Character Exploration Thread - Day 79: Axel Stone (Streets of Rage)

[chocolatejr9]

Alright, here we go:

Day 15 - Farmer
Day 16 - Agumon
Day 17 - Masked Man
Day 18 - Jace
Day 19 - Pyramid Head
Day 20 - Miriam
Day 21 - Ayumi Tachibana

Starting off the new week, we have the Farmer from Story of Seasons!
View attachment 316902

So first question, what is Story of Seasons? What's it all about?

Nomination: Amiya x10

Would that pitchfork be his weapon? Because that thought kinda scares me...

Nominations: Freddy Fazbear x15

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Alright, here we go:

Day 15 - Farmer
Day 16 - Agumon
Day 17 - Masked Man
Day 18 - Jace
Day 19 - Pyramid Head
Day 20 - Miriam
Day 21 - Ayumi Tachibana

Starting off the new week, we have the Farmer from Story of Seasons!
View attachment 316902

So first question, what is Story of Seasons? What's it all about?

Nomination: Amiya x10

Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons is a farm simulator, if you've ever heard of Stardew Valley, it's that

 

[Yiptap]

I'm a sucker for stages, so what stage would Farmer come with?

 

[Technomage]

One gimmick I've come up with for the Farmer is a Special where he either tills a spot with his hoe, tosses seeds onto the tilled spot, waters the seeded spot to make the crop grow, or harvests the crop when it's matured (which action he performs depends on whether the spot is tilled and what stage the spot is in). He could be able to till multiple spots at once. One of the crops he could plant is a chili pepper plant, which grants him the spicy curry status after harvest. Any other ideas?

 

[Pillow]

Really spicy lineup of characters this week, I'm a big fan.

One gimmick I've come up with for the Farmer is a Special where he either tills a spot with his hoe, tosses seeds onto the tilled spot, waters the seeded spot to make the crop grow, or harvests the crop when it's matured (which action he performs depends on whether the spot is tilled and what stage the spot is in). He could be able to till multiple spots at once. One of the crops he could plant is a chili pepper plant, which grants him the spicy curry status after harvest. Any other ideas?

Mind you I've never played Story of Seasons, but I've played Harvest Moon and Stardew (which are I think essentially the same sort of games?) and I do think some sort of farming mechanic would definitely be cool to see and something that could easily make this character set himself apart against Smash's diverse cast.

I like the idea you have here about the seeds. Maybe some sort of seed menu system like what Hero has, but without any RNG (like 5 different plants to pick from) which he plants then another special that functions like Villager's watering can to grow the crops.


Noms:
x5 Hearthstone Innkeeper

 

[Technomage]

Really spicy lineup of characters this week, I'm a big fan.



Mind you I've never played Story of Seasons, but I've played Harvest Moon and Stardew (which are I think essentially the same sort of games?) and I do think some sort of farming mechanic would definitely be cool to see and something that could easily make this character set himself apart against Smash's diverse cast.

I like the idea you have here about the seeds. Maybe some sort of seed menu system like what Hero has, but without any RNG (like 5 different plants to pick from) which he plants then another special that functions like Villager's watering can to grow the crops.


Noms:
x5 Hearthstone Innkeeper

Thanks! ^^

Now, what 4 other seeds would be great and what would their effects be?

 

[Pillow]

Thanks! ^^

Now, what 4 other seeds would be great and what would their effects be?

Honestly, there's so many crops to pick from any could really work (at least from what I googled). Ideally they'd all serve different a different purpose in the moveset though, with diversity being the character's biggest strength.

I also think farm animals should be implemented in some way into the moveset (I think the cow is kind of the series mascot?). While he's use his farming tool for a lot of his normal attacks, I could also see him swinging a chicken around as a club for aerials, or him riding on the cow for dash attack / side B.

 

[Technomage]

Honestly, there's so many crops to pick from any could really work (at least from what I googled). Ideally they'd all serve different a different purpose in the moveset though, with diversity being the character's biggest strength.

I also think farm animals should be implemented in some way into the moveset (I think the cow is kind of the series mascot?). While he's use his farming tool for a lot of his normal attacks, I could also see him swinging a chicken around as a club for aerials, or him riding on the cow for dash attack / side B.

Yeah, those, too! I would love to see him get a move where a chicken ****s eggs on opponents, since that'd make me laugh. XD

 

[PeridotGX]

What could an Assist Trophy be?

 

[Perkilator]

I'd rather not talk about the whole legal situation with this series. Someone here might be able to explain it better than I can.

