This is possibly a bit too old to merit a first play thread but there isn't one around yet and it deserves one so...
I don't know what it is about the Harvest Moon games, I keep buying them yet, apart from the SNES version, I don't think i've ever got past the first year - there all far too similar.
But the newest one on the cube is a bit more special than the average offering. There's just much more to do. From the start you can choose one of three locations to set up farm, a small plot located in the town square, a average sized plot by the river and a larger plot by the beach. I chose the river plot which seems to be the best of both worlds if you like, the land is quite fertile, your not in the town (town plot) but not too far out either (beach plot) and its great for fishing.
One nice feature is the way land is distributed. In the old games you had your farm and then the town and sometimes a cave, lake etc. Here its the same - you have a lake, two caves, a summit and so on where you can mine, fish and do things like that (I havn't actually explored much). However, your own land isn't the only potential farming land. You can only build on land you own but you can grow crops on public land. Pressing Z will highlight public, private and your own land and it seems that its possible to buy more land later. Its a nifty feature seeing as i've now filled my own (rather small plot) with cabbages and so i've been growing on nearby public land.
The map is filled with the usual shops and characters. You have the mayor, the shipper and of course a selection of girls to potentially marry (although you can play as a girl and chase the men) - the librarian, flower girl, rancher, tom boy etc. Accept even here they've taken things to the next level. There seems to be more shops and locations for one thing and more characters, and as time passes new characters will move in and set up shop. There's also a rival farmer who's attempting to revive the harvest goddess before you (the main quest it seems which involves collecting 100 magical notes rewarded for certain farming acheivements.)
Then there's the usual festivals and so on which are sometimes a bit of a waste of time but at other times fun. You can also bag nice rewards in some cases.
One thing that does sometimes bug me about the HM games is the pace. The days are so short that you feel rushed to get everything done too quickly. It should be relazxin yet you find yourself trying to frantically water your vege or tend to your animals in the morning so you can get something else done before the day ends. The same applies here and as usual the time seems to go by at about 1 in game hour to a minute.
The graphics are also a bit too simplistic for there own good, but its not really what the series is about is it. Shame they didn't just use the Wonderful Life engine mind, and added all the new features to that.
Bit of a brief write-up, but if you've played HM before you know what to expect, just done quite a bit better this time around.
I don't know what it is about the Harvest Moon games, I keep buying them yet, apart from the SNES version, I don't think i've ever got past the first year - there all far too similar.
But the newest one on the cube is a bit more special than the average offering. There's just much more to do. From the start you can choose one of three locations to set up farm, a small plot located in the town square, a average sized plot by the river and a larger plot by the beach. I chose the river plot which seems to be the best of both worlds if you like, the land is quite fertile, your not in the town (town plot) but not too far out either (beach plot) and its great for fishing.
One nice feature is the way land is distributed. In the old games you had your farm and then the town and sometimes a cave, lake etc. Here its the same - you have a lake, two caves, a summit and so on where you can mine, fish and do things like that (I havn't actually explored much). However, your own land isn't the only potential farming land. You can only build on land you own but you can grow crops on public land. Pressing Z will highlight public, private and your own land and it seems that its possible to buy more land later. Its a nifty feature seeing as i've now filled my own (rather small plot) with cabbages and so i've been growing on nearby public land.
The map is filled with the usual shops and characters. You have the mayor, the shipper and of course a selection of girls to potentially marry (although you can play as a girl and chase the men) - the librarian, flower girl, rancher, tom boy etc. Accept even here they've taken things to the next level. There seems to be more shops and locations for one thing and more characters, and as time passes new characters will move in and set up shop. There's also a rival farmer who's attempting to revive the harvest goddess before you (the main quest it seems which involves collecting 100 magical notes rewarded for certain farming acheivements.)
Then there's the usual festivals and so on which are sometimes a bit of a waste of time but at other times fun. You can also bag nice rewards in some cases.
One thing that does sometimes bug me about the HM games is the pace. The days are so short that you feel rushed to get everything done too quickly. It should be relazxin yet you find yourself trying to frantically water your vege or tend to your animals in the morning so you can get something else done before the day ends. The same applies here and as usual the time seems to go by at about 1 in game hour to a minute.
The graphics are also a bit too simplistic for there own good, but its not really what the series is about is it. Shame they didn't just use the Wonderful Life engine mind, and added all the new features to that.
Bit of a brief write-up, but if you've played HM before you know what to expect, just done quite a bit better this time around.
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