PlayStation Plus has a classic 1999 PlayStation 1 game, which inspired the creation of Stardew Valley, available in its catalog for free; if you’re a fan of ConcernedApe’s work, you may want to check out what served as a foundation for the title decades ago. Stardew Valley may have become the ultimate benchmark for cozy farming sims following its release in 2016. In fact, there are tons of games like Stardew Valley to play nowadays, many of which were directly inspired by the widely popular indie title.

Of course, while Stardew Valley did revolutionize and served as a breath of fresh air for the genre – a lot of which was due to how accessible in comparison to other larger titles – it was not the first. The cozy farming sim genre had already been well established for over 20 years. A lot of what we see in Stardew Valley, indeed, comes from the long-running Harvest Moon franchise, which first debuted in 1996 with the first entry in the series. Right now, you can check out one of them for free on PS Plus.

This 1999 PS1 Game Inspired Stardew Valley

Three years after the franchise had begun, the PlayStation 1 served as a stage for a new installment in the series that essentially serves as a direct reference to what Stardew Valley would become a little more than a decade later. Released in 1999, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature is the game that inspired the 2016 hit, and it’s also one of the longest PlayStation Plus games you can spend hundreds of hours with, even nowadays.

To better understand why they’re so similar, the general premise of Back to Nature is that your character, who lives in the city, decides to move to the farm of his deceased grandfather, who lived in a rural town the main character visited when he was younger. He then decides to start his farming life, restoring his grandfather’s estate. Apart from the standard farming mechanics, Back to Nature also offers a social system, and you can even romance one of the single ladies – a simpler, yet still foundational aspect of the romance options in Stardew Valley.

Harvest Moon Is Still Going Strong Today

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature was extremely popular, perhaps due to its newfound audience on PlayStation, being the first entry in the series not to be released on a Nintendo console. The title then received a remake in 2003, called Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, one of the longest Game Boy Advance games to beat. This remake has also received a remake of its own, called Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, in 2019 in Japan and 2020 in Western markets.

For reference, Rune Factory is also part of the franchise, and the latest installment in the series is Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. While Harvest Moon is now globally marketed as Story of Seasons, it’s still going strong. However, if you want to check out the PlayStation 1 game that inspired Stardew Valley, be sure to check out Harvest Moon: Back to Nature for free on PlayStation Plus.

Released

November 22, 2000

ESRB

e

Publisher(s)

Natsume

Engine

Syrup Emulation Engine