Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

Reviewed By: Wiianator

Okay, I’ve been playing Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life for quite some time now. But today I have decided to review it, as one of my favorite games of all time.

Gameplay

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (HM: AWL), is a farming game.

Your main character works on a farm. You manage your farm animals, grow crops, make money (G’s), and live a life as a farmer.

(You can make money by doing many side projects. Like Fishing, Archaeology, and of course selling stuff on your farm)

This game is quite easy to play. Not too difficult to understand. You do all actions with the GCN controller, most only requiring the A button and Joystick. But this game requires basic reading ability to be able to play. So, no 6-year-olds. Also you can connect with the GameBoy Advanced game, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, and explore Mineral Town.

Story Line

You start this game as a male character, whom which you name. Your father has recently passed away, and has bestowed you his farm. You move in, and Takakura, who lives on the farm with you, tours you around the farm, and introduces you to the locals of Forget-Me-Not Valley.

Living in Forget-Me-Not Valley are three women whom you may marry, have a child, and grow old with. To gain the lady’s heart of your choice, you must give her presents, and be a sweet heart to her. At the end of the first year, if you aren't engaged with the woman of your choice, you get the opportunity to get married with the bachelorette that likes you the most. If you choose not to say, “I do”, the game ends.

Afterwards, you will have a family of three, including a son, who you will watch grow up.

But this game isn’t only about family. You can raise animals, such as cows, sheep, chickens, a horse, and more. Also you may grow crops to eat and to earn money.

Graphics

For an early GCN game, the graphics are amazing. They don’t compare to LoZ: TP, but they are impressive. I love how lighting is used in this game. In the day, you, everyone else, and buildings, have a shadow following if it is a nice sunny day. If it is dark, there is no shadow. At night time, street lights turn on. You can stand half-way in the light, and half of you will be lighter. And as the years go on, you and many Valley people age and change appearance.

Sound/Music

I enjoy the music used in this game. You can get records to change the music played. You switch the tunes by having another record, and going up to the record player in your house and press the A button to switch records. You listen to this tune when you are at your ranch. All of the tunes I have heard are quite peaceful. It fits with the game.

Replay Value

The Replay Value is quite high on this game. With three possible wives, and the many different career options for your child, you have many different goals you can achieve by starting over. Also, the game is long enough as it is, with a very long story. I, myself, am trying to complete the game for my 2nd time.

This is for…

This game is for people who enjoy animals, peaceful games for a change, and long term projects. It can be a game that you play for a while, drop, and then pick it up again for a long time. It has the same feel as Animal Crossing, but more realistic.

Overall

Overall, this is an amazing game. I would suggest this to many people. With the very long and occupying story line, farming career and everything in between, someone can play this for a very long time.

My score: 9