Noms:
Crash Bandicoot ×5

 

[Technomage]

Yeah, those, too! I would love to see him get a move where a chicken ****s eggs on opponents, since that'd make me laugh. XD

Maybe a horse that tramples on opponents?

 

[SharkLord]

Honestly, there's so many crops to pick from any could really work (at least from what I googled). Ideally they'd all serve different a different purpose in the moveset though, with diversity being the character's biggest strength.

I also think farm animals should be implemented in some way into the moveset (I think the cow is kind of the series mascot?). While he's use his farming tool for a lot of his normal attacks, I could also see him swinging a chicken around as a club for aerials, or him riding on the cow for dash attack / side B.

So basically this is what I'm getting out of here

 

[GolisoPower]

I honestly do not know about Story of Seasons other than it's a feel-good game in the same vein as Animal Crossing. Though the idea you guys present is really fun to read through, the concept of farming mechanics in Smash Bros sounds like something I could get used to. Maybe it could be a Special that directly affects the shape of the stage, kind of like Steve's Neutral B. As for livestock, maybe it'd be a Down B and Shield B put together where resources can be used to your advantage? Like, say, Chickens lay eggs for you to throw at opponents, Cows generate milk for you to drink and heal yourself, etc.

Noms:
Chosen Undead x10

 

[Technomage]

Cows generate milk for you to drink and heal yourself

Now we gotta figure out how to make that not-overpowered.

 

[Pillow]

So basically this is what I'm getting out of here

Yeah but with even more comedic animal abuse! The Farmer has alpacas, sheep, rabbits...the whole gang

 

[GolisoPower]

Now we gotta figure out how to make that not-overpowered.

Since cows are rather large in comparison to other livestock...perhaps the healing's great in bursts but it takes the longest amount of time to regenerate before you can collect it? Or there's a timer where it'll disappear after a few seconds because it gets spoiled?

 

[amageish]

I'd rather not talk about the whole legal situation with this series. Someone here might be able to explain it better than I can.

Yeah, sure, I'll take that on.

In Japan, Bokujo Monogatari is a super influential and historical franchise developed by Marvelous. It's the original farming sim, as one of the original life sim games in general, and went on to inspire/influence a metric tonne of franchise (including things like Animal Crossing) and has a pretty hefty spin-off franchise in the form of Rune Factory. It's all one big happy farm sim family.

In English, this franchise was called Harvest Moon and localized by Natsume from 1996 to 2013. In 2014, Marvelous took over localizing the games themselves through their new-ish-at-the-time subsidiary XSeed. In this shift, Marvelous didn't get to keep the brand name "Harvest Moon" and so the Bokujo Monogatari IP got renamed "Story of Seasons" in the west. Confusingly, Natsume took this as an opportunity to develop their own games using the "Harvest Moon" brand name, most of which are poorly-received and are largely confined to releasing in America/Europe.

That said, Marvelous/XSeed still own everything about the Bokujo Monogatari IP. They own all the music, assets, models, characters, etc. They just don't own Natsume's localizations and the actual name "Harvest Moon."

What could an Assist Trophy be?

Witch Princess and Harvest Goddess are probably the most reoccuring characters that would merit that status?

I guess I will post my Farmer moveset, made using this template. My version of Farmer has a unique fighter ability called "A Story of Seasons," where they cycle through the seasons as they take damage.

Spoiler: Moveset

Funnily enough, I only had one animal in the specials haha. We do have some crops with Steve-esque placement and the completely-silly idea of debuffing opponents by giving them flowers so they don't want to fight you though!

 

[Gengar84]

I can’t say that I’ve ever played a farming simulation game but the ideas presented here so far seem pretty interesting. He seems like he might end up having a lot in common with Villager, being based on a peaceful, non fighting simulation so that would be cool.

My first question is what kind of music does the game have? I’m always a sucker for a great soundtrack and I imagine the game probably has some nice, relaxing songs.

x10 Magus (Chrono Trigger)
x10 Sarah Kerrigan

 

[Technomage]

I can’t say that I’ve ever played a farming simulation game but the ideas presented here so far seem pretty interesting. He seems like he might end up having a lot in common with Villager, being based on a peaceful, non fighting simulation so that would be cool.

