@Enraged I havent played yet but from what I seen of it there are several ways crops can be ruined. Weather, crows if you forgot to put up a scarecrow, etc etc.
I just think blueberries are probably a very valuable crop.
@T: In the very first one for the SNES I heard you could get a game over screen if you let too many cows die or something, which basically just required ignoring them for a couple seasons. I think some of the others did have really obscure lose conditions like you mentioned though.
Sometimes when I want to relax I need relaxing games. I have no need for a hardcore farming simulator, nor for the "fun" activities Harvest Moon keeps trying to offer (spoiler alert: frustration is NOT fun, dear developers). Stardew Valley hits the spot by giving players exactly what they want.
From what I got in online sources it was extremely hard to to actually lose in Harvest Moon. Just being married or getting your farm on 30% was enough to "win"
To be fair, an abrupt Game Over in a casual farming/social game is kind of weird. That's like losing in Transport Tycoon because too much of your trains crashed. Going bankrupt because of stupid decision is fair, so optimized strategies come as a logical next step in any game with strategic elements
