you wake up on any day after Winter of year 2 or later
\n
• Completed the Farm Inspection 3 event with Elise
\n

Flower Events

Her flower events also happen at different times compared to the others. They happen at Blue, Green, and two and Pink.

Blue

\n
• 25,000 FP or more with Elise
\n
• Go to Elise's Library ( West room on 2nd Floor) from 15:20 - 17:00 on any rainy day.
\n
• Seen all 5 Rival events
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 500 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n

Green

\n
• Green flower friendship level or higher (30,000 FP or more with Elise)
\n
• Have seen Elise's Blue flower event
\n
• Go to her Dressing room (Eastern room on the 1st floor) from 16:00 - 18:00 on any sunny day except Sunday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes Away 1,000 FP
\n

After you come back into the room.

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 500 FP
\n

Pink 1

\n
• Pink flower or higher (50,000 FP or more with Elise)
\n
• Have Animal Medicine in your bag
\n
• Have seen the first two events and given her the commitment ring
\n
• Walk into Margot Farm area from 6:00 - 16:00 on any sunny day except Sunday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 3,000 FP
\n

Pink 2

\n
• 55,000 FP or more with Elise
\n
• Purple Flower or higher (10,000+ FP) with Iris
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events for Elise
\n
• Walk from east of town to the west of town in the northern area from 9:00 - 16:00 on a sunny day other than Sunday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n

Agate - Park Ranger

Personality

\n
• Loves wilderness and wild animals.
\n
• Spends time in wild areas.
\n
• Very friendly and loves to talk about animals. 
\n

\n
• Birthday - Summer 1
\n
• Favorite animals - Any
\n
• Favorite wrapping paper - Orange and Red
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1000 FP) - Cold Noodles. You can get the recipe from Susanne the traveling saleswoman. It is random whether she will show up or if she will have the recipe. 

Great Gifts (+500 FP) - Mystic Fish Bait. Craft it at the General Store by bringing Crab, Shrimp, Medium-sized fish, large-sized fish, and 2000 G.

\n
• Pink Diamond
\n
• High Quality Zebu Yogurt, Zebu Fruit Yogurt, Zebu Green Cheese, or Zebu Herb Cheese
\n
• High Quality Jersey Fruit Yogurt
\n
• High Quality Rabbit Cloth
\n
• High Quality Suffolk Cloth
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP) 

\n
• Fish Food
\n
• Pet Food
\n
• Rabbit Food
\n
• Chicken Food
\n
• Insects
\n
• Animal Treats
\n
• Fruit Pies and Fruit Jams
\n
• Squid and Giant Fish
\n
• Gold Crops
\n
• Glass Stone
\n
• Turnip salad
\n
• Normal Mushroom
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Tea Leaves and recipes using tea
\n
• Grapes
\n
• Wild materials
\n
• Junk 
\n
• Perfume
\n
• Soup recipes
\n
• Baked Yam and Baked Tomato
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Fish Recipes
\n
• Spicy Curry
\n
• Pumpkin Doria
\n
• Cheese fondue
\n

Worst Gift (-800 FP) - Tom Yun Goong recipe

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Agate
\n
• Walk out of your farm area from 9:30 - 12:00 on a sunny Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Purple

\n
• Purple flower friendship level or higher (10,000 FP or more with Agate)
\n
• Have seen Agate's White flower event
\n
• Walk into the field path area from 21:00 - 23:30 on a sunny Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• Yellow flower or higher (40,000 FP or more with Agate)
\n
• Have seen the first two events and given her the commitment ring
\n
• Go to her house from 22:30 - 23:30 on a sunny Saturday or Sunday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n

Pink

\n
• Pink flower or higher (50,000 FP or more with Agate)
\n
• Purple flower or higher with Lilie (10,000 FP or more)
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events for Agate
\n
• Walk from west of town to east of town from 10:00 - 13:00 on a sunny Saturday or Sunday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n

Iris - Novelist

Personality

\n
• Calm and Caring. She'll often worry about your well-being.
\n
• Spends a lot of time writing at her desk.
\n
• Good friends with Klaus
\n

\n
• Birthday - Fall 6
\n
• Favorite animals - Cats
\n
• Favorite wrapping paper - Black and Purple
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1000 FP) - Borscht. You can get the recipe from Silk Country trader starting in Fall. 

