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  REVIEWS - Harvest Moon 64 ::

Trust me, it's more fun than it looks.
Game Info.
Genre
Adventure
Publisher/Developer
Nintendo/Natsume
Peripherals
  • (none)
    • Release
    11/18/99
    Media
  • 10 pictures

    • Harvest Moon 64
    Farming fun? Since when?
    Reviewed by Sam - November 21st, 2000

    Way back in '97, a little game called Harvest Moon was released for the Super NES. Of course, everyone heard of it, but only a small crowd even bothered to give the game a chance. Fortunately, the game's now in isometric perspective with loads more gameplay variety on the N64, gettin' its freak on, y'know. If you were one of those players back in the dark ages who turned away at the mention of a farming RPG, you get a second chance with the new and improved Harvest Moon 64...
    The plot's stayed the same; you're a boy in charge of your very own farm. Boring, right? Dude, you're so wrong. You've got a girlfriend to go after, the awesome festival days, you can go to the pub, become a florist, a carpenter, a miner, or you could even chill at home, on the farm, planting and cropping, making millions in cash, and livin' the good life with a permanent stockpile of money. What a game. ^_^ Harvest Moon 64 starts out simple; you get to name your character, your dog, and your farm, and then you can pick your birthday. A few humble townspeople slowly ween you to the farm life, and even more will help you out if you're down on your luck (that is, if you make friends). Early on in the game, all you'll probably be able to afford to do is crops. But pretty soon, you'll be able to care for chickens, sheep, and even cows; if you stick with it, you'll even get a free horse to ride on around the farm and at races.
    But this is all only a little slice of all the fun things you can do during the unlimited years of gameplay, so if you ever decide to check it out, make sure to leave time to say "goodbye" to friends and family for a while, cause with Harvest Moon 64, you are living the game (or the game is living you, or something along those lines).

    Gameplay
    This is one of the most involving games I've ever played. There's so much depth, so much character interaction, so many little quests and missions you can go on in your spare time, and it's all optional, so lazy gamers like me can have their systematic workdays, as well. The Harvest Moon series is really more like "life sim" than anything else; I can't even take the time to tell you the miriad of interesting and really fun things to do in the game. It's so great.
    9/10

    Graphics
    The game... it's not ugly, but... it's not pretty. The graphics are "cartoony", which isn't a bad thing, but the movements and animation are so static that it takes away much of the living feel you want in good cartoony games (like Mario RPG). But it's done well enough so as not to look terrible. At least the fresh mix of colours is good, and as time and days change, so do the environments. Very stylized, but still... a little choppy.
    7/10

    Sound
    The music is very good, very nice, but repetitive, as it only changes with the seasons. You get used to it, though sometimes it's best to have a CD playing instead. ^_^ As for sound effects, I guess the button sounds are nice and clear, just the thing you want from them. The animal noises are well synthesized, too.
    8/10

    Replay Value
    Wow, you'd think that after beating such a long and involving RPG, you'd simply get bored of it. But I just love staying up into the morning hours playing this game with a friend by my side. ^_^ It's so much fun trying to do things differently the next time around, which is one thing that makes this game so great. Try dating a different girl, maybe try for an animal farm instead of a crop farm, or try to collect more recipes from your friends. The only downside to playing this game over again is that it's such a workload; to take it on twice in a row isn't easy. Nevertheless, it's a ton of fun playing this game more than once, in time.
    9/10

    Overall
    Jeez, there's no fancy way to say this, other than that this is one of my all-time favorite games. Definately in my top 10. Sure, not everything about it is perfect, but it just pulls you in, and there's just SO much to do in it. Man oh man, I seriously doubt there's a way to do it all in one try without screwing up. Everybody should be playin' this game at some time in the course of their lives; it's just too good to overlook.

    FINAL SCORE: 9/10
    =Amazing=

    Send feedback to: sam@ngeb.net