Harvest Moon- Favorite entry?

[Tupin]

I just picked up Harvest Moon 3D yesterday, and I've got to say, I'm pretty impressed so far. I had been pretty worn out on the series, all of the DS incarnations were pretty much unmemorable, and it seemed that Rune Factory was the series' future. Plus after all of those spin-offs and cash-grabs in the form of selling the same game but with two different protagonists, I really didn't really trust Natsume.

I think this may be my favorite entry since Friends of Mineral Town. What's yours?

[Bubble_Man]

I just picked up Harvest Moon 3D yesterday, and I've got to say, I'm pretty impressed so far. I had been pretty worn out on the series, all of the DS incarnations were pretty much unmemorable, and it seemed that Rune Factory was the series' future. Plus after all of those spin-offs and cash-grabs in the form of selling the same game but with two different protagonists, I really didn't really trust Natsume.

I think this may be my favorite entry since Friends of Mineral Town. What's yours?


My all-time favorite is Harvest Moon 64. I just like the setting, music and overall feel of this one the best. The only thing I have against it is that the inventory setup makes harvesting crops extremely slow. One could argue that Back to Nature was better because of the improved inventory system and ability to leap over things, but the characters from HM64 just didn't seem to naturally fit into their roles. My 3rd favorite (and final HM game I liked) is Magical Melody. It had what I enjoyed about HM64 and BoT with the addition of notes to collect.

[Tupin]

Honestly, I think the series got a little bit too into the whole supernatural and magical aspects. Having a harvest goddess you could talk to was okay, but having to find sun stones and having tons of Harvest Sprites just always felt out of place to me. Every DS version, like I said, fell flat.

I think them splitting off the series into two separate ones was beneficial to both. Speaking of spin-offs, anyone play Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon? I've heard it wasn't the best.

[PDorr3]

I am REALLY enjoying A New Beginning on the 3DS. It is way better than A Tale of Two Towns, I could not get into that one. The pacing in ANB is really slow at first, but I love the slow buildup towards improving your farm and meeting new people. I have not played all the HM games, but my favorite is still Save the Homeland on PS2.

Before cel shaded graphics became redundant on PS2,GC,Xbox, the cel shading on STH was a real treat to look at. I also think the game had a perfect balance of farming and social aspects. I would say HM64 would be my next favorite.

[Bubble_Man]

I am REALLY enjoying A New Beginning on the 3DS. It is way better than A Tale of Two Towns, I could not get into that one. The pacing in ANB is really slow at first, but I love the slow buildup towards improving your farm and meeting new people. I have not played all the HM games, but my favorite is still Save the Homeland on PS2.

Before cel shaded graphics became redundant on PS2,GC,Xbox, the cel shading on STH was a real treat to look at. I also think the game had a perfect balance of farming and social aspects. I would say HM64 would be my next favorite.

Save The Homeland was the 1st Harvest Moon I ever played. They've added marriage to the psp remake, so I've thought about giving it a try.

[Tupin]

I am REALLY enjoying A New Beginning on the 3DS. It is way better than A Tale of Two Towns, I could not get into that one. The pacing in ANB is really slow at first, but I love the slow buildup towards improving your farm and meeting new people. I have not played all the HM games, but my favorite is still Save the Homeland on PS2.

Before cel shaded graphics became redundant on PS2,GC,Xbox, the cel shading on STH was a real treat to look at. I also think the game had a perfect balance of farming and social aspects. I would say HM64 would be my next favorite.
It did start out very slowly, yes. But I'd rather have this than trying to find Sun Stones or something that doesn't really fit.

[JSoup]

The original SNES version, all the way. With Harvest Moon 2 GB and Harvest Moon 3 GB tied for a close second.

[jonebone]

Can anyone elaborate on why the DS version is so bad? I own many Harvest Moons and have never played any, but I was thinking about giving that one a try. My wife doesn't enjoy when I game on the main TV so I figured playing DS while she's watching a Lifetime movie = win.

