Mooning you - December 15th, 2001 - Drew Cosner
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. I think I hear the bus driver calling. Don't say we didn't warn you.
I probably should have warned Arpad that about 10 people reading this column care about Harvest Moon.
Plus just because a person cares doesn't mean he's going to stop eating Cheetos out of a dog dish
while arguing over irrelevant gaming minutiae on his favorite message board long enough to write in.
I'd say you're lucky if half the people who give a damn about any given subject can be bothered to
write.
In other words, today's column is really short, and I blame you, personally. Yes, you. Not "you" as in
the collective you. Asshole.
| Keepin' it short |
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Hey where's Erin gone? [Vacation. -Ed.]
Anyways I wanna know as the older sibling of
some Harvest moon fans whats the deal with this new game?
I mean I take it its not a farming game! so what the hell has
it got in common with the others,
Keepin it short but sweet,
-GEm
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Well, like I said in the review, it is a farming
game in that you have to pay for various expenses somehow, and farming happens to be the way you do
it. Several endings require players to purchase certain items to keep the storyline moving, not to
give anything away. What's more, if you're going to get your fellow villagers to dig you, it's going
to take gifts, and farming is how you make and/or afford them. In so many words, farming is still
important, but the village is now the focus of the game.
As for what this latest title has in common with the others, the answer is quite a bit, actually. It's
still a farming sim/dating game/fishing game/RPG combo of sorts. It just happens that the sim aspects
have been slimmed down as follows:
- You can't get married anymore. You're supposed to be saving the village; it's basically assumed
that there will be time for that sort of thing after you do.
- Fewer tools, crops, and animals than before. Again, saving the village is the focus, so the
developers made the care taking of your farm more simplistic.
- It's not nearly as long. The past Harvest Moons could theoretically go on forever; Save the
Homeland ends as soon as you save the village, although there are 9 endings possible. And I guess it
could go on forever, so long as you don't mind getting the same endings over and over and over again.
Some people are up in arms over these cuts, but I think they wouldn't have fit the context of the
game. I'll admit that I would've liked to have seen a bit more to do, but there's always the sequel.
| It's best to get Back to Nature |
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Drew,
Save the Homeland was supposed to be an only mildly late birthday
present for my wife in early October, but then it was delayed a few times
until we finally got it right before Thanksgiving. At least we had that
really cute stuffed cow and Harvest Moon 3 in the meantime.
The funny thing is, my wife really hasn't felt all that compelled
to play Save the Homeland all that much. I think the problem is that she
and I played Back to Nature as our first Harvest Moon game, and we really
enjoyed all the micromanagement of the crops and all that stuff, and
frequently the interaction with the townspeople would take a back seat.
However, since Save the Homeland reverses the emphasis, she just hasn't
found it to be quite the addicting little title that the playstation
installment was.
And although she plays Harvest Moon 3 on the gameboy from time to
time, she's really annoyed because your male "partner" seems to be just
this side of useless and her girl character can't upgrade her farming
tools.
So, I guess we were addicted to Harvest Moon with Back to Nature,
then the two that came out afterwards just didn't seem to be quite as fun
and addicting as that first. Now if only they could do a Back to Nature
style game again with better load times (what could be in the
refrigerator? I wondered that two minutes ago, when I opened the door!).
-Kirk B.
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I'd most like to see a combination of Back to Nature and Save the Homeland: give players a real goal
to work for, but make it take a little longer, and give us some more to do. I wouldn't mind a lot more
dialogue, either. It's kind of irritating that after wasting hundreds of G giving gifts to certain
characters, they still waste your time with the same banal small talk as when you first met them.
| Making at least one person happy |
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Drew-san,
I actually didn't expect a whole day devoted to Harvest Moon. The GIA has, once again, made me a very
happy being.
I do have a question for you, perhaps you could be so kind as to answer it? I know you didn't write
the closing comment for yesterday, so when Arpad says "finished playing Harvest Moon : Save the
Homeland", what does that mean? Did you beat it once? (Actually I know it has been more than once ^_^)
Twice? Nine times? Perhaps you got bored with it, or sidetracked onto something more pressing? For
example, my entire family has decided to meet in my hometown this holiday season, leaving me unable to
play with three endings to go.
I'm a loyal fan of the series from the early days of the SNES onward. I, like you, have beaten the
game many times (as I said, six) without seeing the season Fall yet. Even so, I find the PS2 version
has a lot of replay value. Yes, Natsume made a very smart choice, letting players skip through cut
scenes by pressing that good ol' start button. As most of the endings have very detailed goals of whom
to befriend, I haven't found myself afflicted with the "Groundhog's Day" syndrome that most of my
fellow Harvest Moonies complain about constantly.
Another common complaint is the lack of festivals. I believe those were great because of the various
mini games. I don't miss them much because even though festivals have been taken out, there are still
a few great mini games. People break down and cry because of Louis and his silly flute, fishing, or
the Time Attack. What's the point of a great mini game if it isn't frustrating, at least at first? Of
course, they aren't so hard that a person with a complete lack of twitch skills, like myself, can't
become somewhat decent at them with a little practice.
Less crops and animals do make the game a little easier, however the difficulty is balanced
beautifully by the accelerated time cycle of the day and the distance between the different areas of
the town. In short, I don't mind not having to do the almost impossible and time consuming tasks that
Harvest Moon (SNES), HMGB/C (series), and HM64 required to get a decent ending. Of course, in the case
of BTN, "almost impossible" got turned into "very hard".
In the previous games, marriage was only fun until you were married, or had the maximum number of
children allowed by whichever version of Harvest Moon you were playing. As in real life, I find the
chase to be more exciting than the catch. STH is nothing but chase, so I'm having a great deal of fun
with it. Er... that is if my family ever goes back home and my PS2 gets liberated from the doom that
is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Of course, there is something to be said for being able to bail with
Darth Maul.
~arc
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Well, if we DAs can make at least one person happy, I guess our job is worth it. Or some idealistic
crap like that.
As for your queries, I've beaten the game 3 times. I suppose you're right, in that I could just focus
on the characters necessary to complete any given quest and save myself the pain of seeing the same
events over and over again. For some reason, though, I feel bad if I don't socialize with
everyone in town and give them the gifts they like best. It's stupid, yeah, because I keep
encountering the same events and almost getting the same endings.
And I agree with your letter completely. So, uhm, next.
| Filling space
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In the last paragraph you put 'Back to Nature is a great game' or something to that effect, instead of
'Save the Homeland is a great game'. Just thought you might like to know. Later.
Wayne C.
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Look, I didn't get much mail, okay?
Closing comments:
The Holiday season is coming up, all three new consoles are out, and developers have switched gears
entirely to the next-gen systems. Which begs the following question: what do you plan on doing with
the old boxes? Do you have a backlog of games to catch up on? Will you keep them out just for show?
Trade them in for dough? Or have you decided on a nice, warm spot in the attic where they can happily
collect dust? Just, you know, mail me, because it's what all the
cool kids are doing these days.
Also, what do you think of Nich's hat?
-Drew Cosner
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