Why am I not pleased with Harvest Moon right now.

[Juxapose]

Lately, I find myself struggling to play the latest entries of Harvest Moon. Ever since the release of Grand Bazaar, I could not look at the series the same way again. I can do Rune Factory, but something about the Harvest Moon series just annoys me. The big picture and the short story is that Harvest Moon used to be an innocent story about community, family, and the struggle to adapt to a new and difficult lifestyle. These days,Harvest Moon seems to dive into fan service and cashing in on“Marriage” and “Special interests”.

So, I am going to talk a bit about why I am not pleased with the series. This is not meant to turn anyone off, but hopefully help people understand why Harvest Moon is not the cult following it used to be, and maybe help people expect more from the games to come in the future. Maybe bring Harvest Moon out of the dark ages, and into a whole new light.

The first thing I want to talk aboutare console games, and starting with the first entry, Harvest Moon. Iknow I will be burned on the cross for this, but I never liked thisgame. Now you're thinking, “How did you not like the SNES classic?”In most cases, the first game in most series are usually not thebest. Just experimental, and the second entries are typically better(not always). My best example is Pokemon. Red and Blue version wasgood, but Gold and Silver are the best in the whole series.

What is my problem with Harvest Moon SNES? Everything! Starting with the graphics, they are bad for the SNES. Not to mention the game was klunky, and had no inventory system. Games for the NES had an inventory system, and they could not come up with one for this game? Were Rucksacks never invented yet IRL? And worst of all, NO CROPS IN FALL AND WINTER??? Winter I get, but why fall?

When I think of Fall, I think of Pumpkins, Apples, Gourds, Corn, Cranberries, the list goes on. To make a Farm Sim with no fall crops is just inexcusable. Even Harvest Moon for the game boy had crops in both Fall and Winter.

Marriage which is the trade mark of the series at this point started here, but it was simple, and with no portraits, you had to rely on the simple pictures drawn on the instructions. May I say that this is facepalm bad. Even Chrono Trigger and Breath of Fire had better looking sprites. No true marriage events, and gifts were pretty much limited to flowers or cake.They try to give the marriage characters a personality, but failed. It's the SNES for crying out loud, personalities for characters were born in this era.

I don't want to make a super long post that is about a mile long, so I will be breaking up the post into smaller ones. I will be highlighting the better and not so great games as the list goes on.

[Juxapose]

The next game I am going to talk about is Harvest Moon 64. Easily one of the best and my personal favorite in the series. Many people will argue that I don't like Harvest Moon: SNES because I started with this game first. Am I spoiled by Harvest Moon 64's game style? Not really. Harvest Moon 64 has many problems which make it a hard game to play, but at least I can truly call it areal farm sim. Here is why.

Harvest Moon's farming is very addicting, as with most Harvest Moon game. But what Harvest Moon: 64 excels at is the community and family aspects of the game. I fell in love with Harvest Moon because when I play it, even today, I feel like I am living in a real virtual world. Each character had a personality, and had individual likes and dislikes. Each character had a level of randomness, which is like real life. I never know where any character is except shop owners. I never know what the characters will say, and I get great insight on their past, and their relationship to their families and each other. I felt like the game had a past, and it will have a future.

Harvest Moon: 64 was more than just another knock-off dating sim. Like the other characters, the marriage candidates had individual personalities. This is the game where you fall for a girl based on who they are, and not on what they look like. Karen is easily the most attractive and popular character in the game. But my character fell for and married Popuri. Not because she was cute, but because I felt that she made a perfect mate for my character. Having the wife help out around the farm just made her feel like she was a true member of the family. The pregnancy was dramatic, and comical in some ways. And who doesn't think their child was adorable crawling around the house. And you could pick up your newborn, and show it off. Something lost and never reborn in the series.

Harvest Moon: BTN was a disappointment for me, but it had many arguable points of why it was just as great as it was bad. The community and family aspect was lost with it's predictable dialogue. Marriage is overly simplified, and your spouse did nothing like it did in Harvest Moon 64. Your spouse felt like an empty NPC that walked around your house. And recycling the characters from Harvest Moon: 64 made me eat my controller in rage. Not even gonna get into the whole family mix-up garbage.

But what made Harvest Moon BTN excel is the farming. With more crops, unlockable crops, bigger barn and coop,a horse that did not trap you for hours, playing ball with your dog, larger field, year-long mining, and possibly the best feature of this game: cooking. All this have a bonus feature, the Harvest Sprites.You can hire the sprites to help in the farm for a mere bag of flour, what a deal.

