Hometown Story to be Playable at E3

Yasuhiro Wada, the man responsible for the Harvest Moon series, is bringing a brand new title to E3 this year. There have been Harvest Moon spin-offs in the past – such as Rune Factory – but this latest title moves away from the agricultural roots of that series, and moves into the commercial world of shop-keeping.

Polygon have reported that Wada will present the game for a hands on at E3 next month, where people will get their first real taste of the title. Hometown Story concerns a protagonist who inherits a shop from their Grandmother, and must move back to their hometown in order to run the shop. The game has been confirmed to be a part of the regular Harvest Moon universe, but obviously will contain some different gameplay mechanics as you must run your shop and see your backstory unfold, as the character interactions that the series is famous for will be at the forefront of the game.

The game is being developed by Wada’s own studio, Toybox, and famed Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu will score the title, along with character design from Pikachu creator Atsuko Nishida. This sounds like somewhat of a Japanese gaming dream team, and it is good to see the Harvest Moon universe moving in new directions – although the game seems to have kept its signature style. Only time will tell if this spin-off will gain anywhere near the cult following that the main series garners.

See the latest trailer below: