Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life – Hard Work Can Sometimes be Fun

Author's Rating:

Pros: will keep you busy for long time, addictive, innovative, continuation of great series

Cons: a bit repetitive, average graphics, lackluster audio effects

The Bottom Line: 
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is the first 3-D game in this long-lasting series. The GameCube installment is different from previous installments, yet still offers a very rewarding experience.

Author's Review
The Harvest Moon franchise is one of those video game series that you either love or hate. Fortunately for the developers of Harvest Moon, most people tend to love the games that they have created. The Harvest Moon games are very innovative and completely different from any other game on the market, as you assume the role of a farmer and getting through life while making ends meet is the goal. A farming simulation might not sound too exciting or gripping for some, yet somehow the games manage to captivate gamers and keep them playing for a long, long time. The series has touched the farmer within all of our souls, and it has molded today’s youth into a generation of virtual farmers. Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Tradition carries on the tradition, and brings the series to the GameCube console.

I was personally hooked on this franchise when Harvest Moon 2 for GBC was released. I remember spending endless hours on that game, and was excited when I got to play the Nintendo 64 version for some time. However, the games have changed and I can attest to this, as I am a Harvest Moon veteran. In A Wonderful Life, the plot is similar to previous installments. From the beginning, you learn that it was your father’s dream to own and manage a successful farm, a wish that was not fulfilled throughout his lifetime. His partner, Takakura, has collected enough money and managed to buy you a house, a cow, a few basic tools and a plot of land in Forget-Me-Not Valley, a rural community on an island. It is up to you to fulfill your father’s wishes, however the plot thickens, as leading a good life is an essential part of this game.

The gameplay and the concept of this game might seem strange to folks that have never played Harvest Moon. How could growing crops, milking cows and collecting flowers be any fun whatsoever? To some, performing these actions might sound like doing chores. However, this is not the case, as the Harvest Moon games make these activities along with a plethora of others quite fun and addicting. This game takes place over a course of 30 years, a third of which you will play while the others will be presented to you in the form of cut-scenes. Each year consists of four seasons, and each season now consists of a mere 10 days. One full day in A Wonderful Life takes approximately 25 real world minutes to complete, which translates into a lot of gameplay. The 30 years will be split up into six chapters, and there is a goal throughout each chapter (such as getting marrying).

Each day is similar to the previous one, yet the game never gets to be too repetitive. Everything morning at 5 AM, your character wakes up and has breakfast. It is recommended to turn on your television to check on today’s weather forecast and peep at the horoscopes. Your actions for the day will depend on the weather, but let’s assume that it is sunny outside. The first two things that you should do daily are water your crops and check up on your livestock.

In past games, planting and harvesting crops was the single most important thing, especially in order to earn money. You would have to clear the field of boulders with a hammer, cuts the weeds with a sickle, grow grass wherever you were planning to plant crops, plow the land and plant your seeds. In A Wonderful Life, you must still clear you land initially, and get rid of weeds as well, however planting grass is unnecessary. Your plot of land features different levels of soil fertility, yet the best soil takes a longer time to get to. Purchasing seeds is done by visiting a rival farm now instead of in the town square.

There are different crops to plant for every season, and if you grow a plant in the wrong season then you will not be able to harvest it. Every day, you must water your crops twice in order for them to grow quickly unless it rains. Fertilizer can also be purchased to upgrade the quality and value of your harvest. Crops can then be given to Takakura for him to sell the next day, they can be stored or eaten, or you can set up a small shop in the town square and hope that the citizens will buy your goods. One attention-grabbing item available in A Wonderful Life is a machine that allows you to cross-bread crops in order to produce hybrids, which are worth more money than normal crops.

Another source of income and a daily chore in this game is your rearing of animals. Your cows are very important animals. They are kept inside when raining and during the night, yet should be taken outside to the pasture when sunny. You must feed them twice a day, yet you can also milk them twice a day. Brushing, washing and spending time with them will make them happy, which in turns produces finer quality milk, which is worth more money. You can also impregnate cows, and the sow will be isolated during her pregnancy, yet can only give milk for forty days after pregnancy. Chickens are cared for in a similar manner – as you should take them outside of their coop if sunny as this eliminates the need to feed them. You can fertilize eggs with the aid of a rooster, and ten days later you will have a mature chicken. If your chickens are happy, then they will lay golden eggs, which will bring in plenty of money for you.

