There are still rabbits involved.
And clothing!
I'm really excited about the release of 牧場物語 つながる新天地 (Harvest Moon: Connect to a New Land) for 3DS!
It JUST came out on February 27th in Japan, so looks like I'm just going to have to wait. Harvest Moon: A New Beginning came out in Japan in February 2012 and was released in mid-October of the same year in the U.S., so... that is a wee bit heartening, at least (ó㉨ò)ﾉ♡
I'm a latecomer to the series, but I love the attention paid to the clothing design of the villagers in recent iterations of HM. Of course, the rustic countryside is the backdrop and farming is always the main theme, but I like how the protagonists and villagers alike are often wearing something more sartorially challenging than the tried-and-true Old MacDonald flannel and denim overalls combination, hahaha -- not that there's anything wrong with that, but I love that there are mori, steampunk, ethnically inspired, and lolita elements present!
I want to be a fashionable farmer too... ((begin escapist fantasy))
Harvest Moon: Connect to a New Land (2014), 3DS
Connect to a New Land is the second game in the series where you can customize your main character's look -- eye color, hair color, skin color, etc -- and outfits, but I really love the default design for the female protagonist, "a kindhearted girl who loves animals... and always wears a smile no matter how tough things get."
Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (2012)
ANB is the first game that allowed you to customize your main character's physical characteristics, and you can also make a variety of outfits by collecting materials and taking them to the town tailor, some cuter than others, which is nice, since I don't favor the look of the female protagonist so much, nor her cow-print hat. Her design is definitely reminiscent of the HM DS "For Girl" MC.
Harvest Moon: A Tale of Two Towns (2010)
In ToTT you can choose which village you're going to live in -- the idyllic European themed, animal focused ranching town of Bluebell, or the pan-Asian agriculture focused Konohana. Your outfit changes depending on which you choose, and you can go back and forth between towns if you wish. Depending on the materials you collect, you can even gather a collection of alternative ensembles over the course of the game.
Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar (2008)
A very cute game with a European folky wooden shoes n' windmills "Sound of Music" aesthetic. It's interesting how even the bachelors and bachelorettes -- supposedly all of marriageable age -- look like elementary school kids. Then again, so to the male and female protagonists, both. This was actually my first HM game, where I was awakened to the harsh reality of having my first child within a month of marriage and then heading back to the fields the same day to work D:
