PaigeFTW: 20 Years of ‘Harvest Moon’
Farm simulator games are all the rage in every era. Stardew Valley may be attracting the hype these days, but let us not forget its clear inspiration, Harvest Moon, which celebrates this year the 20th anniversary since its North American release on the SNES.
How has such an unassuming series lasted two decades?
I spent one memorable summer in high school glued to my TV, playing Harvest Moon: Animal Parade on the Wii — a solid 100 hours of madness. Somehow I had nothing better to do for two months. I built quite a farming empire, though. I even had two homes. I befriended the mayor’s son and married the rancher’s daughter, Renee, to secure my economic dominance over the entire town (let’s face it: there are no benefits to marrying a waitress or exotic dancer in an agrarian society). After Renee gave me two children (an heir and a spare), I immediately set the whole family to doing tedious chores every day to maximize our economic output.
(I also have a pet cat, snake and bear.)
Sadly, my exploration of House of Cards-style politics is not reflected in the game world very much, but it was part of my self-invented narrative that would explain why, exactly, I was methodically watering a 13-by-9-tile field every 10 minutes for two hours.
In truth, I don’t quite know why Harvest Moon, or even something like Animal Crossing, persists with such popularity. They’re simple, repetitive and rely on incremental progress to attain goals of miniscule scope (expanding barns, collecting fish, etc.). Some game series reinvent themselves with every new installment, but Harvest Moon gussies up the graphics (just a little bit), adds a few new vegetables to grow and calls it a day. Perhaps the comfort of routine and familiarity is a more primal drive than it appears.
In 20 years, the series has barely changed at all, even if it looks quite different. Stardew found success by taking the old formula and deepening it, with stronger story and characterization, more player freedom and an overall superior experience.
Hopefully with the advent of its anniversary, the Harvest Moon can reinvent itself the same way. But not too much.
