The game also has trouble balancing some of its gameplay elements. It’s quite mystifying how such a simple game could be riddled with such obvious control faults, though thankfully the game isn’t unplayable from their presence, just annoying at times. There are also several unused buttons on the controller that could have made various tasks easier to perform, such as quickly switching from one tool to another. Other control problems lie in how certain menus are laid out selling items to the traveling salesman is ridiculously cumbersome. This problem can lead to general frustration when watering plants, as well as some inexcusable accidents, like using the hoe on a nearly-ripe tomato instead of the adjacent plot of untilled soil. The grid-based system used in crop-tending and digging should be simple to use, but the overly sensitive joystick response makes it needlessly difficult to target a particular square.
There are also some unfortunate control problems. The game gets busier as you build up resources and new chores on the farm, but things can be dreadfully slow in the first couple of months, which amount to several real hours of playing. That leaves twelve more game hours to amuse yourself or try to make a bit of extra money, and there just aren’t many options for either. Let’s say you finish watering your single row of watermelons and milk the cow by 10:00 AM on the game clock. On many days, especially early in the farm’s life when there is little farmwork and little money to spend on more crops and animals, the game days can stretch on too long. There are some downsides to this approach. There are no thrills or explosions in Harvest Moon this is a game for people who want a break from calamity and wouldn’t mind a peaceful, relaxing experience for once. When riding your horse out to the seaside as the sun fades away, it’s hard not to be touched. While not technically impressive, the game’s world is painted in soft colors and shadows worthy of any Bob Ross painting. While fishing, you can literally close your eyes, listen to the sound of the rushing water, and drift into a semi-conscious state while casually listening for the “blop!” of a fish on the line. Despite work-filled days and busy walking paths through the village, there is an overriding blanket of serenity to the proceedings. Much of Harvest Moon’s charm comes from how it presents all the best aspects of farming life.
Although Harvest Moon is quite unique for its subject matter and a few other reasons, it’s safe to say that if you are easily addicted to other simulation games, you will probably have no problem settling into the farm routine. Some players are going to respond enthusiastically, others not at all. The game is based heavily on the psychology of objectives and self-improvement. It’s the loftier goals, like upgrading your farm or building a family, which make all the intermediate labor seem worth your time. Then you keep giving that thing until the person finally reciprocates with a little cut-scene or an item which may or may not be worth as much as all the stuff you contributed to the “relationship”.Īs with many simulation games, the rewards of playing Harvest Moon are not readily apparent in a brief, isolated game session. Most people tell you the same two or three things over and over, so you have to make friends not through conversation, but by handing out gifts until you find something each person is fond of. The only other significant thing to do in the game is interact with the local townsfolk, which can prove to be a very slow and frustrating process. For a change of pace, you might try digging in the ruins or going fishing, but these activities are similarly mundane exercises in patience and persistence. Depending on how you build your farm, you may be spending a large part of each game day carrying chickens in and out of their coop, or tending to every single plant growing in your fields. The actual gameplay is extremely simple and repetitive. Your days are filled with watering crops, milking cows, and trying to eke out a living in an economic model not exactly rife with profit. Harvest Moon makes you a farmer, and it makes you like being one. You can’t approach Harvest Moon expecting anything remotely similar to Final Fantasy, Zelda, or even one of the Sim-(City/World/Ant/s) games. That seems like a rudimentary point, but it really seeps into every pore of the gameplay.
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