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Harvest Time at news0r (Reviews)

Harvest fever has gripped news0r, its official. For the last week or so I have donned my straw hats and ploughed through a copy of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life on the Game Cube. In this instance I am not ashamed to say that this game has had me totally hooked and I've recommended it so much one of my friends has had me order him a Game Cube and a copy of the game! So read on and all shall be revealed of my new life in farming..... ooo arr!

In the past I have personally been very quick in slating over simplification of games in the market, especially after comments made by certain big chiefs at Nintendo, so its a bit of a shock to me how much I love this game. The portrayal is very childish and on first look the cartoony graphics enhance this. The characters are very comical and this is reciprocated in the animals, buildings and scenery. However the big plus point in this game is the methods of game play. There is no easy route to completing this game nor is there a shortcut to completing chapters. In other games of this genre we have been looking at recently the simplicity of the game play has given the overall game an overly easy feel. Certain elements of Harvest Moon require concentration and memory. Planting crops is one thing but they need daily care and this includes watering and then hoeing once they are harvested. In summer months daily watering is required and over watering in fall and winter leads to crop death.

The general memory based theme is consistent throughout the game and includes the maintenance and survival of animals. From the season dependant milking of the cows to the shearing of the sheep everything has to be done to schedule to ensure profit all year through. This method incorporates an addictive feature within the game play essential to any successful game. These elements are the sort that should be encouraged in any game aimed at younger people: sorting routines and organisational tactics can't be acquired from playing the game and there are also enough fun parts and cartoony feel to cover the (shudder) educational aspects.

In case it wasn't already as obvious as an American tourist in London I could easily waffle on and on about the game play characteristics of Harvest Moon. As fun as this would be for me there are other aspects that should be included in the review. Funnily enough these aspects are all crucial in making the game as brilliant as it is. So if you can bear with me a bit longer I'll carry on spewing out reasons why this game rocks!

Anyone who currently owns a Game Cube will know that Nintendo have a passion for childlike games. The graphical representation of characters, buildings and scenery firmly puts Harvest Moon in this category. However what separates it graphically from other titles aimed at younger children is the comical aspects of the creation and the attention to detail. Any true 'gamer' should be able to pick up any game and look at it objectively. Granted we all have our favourite genres and titles (*ahem* Final Fantasy, RPG's) but when I picked up Harvest Moon for the first time I was immediately struck by the quality of the graphics. Looking beyond the cartoony feel there has clearly been a lot of time and effort put into making the game look, for want of a better word, pretty. And it works! There is no good reason why anyone shouldn't be able to look at the game as a piece of pure graphical quality.

There is possibly just the one let down about Harvest Moon and that is the sound. There are no voices and various people respond with grunts when spoken to as a means of distinguishing the characters. The conversations are fixed and scripted and dependant on previous encounters. It would not have been hard to implement scripted voices to all of the characters and certainly would have added a whole new dimension to the game as the current scripting can be boring and repetitive.

Regardless of this Harvest Moon is still one of the best and most addictive games I have played in a long, long time and I would strongly recommend anyone who has a Game Cube to get out there and get farming!

- posted by sydrik on 13.07.04
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