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Not to be outmooned, Natsume announces Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley for 3DS

Beating plowshares into swords

Not to be outmooned, Natsume announces Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley for 3DS

The Harvest Moon battlefront is shaping up to be a real barnburner, thanks to a surprising announcement from Natsume.

On Tuesday, Natsume said it would release a new game - Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley - exclusively for the 3DS later this year.

This is super - and possibly duper - surprising for those who obsessively follow news of handheld farming sims, since Xseed Games recently announced that it would publish the next Harvest Moon game in North America as Story of Seasons.

Moon Madness

So far, we don't know much about Natsume's Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley past that it'll "innovate in a way that no Harvest Moon game ever has" - and that it's aimed long-time fans of the franchise and newcomers alike.

More interestingly, Natsume promises to bring the role-playing farm similar into a fully three-dimensional setting for the first time and that it will offer players a fully customizable world to shape as they see fit.

Using a rather Eurocentric example, Natsume said players could create anything from "a field full of tulips like you might see in Holland, to a valley filled with water like Venice,"

Two games, one moon

Let's recap.

The upcoming Harvest Moon game we first heard about in October is still coming to the US via Xseed as Story of Seasons. Meanwhile, Natsume - who apparently still owns the rights to the franchise name - is releasing what appears to be an internally-developed game called Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley independent of SoS.

Confused yet?

Don't be! Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley will be on offer at E3, and we'll be sure to check it out for you.

Matthew Diener
Matthew Diener
Representing the former colonies, Matt keeps the Pocket Gamer news feed updated when sleepy Europeans are sleeping. As a frustrated journalist, diehard gamer and recovering MMO addict, this is pretty much his dream job.