PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers may have gotten a heads-up about a future PS1 classic coming to the service thanks to the Taiwan Digital Game Rating Committee rating Harvest Moon: Back to Nature for PS4 and PS5. In the lead-up to the PlayStation Plus Premium launch, ratings boards giving new ratings to old games leaked many of the classic titles that made up the initial PS1 lineup, and so it's likely that this is the case here as well.
PlayStation Plus Premium, for the uninitiated, is the priciest version of PS Plus that's available. In exchange for the higher free, PS Plus Premium subscribers are treated to all the benefits of PS Plus Essential and PS Plus Extra, in addition to a wide selection of older games from the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP eras. The service launched with select PS1 titles for subscribers to choose from, and it seems more are on the horizon.
It's likely that Harvest Moon: Back to Nature will be a part of the PS Plus Premium lineup at some point in the future, though it's hard to say exactly when it will join the service. We know that it won't be a part of the new PS Plus Premium games for October 2022, as they were added on October 18, but perhaps it will be a part of the November lineup. The previous ratings board leaks occurred fairly close to when the classic games were added to PS Plus Premium, so even if it doesn't come in November, it's likely that it will be added sooner rather than later.
For those unfamiliar with the game, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature is one of the more well-known games in the long-running Harvest Moon farm simulation series. It was the first Harvest Moon game released for a PlayStation console, and since then, it has been re-released and remade a number of times. If one is unaware of the original PS1 version, though, they may be more familiar with the Game Boy Advance remake, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town.
A more recent remake of the game dropped just a couple of years ago in the form of Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town hit the Nintendo Switch first before making its way to other platforms, including PlayStation. Those on PS4 and PS5 who want to revisit this classic Harvest Moon now instead of waiting for the PS1 version to hit PS Plus Premium can buy Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town if they so desire.
Regardless, PS Plus Premium subscribers will likely be happy to see another PS1 game making its way to the service. While it started off with a nice selection of PS1 titles to choose from, one common complaint about PS Plus Premium in the months since its launch is the lack of new retro game additions for fans to check out. Harvest Moon: Back to Nature should make for a solid addition to the lineup, and hopefully it's joined by many other PS1 classics.
Source: Gematsu