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• Pink Diamond
\n
• High Quality Zebu Fruit Yogurt, Zebu Green Cheese, Zebu Herb Cheese, or Zebu Herb Butter
\n
• High Quality Araucana Herb Mayo
\n
• High Quality Rabbit Cloth
\n
• High Quality Purple Suffolk Cloth
\n
• High Quality Alpaca Yarns
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP) 

\n
• Tea Leaves and Tea Drink recipes
\n
• Coffee Pack
\n
• Fireflies
\n
• Tomato Salad
\n
• Herb Salad, Herb Jam, and Herb Soup
\n
• Amethyst and purple items
\n
• Bergamot
\n
• Bay Leaf
\n
• Gold Crops
\n
• Sandrose
\n
• Flower Bouquets
\n
• Tree Fruit and Fruit Pies
\n
• Stew
\n
• Vegetable Bread
\n
• High Quality Jersey Herb Cheese or Butter
\n
• Perfume
\n
• High Quality Silkie Herb Mayo
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Insects and fish
\n
• Animal food and treats
\n
• Wild materials
\n
• Soil
\n
• Mushrooms and mushroom recipes
\n
• Boiled Vegetable recipes
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Empty Can
\n
• Beetles
\n
• Giant Fish
\n
• Fish Bones
\n
• Poison Mushroom
\n
• Fish food and bait
\n

Worst Gift (-800 FP) - Roasted Mushroom recipe

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Iris
\n
• Go to 2nd Floor of Antique Shop from 12:00 - 15:00 on any day but Wednesday.
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
\n
• Choice 2.a. - Gives 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2.b. - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
\n
• Choice 3 - Gives 500 FP
\n

Purple

\n
• Purple flower friendship level or higher (10,000 FP or more with Iris)
\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Mistel
\n
• Have seen Iris' White flower event
\n
• Walk into the Antique Shop from 21:00 - 23:00 on a sunny day other than Wednesday
\n
• Have not talked to Iris that day
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP to Iris
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP from Iris and 500 from Mistel
\n

After going upstairs

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 500 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• Yellow flower or higher (40,000 FP or more with Iris)
\n
• Have seen the first two events and given her the commitment ring
\n
• Go to town restaurant from 11:00 - 14:00 on a sunny non-Wednesday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Pink

\n
• Pink flower or higher (50,000 FP or more with Iris)
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events for Iris
\n
• Go to 2nd Floor of Antique Shop from 12:00 - 15:00 on a sunny Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Saturday
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n

Angela - Nurse

Personality

\n
• Caring and worries about her mother's health
\n
• Keep a strict schedule and works a lot
\n
• Tries to keep Marian on task
\n

\n
• Birthday - Winter 2
\n
• Favorite animals - Dogs, Cats, and Lemurs
\n
• Favorite wrapping paper - Blue or White
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1000 FP) - Fall Herb Tea. You can get the recipe from Susanne the traveling saleswoman. 

Great Gifts (+500 FP) 

\n
• Summer, Spring, and Fall Tea Leaves
\n
• All tea drink recipes
\n

Good Gifts (+300 FP) 

\n
• All grown crops
\n
• Gold Crops
\n
• All tree fruit
\n
• All herbs
\n
• Tomato Salad
\n
• Walnut Bread
\n
• White items
\n

Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

\n
• Wine
\n
• Junk 
\n
• Rocks
\n
• Giant Fish
\n
• Aloe, Carrot, and Chocolate Juice
\n
• Honey Shake
\n
• Lassie
\n
• Giant fish and giant fish recipes
\n

Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

\n
• Poison Mushroom
\n
• Grass Juice
\n

Worst Gift (-800 FP) - Spicy Curry recipe

Flower Event Requirements

White

\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Angela
\n
• Go to the 2nd floor of the Guild Hall from 19:00 - 23:00 on any day and weather.
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Purple

\n
• Purple flower friendship level or higher (10,000 FP or more with Angela)
\n
• Have seen Angela's White flower event
\n
• Walk from east tow est of town in the northern area from 11:00 - 14:00 on a sunny Sunday.
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 500 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 2,000 FP
\n
• Choice 3 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n

Yellow

\n
• Yellow flower or higher (40,000 FP or more with Angela)
\n
• Have seen the first two events and given her the commitment ring
\n
• Go to 2nd Floor of Guild Hall from 19:00 - 23:00 on a sunny day. (Any day, but Sunday)
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n

