Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning

Gameplay

New features to the Story of Seasons series include extensive character customization, design of the house and furniture of the protagonist, and the ability to customize the appearance of the village the game takes place in.

Story

The story involves reviving an abandoned town named Echo Village in order to allow the residents and animals to return. According to a popular Harvest Moon guide website:

"It is said that a long time ago, a lot of people lived in Echo Village. Now the place is practically deserted. One after another, the villagers moved away to the city. Now only a few residents still live here.

"Near the desolate village is a small farm. You have inherited this old farm from your father and have traveled to Echo Village to work and live on your family farm. On your way to the farm you run across a man who has passed out on the walking path. After you help him regain consciousness, he explains that his name is Dunhill and he's heard about you from your parents, with whom he has been friends with for a long time. They had wrote him a letter stating your arrival. He shows you around the village, explaining its history, and leads you to your farm.

"As you start to develop your farm, the two of you come up with a plan to revitalize the little town. By using the construction workshop attached to your farmhouse, you'll need to build decorations and houses to entice the villagers who moved away to return to Echo Village. Dunhill will assign you a Town Renovation Plan which lays out a series of tasks that will help to popularize the town. Your task is to follow his plan, unlocking events and constructing structures, with the goal of reviving the empty village."

Multiplayer

The multiplayer in A New Beginning is region-free, meaning players from all region can play together. In ANB multiplayer, players can bring their cows and furry animals (sheep, alpaca, etc) and milk/shear each other animals. Sometimes a giant animal will spawn, which give players five big products. Starting players can get a lot of money from collecting animal products in multiplayer, thus the good reception of ANB multiplayer feature. Players need to bring a gift which will be swapped randomly at the beginning of the session. Players can do multiplayer over Local connection or Internet, and with "Anyone" or "Friends", the latter required all parties have their 3DS friend codes registered in each other's system.

Development

Natsume, Inc. announced on May 29, 2012 that Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning would be coming to North America. The game was released early by Natsume in North America and started shipping on October 19 instead of closer to its original street date, November 6. It was announced on June 5, 2013 that the game would be released in Europe by Marvelous AQL Europe during Q3 of 2013. A New Beginning is the first true 3DS Harvest Moon title, preceded by Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns which was developed for the DS and released alongside a port for the 3DS. A New Beginning is noteworthy for its new features for the series, including the ability to fully customize the player, farm, and the town the game is set in.

Release

People who pre-ordered the special edition received a stuffed cow doll, and those who pre-ordered the regular version received a yak doll. The publisher Natsume announced on October 17, 2012, that the game had gone gold and that there was "unprecedented" interest in the special 15th anniversary edition of the game.

Reception

IGN rated the game an 8.3, or "Great", citing the game's edit features and character customization, despite its extensive tutorials and a gradual beginning.