Farming games - two words you perhaps wouldn't expect to see together in such close proximity. After all, farming is hard work, with lots of back-breaking lifting, digging and mucking out animals - not really the sort of thing you'd conventionally describe as fun. And yet a surprising number of games draw their inspiration from agriculture, whether it's the German-darling Farming Simulator with its accurately modelled tractors and threshers, or the much more light-hearted part life sim, part farming game, Harvest Moon.
Kind of like Animal Crossing, but with more emphasis on turnips than hoarding furniture, lately there's been a bit of radio silence regarding the latest entry in the long-running Harvest Moon series - and we'd been getting a little bit angsty, wondering where our next farming fix was going to come from.
Not a combine harvester in sight.
But hot off the presses comes the announcement that Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley will be making it's way to Europe - and much sooner than we'd imagined too. In fact, it's out this Friday, the 19th June - and promises a whole host of new features.
Taking the customisation options of the previous 3DS title to new heights, Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley will let you customise more than the fields you plough. For the first time ever in the series, you'll be able to dig down to create caves or valleys, pile up earth to make mountains or hollow out your own fishing ponds - as well as building your own roads and bridges to explore new areas around the Lost Valley.
In terms of story, as is often the way of Harvest Moon, the land in which you begin your game - the Lost Valley - is in trouble. While your character was out exploring the mountains one day, a sudden freak snowstorm sees you left scrambling for shelter, when a mysterious voice calls out to guide the way. When the storm passes, you stumble on the source of the voice - a poor little Harvest Sprite buried in the snow, who tells you how all the seasons have vanished from the valley, leaving it stuck in an endless winter. And as everyone who's ever played a Harvest Moon game before knows, winter is the suckiest season, where naught grows bar snowdrop flowers and the occasional vegetable (if you're lucky) - so having non-stop winter doesn't bode well for the town's inhabitants. Being a nice sort of guy/guyette, you decide to stay and help bring the seasons back, with the help of the villagers, the Harvest Sprites and the Harvest Goddess - and some back-breaking farm work, of course.
Harvest Sprites - looking like a cross between an alien baby and a Pikmin.
Whether it's planting, watering and tending to your crops or feeding and brushing your cows, sheep and chickens, selling the produce they create, Harvest Moon is known for its relaxing, slice-of-life gameplay. When you're not busy slaving over a hot vegetable patch, there's a whole village of cute and kooky villagers to befriend, help out with tasks and maybe even marry one of the town's eligible bachelors/bachelorettes someday - all while working on your quest to bring back the four seasons to the Lost Valley.
Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley will hit the 3DS this Friday - in the meantime, why not check out the (admittedly rather old) announcement trailer below:
