History YMMV / HarvestMoonBackToNature

* EnsembleDarkhorse:

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: For much of the early 2000s, ''Back to Nature'' was practically synonymous with the word "video game" in Indonesia. It was so popular that the country's fans produced a FanTranslation and even a number of ridiculous hacked versions or sprite edits. The game still maintains a dedicated following in Indonesia to this day. This is also in no small part thanks to UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 practical non-existence in Indonesian gaming market (In fact, Nintendo home consoles between NES and Wii were practically non-existent in Indonesia, with ownership limited to ''extremely few'' gamers/collectors), so many people don't even aware to the existence of original ''64'' version.

* FridgeHorror: In ''[=MFoMT=]'',, since Claire bought the farm from a newspaper ad, it implies that Jack (for [[RefusalOfTheCall one reason]] [[LockedOutOfTheLoop or another]]) never [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments took over the farm]] (which is a Fridge Tearjerker [[DyingAlone for the old man]]).

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: For much of the early 2000s, ''Back to Nature'' was practically synonymous with the word "video game" in Indonesia. It was so popular that the country's fans produced a FanTranslation and even a number of ridiculous hacked versions or sprite edits. The game still maintains a dedicated following in Indonesia to this day.

* PortingDisaster: Averted. The PSP port of both ''Harvest Moon: Back to Nature'' and ''Harvest Moon: Back to Nature for Girls'' was actually really well made. Marvelous cleverly addressed the lack of L2 and R2 button, and they even fixed up some glitches from the [=PS1=] games, such as the time freeze glitch.

** Not hated, but Mary isn't well liked compare to the other four bachelorettes due to her not being as attractive or quirky as the other four bachelorettes. It also doesn't help that she is paired up with Gray, arguably the most popular bachelor in the game.

* ContestedSequel: The topic of whether the ''64'' roles or ''Back to Nature'' ones are better is highly controversial. This largely comes down to what characterizations and roles the fan prefers.
* CommonKnowledge: Tell a casual Western ''Harvest Moon'' fan that the videogames were created by Victor/Marvelous. You'll be surprise by how many of them would say "no, it's made by Natsume". This created confusion upon ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsFriendsOfMineralTown'''s announcement.

* BrokenBase: To the point of basically inter-FandomRivalry. The topic of whether the ''64'' roles or ''Back to Nature'' ones are better is highly controversial.

* DieForOurShip: In fanfictions (both written and visual medium), it is not uncommon to see characters such as Ann, Rick or Kai being depicted badly to give way for their respective romantic rival (either PlayerCharacter Pete/Claire or just a self-insert OC)

* NarmCharm: It's actually a combination of Narm and Cliché Storm. Lillia's unknown illness is suppose to make us sympathize with her. However, her illness is just so ridiculous and over the top. We were told by the villagers that the illness is so bad that her husband had to leave town to look for a cure. The thing is they've never show us the bad effect of her illness. In fact, most people probably doesn't know she has an illness unless they pay attention to some character's specific dialogues.

* DieForOurShip: In fanfictions (both written and visual medium), it is not uncommon to see characters such as Ann, Rick or Kai being depicted badly to give way for their respective romantic rival (either PlayableCharacter Pete/Claire or just a self-insert OC)

* TakeThatScrappy: Many of Rick's random events involves him getting insulted or undermined by Popuri, Kai, Karen or Lillia. In one of his early rival events in ''Back to Nature'', he insults Kai during an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64yw7CoN9vo argument with Karen]], who calls him a "cad" in disgust.

* TakeThatScrappy: Many of Rick's random events involves him getting insulted or undermined by Popuri, Kai, Karen or Lillia. Furthermore, his early heart events in Harvest Moon Back to Nature have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64yw7CoN9vo Karen insulting him]] and call him a "cad".

* MostAnnoyingSound: When the game first came out, reviews often points out the opening soundtrack as being extremely annoying and grating. However, the hate has mostly died down over the years.

** A more recent example are the reactions to the cast's new character designs in the upcoming VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsFriendsOfMineralTown game. Some people like them just fine, others feel they're terrible and go against their established personalities (a common point of criticism against Karen and Rick). Some take issue with important parts of their original designs being taken away, such as Cliff's ponytail and Karen's boyish attire. Some characters had their designs changed completely, with many taking issue with the liberties being taken with Carter and Harris in particular. What's ironic about all of this is that the new designs were made by the original character design artist, Igusa Matsuyama, so the fandom is split on whether the new or old character designs were better.

* HilariousInHindsight: Show Gray the Blue Feather as Pete and he'll say "Don't you think that I'll like that! Well... [[AmbiguouslyBi maybe]]". In ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsFriendsOfMineralTown'', EveryoneIsBi and you can marry Gray as a male.