Pink

\n
• Pink flower or higher (50,000 FP or more with Angela)
\n
• 10,000 FP or more with Veronica
\n
• 5,000 FP or more with Marian
\n
• Have seen the first 3 flower events for Angela
\n
• Go to guild hall Clinic from 7:30 - 12:00 on a sunny day. (Not Sunday)
\n

Choices

\n
• Choice 1 - Gives 3,000 FP
\n
• Choice 2 - Takes away 2,000 FP
\n

Lilie - Meteorologist 

Personality

\n
• Spends weekdays doing the weather on TV until 17:00.
\n
• She loves the weather and watching the sky and clouds.
\n
• Wants to be a good big sister.
\n
• Loves to help other people.
\n

\n
• Birthday - Summer 6
\n
• Favorite animals - Any except Weasel
\n
• Favorite wrapping paper - Red and Yellow
\n

Gifts

Favorite (+1000 FP) - Chocolate Ice cream. You can get the recipe from Silk Country starting in summer.

Great Gifts (+500 FP)

\n
• Chocolate recipes
\n
• High Quality Zebu Fruit Yogurt and Zebu Milk
\n
• High Quality Fruit Yogurt
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• High Quality Jersey Fruit Yogurt and Jersey Milk
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• Any High Quality Red Cloths
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Good Gifts (+300 FP) 

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• Flowers
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• Tea Leaves
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• Fish
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• Milk
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• Butterflies, Fireflies, and Dragonflies
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• Red Cloth and Red Jewelry
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• Juices, Tea drinks, and Shakes
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• Any Ice cream but Pumpkin
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• Any Cake but Vegetable
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• Pudding and Soy Milk Pudding
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• Honey
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• Amethyst
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• Flower Seeds and Bouquets
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• Tree fruit
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Bad Gifts (-300 FP)

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• Foraged Items
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• Ores and gems not listed above
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• Tomatoes, Pumpkins, Carrots, and Sweet Potatoes
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• Junk 
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• Wine
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• Fish food
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• Chestnut Rice
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• Mixed and Milky Salad
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• Corn Salad
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• Boiled and Baked Corn
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• Vegetable Bread
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Terrible Gifts (-500 FP)

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• Most Pumpkin, Carrot, and Tomato recipes
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Worst Gift (-800 FP) - Grilled Pumpkin recipe

Flower Event Requirements

White

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• 5,000 FP or more with Lilie
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• Walk to Town from 10:00 - 17:00 on a sunny Saturday or Sunday
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Choices

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• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP
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• 1.a. - Gives 1,000 FP
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• 1.b. - Takes away 1,000 FP
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• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
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Purple

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• Purple flower friendship level or higher (10,000 FP or more with Lilie)
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• Have seen Lilie's White flower event
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• Leave town from 11:00 - 14:00 on a sunny Saturday or Sunday
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Choices

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• Choice 1 - Gives 1,000 FP
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• Choice 2 - Takes Away 1,000 FP
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• Choice 3 - Gives 2,000 FP
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Yellow

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• Yellow flower or higher (40,000 FP or more with Lilie)
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• 10,000 FP or more with Melanie, her little sister.
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• Have seen the first two events and given her the commitment ring
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• Go to her room in the inn from 6:00 - 9:00 on a sunny Saturday or Sunday
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Choices

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• Choice 1 - Gives 2,000 FP
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• Choice 2 - Takes away 1,000 FP
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Pink

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• Pink flower or higher (50,000 FP or more with Lilie)
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• Have seen the first 3 flower events for Lilie
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• Walk from river area to mountain area from 10:00 - 17:00 on a sunny Saturday or Sunday
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Choices

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• Choice 1 - Takes away 1,000 FP
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• Choice 2 - Gives 3,000 FP
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There are several women you can choose to marry in Story of Seasons, and they are all very different from each other. They all like different things and what may be a good gift for one of them, could be a terrible gift for another.

It is also important to know the birthday, favorite outfits, animals, and more of your chosen partner. I'll help you out there by going over each bachelorette in this game.

If you want info on how to get married, check out my How to Get Married guide. Also, check my Beginner's guide for any other help with the game.