My first question is what kind of music does the game have? I’m always a sucker for a great soundtrack and I imagine the game probably has some nice, relaxing songs.

x15 Magus
x5 Sarah Kerrigan

One song I'd like to see is the Windswept Falls theme from Story of Seasons Pioneers of Oliver Town and Harvest Moon A New Beginning:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Makes me feel nostalgic. ^^

Also, Aquaticus/Aquameleon Battle Theme from Rune Factory:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[Gengar84]

One song I'd like to see is the Windswept Falls theme from Story of Seasons Pioneers of Oliver Town and Harvest Moon A New Beginning:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Makes me feel nostalgic. ^^

Also, Aquaticus/Aquameleon Battle Theme from Rune Factory:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

I like that battle theme, it’s really catchy. I wasn’t picturing the series to even have battles. How is Rune Factory related to Harvest Moon and Season of Stories? Are they all part of the same universe?

 

[Technomage]

I like that battle theme, it’s really catchy. I wasn’t picturing the series to even have battles. How is Rune Factory related to Harvest Moon and Season of Stories? Are they all part of the same universe?

Not really, since Rune Factory has monsters, while HM and SoS don't; the closest Harvest Moon has to monsters are those molemen you bonk in the mining caves in Pioneers of Olive Town, since they do attack you.

Not to mention they have different laws of physics.

 

[Paraster]

Noms: Neku x10

I actually thought this was the Farmer from Stardew Valley when I first saw this on the list.

Speaking of which, how much would an SoS farmer differ from an SV farmer in moveset?

Also, I'm curious as to what the spirits from Story of Seasons would be?

 

[Technomage]

Noms: Neku x10

I actually thought this was the Farmer from Stardew Valley when I first saw this on the list.

Speaking of which, how much would an SoS farmer differ from an SV farmer in moveset?

Also, I'm curious as to what the spirits from Story of Seasons would be?

Let's see...

Counting only SoS spirits:

Cow and Chicken (no, not the cartoon)
Horse
Cat and Dog
Dunhill from A New Beginning (he's one of the characters who returned in Pioneers of Olive Town)
Neil (another returning guy from A New Beginning)
Victor (the mayor of Olive Town, and the guy you most frequently talk to for story progression)

If Rune Factory spirits count:

Lest and Frey (the main protags of RF4)
Ethelberd (the main villain from RF 1 and 4)
Ventuswill (the main dragon of RF 4)
Porcoline (the funny chef from RF 4)

 

[amageish]

I like that battle theme, it’s really catchy. I wasn’t picturing the series to even have battles. How is Rune Factory related to Harvest Moon and Season of Stories? Are they all part of the same universe?

Rune Factory is a spin-off of HM/SoS, to the point of the original game being called "Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon" (Rūn Fakutorī: Shin Bokujō Monogatari in Japanese). It is conceived of as "Harvest Moon, but with a sword" and is a fusion with dungeon-crawling JRPGs. The upcoming/just-released-in-Japan Rune Factory 5 is actually made by the main Story of Seasons dev team, with Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town having been outsourced.

Story of Seasons and Rune Factory both take place in a series of vaguely-connected AUs, in that characters will often reappear with the same core personalities, yet make no or little acknowledgement of their previous appearances. There are some exceptions to this (ex/ Rune Factory Frontier is a direct-ish sequel to Rune Factory), but that's how the series generally operates.

This also can lead to some very confusing parallel development with characters like Maria/Mary/Marie all having probably been one person at one point, but Maria and Mary are now two distinct people (with Marie being Mary's name post-Natsume/Marvelous split).

Noms: Neku x10

I actually thought this was the Farmer from Stardew Valley when I first saw this on the list.

Speaking of which, how much would an SoS farmer differ from an SV farmer in moveset?

Also, I'm curious as to what the spirits from Story of Seasons would be?

I mean, Stardew Valley is very transparently inspired by the original SNES Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is very transparently influenced by Stardew Valley, so there's very little that is Stardew-exclusive apart from the broad concept of swords and the specific magical creatures that appear in Stardew.... Story of Seasons has more potential to draw from just due to being a long-running series with a lot of games with unique mechanics (ex/ some games have a camera minigame or a bug-catching game or a farmer's market selling minigame, etc etc)....

That said, I don't think they'd differ that much in terms of things that would actually make it into a moveset. The biggest difference I can think of is that the magical beings in the Story of Seasons franchise are generally more interventionist then in Stardew. Like, in Stardew, you kind of have to seek them out, while the SoS Harvest Goddess regularly interrupts gameplay to chat with you about how many vegetables you've recently harvested. So, I think the Goddess and/or her sprites would be more likely to be in a SoS Farmer kit then the odds of Junimos showing up for a SV Farmer.

