I’ve lived a lot of simple lives between the ages of six to 27, though the one I got back to the most is that first one I created in Harvest Moon: Back to Nature-the one that shaped how I view them all. Just as we’ve come to expect to find our hero of time fast asleep at the start of each Legend of Zelda game, there is an unspoken rule in farming simulators involving the loss of your grandfather and subsequently undertaking the quest to reconnect with nature and live a simpler life-the kind of life he’d have wanted for you. I was six years old the first time my grandfather passed away and I uprooted my entire life to restore his farm back to its former glory, and by 27, I’ve undergone this process at least six more times.
