While most of the “Case For” articles on this site deal with larger or more prestigious franchises, some instead focus on more niche series that, despite their smaller sales figures, have had a rather large impact on Nintendo or game as a whole. Such is the case of this article, as suggested by Patreon Jazzman, which focuses on the farmer(s) from the Harvest Moon, now Story of Seasons, franchise.
Character Background:
While many games focus on grand adventure or thrilling plotlines, the farmers in the Story of Season’s games have always had more grounded goals. Grounded, however, doesn’t mean easy. It will take a time, effort, and heart to rebuild that dilapidated old farm you inherited, and to also build relationships with your neighbors along the way. If you’re lucky, or blessed by the Harvest Goddess, you may even find true love.
Even character that had a game that ended in “64” is okay in my book
The series that Western gamers know as Harvest Moon is known as as Bokujō Monogatari (牧場物語) in Japan. The franchise had been localized by Natsume since it’s inception, but a falling out between them and developer Marvelous AQL has resulted in the series being brought over by Marvelous AQL subsidiary XSEED games. To make things more confusing, Natsume has begun making it’s own games under the Harvest Moon banner for release only in North America. In order to help keep things clear, the series will be referred to as Story of Seasons for the remainder of this article.
Story of Seasons defined the farming simulation genre of games for two decades. The series began with 1996’s Harvest Moon on the Super Nintendo, and consisted of over a dozen games on a wide variety of platforms. The series gameplay revolves around life on a farm, and such activities as growing crops, mining for materials, and ranching livestock are essential gameplay elements. Many games in the series, however, go beyond this basic premise. The games are life simulators, and maintaining a healthy social life, including finding a spouse and raising children, also factor in. The series has, in it’s many years of life, resulted in a few spinoffs. These include Puzzle de Harvest Moon, a DS Puzzle Title, and Rune Factory, a sub series that mixes classic Harvest Moon gameplay with action elements.
Reasons for inclusion:
The Story of Seasons franchise has a long history on Nintendo systems. The series was brought to life on the Super Nintendo, and has had appeared on every Nintendo console, save the Virtual Boy, ever since. The series’ long and continuous presence amongst the Nintendo fanbase is also not due solely to its retro titles. The most recent Story of Seasons game was released to favorable reviews and good sales on the Nintendo 3DS in 2015. Really, this is franchise that just feels like it belongs on Nintendo consoles. True, it has appeared on hardware for other companies as well, but the best selling game in the series (Harvest Moon: It’s a Wonderful Life on Gamecube) and perhaps the most beloved game in the series (Harvest Moon 64 on the Nintendo 64) have been on Nintendo systems.
Any series worth it’s salt has a puzzle spin-off
While exact numbers for the series sales are difficult obtain, the series does well enough to ensure many sequels. The combined numbers for the various game in the series, including spinoffs, seems to be around 10 million units across the over 30 games in the franchise. The games on the DS alone have sold over a million copies. The series is also a pioneer in the farm/life sim genre, so many games, from Farmville to Animal Crossing, have Story of Seasons to thank for clearing the path.
Reasons for exclusion:
Story of Season games are decent sellers as a whole, but none of the individual games are heavy sellers. Similarly, the games review decently, but not exceedingly well. These metrics make the series seem overall unremarkable, especially compared to some of the blockbuster third party characters currently in Smash Bros.
Although it is not exactly clear if this would be an issue, the legal standing of the Harvest Moon property outside of Japan could also make things more difficult. It is unclear exactly what Natsume and Marvelous AQL own. For instance, the most obvious choice for a named farmer would be Pete, the protagonist of over 10 games in the series who is known by his white shirt, pair of blue overalls, and backwards baseball cap. In Nastume’s latest game, Harvest Moon the Lost Valley, Pete is the main character.
Moveset limitations may also prove to be a concern. The Story of Seasons Farmers do not engage in combat, and most of their actions would seem mundane. This may not be a huge issue, however, as Animal Crossing’s Villager faced a similar issue and was still made a very unique fighter. Some might also argue that the farmer might be a little too close to Villager in design. This is not exactly true, however, as the combinations or farm implements (such as a hoe and pick axe), livestock, and a variety of fast growing and slow growing crops could make the Farmer unlike any other Smasher.
WTB adorable rooster Amiibo
Music
What is Smash Bros. without music? Here are a few tracks you can look forward to if the Harvest Moon Farmer makes it in.
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I was thinking a same thing of what if Harvest Moon’s Farmer was in the game. I actually played “Animal Parade” this recently and felt that using his farming tools does look perfect in Smash. Yeah, he may look like a Villager clone if you’re just focusing on certain tools like an axe and shovel, but using other farming tools and maybe vegetables like Peach does, and summoning animals for some reasons, may make him more different and crazier than the Villager in many ways.
But I do agree that this game isn’t popular in the West, while its a huge seller in Japan on the opposite. I think the farming simulator genre isn’t something that makes Western players attracted. Eventually the game has so many tasks to do but have less freedom to enjoy since its not in real time like Animal Crossing, and I think “freedom” is what makes the game more enjoyable, which is why people try to compare this game with Animal Crossing. But eventually, I do like to see this character to see how he can fight in Smash if there’s any possibilities for him.
Rune Factory 4 is my all-time favorite 3DS game, currently sitting at my most played right above Fire Emblem Awakening, Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold, and Smash 4. I’d probably like a Harvest Moon game just as much as I liked RF4 if I ever played one, so I am all in on this idea. Characters with unique and improvised movesets are always interesting to play.