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What is the best Harvest Moon game?
Lord Jezo
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Systems we have: DS (with GBA slot), Wii (so Gamecube too), and PS2.
My chick wants to play a Harvest Moon game but there are a dozen different choices. Which one should she start with?
My chick wants to play a Harvest Moon game but there are a dozen different choices. Which one should she start with?
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Lord Jezo on
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3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Oh yeah, I do have an N64 as well, forgot about that one.
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Magical Melody is a good second tier game.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
back to nature has some nifty things to play with, but HM64 has a much better feel to it.
the writing, if you want to call it that, in HM64 is probably the best in the series.
I have enough Goozex points for Magical Melody so I might start with that one and get the N64 one next if she likes it.
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So much rage. So much blood.
caffron said: "and cat pee is not a laughing matter"
On the DS Rune Factory is my favorite, but it isn't a pure Harvest Moon game. The farming is simpler then the other games because you spend a good part of the game in dungeons and there's quite a bit of fighting involved.
Harvest Moon Cute is quite good as well, she can play as a girl and marry one of the bacholors. A lot of the bugs from Harvest Moon DS (the boy version) have been fixed in cute. It can be a bit daunting though and I'd advise to keep Ushi No Tane bbokmarked for reference since the game doesn't explain a lot of things. It is defenitely deeper then Rune Factory, farming wise.
A Wonderful Life is on the PS2 and GC and is lovely as well. It was my first Harvest Moon, and I highly recommend it. It is not as daunting as Cute, it still looks good and has a lovely vibe to it. Unlike the other Harvest Moon games AWL plays through a set amount of years, while your character gets married, has a child and raises it. It has a definite end though. Personally I quite like that, you have something to work towards and plan around.
Ushi No tane has a good site for that one as well, and this guide explains the differences between the GC and the PS2 versions.
I believe the US has Another Wonderful Life on the PS2/GC as well, which is the same as AWL, only then you get to play as a girl and romance one of the bachelors instead.
Harvest Moon games are wonderful games with a lot of charm and whatever you chose, I hope she'll end up liking it.
A Wonderful Life is really hit or miss. Personally I loved the whole child thing, but outside of that the game is kind of boring. Trees break the game incredibly. Also it's bullshit that you couldn't have a daughter in the original GCN release.
Hey, whatever happened with the PSP harvest moon? I'm curious as to how they handled farming IN THE FUTURE.
I never had an N64
That was the absolute worst thing about FoMT. Get to year 4, got almost every power berry and upgraded tool, and BAM. Never expected to rage so hard because of a Harvest Moon game.
Oh and I wouldn't get rune factory. I felt like it had none of the charm the earlier games had.
If the president had any real power, he'd be able to live wherever the fuck he wanted.
I didn't get a chance to have my battery die, because I loaned it to one of my relatives (I wasn't using the other save file) and she lost it. :?
Back to Nature was for PS1 and was pretty much FoMT before FoMT, right? I know FoMT was a (better) version of a PS1 game, and I think I bought it, but never really played it.
Avoid Harvest Moon DS, though. (Not the Harvest Moon games for DS, I believe it's just called HMDS.) It's buggy as all hell and around Winter or so, you just won't be able to play anymore. I wondered why it was $10 at Best Buy.
It was terrible and the less said about it, the better.
The order of the series goes Harvest Moon (SNES) a bunch of GB/GBC games (Three actually, only the last one having any relationships in it, though 1 and 2 certainly added a lot of activities and plants!) Then the next gen arrived. Starts with HM 64, a beloved classic. Not too many plants, livestock, but lots of festivals and hidden activities. Also infamous for having the US publisher spell its name wrong on the title screen.
Back to Nature is the PSX sequel to HM 64. Uses the same characters as HM 64 with remixed roles. More stuff, cooking instead of just collecting recipes, and tons and tons of new features. Great game, but loading and saving times really piss me off. Friends of Mineral Town is the direct sequel to this game, on the GBA. Choice overload is the only real problem with this game, as it is Back to Nature on steroids with no loading or saving problems. Gilder is absolutely right in the idea that a completionist would spend years playing this game through once.
All the other games have some interesting flaws in them that keep them off the level of those three.
First game is too basic and yet somehow too hardcore. Really bad framerate with a full barn too. Great music, one of the all time bad dub jobs though.
