I've got around 56 hours sunk into the game, and I've only had it for a week. It's definitely my favorite game in the series. Of course, I've only played Back to Nature and Tales of Two Towns, but I was never able to make it past winter in those games.
That said, I'm only on on my first winter in A New Beginning, but I've already proposed to my chosen bachelorette (Iroha), and I've got tons of goals to look forward too.