While you must choose your starting town, the game allows you to switch to another between seasons, allowing you to focus on one or multiple farms. While these two towns used to be on good terms, they are now in a competition for the title of best food in the world and it's your job to produce the best ingredients and prepare a dish that proves once and for all that your town is the best while also attempting to bring the towns together in peace. The game sees the return of the classic farming simulation that made the franchise so popular in the first place with new features like giving the player the choice to live in one of two rivalling villages, Konohana or Bluebell. Several characters from Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar also arrive in Bluebell and Konohana such as the three brother who have come to set up shops and Dirk, serving both towns as a mailman.
The game also features a new cast of characters, as well as some returning favorites such as Pierre the Gourmet who will show up to judge cooking competitions. Konohana, an eastern style town know for its vast fields of crops and Bluebell, a more European style farm focused on livestock (though both are possible on either farm). The narrative is centered around the rivalry between two competing towns obsessed with being the best at cooking, that you must choose between when starting your farm. The game has the addition of a new Pickle Pot which can be used for pickling turnips and other crops. Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns sticks closely to the franchise's critically acclaimed farming simulation gameplay with new features including animals like Alpacas and honey bees.
Overview Dirk delivering mail to your farm