Gameboy games have more stuff to do at the expense of no relationships. Relationships take most of the game out of it. Becomes a grind for money, and not a fun one like Aerobiz or Lemonade Stand. Avoid.
Save the Homeland also misses out on relationships in lieu of a plot. Bad move.
A Wonderful Life is a very relaxing game. Not enough festivals, weird but not uncomfortable changes, and a mix of plot and relationships. Neat surprise. With the GBA linkup ends up with this awesome library of songs to choose from.
Magical Melody is awesome. It's like HM Anniversary Edition. Unique artstyle, interesting use of land. A whole shit ton of eligable men and women from previous editions. Needs festivals. No 480p. Used to bug me because my old setup only played things in progressive scan mode.
HM DS has horrible game killing bugs. HM CUTE has less bugs, but you play as a girl. Very full featured followup to FoMT though.
HM Boy and Girl is a really shitty port of BtN. REALLY SHITTY. Has a border, more load times, and is buggier. Avoid.
HM Tropical Edition. Can't remember the title of this game even though the guide I got for free is sitting right over there (Island of Happiness or some shit) Would be the new king of portable HM games if it wasn't for its really shitty controls. If you can try it beforehand, and you can get used to the shitty controls, then you'll love this one.
HM ROBOT EDITION. It sucks. Avoid at all costs. Might take the title of world's worst HM game away from Save the Homeland.
HM ToT is pretty good. Kinda like MM in a lot of ways. Got some weird glitches. Pretty servicable.
NON HARVEST MOON HARVEST MOON GAMES.
Rune Factory:A Fantasy Harvest Moon: Is awesome. Easy as shit Harvest Moon + Gauntlet. Only common complaints are that it is waay too easy to make money and clear out the whole game while waiting for winter. Too fast paced if you can believe it.
Rune Factory 2: Is also awesome. Less easy to break. Locks away the second half of the game until you do some story stuff. Generally improved over one.
RUNE FACTORY FRONTIER: Is also awesome. Kinda a what if pseudo sequel to the first RF, with a good amount of the same characters. Looks great. Plays well with Wii controls. Some people don't get Runey management, but you could avoid it and still have roughly the same experience.
64 to me has a perfect balance of simplicity and complexity. The right amount of stuff to do in a season. Enough hidden stuff to keep you going. The time limit for ranking, but the other stuff for a little post game. It's basically missing cookable recipes and that's about it.
ToT and MM are really close though. They just don't quite have it right.
Also, while I have yet to finish it, it's kind of cool to actually see your little kid grow up.
Nobody else moved in or moved out. Nobody else dies. Nobody gets married or has children. People age but their personality stays the same. For example, Rock seemed to be troubled by the fact that he looks nothing like his parents (and if you check their bedroom there's a photo of a child who isn't Rock) but nothing is ever explained or resolved. Rock also had big dreams of becomming a fashion designer or something but instead grew old and mooched off of his parents for life.
I enjoyed making all of the hybrid crops but by doing this I accidentically turned my son into a farmer instead of an artist like I wanted. Damn kids they never listen!
I mean, a futuristic Harvest Moon could totally work, and it'd be a nice little departure. But goddamn, that game takes everything that's good in a Harvest Moon game and throws it out the window, and then adds another level of bad. And that's assuming you don't get hit with terrible luck on top of it like I did. (What? All I can pretty much do is Farm? Well...okay, I guess. Three disasters later in less than the course of a week, Screw this.)
And the worst part about it is that since they went and ballsed up the first attempt, they probably won't try the concept again.
Just get her to tell you that she loves you before giving her the game. You might not be speaking for awhile. My cousin spent HUNDREDS of hours playing HM64. It was the only game he played for months.
Nope.
And now that people mention it being so good, I start hoping for another VC surprise
I really don't think it's the best starting point for a new player.
I don't know Tree of Tranquility so that might be good as well, but Magical Melody (GC version) or A wonderful Life (GC or PS2) would probably be the best introduction to the series since they have the charm and main elements of Harvest Moon games without becoming too complicated.
Island of Happiness
Magical Melody (Wii/GC)
Harvest Moon DS
Rune Factory 1
Harvest Moon PS2
A Wonderful Life
And keep in mind that Rune Factory Frontier and Tree of Tranquility will probably be out this fall.