Community member Duke makes a strong case for the Harvest Moon series.
The confusion around Story of Seasons and Harvest Moon explained.
BLG writes: "Farming sims come in so many different styles, versions and even systems. We have rounded up the best farming simulator games you can play now!"
VGChartz's Issa Maki: "In honor of our parents, neighbors, and compatriots past, let's examine Harvest Moon, the game that takes traditional notions of what RPGs are and turns them upside down. If you had tried to convince me that a farming simulator deserved a spot next to Final Fantasy VII, Diablo, Baldur's Gate, or even Pokémon circa 1998, I would have laughed. These days I pity that ignorance, but I can take my shame and use it as motivation for teaching others about having a more open mind."
This was a pretty cool read. The first HM game I played was on the GameBoy, so when I got HM64 I was overwhelmed by all of the things you could do. Since I never played the original title for the SNES everything except the basic elements seemed brand new and I've been playing them ever since.
I agree that they don't seem the same since the Game Cube titles, but I think the team got a shakeup, which is why they seem a little different. Overall, I think my favorite HM title of all of them is HM64, it's simple, but it's complex enough to make you want to work harder at achieving your goals. Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town was also kind of a port of the PS1 game HM:Back to Nature, which is number two on my list.