[wingzrow]

64 by a landslide, with 3 for gameboy & the PS1 game as a close second. Once Victor software got bought up by marvelous, they never seemed to get better. Every game after 64 just seems like it didn't add anything to the formula. If there's one game I would like to try in Japanese, harvest moon 64 would be it. I've heard a lot of recipes and some conversations were completely cut from the american release (as well as the cop drama on channel 4 of the TV)

[CatTehBus]

My favourite has to be harvest moon 64, I have awesome memories playing it back in the day, the controls and overall gameplay concept was simple and basic but it could get very addicting very quickly. I really admire the simplicity of Harvest Moon 64.

[JSoup]

Can anyone elaborate on why the DS version is so bad? I own many Harvest Moons and have never played any, but I was thinking about giving that one a try. My wife doesn't enjoy when I game on the main TV so I figured playing DS while she's watching a Lifetime movie = win.

Depends on which DS game you get. The only really bad one is the first one, Harvest Moon DS and whatever it's female counterpart is called. It's considered bad because it's too much busy work and not enough character interaction (where as there are other bad Harvest Moon games that are the opposite, too much character stuffs, not enough actual gameplay). You feel like you're in a vacuum (and this fandom abhors a vacuum) and the only way the characters will notice you for a split second is if you go through a bunch of crap for a few hard to make items that you can't sell or use.

Where some games in the series will say "Don't have that item yet? That's cool, I'm here when you do. How are you today, by the way?" this game is like "Don't have that item yet? Then why in the fuck are you talking to me? Hell, why in the fuck are you even off your farm? Get the fuck out of here and don't come back until you have the items, you little bitch." And then all the characters get together at the bar behind your back and insult your mother.

[Tupin]

Basically, if you have a DS and want to play Harvest Moon, get any game in the Rune Factory series.

[Daria]

My favorites have always been Harvest Moon 64 and the original SNES game. Although I really liked Save the Homeland on PS2 just because it was so replay able (and as mentioned before, pretty to look at). I got burnt out on the series this generation though. Im not sure which game killed it for me, but I didn't enjoy Rune Factory. After a while all the games just started to blur together.

So... How does the 3DS game compare to the first few games?

[JSoup]

Basically, if you have a DS and want to play Harvest Moon, get any game in the Rune Factory series.

Well, it depends. Do you want farming-sim/life-sim goodness? Island of Happiness, Sunshine Islands and A Tale of Two Towns are all decent, traditional Harvest Moon games. Do you want a decent top-down action RPG with farming aspects kinda just jammed in, but are still pretty good? Rune Factory is for you. I recall finding the first Rune Factory too easy and something about the second game put me off the series, I don't quite remember what. I've seen some of Frontier and it looked pretty decent, but that's PS3 and I'm assuming we're limited to DS for the purposes of this paragraph.


Although I really liked Save the Homeland on PS2 just because it was so replay able (and as mentioned before, pretty to look at).

Save the Homeland is very much the black sheep of the series. It has it's fans, but I mostly see people going on about how it's not particularly good. I always felt that it didn't shine as bright as the rest of the series, feeling less like a Harvest Moon game and more like a reduced version of a Atelier game, but that's a whole different argument.


So... How does the 3DS game compare to the first few games?

I haven't played either, but if A Tale of Two Towns remains unchanged, aside from the odd 3DS gimmick or two, I'd imagine it's pretty good. From what I've seen of A New Beginning, I can't imagine it's anything but great. The farm portion has a neat city-building type feel to it, allowing you to rearrange literally everything however you like.

[Daria]

Hey JSoup, maybe that's why I liked it so much. I love Atelier games.

[JSoup]

Hey JSoup, maybe that's why I liked it so much. I love Atelier games.

In hindsight, I'm surprised I didn't like Same the Homeland more, based on the same love of Atelier games.