Harvest Moon 64

"Who Knew Farming Could Be This Fun And Addictive?"

First of all I would just like to say... wow. This game is amazing. You may get the impression that it's a silly kids game or that it may be stupid because all you do is farm, but its surprisingly FUN and ADDICTIVE. The game starts out with a young man whos Grand Father just recently passed away, and you as the Grandson take over your Grandfathers farm. You start out with a little house and a big overgrown farm, and a dog. You also have the stables, a mailbox and a chicken shed. For the first while of the game you may spend several days fixing up the farm, such as smashing rocks, cutting weeds, planting crops, ect... but you can also do many, MANY other things.

Gameplay 10/10
This gameplay is this game is really cool. You start out with several tools that fit nicely into your backpack. (I don't really understand how all those enormous tools can fit into such a small bag, but....) You can do many things. You can do farming, such as smashing rocks, cutting weeds, hoeing the soil, planting crops, and harvesting crops. But you are not limited to just doing this, actually you don't even HAVE to do this. You can also talk to villagers, participate in yearly events and even get married and have a kid! The girls in the village have a white heart when you talk to them in the message box, however if you continue to give them thing they like, and choose them to dance with (for festivals) there hearts will soon change color, and they will show more affection to you, and start to fall in love with you. Eventually once the heart is pink you can ask them to marry you. Your wife will usually be helpful at the farm and complete a certain task(s) for you depending on which one you marry. However there is one that harvests the chicken eggs, but tends to drop them alot though. In the events section the Mayor will come to your house and ask you to come join them. The game is separated in 4 months with 30 days. Basically the 4 seasons, being Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Each month has its own holidays for you to participate in. Such as the horse races, and the dog race. And many partys which are always fun. New things also happen each year. new characters may come along, and see you, or if you meet certain requirements then you will accomplish something with them and get a photo taken and put into your diary. (such as the butterfly catcher guy). You can also do many other things, such as help the work men build a hotspring, and a bridge, and get the workmen to add things onto your house. If you don't get a bigger house your wife won't be to happy and she CAN divorce you! You can also spend a long winters day in the mine, digging gor precious gems, then selling them and resting after a long day of work in the bar with your friends... and possible wife? *hint, hint*

Graphics 10/10
The graphics are pleasent and nice to look at. The game has a peaceful atmosphere. And the people in the town are always friendly and everything looks and runs smoothly. It's a beautiful world and is nice to be in. It would actually turn out to be a very nice little town if it was real.

Story 7/10
Well theres not much of a story here, but thats not really the POINT. The point is to have FUN and just do stuff, theres so many things to do, to many to even mention! The story is basically that your grandfather died so you have to take over and manage the farm for him. Your Father will eventually visit you to see how things are going, but he lives in the "City" which is mysteriously unaccesible except to him, and certain other people who do eventually leave the town, when certain things are not done.

Sound 9/10
The music is nice and pleasent. Each season has its own tunes and its nice and relaxing. However some of the music can get quite repedative, but other then that its really quite nice to listen to.

Replay Value 10/10
Harvest Moon 64 is sooooooooooo addicting, seriously it's IMPOSSIBLE to NOT get addicted to this game. Eventually you may say, oh I have had enough. But you will ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS get a urge to play it again sometime in the near future. Tust me on this you WILL want to play it again.

Rent or Buy?
Definetly a buy..... buy, buy, buy, buy, buy, buy, BUY!!!
It may be a little hard to find nowadays, but if you can find this game, GET IT and KEEP IT FOREVER and NEVER let go of it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/04