Sentences written about this title, gathered by type from the Japanese and English Wikipedia articles (as of 2026-8-30).
The game was first released in Japan by Pack-In-Video in 1996, in North America by Natsume Inc. in 1997, and in Europe by Nintendo in 1998.
The concept of Harvest Moon came to director Yasuhiro Wada during his first years living in Tokyo.
The first draft for the game was completed in 1993.
During the final six month of development, only three people worked on the game, making finishing touches: Wada as director, programmer Tomomi Yamatate, and game designer Setsuko Miyakoshi.
Initially, only 20,000 copies were sold, but after good reviews were published and word-of-mouth spread, the game went on to sell over 100,000 copies in Japan.
According to Natsume Inc.'s Adam Fitch, the game sold "a decent amount for that time".
When localized, all alcohol references were replaced with "juice", even though anyone who drinks said "juice" clearly becomes intoxicated.
One reviewer said that the game "really struck a chord with me.
In 2018, Complex ranked the Harvest Moon 72nd on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time".
The European version shipped with language localizations for Germany and France.
When localized, all alcohol references were replaced with "juice", even though anyone who drinks said "juice" clearly becomes intoxicated.
For nearly the next two decades, new Harvest Moon games would be released frequently, at which point new games would be released under the title Story of Seasons due to issues with rights when Marvelous chose to move their localization division from Natsume Inc. to Xseed Games.
In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by the magazine Family Computer Magazine,it scored 22.4 out of 30, as shown below.
Initially, only 20,000 copies were sold, but after good reviews were published and word-of-mouth spread, the game went on to sell over 100,000 copies in Japan.
He and the other three members of the EGM review team praised the game's original concept and the numerous interesting tasks the player must juggle.
They praised the game being incredibly fun.
When localized, all alcohol references were replaced with "juice", even though anyone who drinks said "juice" clearly becomes intoxicated.
The game was never released outside Japan or released as a stand-alone game.
For nearly the next two decades, new Harvest Moon games would be released frequently, at which point new games would be released under the title Story of Seasons due to issues with rights when Marvelous chose to move their localization division from Natsume Inc. to Xseed Games.
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