Harvest Moon: Magical Melody

"At least it's better than Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life."

I love the Harvest Moon series, it's very fun and easy to play once you get into it. This game is really fun and has improved on the gameplay from A Wonderful Life, but the graphics and sound aren't so improved. Actual it's more like they deproved. (Is deproved even a word?)

Ok, time for the graphics section of my review. The graphics go for a cute look, but that cute look, well doesn't look so cute. In fact it looks kind of old and ugly. The graphics are less then average in this game. With big heads and small bodies. Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life has better graphics then Harvest Moon: Magical Melody and HM:AWL came out like before this game did, so why do the graphics look worse?

There is no voice acting, but at least the background music is nice and somewhat catchy. Ok, now for the worst part of the sound the sound effects. When you talk to a neighbor they'll say like "Hi" or make some groaning noise. (Which is really scary) They sound like a robot when they say a word or they sound like a deformed pokemon when they make groaning noises. It's so scary, but then again it's so funny. Me and my cousin would just talk to the neighbors to hear their scary voices. When the main character is going to water the field, he makes a sound that sounds like he has to go poop really bad. (My mom thought that someone was in restroom having a hard time and she went to check and there was no one there. So my dad told her it was my video game. XD) The background music is fine and all, but the "Hi" and the groans are really funny and annoying, but mostly annoying.

The best gameplay in the Harvest Moon series. Period. You're a boy/girl who wants to raise a farmland. Basically it's a RPG/Life Simulator. When you start the game you can choose a male or female to be and then you choose a house to start your farming life. Then you plan your house with different furniture and barns and fences. So then you raise animals every morning to keep them healthy and to get money from their milk, eggs, wool, etc etc. You also can grow crops and there are a lot of different crops to plant. Tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn, etc etc. I think there are more then twenty five different crops. Of course you can talk to the opposite gender and give them gifts so they will like you more. And if they like you enough, you can get married to them. Awwwwwwwww. This game also has a story line which is basically get 100 magical notes in this game. I thought that 100 magical notes thing was a good idea, because it gives you a goal in this game. Unlike other Harvest Moon games all you do is just get married and raise a farm. Then you get bored and you never want to play the game again. You can get notes by doing different things like talking to neighbors, raising animals, fishing, participating in a festival, etc etc. There are so many things to do in Harvest Moon: Magical Melody that you'll be filled with fun.

Controls are simple and you'll probably get it on the first day or the second. It might seem complicated if this is your first Harvest Moon game, but you'll understand it soon enough. This Harvest Moon also has mini-games, so you can have fun with your friends. Unfortunately the mini-games aren't that fun and are kind of boring, but this is a huge step for a Harvest Moon game and I hope they improve on this category a lot. The story is getting married, having kids, raising animals, and a whole bunch of free stuff. It's like Animal Crossing. (If you haven't played Animal Crossing, then you should buy that too)

This game will last you for a very long time. Harvest Moon: Magical Melody has so many things for you to do and if you love it a lot, you will probably at least be playing this for like a couple of months.There's even a multiplayer. OH MY GOODNESS! Lots and lots of replay value in this game, but all Harvest Moon games have good replay value. Like raising your farm and caring for your lovely wife.

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody is a fun game, if you can get over the graphics and the annoying grunts and voices. Then this game is perfect for you. If you think graphics and sound are really important in a game, try a different Harvest Moon game, before you try this one. But otherwise a solid game for a system that is slowly fading from this planet.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/06, Updated 10/15/07

Game Release: Harvest Moon: Magical Melody (US, 03/28/06)