In closing, Harvest Moon BTN screwed upon the family and community, but did amazing in the farm. Plus a grading system (which was broken, but interesting anyway) placed a cherry on this cake.

[Juxapose]

I know that I am missing many key elements to the games I am discussing, but if I took the time to point out every gem and fault the games have, I will never be finished. And so, the next game on the chopping block is Harvest Moon: StH. Again, another one of my favorite games. It had it's obvious problems, but it had so many features that it greatly makes up for it's faults.

First thing I want to talk about is the community. And I love the community. Each character is likeable, has a story to tell, and you are required to get their help to successfully complete this game. There is no marriage, but your character falls for one out of five girls. Oddly, some of the girls are underage (which should come to no surprise, this is a Japanese game after all).

Farming is a mixed bag. The game has simplified crops to four, and the crops grow all year long (Is STH taking place in a tropical climate?) Mining takes place in the field, not in a cave. And grass is fully grown in the start of the game. Where this game does excel at is the animals. First thing is the option to have a dog. You can also choose one of two dogs (come on, who doesn't love choices?) Cows and chickens are in, but no sheep. I love how the dog can be trained to bring in your cows by playing your flute.

The interesting randomness of the weather is unpredictable. Instead of looking at the news and know what the weather is like, the weather in this game is based on probabilities. Sometimes your animals get rained on based on a 10% probability of rain, and you feel dumb for bringing the animals in with a 90% probability of rain (and no rain came). Each month has it's own “seasons” Rainy seasons rain almost every day for about 10 days, and dry seasons can kill your crops if you don't water them.

The main problems with this game (other than marriage) is that the game ends after less than a single year of play. After completing the main story, you must start over with all your animals money and crops, but all the villagers reset. Completing the 9 endings is fun, but sometimes glitchy and you cannot unlock some endings during a playthrough after completing their requirements.

[Juxapose]

Next up is Harvest Moon: AWL; probably the best set of games in the whole series. What makes these games so great? These games almost perfected everything that Harvest moon ever offered, and added more.

First, lets talk about community. Everyone in the village is likeable, and have a distinct personality. Many characters have random events that are charming, and in some cases funny. Only problem is that the aging process is quite off in this game.

Marriage is simple and easy to start. But this greatly evolves into the most sophisticated family system I have ever seen in any game. Your wife and child lives on your farm, and they freely explore the village like normal people. Each spouse has a set of habits, falls asleep and wakes up at their own unique times. They all want to raise their child differently, and you can also raise your child to be what you want it to be.

Unlike Past Harvest Moons which is usually over in about a couple of in game years, this game complete after a good 40 in game years! (You only get to play 5-8 of those years depending on version.) You get to see the village and your child grow and age. The game even ends after you die of old age (Which is both shocking, sad, but amazing).

Farming and ranching are both redesigned and complex. Unfortunately, these systems are unnecessary, but it gives you something to do while you are raising your child. You can own four different types of cows, and ducks make their first appearance to the series. Cat is a new type of pet you can adopt along with your dog (Although cats were added in some previous portable games which will be talked about later). Crops are back, and you can different crops at different seasons. Crops can now be spliced to create new and interesting crops, and even the spliced crops can be spliced again to discover new breeds of vegetables and fruit.

Gender limitations now are a thing of the past. Harvest Moon AWL now feature a girl's version, and a later version allows you to have a daughter instead of a son. (Harvest Moon: BTN also had a girl's version, but it wasn't brought to the USA until much later.) (I don't remember if you can have daughters in Harvest Moon GBC3.)

[Juxapose]

With all the great games, a new game was coming into the light. I cheered when I got this game into my hands. But once I popped the game into the console, my cheering stopped. This is Harvest Moon: Magical Melody.

Although this game is not too bad, there are some odd mistakes made by the programmers. First is the graphics, what gives? The last couple of entries were in full 3-D, and the camera allows you to see the game in so many amazing angles that makes you feel like you were actually there. Now this game is in an odd 2.5-D birds eye camera view that you end up seeing the tops of everyone's heads instead of their faces. Your character slows down while carrying a crop, which is both odd and frustrating. Tools and movement is all screwed up and not too enjoyable.

Animal care is okay, but would be so much better if it was full 3-D and not overhead. Pigs are now in the roster of pets (Although not new). Sheep have some type of jumping animation now which is off and unrealistic. No ducks though, so I am disappointed.

