The List, in no particular order:
Stepping on Crops: YES.
Especially now that the farms are smaller each game, with such a limited planting space, you have to make each plot count.
End Game: YES.
You know what? I kinda liked these. Goals and conditions that once met, let you win. As much as I like Harvest Moon I do get bored with it after awhile, it would be nice to put it down because I finished it, not because I just didn't want to play anymore.
Time Limit: NO.
On the other hand, I don't like this. In the first game you had about two and a half years, then the game was over. I like being allowed to keep at my farm as long as I like.
Gay Marriage: YES.
I'm going to get shit for putting this on here, but it's my list and I will put what I like on it. The hell of it is, there is gay marriage in Harvest Moon... just not in the American releases. Some of the Japanese release will let you be "best friends" with someone of your gender and they will move in with you, after awhile you adopt a child to raise.
Time Stops While Inside: YES.
Um, yeah. I like it when the clock stops when I go inside. That way I don't have to stress about speeding through taking care of my animals, cooking, shopping or talking to townsfolk.
Mining: YES I like mining. I like having deep mines with strange things like temples on the lowest floor. Of course for this to be win, time needs to stop inside the mine too. You could literally spend days trying to reach the bottom of the mine in versions that kept the clock going.
Jumping: no?
Grand Bazaar lets you jump, and is the first HM to let you do so. I don't know, it's kinda fun, but I never thought of Harvest moon as a game that you needed to jump in. It doesn't help that jumping is needed for three things: jumping in the river hoping to catch stuff in your clothing, jumping up to catch butterflies, and jumping to reach cut off areas. These are stupid, hard and pointless, respectively.
Pick Up and Put Away are the Same Button: YES.
Seriously. I don't know if it was the addition of jumping in this game, but the button mapping is all fubar.
Harvest Sprites: YES.
I love the little guys, and when you get them to like you, they help you out. Of course some versions have way to many of the little fuckers that you have to get to like you. Alright, let me put in a qualifier: 1 - 5 Harvest Sprites = Good. 6 - 150 Harvest Sprites = Too Many.
Decaying Friendship: NO.
I hate decaying anything in any game. I work hard to build something up, and then I have to work just as hard to keep it that way? Bah. Harvest Moon makes you keep a lot of balls in the air, so this can be frustrating as hell.
Buying Basic Tools: NO.
Why? Why should I have to do this? I do I have to wait two weeks and make 8k before I get the goddamn starter hammer? I'm going to spend the rest of the game working to upgrade them, this is just silly.
Power Berries: YES.
These have kind of been phased out and I think that's too bad. I liked the joy of finding or earning one, and being able do so much more than I could at the beginning.
For that matter, Secret Garden: YES.
Flowers magically show up every time you find a power berry, as far as I remember, this was only in the first game. I miss it.
Visible Stamina Bar: YES.
Grand Bazaar is the first game to feature this, and really, I don't know why it took so long. It is VERY helpful.
Stacking Inventory: YES.
All of the games have this now. Good.
Quality of Crops: YES.
Sure, why not? If I water my crops twice a day, federalize them everyday, etc and my crops are better than if I didn't. And therefor, sell for more. Cool. Down side? Different qualities don't stack together. So if I have two star corn and three star corn, that's two spaces in my backpack.
Quality of Ores and Gems: NO.
The difference here is that there really is nothing that I can do to make sure I can get better quality stuff. I can't really water the rocks to get better copper. Also nothing would piss me off more than to smash a hundred rocks to look for a diamond and it turns out to be a half a star or some bull shit like that.
Quality of Random Shit I Pick Up: HELL NO.
I do not need to know the quality of the weeds, rocks and twigs I pick up off the ground. And I certainty don't need to have them taking up so much space in my pack. 4 one star weeds, 5 two star weeds, 2 three star weeds, 8 half star weeds. Really Harvest Moon? Really?
Sending Out and Bringing In Animals QUICKLY: YES.
You want me to put my animals in the sun before they will give me the best milk? Fine. But make it simple. I don't want to spend 3 in game hours pushing one damn cow back in the barn because it's storming outside. By the way it is funny as hell to watch the cows freak the fuck out in a storm.
Upgrading Your Farm: YES.
Of course! This is a core part of Harvest Moon! I want a crappy little farm that I build up into a plantation that is filled with slave sprites that do all the work. It makes no sense to me that Grand Bazaar starts you off in a perfectly serviceable farm.
Buying Furniture/ Stuff to Put in Your House: YES.
You can kinda do this in some of the games, and I have always like it. It adds to the feel of improving your farm and making it awesome.
Modular Farmhouse Design: YES.
This has never been true for a Harvest Moon game, but it should be. Yeah, I can add rooms and floors, but I don't get to pick what goes where, and frankly, I would like to. Then the farm would truly be mine.
Market Place: NO.
AKA, the Grand Brazaar. I don't like it. I have to wait to the end of the week to sell my shit, and even then, some times it doesn't sell. Gah! The point of this game is to grow/ find/ craft this shit, not beg people to buy it!
Changing The Look of the Main Character: NO.
Okay, something of a personal pet peeve, but why? Why keep changing him? In the latest game he looks like a pirate!
Look at him!
And the girl looks like a pink monstrosity herself. Goddamn it Natsume.