This guide will cover each bachelorette in Story of Seasons including:

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• Personality Description - Things they like to do and where they like to go.
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• Gifts - Each person's likes and dislikes.
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• Birthday and More - Each person's birthday and other helpful info about them.
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• Flower Events - Requirements for all 4 flower events for each person.
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Story of Seasons is not only about farming; you can also get into a relationship with one of the townspeople. There are multiple bachelors and bachelorettes to choose from and there is a lengthy process that goes into getting married, which involves giving gifts, seeing flower events, and more.

I will go over the basics you need to know to find a partner, get married, choose a wedding, and what comes after. There will be separate guides that give details on the requirements for each bachelor and bachelorette.

This guide will cover the basics of getting married in Story of Seasons including:

• Friendship Level - What it is and how to check it.
• Bachelor/Bachelorette List - Each person you are able to marry.
• Becoming Boyfriend/Girlfriend - What is required to reach this level.
• How to Get Engaged - What is required to reach this level.
• Choosing a Wedding - The different wedding options and what they do.

Friendship Level

This is how far into a relationship you are with someone. The amount of Friendship Points (FP) you have determines this level.

All marriage candidates except Licorice and Kamil show their level by colored flowers in their character portrait when you talk to them. You can still check their level, and everyone else's, by pressing the left shoulder button on the 3DS. Doing this displays a symbol that tells you how many FP you have.

• White Flower/Scratchy Circle: 0 - 9,999 FP
• Purple Flower/ "... thought bubble": 10,000 - 19,999 FP
• Blue Flower/Horizontal Marks: 20,000 - 29,999 FP
• Green Flower/Vertical Marks: 30,000 - 39,000 FP
• Yellow Flower/Music Notes: 40,000 - 49,000 FP
• Pink Flower/Sparkles: 50,000 - 59,000 FP
• Red Flower/Hearts: 60,000+ FP

Each person has 4 "Flower Events" You must see to get married. You get these by raising their FP.

You can raise FP in several ways.

• Talk to them - 100 FP daily.
• Give Gifts - Various depending on gift, also daily.

• Participate in Festivals and Competitions - 1,000 - 3,000 FP per event.
• Show them an animal they like - 150 or 250 FP.
• Wear an outfit and/or accessory they like, then talk to them - 100 FP for each.

Keep in mind that each person has a favorite gift that gives 1000 FP and there are several gifts for each person that actually lowers their FP! Also, giving someone their favorite gift on their birthday gives 3000 FP instead of 1000 FP.

Bachelor/Bachelorette List

Bachelors

• Fritz - Farmer
• Klaus - Perfume Maker
• Raeger - Restaurant Owner
• Mistel - Antique Shop Owner
• Nadi - Landscaper
• Kamil - Florist

Bachelorettes

• Lilie - Weather Girl
• Angela - Nurse
• Iris - Novelist
• Agate - Ranger
• Elise - Rich Girl Farmer
• Licorice - Botanist

Becoming Boyfriend/Girlfriend

To start a relationship with someone, you must give them a commitment ring. 

• You need a Sewing Studio and use the Accessory Bench to make the ring.
• You also need a Silver ore and Fluorite.
• Silver - Get from mining point in Safari or buy from Antique Shop at Fall of Year 2 or later.
• Fluorite - Dive in the water to get it randomly or buy from Silk Country trader at Summer of Year 2 or later.

You also need to see their first 2 flower events and have at least Blue Flower level or 20,000 FP.

• Commitment Proposal - Give them the ring on a sunny, non-holiday Saturday or Sunday after meeting the requirements.
• Reverse Commitment Proposal - They can also suggest becoming a couple.
• Give 100+ gifts to them and have 25,000+ FP.
• Talk to them with the ring in your bag, and they will ask you.

This and the reverse marriage proposal is just an alternate way of making it happen. You can just do it yourself for an easier way to do it.

Breaking Up

If you get below 20,000 FP with your boyfriend/girlfriend and don't talk to them for 31 days, a break-up scene will happen.

• You can choose not to break up and stay a couple, but lose 1,000 FP
• If you break up, you lose 3,000 FP with them and can choose someone else to go after if you choose.

If you want to get back together, you must get their Friendship level up to Red Flower, 60,000+ FP, give them 10 of their favorite gifts, and wait 62 days after the breakup. Just give them another ring like usual.

How to Get Engaged

Before you can propose, there are some things you need to do.

• Build the Large Farm House - This comes with a Double Bed.
• This comes after the Upgraded House.

