Interview with Taka Maekawa of Natsume Inc. (Producer of Harvest Moon : Light of Hope)
Recently I was granted an amazing opportunity to ask a few questions to Natsume, the guys and gals behind the Harvest Moon franchise here in the US. Ultimately, my questions were passed on to and answered by Taka Maekawa, the producer of the game, and I'm here to share with you what he had to say.
HG : First off, I would like to thank you for allowing me to talk to you guys a little bit about the upcoming release of Harvest Moon: Light of Hope.
Taka : Thanks for reaching out to us!
HG : This game is the first one since Natsume gained exclusivity over the Harvest Moon title that will be released on a home console, rather than on the DS, 3DS or mobile app. How was it building the game for console in comparison? Were there any more freedoms or difficulties?
Taka : It was a bit challenging to make sure the game was optimized to all the different kinds of PCs. Not only spec wise, but testing with multiple game pads, virus software, hardware, and the like.
As for the game design, to be honest, I didn’t have trouble since Harvest Moon already has an established world, and as Light of Hope focused on the 20th anniversary aspect, what I wanted to do was clear.
HG : What can we expect to see (obviously without giving too much away) in the new game? What sort of old returning features? Any new ones?
Taka : There are variety of things that the player will see, both new and old. In Light of Hope, the player is tasked with rebuilding the mysterious lighthouse to revive the island.
There's also the new Farming Friend feature, which gives players a good, clear image of what they need to do to grow their crops, and also whether the crops that are currently growing will be new ones.
And due to many demands from fans, the Dog Racing festival has returned!
Of course, there's always the old Harvest Moon standby of making your own farm, befriending people, romance, and starting a family.
HG : Light of Hope is also coming to two new platforms: the PlayStation 4 and PC. Was there any particular reason for the branching out, such as fan demand?
Taka : Fan demand is one of the reasons, because we always try to listen to our fans. Another reason is simply because Light of Hope was never released on these platforms, so I really wanted to see them on there.
HG : Last question. Are there plans to continue releasing on other platforms? Or will Light of Hope be a sort of testing the waters?
Taka : We don't have any concrete plans at this point of time, but we'd definitely like to release the game to as many players as possible!
Harvest Moon : Light of Hope is already out on PS4 and Steam, and Switch players can expect to get blisters on their hands from all the farming in Early 2018. Thank you once again Natsume Inc for letting me talk to you, and Taka Maekawa for taking some time to answer my questions.
HG : First off, I would like to thank you for allowing me to talk to you guys a little bit about the upcoming release of Harvest Moon: Light of Hope.
Taka : Thanks for reaching out to us!
HG : This game is the first one since Natsume gained exclusivity over the Harvest Moon title that will be released on a home console, rather than on the DS, 3DS or mobile app. How was it building the game for console in comparison? Were there any more freedoms or difficulties?
Taka : It was a bit challenging to make sure the game was optimized to all the different kinds of PCs. Not only spec wise, but testing with multiple game pads, virus software, hardware, and the like.
As for the game design, to be honest, I didn’t have trouble since Harvest Moon already has an established world, and as Light of Hope focused on the 20th anniversary aspect, what I wanted to do was clear.
HG : What can we expect to see (obviously without giving too much away) in the new game? What sort of old returning features? Any new ones?
Taka : There are variety of things that the player will see, both new and old. In Light of Hope, the player is tasked with rebuilding the mysterious lighthouse to revive the island.
There's also the new Farming Friend feature, which gives players a good, clear image of what they need to do to grow their crops, and also whether the crops that are currently growing will be new ones.
And due to many demands from fans, the Dog Racing festival has returned!
Of course, there's always the old Harvest Moon standby of making your own farm, befriending people, romance, and starting a family.
HG : Light of Hope is also coming to two new platforms: the PlayStation 4 and PC. Was there any particular reason for the branching out, such as fan demand?
Taka : Fan demand is one of the reasons, because we always try to listen to our fans. Another reason is simply because Light of Hope was never released on these platforms, so I really wanted to see them on there.
HG : Last question. Are there plans to continue releasing on other platforms? Or will Light of Hope be a sort of testing the waters?
Taka : We don't have any concrete plans at this point of time, but we'd definitely like to release the game to as many players as possible!
Harvest Moon : Light of Hope is already out on PS4 and Steam, and Switch players can expect to get blisters on their hands from all the farming in Early 2018. Thank you once again Natsume Inc for letting me talk to you, and Taka Maekawa for taking some time to answer my questions.
