Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley is the first title in the long-running series to be developed in-house at Natsume, now that Marvelous Interactive is continuing the original series with publisher XSEED and under a different title.
Natsume seems to be differentiating their take with a very Minecraft-esque terrain editing, grid-like setup, while keeping the staples of the Harvest Moon formula intact. From what I've heard some of the more tedious elements of the series have been refined in this new entry, which will make it more attractive to newcomers.
To be honest I haven't played a new Harvest Moon game in many years, just because like any RPG they require an enormous time investment. Lost Valley might just get me back into the groove, however.