• See all 4 of their Flower Events - The last events are at Pink flower or higher, 50,000+ FP.
• Get to Red Flower Level - This is at 60,000+ FP.
• See Marriage Tutorial Event from Dessie - Dessie doesn't come until Spring of Year 2.
• Give your partner a Blue Feather - You can buy this from the General Store after Dessie's Marriage Tutorial.

Reverse Marriage Proposal

You can activate this by doing additional requirements.

• Give them 150+ gifts with at least 30 being their favorite gift.
• Go into their house before 23:00 with the Blue Feather in your bag.

Choosing a Wedding

When you get engaged, the 3 types of wedding will be explained to you. You can choose later which one you want. Be aware that to have kids after the wedding, you must build the two-story farm house.

The 3 different weddings to choose from all have different ceremonies and give different things.

• Simple - Costs 100,000 G. A western-style wedding with just your Fiance and Veronica.
• Pregnancy event happens 30 days after wedding.
• Super - Costs 500,000 G. You can choose between a Western or Eastern-style wedding and a few guests will attend.
• You gain 1,500 FP with the guests and 3,000 FP with your partner.
• You get 5 Marguerite Pots and 5 Red Rose Pots as wedding gifts.
• Pregnancy event happens 20 days after wedding.
• Gorgeous - Costs 1,000,000 G. Choose between Western or Eastern-style and more guests will attend.
• You gain 2,000 FP with guests and 5,000 Fp with your partner.
• You get 5 Marguerite Pots, 5 Red Rose Pots, and 5 Sunflower Flowerbeds as wedding gifts. 
• Pregnancy Event happens 15 days after wedding.

That covers everything you need to know about getting married in Story of Seasons. Please visit my Bachelorette guide for details on each person person. Let me know if you have any other questions or comments about this guide.

Harvest Moon has been a staple of the gaming landscape since its initial release in 1996 for the Super Nintendo. Traditionally it's been published under Natsume, but the company's recent release, Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley, isn't what you think it is -- and neither is XSEED Games' Story of Seasons.

Let's lay some groundwork first: The Harvest Moon series is called Bokujou Monogatari in Japan, where the series is developed. To avoid confusion, from here on the traditional series is going to be called Bokujou Monogatari. You'll see why momentarily.

There are two types of Harvest Moon fans: Those that knew Natsume had lost publishing rights, and those that didn't. And if you know they lost publishing rights, you know Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley is not a real Bokujou Monogatari game.

Bokujou Monogatari, the series traditionally known as Harvest Moon in the West, is now being published by XSEED Games under the name Story of Seasons. This is XSEED's first (and hopefully not last) published game in the series.

The confusion between The Lost Valley and Story of Seasons stems from Natsume losing the series publishing rights, but still holding onto the name trademark -- meaning Bokujou Monogatari published by XSEED needed a different name.

Some may see Natsume's continuation of the Harvest Moon name despite not having publishing rights for the Marvelous AQL series may see their move to retain the name as a bit underhanded. After all: How many people have been confused by the name change so far? Judging by the questions of my friends, a lot.

Natsume has only been known for Harvest Moon in the past, and releasing the trademark to XSEED could only spell bad news for Natsume. And who knows, maybe Natsume's next self-developed Harvest Moon game will surpass The Lost Valley.

In the meantime, if you like the modern Harvest Moon/Bokujou Monogatari series pre-The Lost Valley, give Story of Seasons a shot. It may have an ungodly long tutorial, but it is probably the relief to the Harvest Moon itch that The Lost Valley couldn't give.

Story of Seasons is a new Harvest Moon game under a different name. Don't let that fool you, it is still the same great farming series with plenty to do. So much so that they give you a week-long tutorial before you're ready to do things on your own.

There is so much to do and not everything is covered in the tutorial. That's where this guide comes in, to help explain the basics. I'll tell you some things that were left out as well as give a reference guide for things to do in Story of Seasons.

This guide will go over the basics in Story of Seasons including:

• Starting Out - Basic controls and systems in the game.
• Blueprints - Unlocking the blueprints table and what it does.
• Townsfolk - Who they are and why they are important.
• Livestock and Pets - The different livestock and pets and what they do.
• Guild - What you can do at the Guild.
• Safari Park - What it is and what you can do there.

Starting Out

First, a quick refresher of the basic controls.

