Though there are some who try to argue it’s just a glorified Farmville. It is so much more(and it came first!). Haters or not, the franchise has been going strong and releasing titles rather regularly throughout the years on a bunch of different platforms. Spin-offs like Hometown Story, Innocent Life, and, of course, the Rune Factory titles all of the success of this initial franchise to thank. The simple concept of a life simulation where you inherit a rundown farm and start a family may seem a tad boring. But there is something about this quiet game series that is rather charming. While the cutesy graphics and touching storylines play an important role here, I can’t ignore the soundtracks that play every step of the way. Today I’ll be ranking my top 10 favorite background songs, picked from every Harvest Moon game. Now there are a LOT of games so I’m going to limit it to one entry per title maximum.
10. Home Sweet Home (Harvest Moon 3D: The Lost Valley)
As you can imagine, homelife is a heavy theme. Harvest Moon is known for being rather pleasant and all-in-all the goal of the game is to have a happy life and help out the town. Questionable conversations and background stories aside, the game itself is relatively tame and upbeat. The music in the home is a great reflection of this general vice, and I find this version particularly uplifting. The simple music with some violin and flute accents really takes you back to those childhood stories with the cottages in a gorgeous forest.
9. Konohana Town (Tale of Two Towns)
The magic of this game is that you can interchange between two completely different villages. Hence the name. Aside from special advantages each town offered for different farming activities, they were designed as though from different continents. Bluebell, much like other installments, had a heavy European influence. And Konohana had a more Asian touch. The beautiful music helps set the scene and add to the atmosphere of both areas. If it wasn’t for that annoying bug in the 3DS game resulting in issues with saving and extensive play, this would have been one of the better Harvest Moon games.
8. Winter (Tree of Tranquility)
Winter themes of all games are generally my favorite. They are always so whimsical and pretty, and this song is no exception. It’s calm, relaxing, and really makes you feel like you just need to slow down and enjoy some cocoa by the fire. It goes very well with the graphics that accompany the in-game season change.
7. Dance of the Harvest Sprites (Harvest Moon DS)
Harvest Moon DS was arguably one of the best games in the series. This was the first of many Harvest Moon titles to be released to the DS and they made the most of it. While plots involving sprites and the Harvest Goddess are not unique to this game, I think they put some extra effort into the mechanics of it all. Along with the whole vibe, I think they put in a lot of thought into the music too. This one is especially great, quite cheerful and very festival-like.
6. Farm Theme (A Wonderful Life)
Now there are a lot of fun elements to AWL. People play it for many different reasons, and I have yet to meet a person thrilled to play a game where you get to engage in farm chores. Still, while the game isn’t entirely about milking cows and planting radishes, you will need to spend a lot of time farming. Having the right song is important. And I think this title nailed it as some of the older ones were almost headache inducing after a while. Not to mention in AWL you could actually collect records and change the songs! But you will hear a lot of this chipper song while doing your daily waterings and harvesting since it’s the default. This track helps make these monotonous tasks more therapeutic than tedious.
5. At the Bar (Save the Homeland)
Talk about painting the picture. This tune really captures the whole atmosphere of a rundown country bar. It’s slow and dreary, yet not overly depressing or threatening. Overall I really liked the scoring for this game in general as I think the quality level of the songs surpassed a lot of the other entries that came out even later. This is the kind of attention to detail I’d expect from a Harvest Moon title.
4. Town Theme (Back to Nature)
Want an epic song that makes you feel more like a warrior in a dungeon as opposed to a farmer? Then this is not your song. This is the track of what it feels like to live in a small town or a suburban neighborhood. And if you grew up in something like that, you probably relate a lot to this song from Back to Nature. Sure, there are some elements of Harvest Moon that stray beyond just living life. The whole goddess and sprites thing doesn’t really constitute an action fantasy atmosphere but it still fits in with this overall town’s design and style. Although this is a pretty laid-back song I think it’s still one of the better themes to capture the mood of the environment.
3. Fall Theme (Friends of Mineral Town/MFoMT)
This was my favorite title to date from Natsume. As a girl I finally got to marry one of the bachelors from the original series! The beat itself is pleasant and sets the scene and really makes me think of autumn. Granted I also really like the PS1 version of this song too, so I almost feel like this is tied with the other BTN track.
2. Opening (Harvest Moon SNES)
A real blast from the past, here’s a song that’s cheerful and nostalgia inducing. Although this was not my personal introduction into the series, this was the game that started it all for many gamers out there. The upbeat 8-bit music is exactly what you would expect from a beloved old-school SNES game. In my opinion, the entire OST from this title is the one most comparable to Stardew Valley. But this dates back decades and shows just how great the older music was.
1. Opening (Harvest Moon 64)
Nostalgia is always a big factor for me when I rate games. So I have to admit I am a little biased giving the top spot to a Harvest Moon 64 track. This intro is so iconic for every part of the game. We spent so long farming, raising cattle, and wooing the girl of our in-game dreams and taking every chat personally. The cheerful organ music complimented by that ever-so-recognizable tune always throws me back to when I first played. It took me a lot of cabbages to make it to this point! I was not disappointed by the obvious amount of effort game developers put into making such a brilliant song for their faming game. Especially considering how dating the Nintendo 64 is today, it’s amazing to still look back and appreciate the music.
