Recommend My Next Game (Harvest Moon)

[Rumpus]

Hi all! So, I have a question for you Harvest Moon players.

The first Harvest Moon game I ever got was A Wonderful Life on the GameCube. I loved it, played it as much as possible, set up "shifts" with my brother so we could farm all night, etc.

Now, (and bear with me here) I've never been a huge fan of the other Harvest Moon games I've tried in comparison. Save the Homeland comes to mind - I much preferred the beautiful world of A Wonderful Life, with its ultra-relaxed pace and great relationships. Save the Homeland felt too... rushed, in a way. This is how I felt towards most of the Harvest Moon games I tried.

I know this is an unpopular opinion - I know a lot of people hated A Wonderful Life compared to the other, more traditional Harvest Moon games. But help me out here.

So, my question is: If I LOVED A Wonderful Life way more than any other Harvest Moon game, what Harvest Moon is most comparable on the DS? I've been looking at A New Beginning, and I've heard great things about Rune Factory 4, as well.

Help!

 

[ShinyYoshi]

I could recommend Harvest Moon: DS Cute, but it takes place in Forget-Me-Not Valley just like A Wonderful Life does. The same characters are there and everything. But! You would be playing as a girl, instead of a guy. And if you wanted, you could marry a guy that passes through the Valley from Mineral Town! It takes more time, but the game in general takes a lot of work.

I personally loved DS Cute and I still play it today. But if you wanted to experience a new town, you could get Sunshine Islands! It's a whole new area with all new people. I found the game to be really cute and fun. The new townsfolk are really cute and you can decide your gender from the beginning.

But if you're looking for 3DS, A New Beginning would be your best bet. It's a little different that most of the older Harvest Moon games, I feel it was made to be really simple and easy. There are tons of new animals to raise and all new people. I don't play A New Beginning as often as I play the older Harvest Moon games. (A Wonderful Life is one of my all-time favorite Harvest Moon games). I felt like A New Beginning was made for people who wanted to try and get into Harvest Moon games, since I felt it was really simple.

I'm not going to suggest A Tale of Two Towns because I didn't own it. I never bought it because the reviews I read really steered me away from it. People were pretty unhappy with the game.
I'm also not going to suggest The Lost Valley because I don't own it and I never will own it. The game is not in any sense "Harvest Moon" material. The game just has the name slapped on there and it's kind of a disgrace.
I will also not recommend Island of Happiness because it's almost just like Sunshine Islands, but I can't remember the differences. If you're interested in Island of Happiness, I guess doing some research might help!

Oh, also! If you were planning on getting the Harvest Moon DS title, go with DS Cute. Just normal "Harvest Moon DS" is an extremely glitchy game. I own it, and something happened in my game where I can't see heart events. And as you know, you can't get married unless you see all the heart events available for a bachelorette. So I'm stuck living the really lonely single life in HM DS. Go with DS Cute! It has almost no glitches and the game is fantastic.

 

[Rumpus]

ShinyYoshi, thank you so much for your recommendations. I did mean to say 3DS, but DS Cute sounds like a great place to start. I loved Forget Me Not Valley, and I never played Another Wonderful Life so playing as a female character will be completely new to me.

I'll be looking into A New Beginning, too! I'm okay with it being simplistic. I have been looking for a game that's easy to pick up for shorter sessions, in between marathons of Ocarina of Time or Alpha Ruby.

I've also got high hopes for Story of Seasons.

Thanks again for the recommendations!

 

[ShinyYoshi]

Then DS Cute and A New Beginning sound good for you!

It's no problem, I always like helping people with Harvest Moon stuff. I've been playing since we had HM64 back in the 90's.

But I did forget to add, Story of Seasons would also be a good choice but it hasn't released yet. But it should be by the end of this month!

Edit: if you ever want to just look at general stuff for each HM game, I suggest http://fogu.com it's a great site!

 

[n64king]

A New Beginning is awesome. I hadn't played one since GameCube and this one got me back interested in the series.

 

[Gandalf]

Tale of Two Towns was pretty average, I wouldn't recommend it at all. This was coming from playing Tree of Tranquility which was the only one I really enjoyed out of the few I've played.

 

[EpicGamer12]

Awesome! Another AWL lover! If I were to suggest one to you, I would suggest ToT on the Wii but if you want a portable console game go with one of the oldies like Friends of Mineral Town. If not, A New Beginning.

 

[Rumpus]

A New Beginning is awesome. I hadn't played one since GameCube and this one got me back interested in the series.

Sounds like what I'll be getting, then. And, eventually, Story of Seasons!