Animal Crossing is one of the fastest-selling games of all times, Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons has been around since the SNES. The games have a lot in common; move into a new town, make friends with your neighbors, and help the town develop. The games are paced differently though as Animal Crossing is meant to be played daily, while Harvest Moon can be binged played.
Both games also take hours of in-game playtime to “beat,” which is really just the point that the player feels like they have been satisfied with their progress. Below are five things that each game does better than the other.
10 Animal Crossing: Decoration
Both games allow you to have a house, and in some Harvest Moon titles, you can even buy furniture. With that being said, Animal Crossing is the clear winner here as there is just so much more customization available. Everything from your exterior look to the bed you sleep in can be chosen.
There are even options for making your own in-game patterns.
9 Harvest Moon: Marriage
One thing that is hugely lacking in Animal Crossing is any romantic narrative. Harvest Moon has an intricate relationship system, and each game features a list of possible partners for you to choose from. You can date all the characters until you decide which ones you want to marry.
Once you get married, they will move in with you, and in some games, you can even have a baby.
8 Animal Crossing: Events
While Harvest Moon has pre-programmed events, they never really change or get new events added in. Animal Crossing, on the other hand, is constantly having events added in. Not only this, but Nintendo constantly sends out special items for players to decorate their house with.
In terms of keeping the game fresh with events, Animal Crossing is the clear winner.
7 Harvest Moon: Heart Events
One of the best parts of playing Harvest Moon is reaching the heart events. All the dateable members will have heart events and their often sweet cut-scenes that can make you fall in love faster. The heart events are hard to achieve, but when your gifting pays off, it is totally worth it.
Animal Crossing, on the other hand, has no deep scenes with your neighbors.
6 Animal Crossing: Museum Collecting
If you love the feel of having a complete collection, then bug, fish, fossils, and art collecting is probably for you. Animal Crossing allows you to hunt down specimens at all times of the day. The available bugs and fish will even change with the time of day, the month, and even the season.
This keeps you playing for longer in order to complete your collection.
5 Harvest Moon: The Townsfolk
The neighbors in Animal Crossing can feel a bit repetitive at times. While they all have a different personality, they will often end up repeating the same lines as others. You also want to get much substance out of them, other than the occasional forgotten item quest or finding them in another neighbors house.
This can make your neighbors become more of an aesthetic than actual characters.
4 Animal Crossing: The Variety of Neighbors
Everyone knows that Harvest Moon towns aren’t going to have a huge number of people as they are all fleshed out. Animal Crossing, on the other hand, has hundreds of animals to choose from, all with different looks. They even regularly move out and in giving you a new face to meet.
This can be refreshing for players that love to change things up.
3 Harvest Moon: The Farming
Yes, you can grow plants in Animal Crossing, but not a whole farm. Farming in Harvest Moon allows you to make tons of money, win contests, and even breed animals. This gives you a ton of different things to do each day in-game and a sense of satisfaction when your crops earn you money.
Animal Crossing has turnips, but they just don’t feel the same.
2 Animal Crossing: Playing With Friends
One of the biggest pulls of Animal Crossing right now is the fact that you can play with friends. You can play with people that are sitting right next to you, your online friends, or even visit complete strangers for fruit. There are even tons of made-up games and online trading for players to do.
Harvest Moon has no co-op mode whatsoever.
1 Harvest Moon: Multiple Save Files
One of the biggest things that Animal Crossing is missing is multiple islands and save files. In Harvest Moon, you can have up to three save files giving everyone their own character and town. There is no competing over land resources or fossils. You also won’t have to worry about your partner fighting with you on decorations.
Just start your own file and play the way you see fit.
NEXT: Animal Crossing: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Pietro
