I grew up with the original Harvest Moon for SNES-- pretty much played every single one after. To this day I would go back and play the GBA version for a few hours every year, if only to remember good times.

I have to say, that I really did not know about this game until today, when it was released. I saw a lot of chatter about how it was like Harvest Moon and that if you enjoyed that, than this would be up your ally.

Within the first 10 minutes, I seriously wanted to cry from nostalgia. This game is... everything I could ever want. The developer did an amazing job. Any fan of old school NES games will love this game. The art, the music, the sound effects, the dialogue-- I mean, this is a masterpiece. I'm a few hours in, and I don't want to stop. I want to quit my job, regress 20 years, and be a kid again. The thing is, the story is not a kid's story. It deals with adult stuff, like the loss of community, the Sisyphean struggle that is our society, and more. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that.

My friend told me the story about how Harvest Moon inspired him to start his own garden when he was a kid. That lasted like 6 hours of work, and he abandoned it. With Stardew, I'm afraid I might spend a few years trying to start a farm-- it has quite the impact.

The RPG elements of Harvest Moon have been expanded, there is combat, crafting, homebuilding, relationships... It's got it all. For $15, I feel like I am robbing this guy. It could be $40, and I'd tell you that you were crazy for sleeping on it. If you are on the fence, just pull the trigger, because honestly, a game like this is once in a few years.