In recent years, publisher Natsume who had localized the series since its inception lost the rights to the Bokujo Monogatari series… but kept the Harvest Moon name for in-house releases.Įver since then, they’ve released several games following the same farming simulator concept under that name. Like many other Japanese games, Bokujo Monogatari had always been localized and released in the West under a different name: “Harvest Moon”. If I’m going to do this right then I need to address the elephant in the room. Join me as I take a look at the series throughout the years, ranking each entry in the franchise to determine which Harvest Moon games make for the ideal farm life experience. If you’re a massive fan or just want to keep up with the latest releases then this list is gonna be fun. Harvest Moon is a franchise that has kept itself fresh by listening to audience requests and not fearing to shake things up. Nowadays, the game that brought countryside life to the middle of our living rooms counting over 20 games under the Harvest Moon title, including several spin-offs such as the fantasy-adventure Rune Factory series. But this SNES exclusive sold relatively well and with that the farming simulator genre was born. The first game in the Harvest Moon franchise was released in Japan as “Bokujo Monogatari” back in 1996, competing with a market full of platformers and adventure.

A farming sim seems like a weird idea but you have to hand it to this franchise for breaking the mold and truly becoming a massive success.

Harvest moon ds: sunshine islands rom