Hometown Story

For the Folks song, see Hometown Story (song).
Hometown Story

Developer(s) Toybox Inc.
Publisher(s)
Designer(s) Yasuhiro Wada
Artist(s) Atsuko Nishida
Composer(s) Nobuo Uematsu[2]
Tsutomu Narita
Platform(s) Nintendo 3DS, iOS
Release date(s) 3DS
  • NA October 22, 2013
  • JP December 12, 2013

IOS

Genre(s) Simulation, role-playing video game
Mode(s) Single-player
Distribution Nintendo 3DS Game Card, Digital download

Hometown Story (ホームタウンストーリー Hōmutaun Sutōrī) is a 2013 life-simulation video game for the Nintendo 3DS created by Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada, developed and published by Toybox Inc. and distributed by Natsume for North America and Rising Star Games for Europe.[4]

Development

The game originally went under the codename of "Project Happiness" and was described as being a game to spread happiness. Wada has stated that the game will take place within the Harvest Moon universe, but will be an overall different experience.[5] The game was released for the Nintendo 3DS and iOS in 2013, but the iOS version doesn't include the entire content of the game, because Wada wanted it to be a more compact experience.[6][7][8] The game was released on October 22, 2013 in North America.[9] Rising Star Games published the game in Europe May 2014, as the creator Yasuhiro Wada confirmed during the Gamescom.[10] It was featured at E3 2013.[2]

Gameplay

The main character is in charge of running a shop inherited from their deceased grandmother. The player is capable of arranging and stocking the shelves of their shop to their preference and can eventually expand on the size of the shop. In a similar vein to the Harvest Moon series the player is able to interact and befriend various townspeople. The town that the player resides in will consist of ten people at first and eventually build its way to one hundred non-player characters that the player can meet depending on their actions over the course of the story.[11]

Reception

IGN gave the game a 5.0 out of 10, praising the graphics and soundtrack, but noting that the unclear conditions to unlock cutscenes are frustrating, as well as the controls.[12] The Metacritic score was 49 out of 100.[13]

References

  1. ↑ ""PROJECT HAPPINESS" OFFICIALLY NAMED HOMETOWN STORY". Rising Star Games. 2013-03-12. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Natsume’s Hometown Story Available For Play At E3" (PDF). Natsume. 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  3. ↑ http://www.everybodyplays.co.uk/news/Wii/Free-Pokemon-downloads-for-X-and-Y-Hometown-Storys-release-date-and-Video-Games-Live-Returns/1650
  4. ↑ "Harvest Moon Creator’s Next Game Is Hometown Story". siliconera.com. Retrieved 3 January 2014. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  5. ↑ Lopez, Jacob (2012-06-07). "Harvest Moon creator wants to spread happiness with his new game". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  6. ↑ "'Project Happiness' Becomes 'Hometown Story,' Totally Coming This Year". toucharcade. 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  7. ↑ Cocke, Taylor (2013-03-12). "Hometown Story is Harvest Moon Creator’s New Game". IGN. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  8. ↑ "Harvest Moon creator's Hometown Story is coming to iOS but with IAPs and less content". pocketgamer.co.uk. 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  9. ↑ "Hometown Story by Natsume Inc.".
  10. ↑ "Gamescom 2013: Hometown Story - Yasuhiro Wada Interview".
  11. ↑ Skrebels, Joe. "Hometown Story preview". Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Nothing to Write Home About.". IGN. 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  13. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/3ds/hometown-story

External links