Harvest Moon Magical Melody

I know, I know, it's a really old game and over the last 10 years I have played it time and time again. I know what some of you may be thinking, "why?" and I will tell you why.

When I want to play a video game to relax and I can't play anything violent because the boys are about and I don't want to play the DS or on the PC then I choose something like Harvest Moon. It's really easy to pick up and put down over and over again which is important when you have 3 children that need constant attention (not a complaint, just an observation)

The Game

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Harvest Moon, it's a farming game, which suits me as if you ever hear me talk I have a horrible Wiltshire farmers accent! So you are a little farmer guy who moves to a knew town to get a fresh start but he is interrupted by some little Harvest Sprites and told that the Harvest Fairy has turned to stone (loads of drama in this game, may be hard on young people). This is really the only story line in the game, to get the fairy to turn back you have to collect musical notes and turn them into instruments, there are 100 in the game but you actually only need 50 to get the fairy back (I have no idea why) and you get notes by farming, meeting people and exploring. You do have a rival in the game but she/he really has no affect on you, every day your income is compared but again, there are no consequences for not beating your rival.

The Game Play

I really like the ease of play, I play on the Wii U, using a Wii controller so it's a familiar controller which fits nicely in your hand and is easy to use after some adjustment, you need the nun-chuck attached to play this game. I find this the easiest of the Harvest Moons to play to be honest, it's really straightforward using the joy stick to run around and A to interact with people and things.

It's easy to get bored of this game, when you only have enough energy to do a few things at the start it can get a bit frustrating. Then on the days when you have so many crops and animals to tend to that is literally all you do, it is also frustrating. There are a few things to unlock but most of it can be unlocked in the first year and the main quest doesn't catch my attention for long enough so I tend to set my own targets; Make friends with everyone, Upgrade my house fully, win the horse race, reach the bottom of the mines. It keeps it a bit fresh at least.

As for it being a game for serious gamers, it's a resounding no. There are no hidden places to unlock unless you count this tiny little Island, literally a rock to stand on for fishing and you get that by getting one heart with the dolphin. The map is too small and the days don't last long enough. The animation is cute but even for 2007 they could have done better and motions are often clunky, when I go to brush my sheep it will brush my horse instead! Then there is the hugely frustrating instance when you are mining and your character gets tired and you have to miss out on picking something up.

My Last Thoughts

Overall I find this a perfectly enjoyable game that can easily take up hours without you noticing. However, it doesn't satisfy my need for story and game play expansion, I need something more to really engage with the game especially after so many years. But that being said, as I mentioned earlier it is a great little game to pick up and drop without using any real brain power and I generally like to give myself targets to meet.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed my review of Harvest Moon. Check back soon for another.