Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

Written by D'Marcus Beatty  on March 15, 2004

Final Glimpse: Every time you hear a cow bell, an angel gets his wings...

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Simply stated, the Harvest Moon series shouldn't have gotten this far. Any role-playing game based on the tedium of farming life should be doomed to failure. However, even though the Harvest Moon series does focus on the chores inherent with maintaining a farm, the games still manage to an unexpected element of fun. Harvest Moon has a large following of fans, many of whom never would have imagined devoting so much of their time to a game that simulates daily life on a farm.

The latest in the Harvest Moon series, subtitled A Wonderful Life, sounds like is referencing the classic Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life. Actually, it's closer to the conveying the potential of the hero's life in the game. Harvest Moon: AWL is planning to incorporate all of the best features from all of the previous Harvest Moons in an attempt to make the best HM game ever, in effect creating the potential for "A Wonderful Life" for the protagonist.

Most gamers who have played one of the Harvest Moon games will tell cynics that there is something addictive about managing your own farm, of deciding how to allocate your time between socialization, actual farming, selling plants, pursuing the subplots, and tending to the livestock. Well, in addition to all of these tasks, now players will marry a wife and have children and live a very sizable portion of the protagonist's life. There is a chapter system, which includes six chapters of life that will encompass thirty years of the character's life, which will translate to approximately at least forty hours of game time to invest to finish! Players will choose and court a wife, grow and sell crops, purchase better equipment for their farm, and attempt to keep their livestock happy and well. Your character can still fish, breed livestock, cook recipes, and has now even gained the ability to cross-breed seeds to create new types of crops!

One of the more interesting aforementioned aspects of the game is the ability to meet, woo, and eventually marry a woman. The protagonist has three potential beaus, and must give the chosen female gifts that she likes. The girls all have different personalities, and prefer different types of presents. After a few gifts, the girl you choose will begin to reciprocate interest, and the protagonist must converse with her, and can even sneak and read her diary to be sure of her interest in you! There is a similar system to develop friendships with the townsfolk, although the results aren't quite as life changing.

The environments promise to be captivating, offering a town that actually seems alive with real people. The graphics are well done, utilizing the beautiful cartoonish look that fans of Harvest Moon have become familiar with a visual upgrade that makes these graphics easily the best of the series.

In addition to the countless time-consuming avenues the game offers, players also can use Gameboy Advance connectivity with the recently released Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. This will open up otherwise unavailable events and items in both games, which, for hardcore fans that have both titles, will boost gaming time beyond the already impressive amount that will have to be invested. There are also multiple endings and a new Free Play Mode that will both add to the replay value.