Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (GC) questions...

[josekortez]

Hi guys,

Just a few questions:

1. Did anybody pick this up today?
2. Does anybody think this one will eventually drop in price?
3. Does anybody think it will be eventually be rare like the N64 version?

I'm still a cheapskate, but I may pick it when I go to Gamestop later if my fancy gets tickled.

[MarioAllStar2600]

1) No, I think I might tommoorw. Can't wait to give it a whirl.
2) Most games drop eventually, I think the sales will follow similar to Animal Crossing.
3) NO! Alot of people played the game, and lots of people are awaiting the sequal. With no ANimal Crossing 2, fans of taht sort will be pumped to buy this game. I tihnk this game will not be rare, and get good sales.

[digitalpress]

This game intrigues me too. I've dona a little Harvest Moon in the past, but they all seem rather similar. Is the GBA link enough to make this one radically different? I'd like to hear the opinions of someone who's played this latest incarnation.

PS I was hooked on Animal Crossing for awhile too.

[Achika]

I'm picking it up when I get back to work on friday night (it's already paid off) I just finished Sword of Mana, so I've got Friends of Mineral Town in my GBA right now, playing like crazy every spare second I get.

I'm not sure what the connection features are, I'm sure they are out there. I'll be taking full advantage of them though; whatever they may be.

I don't think the price will drop soon. I believe it took awhile for the PS2 version to drop, and I am tending to think that the GCN version will follow the same pattern. Always available, but takes awhile for a price drop.

It's kinda like Animal Crossing, but at the same time, takes a more "mature" audience that knows what they are doing. You can't just slack off, and you have to be FAST. It's not daytime when it's actually daytime out like in animal crossing. A day can be over in a matter of minutes and you have to water, pick your crops, tend to your animals, etc. in all that time.

There have been lots of secrets such as finding a wife, being at certain spots in certain times of the day, helping other couples get married, saving the vineyard, getting and baking recipes, etc. Each H.M. is different, yet has similarities. It can be monotonous at times, but at the same time it's something you really have to a great amount of attention to.

As similar as each version is to one another, I can't help but buying each incarnation (I've got each version, except HM 1 & 2 for GBC--used to have them, but not anymore)

[josekortez]

I went to Gamestop tonight, and the associate told me Harvest Moon wasn't shipping until tomorrow. I got Space Channel 5 (PS2) and Lost Kingdoms (GC) instead (they were 10% off new). I needed to return the Universal VGA Box I bought the other day anyway, but I'm loathe to spend $40 on a new game when I have so many in my collection are still unplayed (many are Cube titles, BTW, including Star Fox and Mega Man). I will buy Harvest Moon in the future, however.

After reading IGN.com today, they said that in A Wonderful Life, the festivals that are a Harvest Moon staple have been removed, and there is a new mail order function that replaces the shops. Also, the game includes 30 years of gameplay, and that the endings are determined by what your child decides to do with his life. It definitely sounds interesting.

On another note, anybody know why Harvest Moon for the N64 is so rare? I remember I bought a copy when it came out, and the guy at EB said something about a chip shortage (?), but I'm not sure if that was true or not. Like an idiot, I traded it in with a bunch of other 64 carts a couple of years ago. This was before I knew its value, but I got a Dreamcast for it so I guess it wasn't all bad...

[Achika]

Maybe it's a regional thing, but I've always considered N64 HM a "high-uncommon" because we generally have one in stock all the time. Maybe it was just a short print run? Starcraft and Ogrebattle seem to be the same way.

Previous to 2000, it was scarce, but then over the summer of that year, the Funcolands I worked in always had one in stock (one would sell, and a few days later we would get a replenishment).

Now, the SNES version....I think that ones a littler harder to find.

[Querjek]

I'm planning on picking it up next week... I have the GBA one, and it ROCKS. When you link up to a GCN, I know that on the GBA, you get 2 new citizens (Ban and Luu) and a new house if you get enough link stars.

[SoulBlazer]

Is'nt the GBA one just the same as the original PlayStation one? That's what I've heard and why I did'nt buy it.

I'll probaly get the GC eventuly on sale or used.

[Achika]

On a similar, yet unrelated note, there is Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town for Girls.

http://www.mmv-i.co.jp/bokumono/seri.../gba/game.html

It's the same as friends of mineral town, but you play as a girl trying to get the boys affections.

[Querjek]

Is'nt the GBA one just the same as the original PlayStation one? That's what I've heard and why I did'nt buy it.

No, it's similar, but not the same.

[Mayhem]

Similar in that it is actually a conversion, but it's no way identical...

[Achika]

Well, I had a chance to sit down and play around with Harvest Moon: AWL. After playing for a few hours, I am happy to say that I'm only a few days in. I have to say, while some things have changed (IMO for the worst possibly) they are overall better and this is the most "forgiving" installment yet.

+ Days are not over in 3 minutes. Each real world second is one HM minute. They days seem to last FOREVER, so you can get much more work done.

+ You start with a cow, 3000G, a full tool shed, some seeds

+ You can milk the cows twice a day. Instead of getting one measly bottle of milk, you can get up to four (and this is only the second day!)

+ Recipes can be made right away and are possibly easier to find (just looking at people's kitchens, I've found a few)

+ The girls are easy! Four days of wooing Celia, I've already moved her heart a color. One nice compliment to Muffy and she was at my house. Nami? Oh, we won't talk about her....

+ Literally press a button to get your animals back inside, no more "ring cow bell, push bessie through the doors" routine.

+ No more miracle potion. You dable in animal husbandry by buying a bull or rooster for ALL your female animals.

+ World is smaller, but still packed full. No more wasting an entire day to get to the mountains.

- No Greenhouse from what I can see yet

- Time passes indoors

- No true "store". You have to place orders for any tools or animals you want, so you will have to wait atleast a day instead of an immediate purchase from a counter.

- Using a wavebird is not advised, as you need the rumble feature for fishing.

That's all I can think of right now.

[kainemaxwell]

I played the SNES HM via emulators and gotta say it was fun, though monotonous at times. Refreshing chang eof pace from "saving the wold" rpgs.