Natsume – Harvest Moon 64 not coming to the VC, no news on older games, A-Train localization, more
Siliconera published a new interview with Hiro Maekawa, the president of Natsume. Maekawa ended up addressing a variety of topics, including Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley, why the company decided to localize A-Train, and more. Maekawa also said that Harvest Moon 64 won’t be coming to the Virtual Console due to technical issues, and noted that there isn’t any news on Natsume returning to older games such as Wild Guns.
We’ve rounded up a few of Maekawa’s comments below. You can find the full interview on Siliconera here.
On what feedback Natsume received for Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley that will be implemented in future games…
Through the years we have received a great deal of feedback from our fans and media in regards to the Harvest Moon games that have been released. Some of that feedback included the idea of expanding and customizing the farm. Thus, one of our focuses in the Lost Valley was just that, the idea of expanding the farm and making the area completely customizable to the player. It is one thing to be able to move the barn here and there, but we wanted something more, so we came up with the idea of customizing the largest farm, yet by letting the player dig and stack soil to create a farm like no other. We made it so the user can customize their farm the way they want to. Seeing fans post screenshots of their farm to MiiVerse, fan forums, and GameFAQs has been amazing.
In retrospect, we might have focused a little too much on the farm and focused less so on a few other areas, like the town. We have heard the feedback and see that having a more robust town is important to our fans, and we have taken that to heart. In the next Harvest Moon game, you will definitely see a more robust town. We’re also listening to other aspects of feedback – like the intuitive tool system that fans adore, but that they would love to upgrade their tools again, which we’re definitely looking into preserving for future games.
The Lost Valley is also the first Harvest Moon title with downloadable content. The great thing about it is that DLC allows us to take feedback on game development even after the main game was completed and launched. It lets us react to feedback in a way we didn’t have the opportunity to before; it’s a freedom we relish now that we’re the developers. We didn’t start developing the DLC until after the game was and released, because we wanted the DLC to be what fans were asking for once they experienced the game. DLC is a process and will continue to roll out as the content is developed and produced.
We also wanted to give the romance system a depth it hasn’t had in many years. We missed the way previous some previous Harvest Moon games portrayed relationships and decided to forego the breadth to restore the romance system. And we’ve heard a lot of positive feedback for this choice.
On plans for Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley DLC…
We are experimenting with a few ideas. One of the main goals of the DLC is to constantly give Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley new life and replayability. One criticism that many Harvest Moon games share is that after a point, the game gets repetitive. We know the first two DLC releases may not seem like the biggest updates for the game, but players can look forward to more in-depth DLC offerings as we continue to roll out the releases.
On whether Harvest Moon 64 could hit the Wii U Virtual Console…
Unfortunately, Harvest Moon 64 suffers from technical issues that won’t allow for it to come to the Wii U. We know how beloved the title is by fans, and we have tried everything possible to have it released on the Wii Virtual Console, but there is nothing that can be done.
On why Natsume decided to localize A-Train…
We took one look at A-Train and knew it was something our fans could really sink their teeth into – a game with deep customization, and gameplay aimed at a mature audience which is under-served with games intended to challenge, instead of just titillate. Who doesn’t love a robust simulation game? We pride ourselves on bringing titles like this to market that most publishers wouldn’t be interested in. We know there is a market of gamers out there for these titles, and we are happy to bring them the content they love.
On the possibility of working with Harvest Moon creator Wada-san and Chulip creator Kimura-san, who have formed their own studios…
We’re always keeping our eyes open for great games and are open to working with new developers. It would be great should there be any opportunity to work with Wada-san and his studio, Toybox, sometime in the future.
On whether Natsume USA has considered bringing games like Wild Guns, Spanky’s Quest, and Shadow of the Ninja back…
Natsume classic titles including Wild Guns and Shadow of the Ninja are currently available on Wii U VC through the Nintendo eShop. We’re always open to reviving these beloved franchises, but we don’t have any specific news right now.