I imagine spirits would just be a bunch of animals, some gods, and then some villagers. It kind of depends on how wide they make the scope. I don't know if they'd be focusing on PoOT as it's new or FoMT as it is the second-newest and also a remake of one of the most beloved games in the franchise featuring some of the most reoccuring characters in the franchise....

On that note, what Farmer designs would people like to see? Here's a list of the Farmers for those unfamiliar.

 

[Paraster]

On that note, what Farmer designs would people like to see? Here's a list of the Farmers for those unfamiliar.

Based purely on design (I've never played any of this series myself), I'd go for...
Male: Pete, Kasey, Phillip, Johnny
Female: Sara, Chelsea, Angela, Holly

 

[Technomage]

Rune Factory is a spin-off of HM/SoS, to the point of the original game being called "Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon" (Rūn Fakutorī: Shin Bokujō Monogatari in Japanese). It is conceived of as "Harvest Moon, but with a sword" and is a fusion with dungeon-crawling JRPGs. The upcoming/just-released-in-Japan Rune Factory 5 is actually made by the main Story of Seasons dev team, with Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town having been outsourced.

Story of Seasons and Rune Factory both take place in a series of vaguely-connected AUs, in that characters will often reappear with the same core personalities, yet make no or little acknowledgement of their previous appearances. There are some exceptions to this (ex/ Rune Factory Frontier is a direct-ish sequel to Rune Factory), but that's how the series generally operates.

This also can lead to some very confusing parallel development with characters like Maria/Mary/Marie all having probably been one person at one point, but Maria and Mary are now two distinct people (with Marie being Mary's name post-Natsume/Marvelous split).



I mean, Stardew Valley is very transparently inspired by the original SNES Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is very transparently influenced by Stardew Valley, so there's very little that is Stardew-exclusive apart from the broad concept of swords and the specific magical creatures that appear in Stardew.... Story of Seasons has more potential to draw from just due to being a long-running series with a lot of games with unique mechanics (ex/ some games have a camera minigame or a bug-catching game or a farmer's market selling minigame, etc etc)....

That said, I don't think they'd differ that much in terms of things that would actually make it into a moveset. The biggest difference I can think of is that the magical beings in the Story of Seasons franchise are generally more interventionist then in Stardew. Like, in Stardew, you kind of have to seek them out, while the SoS Harvest Goddess regularly interrupts gameplay to chat with you about how many vegetables you've recently harvested. So, I think the Goddess and/or her sprites would be more likely to be in a SoS Farmer kit then the odds of Junimos showing up for a SV Farmer.

I imagine spirits would just be a bunch of animals, some gods, and then some villagers. It kind of depends on how wide they make the scope. I don't know if they'd be focusing on PoOT as it's new or FoMT as it is the second-newest and also a remake of one of the most beloved games in the franchise featuring some of the most reoccuring characters in the franchise....

On that note, what Farmer designs would people like to see? Here's a list of the Farmers for those unfamiliar.

I think at least one of them should be the OG Farmer. As for others, I do like the designs of Rachel and the Olive Town protag.

Also, I didn't know the HM and RF universes are connected; I guess there's still a lot for me to learn, huh?

 

[amageish]

Based purely on design (I've never played any of this series myself), I'd go for...
Male: Pete, Kasey, Phillip, Johnny
Female: Sara, Chelsea, Angela, Holly

This is a very funny list without context, but I like it! Chelsea's one of my faves too.

I think at least one of them should be the OG Farmer. As for others, I do like the designs of Rachel and the Olive Town protag.

Also, I didn't know the HM and RF universes are connected; I guess there's still a lot for me to learn, huh?

Yeah, Pete seems obligatory no matter what. I imagine Claire would be too, but they've been more inconsistent with her versus Sara as Pete's true parallel. Claire also technically debuted in a manga, but, uh, I doubt that'd be disqualifying when she's been in so many games.

They aren't directly connected outside of Easter Eggs, but I'd say they share in the SoS multiverse as the Fantasy parallel to Innocent Life... expect, you know, Rune Factory was actually good.

 

[Technomage]

Okay, have we talked about Mii costumes that could come with the Farmer? Some could include the animal costumes you can get as DLC in the SoS games, Rune Factory characters, other (unused) Farmer designs (as in not used in the fighter farmer's costume repetoire), etc.

