Harvest Moon - Which One to Buy

[LunarMako]

Nintendo is having a sale on their available Harvest Moon games. I am thinking about getting one, but want to see which one is everyones favorite.
I have been looking online for the best rated Harvest Moon games, apparently there is a lot.
Friends of Mineral Town seem to be #1, but it sounds exactly like Stardew Valley to me. I love Stardew Valley, but if its the same thing, I want one that has more/different elements to it.

I included the prices (in Canadian dollars), just to weigh in my price how much content is in each game. Let me know which one you like best!

 

[Holla]

Mineral Town is definitely not exactly Stardew Valley and is probably the most worth getting out of those games.

The first two you have listed are just produced by the company that used to localize the original games. They unfortunately do not make good games themselves. I highly suggest staying away from “Harvest Moon” titles in name post A New Beginning in 2013 as that was the last game that they just localized and didn’t actually make themselves.

After 2013 the true Harvest Moon games have since been called Story of Seasons. So I suggest sticking to those ones. Though I have heard many negative things about the newest one Pioneers of Olive town. From what I’ve heard from several fans is that the performance on the Switch is not very good (glitchy), and the characters are fairly flat personality wise compared to past games. Also several mechanics are just poorly designed and not fun at all. That being said some fans still throughly enjoy game but most seem to agree that it’s flaws make it not so great.

I’ve played and quite enjoyed Mineral Town. I’ve even gone back to it after I stopped playing it initially and I still find it fun. I still consider the 3DS games to be superior to it but in my opinion it’s the best option on Switch right now.

I also briefly played Pioneers of Olive Town as it was a free trial in the past and I honestly didn’t care for it. I got maybe 5 hours in and honestly didn’t even want to play anymore even with the free trial lasting for several more days. It just didn’t draw me in at all.

Mineral Town is more simple of a game as it’s a remake of a Gameboy Advance game, but it adds in several quality of life improvements and even a few new things. It’s still pretty fun. While pioneers I believe has possibly more to it but it’s janky and the mechanics aren’t the greatest. Also in order to get all the characters and additional areas you have to pay even more for the DLC to get them. Mineral Town you get everything for the initial price of the game so that’s a plus.

Basically, stay away from One World and Light of Hope you’ll only be disappointed. Mineral Town is likely the best choice, but if you think some jankiness and paid DLC won’t be a big deal then maybe Pioneers would be for you.

 

[LunarMako]

Mineral Town is definitely not exactly Stardew Valley and is probably the most worth getting out of those games.

The first two you have listed are just produced by the company that used to localize the original games. They unfortunately do not make good games themselves. I highly suggest staying away from “Harvest Moon” titles in name post A New Beginning in 2013 as that was the last game that they just localized and didn’t actually make themselves.

After 2013 the true Harvest Moon games have since been called Story of Seasons. So I suggest sticking to those ones. Though I have heard many negative things about the newest one Pioneers of Olive town. From what I’ve heard from several fans is that the performance on the Switch is not very good (glitchy), and the characters are fairly flat personality wise compared to past games. Also several mechanics are just poorly designed and not fun at all. That being said some fans still throughly enjoy game but most seem to agree that it’s flaws make it not so great.

I’ve played and quite enjoyed Mineral Town. I’ve even gone back to it after I stopped playing it initially and I still find it fun. I still consider the 3DS games to be superior to it but in my opinion it’s the best option on Switch right now.

I also briefly played Pioneers of Olive Town as it was a free trial in the past and I honestly didn’t care for it. I got maybe 5 hours in and honestly didn’t even want to play anymore even with the free trial lasting for several more days. It just didn’t draw me in at all.

Mineral Town is more simple of a game as it’s a remake of a Gameboy Advance game, but it adds in several quality of life improvements and even a few new things. It’s still pretty fun. While pioneers I believe has possibly more to it but it’s janky and the mechanics aren’t the greatest. Also in order to get all the characters and additional areas you have to pay even more for the DLC to get them. Mineral Town you get everything for the initial price of the game so that’s a plus.

Basically, stay away from One World and Light of Hope you’ll only be disappointed. Mineral Town is likely the best choice, but if you think some jankiness and paid DLC won’t be a big deal then maybe Pioneers would be for you.

If sounds like Mineral Town will be the winner. People on discord agree as well!

 

[Corrie]

Definitely avoid any new "Harvest Moon" titles, as Holla said. You can also tell by the art on the box that they are not the Harvest Moon games you're used to playing. Stick to Story of Seasons.

I'm not a fan of the chibi models they used for Mineral Town but I must admit that its better than Pioneers of Olive Town. I have that game (PooT) and while it's fun, I don't have much desire to keep playing it? I'm in winter year 1 and just am over it lol. The maker system and the spawn rates of puddles just drive me up the wall. You spend most of your days clearing puddles and waiting for the makers to craft your recipes. The townsfolk don't really have much interesting to say either. Kinda a let down tbh.

 

[Chris]

I am going to be in the minority here but I still enjoy the newer Harvest Moon games - I enjoyed Light of Hope in particular. However, they do lack the charm that Marvelous captured when they developed the games. Story of Seasons is certainly superior.

I'd recommend Friends of Mineral Town. I played it daily for years on the GBA and have invested a ton of time in the remakes as well (I liked it so much I bought it on both the PS4 and the Switch).

 

[Ossiran]

Friends of Mineral Town and it's not even close. While Natsume has gotten better about making their own games more enjoyable, the worst "Story of Seasons" game post-split is still better than the best "Harvest Moon" game post "A New Beginning", which was the last game before the split.

While I enjoyed Pioneers of Olive Town, it felt lacking when compared with Friends of Mineral Town. Although, to be fair, FoMT is one of the best HM/SoS titles, so it's not a fair contest.