• Use the Hoe to till your field. You can press and hold it until the white grid disappears.
• This is needed to plant seeds.
• Plant seeds by equipping seeds and pressing A while on a plowed field.
• Equip a watering can to water seeds and plants growing on a plowed filled.
• You can water crops twice a day to make them grow faster.
• Press A to harvest crops when they are ripe.
• You need to equip and use a sickle to harvest some crops.

Stamina and Health

Your stamina and health is very important to keep up your farm.

• Hearts display how much stamina you have left. You'll pass out if your stamina reaches 0 and have to go to the doctor.
• Your health is shown by a face to the left of your stamina.
• You can get sick by staying up too late or not eating.

Trading

People come from other countries in the game to trade with your town. As you increase trade with them and progress through the game, more countries will trade with you.

This is how you get your money and the prices on items change.

• Check the "Recommended Shipping" at the entrance to the trading post to see the prices on things so you know when to sell.

Please visit my How to Unlock Every trade Depot Vendor guide for full details on this section.

Swimming

You can dive from docks into the water and swim. This is very important because you can dive when you see an ! point.

• Diving gives items. You can even get iron and other rare things like gems that sell for a high price.
• Getting iron early on helps you build things like a kitchen and pitchfork.
• There are 3 places to dive, near Eda's house, south of Fritz, and in the middle near the mountain trail.
• You can only get a certain amount of items each day, so don't forget to always go swimming.

Blueprints

Blueprints allow you to build things on your farm. They are very important in growing and progressing through the game.

• When the tutorial is over, be sure to collect 15 small stones and 15 small lumber to upgrade your house.
• Use an axe on twigs and a hammer on pebbles to get the ingredients.
• You can get these as soon as you get your own place after the tutorial, so don't wait!
• You'll need to get more blueprints from shops and the trading post.
• As soon as you get enough money, buy the kitchen and refrigerator blueprints from Silk Country.
• This allows you to cook and stores cooking ingredients.
• You can also get "Combos" by putting certain items together in the same area.
• These give different bonuses depending on the combo, so be sure to try different ones.

Townsfolk

There are multiple residents and they all are helpful. Some people run shops like the general store or the restaurant, while others are bachelors and bachelorettes. These are people who you can become romantic with.

• Increase your relationship with people by talking to them anfgiving them gifts.
• Participating in festivals and winning contests also increases relationship levels.

Check out my guides on How to Get Married, Bachelors, and Bachelorettes for full details.

Livestock and Pets

There are multiple pets and livestock you can have on your farm and they have purposes.

Livestock

• Cows - Produce milk when fully grown.
• Chickens - Lay eggs when fully grown.
• Sheep - You can shear the wool when fully grown.
• Alpacas - You can also shear their wool when fully grown.
• Angora Rabbits - They shed their fur for you to collect.

Make sure you get a brush and feed for your livestock. Each type of livestock has their own type of feed.

You need a barn for all pets except chickens. For chickens, you need coops.

Pets

• Dogs - They can help graze your animals.
• Cats - Can bring you items.
• Horses - You can use them to travel to places more quickly.

Dogs and Cats have a relationship meter as well.

• You can walk a dog or cat by using a leash on them. Talk to them when you want to walk to end.
• This lowers their stress.
• You can also lower pet stress by playing with them.
• Stressed pets become obese and don't help as much, so be sure to keep their stress low.

You can only ride horses by calling them at a horseback riding area.

Guild

There are several public fields, owned by the Guild, you can use in Story of Seasons. To use these, you must issue challenges called Conquests.

• Conquests are judged in several categories and if you win, you get access to that field.
• Some fields are better suited at growing certain crops and some allow you to grow crops that you cannot grow at your own farm.
• You can only rent for a certain time, so you'll need to do another conquest to gain access to the field again.

Bees and Mushrooms

There are fields you can rent to keeps bees.

• Put up a hive box and put a bee inside to start making honey.

Mushrooms can also be grown in a rented field.

• You spread the seeds of mushrooms on mushroom logs.
• Mushrooms can regrow up to 3 times.

Safari Park

This is a special place you get later in the game to keep wild and exotic animals.

• The more friendly you get with the animals there, the more animals you can unlock for the park.
• There are multiple areas, and some areas are the only places to find certain animals.
• Expanding gives more animals and areas to go to. Expand enough and you can invite people to go on a wild safari.
• There are also mining and harvest spots in the Safari Park once you've expanded enough.