 

[amageish]

Okay, have we talked about Mii costumes that could come with the Farmer? Some could include the animal costumes you can get as DLC in the SoS games, Rune Factory characters, other (unused) Farmer designs (as in not used in the fighter farmer's costume repetoire), etc.

My goodness; I hadn't thought about a casual dogsuit Mii Costume lol.

Raguna (or the RF5 protagonists) as a Mii Costume would make sense, as would some of the sword-using or brawlling NPCs from that. I could maybe see the Witch Princess with her staff as a swordfighter too?

Beyond that, Asuka with a longer skirt as a brawler would make sense if they were looking at Marvelous' wider catalogue...

Noms: Cadence x 10

 

[Commander_Alph]

I feel like it's kinda ironic that with Smash glorifying SNES and NES game Harvest Moon never really pop out in people's mind and instead it's the usual "game so difficult you want pull your hairs out" and like someone mentioned before Harvest Moon is much more influential and still a long running series. Why is that? Maybe because we have Villager?

(Also, how many noms do I have again? Considering I skip like 2 days I feel like I'm at zero)

 

[chocolatejr9]

Would they be willing to reference that one spinoff? The one that was called a "futuristic Harvest Moon"?

 

[Commander_Alph]

Also, I made this spirit battle for the Bachelor and Bachelorette in that hypothetical Smash thread

HARVEST MOON: FRIENDS OF MINERAL TOWN
Bachelorette ​	Type: Support Defense Rank: Ace Effect: Critical Health Healing	Opponent (left to right): [Yellow] (Ran) [Green] (Popuri) [Purple] (Marie) [White] (Karen) [White] (Elly) Conditions: The enemy is easily distracted by items Food Cuckoo The enemy will heal overtime Your defense is decreased Stage: Smashville Music: Plaza/Title Theme - City Folk/Wild World
Bachelor ​	Type: Support Attack Rank: Ace Effect: Critical Hit ↑	Opponents (left to right): [Shujin White] (Rick) [Green] (Doctor) [Green] (Kai) [Advent Purple] (Gray) [Yellow] (Cliff) Conditions: The enemy is hard to launch The enemy's attack and defense is increased when the enemy is at high damage Stage: Town and City Music: Kakariko Village (The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past) (Remix)

(Don't mind the addition of Isaac there as a fighter everyone tend to not use the new character for the spirit battle so I do this myself out of spite)

 

[Dan Quixote]

Noms go to Black Mage yet again!

So I'm seeing a lot of comparisons to Stardew Valley in this thread which makes some sense, but what about comparing Story of Seasons to a far more pressing Smash-related series, Animal Crossing? I'm sure it's not difficult to make the Farmer's actual moveset totally different from Villager's, but is that enough? What would Story of Seasons bring in stage, music, and even just general aesthetic that would make it stand apart from the Animal Crossing representation that we already have?

 

[Yiptap]

Crud, I forgot to nominate a character. All noms to Filia (Skullgirls)

 

[amageish]

I feel like it's kinda ironic that with Smash glorifying SNES and NES game Harvest Moon never really pop out in people's mind and instead it's the usual "game so difficult you want pull your hairs out" and like someone mentioned before Harvest Moon is much more influential and still a long running series. Why is that? Maybe because we have Villager?

(Also, how many noms do I have again? Considering I skip like 2 days I feel like I'm at zero)

I think it's partly just an audience thing. "Casual" games don't tend to get as much attention in Smash speculation circles unless they have a major Nintendo influencer as a champion for them. In the case of Farmer, with them being a character from a long-running franchise with notable impacts on the industry primarily exclusively on Nintendo consoles (plus Nintendo of Europe published a few of the games after the Natsume/Marvelous split and Nintendo's put crossover content in them).... I'm not hopeful for them actually making it in, but, if they did, I would get tired of the "THE FIGHTER NOBODY SAW COMING" clickbait very quickly.

(Also you have 5 by default and seem to have 15 extra you never used?)

Would they be willing to reference that one spinoff? The one that was called a "futuristic Harvest Moon"?

I kind of doubt it, but it's possible? It was a critical and commercial flop and is one of the only Sony-exclusive entries in the franchise to boot, which is a bit of an oof.

Noms go to Black Mage yet again!

So I'm seeing a lot of comparisons to Stardew Valley in this thread which makes some sense, but what about comparing Story of Seasons to a far more pressing Smash-related series, Animal Crossing? I'm sure it's not difficult to make the Farmer's actual moveset totally different from Villager's, but is that enough? What would Story of Seasons bring in stage, music, and even just general aesthetic that would make it stand apart from the Animal Crossing representation that we already have?