Besides chickens and cows, you will have the opportunity to purchase and take care of sheep and goats. Sheep must also be brushed and washed, and good care results in golden wool. Wool can be sheared once per season, and it is a fairly good source of income. Goats, like cows, also produce milk. Later on in the game, you will be able to purchase a machine to turn your milk into butter, which costs more than milk. Besides these farm animals, other animals can be owned. Ducks can be bought and raised, and they will waddle in the pond near your house. A horse will be awarded to you fairly soon into the game, and you will be able to ride it, which gets you to various places fairly quickly. Dogs and a cat will also appear in your house, but these are just animals to play with.

Besides growing crops and spending time with your farm animals, you can spend your time doing anything else. One good activity, which can become very profitable, is fishing. Investing in a fishing rod early on in the game will make surviving the first few months a bit easier. The value of the fish that you manage to catch depend on the location, while fishing directly after a shower also tends to net a few nice prizes. Fish, like all other food items, make great gifts and can help improve relationships with the townsfolk. Besides fishing, another entertaining activity is going to the mines. If you investigate, chances are you will come across various artifacts such as statues and fossils. These artifacts can then be sold to net you a hefty profit.

However, the farm life is not the single most important aspect of this game, as maintaining a social life is also encouraged. First of all, in order to continue playing the game after the first year, you successfully propose to one of three potential wives. Your choices include Celia, Muffy and Nami. Each of these three fine young women have differing personalities and prefer various treats to others. Locating their diaries and checking up on it will indicate how much they like you, and when the heart meter is high, this is the time that you should propose. After marriage, a baby will arrive shortly after. Playing with your son and raising him properly is a very important aspect in A Wonderful Life. Persuading him to play with certain toys more often than others will develop the kid’s interest in the profession related to that toy (i.e. ball raises interest in sports). There are other factors that will lead to your son’s career decision, be it staying in the farming business or venturing off into town.

Besides your wife and child, maintaining good relationships with the various townsfolk is also necessary. You can get them to like you by offering them various gifts (such as fish, crops or flowers that you can pick), by talking to them fairly often or by selling them goods in your shop for discounted prices. If they become good friends, they have a tendency of giving you free items, which can be very useful. Also, if there are special events going on in town, you can usually attend only if you are friends with the host, therefore maintaining good relationships with everyone will heighten the chance of attending these events. Through the years, the town changes a lot. Some people die, other folks move in, and this is very reminiscent of life in a real-life town. It is always very interesting to see what has become of the town after years have passed during the cut-scenes.

The activities that I have described above are what you will go through every single day in this game. If you get annoying, you can relax and have a drink in the bar, but this will just mean more work for later. Although at times the gameplay seems repetitive, which it is if you think about it, there are still factors that keep you playing until your thumbs are blue. And although A Wonderful Life differs from previous Harvest Moon games (such as the large focus on developing your child), this is still a very good game. There are no multi-player options offered whatsoever, but beating the single-player mode will take you longer than seven days in a row with no sleep or breaks. Thus, it will last you a long, long time.

The graphics in this game are a mixed bag of treats. The art used is similar to cel-shading, although for the first time ever the world of Harvest Moon has been rendered into a three-dimensional environment. The world that has been created can be described as cute and very appealing to your audiences. However, those with experience will notice that the character models are a bit low in texture and the backgrounds are a little blurry. There are some jagged edges here and there as well. On the flip side, the lighting effects and the use of lush color to present the environments are stunning. Another graphical aspect that I particularly enjoyed was the blossoming of the trees, especially the gorgeous cherry trees.

The sound department is also somewhat lacking, mainly due to the lack of character voicing. Instead of character voicing, the developers stuck with scrolling dialogue, which is beginning to get primitive in our next-generation day and age. This scrolling dialogue, which is very important in this game means that basic reading skills are required to fully enjoy this game, thus children below the age of about 6 will have to wait a year before plunging into this game. The background music consists of a few tracks that are looped over and over again, unless you change the track in your house. Finally, the sound effects are decent, yet they become repetitive after about five hours. However, the light thud made by your footsteps was soothing for me.

Overall, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is a one of a kind game for the Nintendo GameCube console. Harvest Moon games are very unique and last for a very long time, which definitely warrants their purchase. You want to try out something fresh, bold and innovative, then give this game a go. If you overlook the average graphics and sound as well as some repetition, then you might become hooked on this series too.