While Marvelous AQL has handed off the next true Harvest Moon game to XSEED in the form of Story of Seasons, it seems like Natsume is taking advantage of this and making use of their trademark, which entitles them to the name, legally, in North America.

Coming from this, they just announced Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley for the Nintendo 3DS. The game is offering a “three dimensional setting” for the first time, as well as a fully customizable world – enabling players to customize their home field in any way they see fit. You can apparently set it up “from a field full of tulips like you might see in Holland, to a valley filled with water like Venice.”

Natsume president and CEO Hiro Maekawa had this to say regarding the announcement:

“Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley is truly evolving the franchise. Hardcore fans will love it, players who haven’t played a Harvest Moon game in a while will want to try it out, and new players will be introduced to the unique and charming world that is Harvest Moon. But the incredibly exciting thing that really elevates the game is that while it does get back to what everyone loves about the early games, it also innovates in a way that no Harvest Moon game ever has.”

Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley is being developed internally at Natsume, and it will launch sometime later this year. It will also be on display at E3 next week.