At E3 2017, Natsume showed off Harvest Moon: Light of Hope for the first time. This is an entirely new entry in the series that it is developing for the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. As usual, players follow a new male or female farmer as they establish a farm. This time, it happens after being stranded in a harbor town. Their lighthouse has been out of commission for a while, and one of players’ tasks is to restore it.
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope will offer a number of features that people who have played Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories and Skytree Village will recognize. So not only does it look like Seeds of Memories, which appeared on Apple iOS and Android devices, it will play like it too. To start, the control scheme will be as intuitive here as it was in previous games. The controls are context-sensitive, which means when you are near a crop that needs to be watered, B will automatically do the job, but pressing B near a tree will automatically bring up the axe to cut it down. While the PlayStation 4 version uses the DualShock 4, the control schemes vary a bit on the Nintendo Switch and PC. On PCs, you use the keyboard and mouse. On the Nintendo Switch, you can play it with the Joy-Cons, Pro Controller, or touchscreen.
The bachelors and bachelorettes will look familiar, as they are returning from Harvest Moon games Natsume previous developed. Elise, Jeanne, and Melanie, the basic Skytree Village bachelorettes, as well as the formerly DLC bachelorette Nova, will all be available to woo. So will Tabitha, a witch who has been part of the series since The Lost Valley. Likewise, Cyril, Dean, and Gabriel, come back from Skytree Village, as does the former DLC bachelor Edmond. Gareth, the wizard who has been present since The Lost Valley, is the fifth bachelor.
The animals will look familiar in Harvest Moon: Light of Hope. People will be able to raise chickens, cows, donkeys, and sheep. In addition, Seeds of Memories’ “candy animals” will make a comeback. As a reminder, this means Brown Cows have chocolate milk, Chocolate Chickens produce candy eggs, and you sheer Pink Sheep to get cotton candy.
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope is currently in development and will come to the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC in North America and Europe.
