Review By: Chris Lee
Developer:	Natsume
Publisher:	Nintendo
# of Players:	1
Genre:	Farming Sim
ESRB:	Everyone
Date Posted:	1-8-00

If there is one genre in all of gaming that companies DO NOT want to touch it's......Farming Simulation. That's right, farming simulation. That sounds pretty boring doesn't it? I suppose it should sound boring and dull, seeing as farming isn't exactly the bread and butter of the game industry or even it's toast and jam. So it stands to reason that if some foolish game company has the audacity to release such a surefire flop that we should all point our fingers and laugh, right? Not so my friends, not so at all. Harvest Moon has been released with, and I mean this, absolutely no press or hype whatsoever and it proves once again that some of the best games don't need to be hailed as the second coming to be entertaining.

I'll tell you right off the bat, if you're a person with little to no patience then this probably isn't a game that you'd like. Not to say that Harvest Moon is a mind numbingly boring title but it's just simply......well let me explain. When I say that it's a farm simulation that's a broad term. It's more of a life simulation as a farmer. You have your everyday duties that encompass planting and raising crops, taking care of farm animals, and generally just keeping your farm running smoothly. However there are so many other things that you can do in the world of Harvest Moon. You can talk to any one of the townspeople, participate in festivals, race horses and dogs, make additions to your house and even, dare I say it, get married and have children. All these things take time and at times things can seem to be more than a little tedious but it never really gets boring or dull. Here we go.

Gameplay

The gameplay department is where Harvest Moon shines. You start off at your grandfathers funeral. He owned and ran a local farm that has recently deteoriated and become unprofitable due to his getting older. You, as his grandson, have decided to take over the farm and bring it back to the lively and cheerful place it once was. Believe me, it ain't easy. You have many responsibilities to take care of. On your first day the mayor gives you a tour of the town and introduces you to some of the townsfolk. After that, whatever you want to do is up to you. That's right, there are absolutely no clear cut objectives to this game. You are left to fend for yourself and make your own decisions. You start off with a few tools that are vital to playing the game. You have a hammer (for busting those pesky rocks), an axe (for the tree stumps), a hoe (get your minds out of the gutter, this is what you use to clear land for seeds), and last but not least a watering can (of course it's used to water your crops). The first thing you'll have to do is start clearing land to make way for the crops you'll be raising. Get used to that quick cause you'll be doing a lot of it at first. Then you have to figure out what kind of seeds you want to plant, but you are limited because you don't start off with a fortune. You don't want to mess around too much at the beginning because time passes quickly and if you waste too much time you might miss meeting a few people or witnessing some events. Once you have all your seeds planted and watered you can pretty much just explore.

That brings me to the driving force of the whole game, TIME. From the moment you step foot outside your front door the clock starts ticking. You wake up at 6 every morning and seeing as how 15 seconds is a game hour, you don't have a whole lot of time to be messing around. You everyday responsibilities will include watering crops, brushing your animals, feeding livestock, and keeping the weeds clear of your crops. It might start off small at first but eventually these tasks can eat up your whole day if you aren't careful. Sure you can spend all day on your farm but all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy right? A lot of the fun comes in when you have to be at a festival on time or visit the girl you're trying to woo . Speaking of girls, there are 5 different girls in the game that you can go after. They all have their own personalities and hangouts and it's up to you as to who you go after and to find out the best way to get her to like you. All these things become especially difficult when you need to cut down trees for lumber or go digging at the mine or help some of the local carpenters out with a project. You become an active part of the community and as such you can't afford to spend all your time attending to crops and livestock. You will miss important events and social meetings if you squander all your time. Sometimes you may even miss a valuable harvest of a vegetable because you stayed out too late and forgot to water your vegetables. You really have to worry about stuff like that.

Some of the more satisfying moments are really just small things. Like maybe the girl you're after is responding to your advances. Or maybe you finally have enough money to build that kitchen you've always wanted. Or perhaps you even found a rare gem in the mines. A really cool feature of the game is when your tools level up. As you use them more and more your tools become a lot more useful. The watering can can spray a larger area and the axe can cut down trees faster. The downside of all this is that it uses up more of your energy. You see our little hero isn't a dynamo. He gets tired just like we do so you'll not only need to manage time, you'll need to manage energy. Those hours can pass by pretty quickly when you're sweating like a hog (no pun intended). The game is so addicting simply because of the number of tasks and goals that you can accomplish. I won't spoil them here but suffice to say that every morning when you wake up you'll have lots that you'll want to do and at times the farming becomes secondary, and that's a good thing. All in all, the game is just pure fun and after a while you'll feel like you can run a real farm.

Graphics

This is maybe the single most deterring aspect of the game for most people. The graphics are decidedly SNES looking. not that that's a bad thing but in a world with games like Soul Calibur and Sonic Adventure, it may be hard at first to look at Harvest Moon. There aren't a ton of animations for the different actions that you execute. You'll be able to tell exactly what he's doing but there aren't more than maybe 3 or 4 frames of animation for some things. In the long run though, once you play it, you'll realize that adding more frames would mean adding more time wasted so it's kind of a good thing. There is some rather odd pop-up and pop-in when you're walking through town. Very strange. There were previous versions of the game on the SNES and a new one on the gameboy but I think in some areas they could have spruced it up a bit. The N64 is capable of more but it's nothing you can't get over with some playtime.

Sound

I'd say it's the weakest yet most unimportant aspect of the game. Each of the four seasons has their own musical them that plays every single day unless it's raining outside. Redundant? Yes. Irritating? Well....not quite, close though. The sound effects are adequate enough. You'll hear the sounds of horses running, raindrops falling, wood chopping and stones being broken. They're all adequate but nothing to write home about. There are also no voice samples, everyone speaks in text. No biggie but I guess we've all come to expect it in one game or another. The sound is a bit disappointing but as I said it's not something that's integral to pulling you into the game.

Overall

Even with the weak points in graphics and sound, Harvest Moon manages to be one of the most fun games I've played in the last few years. With it being such "do your own thing" affair and all the secrets it has, you'll be playing for a long time. Even the farming isn't completely routine. Each season is different and many things change over the years. The game is as addicting as anything else I've played. Once you are dropped into the world of Harvest Moon you won't want to leave. I say at least give it a rent for a couple days. Natsume should be rewarded for the bravery of bringing out such a niche title.

Overall: 9.0