Harvest Moon: Back to Nature

aka: Bokujou Monogatari Harvest Moon
Moby ID: 5871
PlayStation Specs
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Description official descriptions

As a young boy, you visited your grandfather's farm one summer, which was one of the best there was. Now, some years later, your grandfather has passed away and you inherited his farm, which is now in a state of disrepair. The Mayor of the village has given you three years to turn things around, and bring the farm back to a state that your grandfather would be proud of. At the same time, you must also think about dating and getting married to secure a place in the village. Roll up your sleeves and get ready to get dirty, because that farm needs help and you're the only one who can make it the best farm anyone's seen.

Spellings

  • 牧場物語 ハーベストムーン - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (PlayStation version)

36 People (32 developers, 4 thanks) · View all

Executive Producer
Product Manager
Localization Manager
Producer
European Brand Manager
Local Brand Managers
Director
Programer
Designer
Composer
Debugger
Special Thanks to
Character design
Director
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 77% (based on 13 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 34 ratings with 2 reviews)

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature; is it the best in the series?

The Good
Wow, so many things I LOVED about this game! The way you just... live! the music really helped describe the mood. There r so many cool characters to become friends with, and the 5 ellegible girls (especially Karen) are amazing! Everybody has different personalities. The animals (fish, chikens, cows, sheep, a dog and a horse) r all so cute, and the farming is SO COOL in general! Definitely my favourite in the series.

The Bad
A-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y N-o-t-h-i-n-g

The Bottom Line
You cook your own meals (after the challenge of getting the kitchen extension), you look after numerous animals, make friends with the locals, mine, farm, extend ur house and barn and coop, fall in love, get married, have a baby, fish, find LOADS of secrets! Phew! EVERYTHING is brill about this game! And you can get married to all types of women, make friends with all types o character, it might as well be u marrying and making friends with the people u know in real life! A FANTASTIC real life simulator!

                                        By Sam Gordon.
                         P.S Enjoy Harvest Moon: Back 2 Nature!

PlayStation · by Sam Gordon (1) · 2003

Back to relaxing country life...

The Good
I don't know where to begin with this game. So maybe I'll start like so: Harvest Moon: Back to Nature has been deemed a fan favorite in the Harvest Moon series. It offers our favorite farming game play with some new tweaks, and an interesting series of non-linear events to boot. But what else is there?

More, of course. Did you think I was done?

In terms of farming, there more crops than ever in this game. In fact, each growing season has four different crops for it, with one per season being a secret crop that has to be attained with hard efforts on the farm, making a grand total of twelve crops. And now, you can also raise and breed fish. Then you can make them into lovely sashimi in your kitchen...

Yes indeed, the kitchen has finally been added, something huge missing from the N64. And with a kitchen, you can cook the villiagers' favorite dishes and make friends with them! And hey, some of the girls admit that they like a man who could cook...

The characters now all have birthdays, and remembering those special days makes them really happy with you. Now, you can interact with the characters more. Special events with them allow you to learn more about them, which are all part of the non-linear string of events that follows in the game.

During the course of the game, there are many events to encounter. Some actions you take determine other events, which makes the game interesting to play through more than once.

There are also other things too. The music is nice and fitting, and although the tunes loop a lot, they don't wear on the nerves. Heck, you may be humming the tunes after a while. The controls are easy to get used to as well. The isometric graphics are looking good in this game now. There is a lot of detail in places such as the forest, and even down to rotoscoped signs. And you can also constantly keep track of how you're doing with your variety of menus. From these menus, you can track just about anything, your animals, your earnings, your shipping rates, and more.

And the Confession Booth offers loads of fun! It's always nice to know that you've been razzing and stalking villagers, or coveting on someone's girl. There are over fifteen sins to choose from, making the booth a blast!

Overall, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature offers a nice challenge, and great rewards come from it. What could be better?

The Bad
Although the game does not have many shortcomings, there are a few.

Working in the barn can get a bit frustrating, as the cows and sheep seem to always strategically block your way when you're trying to get around. It's good and all taking care of them... but when it comes time to leave and the damn animals are hanging around the exit waiting for God knows what to happen, you better hope you have that cow bell on you...

Also, your wife neglects your bawling kid for the entire afternoon. Shame on her!

The Bottom Line
You own a farm. You feed chickens. You milk cows. You shear sheep. You water crops. You get girls to like you. You get rivals to hate you. You get men that resemble fish to freak you out... err... What could be more fun?

What's that? You have a PlayStation? You've played and enjoyed Harvest Moon in the past? You... you don't have BTN?? What are you waiting for?? Buy now! Go! Before the cows trample you! ^_^

PlayStation · by Iris-chan (70) · 2002

Discussion

Subject By Date
Fall 1st mail Aimee Cox May 18, 2008

Trivia

References

There is a green, duck-like creature that lives in the lake at the base of Mother's Hill. However, there is more to this creature than a simple, made-up character. In fact, the Kappa is actually a part of Japanese folk-lore. It is a mythical creature that resembles a duck, and supposedly loves cucumbers. And of course, cucumbers are the Kappa's favorite in Harvest Moon: Back to Nature as well.

Title translation

The translated title of this game in English from Japanese comes out as "The Ranch Love Story: Harvest Moon."

Version differences

In Japan, another version of Harvest Moon: Back to Nature exists for the PSX, with a female main character, slightly different gameplay, and a different story. Its title is translated to "Harvest Moon for Girls", but this version hasn't been translated for the U.S.

Information also contributed by Iris-chan and WildKard

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Satoshi Kunsai.

PSP, PlayStation 3 added by Charly2.0. PS Vita added by Sciere. PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 added by Rellni944.

Additional contributors: Iris-chan, chirinea, DreinIX, Patrick Bregger.

Game added February 27, 2002. Last modified March 1, 2024.