"It seems that a new Harvest Moon game is published by Natsume almost every year. Sometimes, the games bring innovative new design concepts; however, they are incredibly similar to the last a vast majority of the time. Harvest Moon and the Lost Valley is fortunately one of those innovative games. Everything has been streamlined to turn the game into a user-friendly experience and more importantly, it introduces several new gameplay mechanics that turns Harvest Moon into a revived gameplay experience" -- Nintendo Enthusiast.
Hardcore Gamer: Listen, we love Harvest Moon. Always have, always will. But unfortunately, over the past several years, one of our favorite series has slid into irrelevance. Story of Seasons — the 3DS Harvest Moon game not actually bearing the “Harvest Moon” title — was fantastic, but it’s been too long now since we’ve had an entry in the famed farming simulator franchise that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Back to Nature, It’s a Wonderful Life and Magical Melody. Sure, there have been some gems on portable systems, like Friends of Mineral Town for instance, but the more recent 3DS installments have left a lot to be desired.
Natsume is best known for localizing the Harvest Moon series which were originally developed in Japan by Pack In Video. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, Marvelous emerged as the owners of the Bokujo Monogatari franchise along with many other IPs. Natsume still owned Harvest Moon and after the two companies parted ways, Natsume decided to continue Harvest Moon by developing games themselves. In this interview with Siliconera, Natsume president Hiro Maekawa talked about transitioning to internal development and their plans for the future.
DD:
"Harvest Moon 3D: The Lost Valley bears the namesake and logo of the prolific Marvelous-developed farming simulators, but this new game ought to be singled out as something very different."