Character personalities are out the window, haven't seen characters this robotic on a console game since Harvest Moon BTN. Speaking of which, this is a second time Harvest Moon has kidnapped the characters of a different game. All the characters of Harvest Moon: SNES are here. This could be a remake of Harvest Moon: SNES, EXCEPT they also kidnapped the characters of Harvest Moon STH too. Unlike the SNES characters, they also screwed around with the back-stories of the STH characters. They did add some new characters, but they are all boring and forgettable if not annoying. Not even gonna get into Katie's appearance.

Luckily, the next entry is much better. This is Harvest Moon: ToT (Harvest Moon MM also had a re-release to the Wii, but not gonna talk about that one) This game simplified everything, yet added so much to a series that already had some bad eggs in it's series (These bad eggs will be talked about in the portable games).

Community is back, with all new characters and features. Although Harvest Moon MM had some sort of “Save the Goddess” quest thing going, this game made it more interesting. The MM quest involved something more like an achievement system, ToT quest is a linear quest similar to a StH story. You had to go out, find things, get mats for rainbows, and explore the village little by little to discover the backstory of the island. Amazing for the Harvest Moon series.

Nothing too new with marriage and relationships. Although they added a great number of pets you can adopt. Your child can also help with farming, which is something I have yet to see in a long time. Your Spouse is not helpful, but he/she does cook you a meal every day, and explores the village on their own. This gives a small breath of life to your spouse. Although I have heard of glitches that makes some characters unmarryable.

Farming is simple yet fun. Silkworms and ostriches are fun new additions to the Harvest Moon family. Ostriches is the new egg-laying/mount combo of the series; like a horse and chicken all in one. (Place chocobo/pecopeco joke here.)

[Juxapose]

The last game in the console is both a bomb and a success in one package. This game is known as Harvest Moon Animal Parade.

To be honest, I never finished this game. Mainly because it was both annoying and frustrating to deal with, and the better part of the game is hidden in the back of this cave of fail. What makes this game terrible is the fact that ONCE AGAIN, THEY ARE RECYCLING CHARACTERS OF A DIFFERENT GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot stress how much I hate this. Luckily, they kept the damage to the minimum, and have all the character's personalities the same. But because they are the same characters, it's like playing a crappy re-release of a previous game. Harvest Moon AP stole the characters of their previous title Harvest Moon: ToT. Only known changes are that Luna is taller and doesn't look like a pedophile magnet.

Farming though is the worst. The controls are clunky, and it forces me to mash the a button for about 20 mins. every friggen in-game day. Animals are basically the same as the previous title.

The only thing that is well done is the family aspect of the game. Marriage looks amazing, you can have a bigger family, your spouse does more than the previous game. There are options to marry a witch, wizard, god or goddess. Your spouse also acts more realistic by getting upset with you for ignoring them for long periods of time, and there are cutscenes for marriage quarrels. Gutzy, but interesting. Also new is that there are more rival marriages in this game, and more cute kids that runaround the game. There are also cutscenes with your kids doing things with other kids.

Too bad the mariage part of the game requires you to go through lots of crap to get to it. But here's the real problem with the game; why is the rest of the game ignored to have a great marriage content?

There are also other games that came out for the consoles. Games like Rune Factory frontier, Rune Factory Oceans, and Innocent Life SE. These games are Harvest Moon game spinoffs, and won't be discussed.

[Juxapose]

Now it's time to talk about the bigger part of the game series, the Portable Harvest Moon games. Ever since Harvest Moon: AP, all we have been getting are portable games. But the question is: Are they worth playing? Lets dive into the games starting with the beginning.

Harvest Moon: GBC is the second entry in the portable world (Harvest Moon GB is the first, but it's exactly the same as the GBC version). The game can only be described as simple. No community, no marriage. Just you, a farm, some animals, and some shops. I should be complaining, and saying that this game is terrible, but I am not. First of all, it's the game boy, what did you expect. And what limited resources they had, they did it well. There was a story, good farming mechanics, and plenty of secrets for a small cartridge. And they had crops all year long! (Suck it SNES!)

The second entry; Harvest Moon GBC2 is everything GBC was, only better. Great farming mechanics, animals, and shops. What was added was community. Likeable characters, events, friendship, and more crops to harvest. Fishing was implemented, which is a great feature for the small compact GBC cartridge. All that is missing is the marriage.

Harvest Moon: GBC3 is a remarkable game, and even comparable with some console games. Adeeper story is told, two people share one farm (Which is unheard of even now), and this is the only time in the portable games that gender has a remarkable difference. Playing as the boy and the girl is a massive change that you are literally playing two different games. Everything that GBC2 had is in, plus so much more. New pets, new shipping methods, ability to own a boat, snowboarding, the works. And there is even marriage. No variety though, but marriage to your roommate is interesting.