* SequelDisplacement: Marvelous all but [[CanonDiscontinuity booted]] ''64'' out of canon. Practically every cameo and reference to Karen, Popuri, Ann, and the other characters are their [=FOMT/BtN=] incarnations. Fans are much, much more acquainted with those games.

** It's rare but you will see fans arguing couples, such as Popuri/Kai vs Popuri/Gray vs Karen/Kai. It mostly comes down to "Which ships fit better?"

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The new character designs for the remake of ''Friends Of Mineral Town'' haven't exactly been well received by the fans.

* FridgeHorror: In ''More FoMT'',, since Claire bought the farm from a newspaper ad, it implies that Jack (for [[RefusalOfTheCall one reason]] [[LockedOutOfTheLoop or another]]) never [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments took over the farm]] (which is a Fridge Tearjerker [[DyingAlone for the old man]]).

** A more recent example are the reactions to the cast's new character designs in the upcoming ''Friends of Mineral Town'' remake. Some people like them just fine, others feel they're terrible and go against their established personalities (a common point of criticism against Karen and Rick). Some take issue with important parts of their original designs being taken away, such as Cliff's ponytail and Karen's boyish attire. Some characters had their designs changed completely, with many taking issue with the liberties being taken with Carter and Harris in particular. What's ironic about all of this is that the new designs were made by the original character design artist, Igusa Matsuyama, so the fandom is split on whether the new or old character designs were better.
* CommonKnowledge: Tell a casual Western ''Harvest Moon'' fan that the videogames were created by Victor/Marvelous. You'll be surprise by how many of them would say "no, it's made by Natsume". This created confusion upon ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsFriendOfMineralTown'''s announcement.

* TheWoobie:
** Cliff. The poor guy is shy, and is afraid to get close to people. He misses his family but can't return back to them for some dark reasons. One cutscene had him reminiscing about his family in the snow, and then fainting.
** May. Usually cheery and sweet, but this poor girl was abandoned by her mother at a very young age. She misses her everyday, and wishes that she'll come back to get her. In fact, one scene had her running away from the ranch only to be found at the beach waiting for her mother. Her mother never came back for her, but at least she became friends with Stu.
** Jeff, the supermarket owner, is one of the more extreme examples. Given his [[NiceGuy kind-hearted nature]], he is ''very'' prone to being taken advantage of. His family has been driven into debt as a result of Duke and other customers repeatedly buying items from him on credit without paying. Because Jeff never finds it in himself to object to it, he ends up as the subject of heavy criticism from his wife Sasha and daughter Karen [[ExtremeDoormat for being such a pushover]]. It has driven him into a near-constant state of depression to the point that he even gets ''stomachaches'' from it, causing him to spend most of his days off recovering at the Clinic.
** Not as extreme as the above examples, but Harris is kind of a woobie. He is in love with Aja (daughter of Manna and Duke), but due to Aja's fight with Duke, she left for the city leaving Harris behind. Years later, he still hasn't gotten over her.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: For much of the early 2000s, ''Back to Nature'' was practically synonymous with the word "video game" in Indonesia. It was so popular that the country produced a [[https://www.bagas31.info/2016/04/harvest-moon-back-nature-versi-indonesia.html locally translated version]] and even a number of ridiculous hacked versions. The game still maintains a dedicated following in Indonesia to this day.

* AbortedArc: The Red Mail Box located between the Supermarket and Hospital. Unlike the other decorations in the game, the mailbox can be interacted with the text "mother and father?” ("Where is this place?" in the girl version) instead of a generic "<insert name of the object>" text. It is unknown what its purpose is, but hacking shows that there is an unused "mail" sprite which means that the mailbox may originally have a role, but was scrapped during development.

* CommonKnowledge: Tell a casual Western ''Harvest Moon'' fan that the videogames were created by Victor/Marvelous. You'll be surprise by how many of them would say "no, it's made by Natsume".

* The [[DrinkingContest drink off]] between Duke and Karen in ''Friends of Mineral Town'', especially the aftermath with Manna berating Duke. You have to get Karen at green heart for it, but it's totally worth it.

* {{Flanderization}}: Popuri's childish trait definitely got exaggerated after every installment. ''64'' Popuri was friendly, selfless and a bit childish. ''BTN'' Popuri got even more childish to the point where she was a bit selfish. ''FOMT'' Popuri's childish got exaggerated yet again where she even attends the Pumpkin Festival (a festival for children). ''DS'' Popuri got her childish trait exaggerated even further.

*** The Teleport Stone. As it name implies, it allows the player to teleport to any location in the Mineral Town including the Winter Mine that is normally accessible only during winter. It is the best item one could find in the mines, however obtaining requires certain conditions and once those are met, it can found in the deepest part of Spring Mine, at level ''255''.