I mean, the obvious thing is that Story of Seasons has anime-style humans instead of anthropomorphic animals? So, that's a pretty big difference. We also don't have a rustic village stage beyond the MineCraft variation with some villagers in the background, so I don't really see that being an issue, regardless of which city/town they picked to present the game.

Music is more of a challenge as it suffers from the MineCraft problem of "You probably will have to remix things as most of these won't be Smash-ready to start with". That said, the songs are different vibes-wise from Animal Crossing IMO, especially as AC music changes with time of day while SoS music changes with the seasons, so, while they're both relaxed, they're trying to capture different feelings.

 

[Commander_Alph]

(Also you have 5 by default and seem to have 15 extra you never used?)

I see.. so all noms for Endo Mamoru from Inazuma Eleven

Also what would their Final Smash be? I prefer it's something grandiose involving festival or other special occasion that happened in the game, is there really a reoccurring event in the SoS series? Also would be cool if we too get a Rune Factory content in the game as it seems to be connected albeit in an AU (hopeful thinking but would be also be cool to get music from Natsume Moon but in reality, yeah no lol)



And more question, what design of Pete will they use? I feel like this is the same case with Hero Arusu from DQ3 where he is more stubby in the old game?

 

[AnEasterEgg]

This character would be interesting. I don't mind more out-there picks that don't fight in their home series (could hardly root for Phoenix then without being a hypocrite), they usually have pretty unique and creative movesets. And farming games are definitely a genre unrepresented in Smash. I do imagine they would suffer a lot of "Who asked for this?!" hate though.

All my nominations to Filia (Skullgirls).

 

[SharkLord]

I feel like I've been a bit disengaged from the thread I started, so time to dive deep into this series.

What are all the "major" games? Are there any "eras" the games are sorted into? Any interesting tidbits of history, beyond the SoS/HM mixup?

 

[Commander_Alph]

I feel like I've been a bit disengaged from the thread I started, so time to dive deep into this series.

What are all the "major" games? Are there any "eras" the games are sorted into? Any interesting tidbits of history, beyond the SoS/HM mixup?

Speaking of that what's the problem with reoccuring characters changes names and jobs constantly? I mean narrowing down their debut game feels confusing like Ran/Ann or Afi being an Inventor then a Farmer and then an Innkeeper? Like some of them barely changes looks and yet we have examples like Marie/Mary and Maria.

 

[amageish]

What are all the "major" games? Are there any "eras" the games are sorted into? Any interesting tidbits of history, beyond the SoS/HM mixup?

I don't think there's agreed-upon eras for the games, but that's mostly because there are a lot of games and they kind of overlap, especially as the portable games were being developed alongside the console games... There are a few games associated with one another because of their use of the same core cast of villagers though!

I'd argue the most famous group of villagers are the ones used in Harvest Moon 64, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, and Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town. They have just popped up so much that they allow most age groups to have some nostalgia for them. They also cameoed in several DS games as the franchise used the "GBA and DS games interact" feature that few games outside Pokemon used...

There's a couple other notable reoccuring casts though. The Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life cast also appeared in Harvest Moon DS. The original SNES Game had everyone brought back for the GameCube/Wii cross-gen game Magical Melody. There were also two duologies of games that used the same characters in the late 2000s: Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility and Harvest Moon: Animal Parade both on the Wii and Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness and Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands both on the DS. This IP has, uh, a lot of characters.

The modern era is probably "A Tale of Two Towns," a DS/3DS cross-gen game, to now. That's an era where every game tends to bring in an all-new cast and location, but have 1-2 reoccurring characters thrown in for good measure. 3DS game Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns is currently generally hailed as the series high point by the active fandom.

The newest release, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, is arguably starting an era of its own though, as it is a new team and has had a... rocky reception, especially in Japan where a lot of its Stardew-esque and Animal-Crossing-esque features were viewed as abandoning what made the series good to chase trends. I mean, in spite of this, it is also the best-selling game in Japan, so, uh, take of that what you will.

Speaking of that what's the problem with reoccuring characters changes names and jobs constantly? I mean narrowing down their debut game feels confusing like Ran/Ann or Afi being an Inventor then a Farmer and then an Innkeeper? Like some of them barely changes looks and yet we have examples like Marie/Mary and Maria.

I'm just going to guess that the teams making the various games weren't very good at communicating with each other, especially in the console vs portable game departments... Toss in localization changes and chaos is inbound.