Harvest Moon: GBC3 dared itself to do the unthinkable, a true divorce!! Yes, I said it, if you fail as a boy, your wife PERMANENTLY leave you, and takes the kids. The other thing the game does for the first and ONLY time is pregnancy WITHOUT MARRIAGE! You heard it, your roommate can get pregnant with your baby without getting married to you. Quite a risky move, but it made the game that much more memorable.

[Butterscotch]

I don't agree with everything you've said. I know that you and I have very different tastes in Harvest Moon and to each their own

I personally much prefer Magical Melody to A Wonderful Life. MM may not have the best character depth, but even so, all the marriage candidates are likable, no small feat, considering how many there are. On the flip side, AWL has only three marriage candidates and one of them is one of the worst characters in the series. 

Farming is much more fun in MM. It's  my second favorite game for actually growing crops. (ANB is my favorite. I got really into raising the star rank of my crops in the game). MM's controls are great. I still compare most games to MM in that regard and most of them fall short. 

HM64 is still the best. It does fall short in some regards, where some aspects of the HM series have advanced, leaving HM64 to show its age. But it has the best characters.

[Juxapose]

Took a little break there. Lets move on then.

The next entry in the portable games are Harvest Moon FoMT and MfoMT. Although decent games, they are nothing more than cash-ins by making Harvest Moon BTN portable. Same characters, simpler story, no ending or goal, and the additions are not too impressive. By this phase of the portable series, the game is starting to lose it's “Farm Sim” title, and it's rolling in the “Fantasy Sim” genre. I know that Harvest moon always had some fantasy in it, but there must be a line that needs to be drawn before you can still call it a farming simulation.

Next is the Harvest Moon: DS series. Once again, cashing in on the success of Harvest Moon: AWL. Same characters, but slightly modified interests. And nothing that made AWL great is present in this game. The boy version is also extremely glitchy, making evident that they wanted to invest as little money as possible. The girl's version is better, but not too different for me to be impressed. I must say that the girl's version is the first game that allows you to choose your appearance, although it's one of two.

Interestingly, the story of Harvest Moon DS games borrowed the Harvest Moon: MM mechanic as far as the story is concerned. Although very different, saving the goddess involves performing specific tasks (Similar to an achievement system)to unlock sprites. The reason I am mentioning this is because the series is becoming painfully obvious that quality of games are suffering. Games are borrowing ideas from each other to beat out new games several times a year with minimal costs.

Then we have the Harvest Moon IoH game. Although the ideas are 100% original with a whole new cast of characters, new land to explore, and redefined gameplay mechanics, it fell short, and I can't find anyone who likes this game. The controls being 100% operated by the stylus did not work well for thi entry.

Luckily, the game was remade into Harvest Moon: SI. The stylus control is optional, and the game is playable. Removing the horrid memories of Harvest Moon: IoH, Harvest Moon: SI is actually a good game. They actually invested money to test and perfect the broken previous entry of the series. You would think that they would learn their lesson. . . Right?

[Juxapose]

Harvest Moon created another game with 100% new ideas and characters. Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar is new and unique with new farmers, new characters, and a new way to farm. However, the game did less than please me. The new “Jumping” and “Bouncing” feature did not impress me, instead I could not take the game seriously. Farming is frustrating, and limiting. The ideas that you cannot walk over your crops (Even though we've been doing it for the last 10 YEARS!!!) is awful. Crops losing quality as the days pass is more realistic, but proves to be an annoying feature. The Bazaar is nice, but gets old quick.

My greatest problem is the character design. The quality of the designs suffered greatly. And some of the characters look insanely goofy. Take Stuart for example. . . Need I say more? And of course, the mexican trio just offends me. If they kept the Japanese sprites for those 3, I wouldn't be as offended. With such poor taste in characters, I could not invest myself in the game, and I ended up sinning against Harvest Moon, and giving it away to a 9 year old. (True Story)

Then I tried Harvest Moon: Tale of two towns (ToTT?) Only played it for one in game week, and I gave the game away. I can't say much about the game, I did not play it. It's not like the older games that had charm, realistic social experiences, and the struggle to adapt to a new world opposite of the city life. Now it's just a silly cartoon game that I cannot take any heart into. If the designers didn't take the game seriously, why should I? Having cute girls or guys do not make a Harvest Moon game. Growing crops does not make a Harvest Moon game. Owning animals does not make a Harvest Moon game. Saving the goddess does not make a Harvest Moon game.

