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Harvest Moon creator discusses inspiration, favorite entry in the series

by rawmeatcowboy
05 April 2012
GN Version 4.0
A portion of an IGN interview with Yasuhiro Wada...

IGN: What were your initial inspirations for creating the Harvest Moon franchise? It's a pretty unique concept, so how did that whole idea come about?

Wada: I grew up in the countryside [in Kyushu, Japan], and as a child I wanted to go outside - to go downtown! I found as I grew up I wanted to leave the countryside behind and go to Tokyo, go to the big city with all its excitement. But when I did go to the city, it wasn't as great as I had originally thought. Sort of a "the grass is always greener" situation. When I was in the city, I started reminiscing about what was good about where I came from, what made the countryside so special. That's where some of the key concepts for Harvest Moon came from.

IGN: What is your favorite game in the series?

Wada: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life for GameCube.

IGN: Why?

Wada: I want to live in that world! [laughs] The camera was different too. The world was created so that you could look at the sky and the water and such, which was never the case in previous Harvest Moon games. It allowed you to sort of put yourself in the characters shoes, like you lived there yourself.

Full interview here