What does make a Harvest Moon game? Harvest Moon is about a great experience where you move into a new home, and start a new life in a job you never even imagined before. You were put there to honor a deceased relative, and you must learn the tricks of the trade. You cannot do it alone, you need the help of the people you now live with. They don't know you, and they don't trust you. But you earn their trust by being a part of their community. You attend their festivals, learn their culture, become one of them, help them with their struggles. And after you successfully revive your family's legacy, you look back for a moment and sigh. You started with a house and a few coin in your pocket. You now have a thriving farm, lots of life where only barren death is known. You have a family now, and the villagers accept you as one of their own.

That my friends is Harvest Moon.

Please note that I never even touched “A New Beginning”, so I cannot say anything about that game. Grand Bazaar just murdered my experience with the series, and I don't know if I can ever redevelop the taste for Harvest Moon. I still love Harvest Moon AWL, 64, SI, StH, ToT, and GBC3. But I don't find myself feeling excited about new games coming out anymore.

[Juxapose]

Before someone points these out, I intentionally didn't mention Harvest Moon B&G, and HoLV. B&G is very glitchy, and is just another port of BTN with BTN for girl in it. Harvest Moon HoLV would be too long to talk about, and would soon rather be forgotten.

[Butterscotch]

Then we have the Harvest Moon IoH game. Although the ideas are 100% original with a whole new cast of characters, new land to explore, and redefined gameplay mechanics, it fell short, and I can't find anyone who likes this game. 

I do. A lot actually. The controls take a lot of getting used to, I won't argue that, but if you can get past that, you get to experience one of the best games in the series.

But, like I said before, to each their own.

[Simfarmguru]

I could love IoH if not for the stylus, but it was a great game. But I understand what you're saying. It's starting to feel repetitious. I have enjoyed trying Innocent Life, but that's more of a spin off.

[awinkos]

I disagree with a lot of points here, but then again I haven't played all Harvest Moon games. I won't point out all the points I disagree with because I'm just end up making one severely long post. Though I agree with more points than disagree. All the same, I will say this in agreement, the feeling of Harvest Moon has changed a great deal.

I personally can't put my figure on it specifically, but Harvest Moon as it was, meant the world to me. Today, the new games mean very little to me, but just like you the old ones are immortal. The games that made me most interested where actually the games you dismissed. I feel that the community aspect is the most important, but what makes the game interesting is, as always, the farming- the idea living this separate miniature life that simply cannot go wrong (with the exception of AWL), a simple life with people that are easy to understand yet have numerous secretes and personal lifes to witness and enjoy. I feel AWL, Mineral Town, and DS Cute did this for me, but actually not because they stood alone. They used characters I already loved and understood and gave me more experiences with them. I thought that was effective. Also, the games are very different in actually game play. Mineral Town can become a very progressive game, where getting stronger and faster is central, understanding the secrets of the world, the ones no one will tell you are what makes it so amazing. DS cute is similar, but its like Mineral Town, just blown up! More space, more size more options! In fact I love this game most simply because the farming made me obsessed! I got lost in trying to make Big Crops, and by going to the lowest levels of the mines, and by all the hidden, though 'unnecessary' content that made me actually care. A wonderful life is a given for its content, marriage and romance had nothing to do with the game, it was about raising a family, and even to this day I'm curious about a lot of that game....there are so many options and choices I still haven't explored. (Have you ever beaten it? Dying is a sad thing, but something you'll never forget!)

I love these games, yet my experiences are different. My first Harvest Moon was AWL, from there I've moved on to most all of the newer ones, just not the older ones, so I can't compare like you can.

All the same I agree, the newer games, are different. My sense of connection and concern are absent, and I don't have the energy to force myself to care anymore. It concerns me...what will I do without Harvest Moon?

I haven't given up hope yet though. I do have "A New Beginning" and I must say its dull right now. There are literally 4 people in town. v.v However new features like being able to select your appearance from skin tone to hair and eyes, makes for a very cute addition to the game. I haven't given up yet- I feel there is still hope for our series.

All the same I enjoyed your review of the series at large, it told me a lot of things about the older games I wasn't completely aware of. ^_^

[Butterscotch]

The first month of ANB is extremely slow-paced. Once Rebecca moves in, towards the end of Spring, things pick up. ANB has some great features that I hope make it into other HM games, but the characters are very hit-or-miss. 

It might seem a bit odd, given the gimmick behind it, but for me, The Tale of Two Towns had the best feeling of community since Mineral Town. The villagers, especially the quirkier Konohana villagers, were very appealing to me and I put a lot of effort into befriending them.