All it took was Tree of Tranquility on the Wii, my first real taste of the world of Harvest Moon, and a chance find in the form of a vintage Japanese copy of the Friends of Mineral Town strategy guide to get me completely hooked on the series. Well, I’d say it didn’t take a lot, but given my love of nonviolent video games, cute things, and Animal Crossing, I’d say it was pretty inevitable.
The other day I posted a number of pictures of the aforementioned strategy guide I’m coveting. Now it’s time for the actual game itself! A Twitter friend from Japan was gracious enough to find me a full in-box copy in amazing condition at an extremely reasonable price (under $20).
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| There’s something really satisfying about having a complete set! |
When delving into the Harvest Moon series for the first time, it can be very daunting due to the sheer amount of different titles available. Where does one start? I did some asking around and looked to Harvest Moon forums to see what the general consensus was regarding the best titles in the series… Though you can pretty much every Harvest Moon game is somebody’s favorite, I got the impression that, to many a fan, Friends of Mineral Town remains one of the most definitive, which was definitely a factor in my decision to purchase it.
I honestly couldn’t believe how pristine the box was when I received it in the mail… Gotta love the Japanese for taking good care of their things! But then I wondered… Perhaps the person never even played the game? Maybe it’d been sitting in a box for years before they finally decided to get rid of it? So I popped the game cartridge in my DS (I seriously need a GBA of some sort, but that’s another post) and, lo and behold… The two save files in the game indicate that they only spent a mere couple of hours playing it. My theory was correct!
Have I ever mentioned how awesome Japanese GBA boxes are? The most awesome. I love that every side of the box is completely customized to fit whatever game is inside… There’s even some art on the spine! And it comes complete with a manual, too… Can’t help but feel game packaging has really gone downhill these days, albeit more practical. It’s such a shame!
Believe it or not it was Tree of Tranquility that really got me into the Harvest Moon series too. I love and adore the art style of that game.
Then Animal parade came along and I was really lost!
If you have a PSP, track down that one too. It’s a good ‘un.
Matt – Haha, that’s quite the coincidence! I mostly bought Tree of Tranquility because it just so happened to be $5 new on sale and I couldn’t pass it up 🙂
As for Animal Parade, isn’t that on the Wii too? Or am I getting it confused with another one? I remember a Wii HM title with a giraffe and all sorts of animals on the cover, and since I totally adore animals, it’s definitely one I’m going to have to pick up eventually!
Yup, Animal Parade is also on the Wii. Uses the same art style as Tree of Tranquility, but has a far greater focus on the animals.
So yeah, better game 😛
The first Harvest Moon game I ever played was on the SNES. It was awesomely adorable (adorably awesome?) in all its simplicity, but I didn’t pick the series up again until Magical Melody for the GC and fell in love all over again. I ended up discovering I didn’t like the handheld iterations as much. I also thought A Wonderful Life was depressing (?!
), so I was really excited about Tree of Tranquility. Animal Parade fixes a lot of annoying gameplay quirks of ToT (like being able to seperate stacks of items), so I’d recommend it if you liked ToT (although with the caveat you have to not mind recycled characters).
Hi anon! Thanks for you comment!
About recycled characters, is that common theme in Harvest Moon games? I have to say, I don’t think I’d be too pleased by it, but if the title is much better overall, I guess I could deal with it. Sounds like Animal Parade might be perfect for me!
A Wonderful Life is depressing?! I might need to steer clear of that one 😉
American GBA boxes weren’t so awesome in contrast. Cheap cardboard with what you’d expect
Oh, I second Adam’s comment: North American GBA boxes were terrible 🙁 Japanese GBA boxes, on the other hand, were great — as you’ve already pointed out, Anne. I really need to get a few more of them 🙂
As for this particular game: I know nothing about it. Time to hit up YouTube, I guess. Anyway, can’t wait to hear more about it from you!
Firstly, the Japanese GBA boxes do, indeed, look awesome. So quirky!
Secondly, I too have recently had a Harvest Moon addiction. It started with me looking at my retro collection and deciding I need some direction! I now am on a mission to collect all the HM games.
Harvest Moon is such a beautiful franchise. I hope you’re enjoying it!
I do enjoy those Japanese boxes myself. They feel less like something I’d throw away in the trash because it looks like just packaging and more like something I’d put on a rack to keep. I also did like the rectangular shape of the boxes which made for more room for adding nice art on the boxes as opposed to the cramp square of the boxes we had which was already had a quarter of it covered with the GBA logo on the side. It’s almost like a good argument with Fullscreen vs. Widescreen *chuckles*
Adam – Oh, you’re right, of course! I should have specified it’s Japanese GBA boxes that are so great. A real shame.
Bryan – I plan on writing my impressions… whenever I get to it! Maybe I’ll dig in during my Malaysia trip… Right now I’m so swamped with reviews that I haven’t been able to do any “just for me” gaming for a while.
I need a better way to display my GBA boxes! Right now they’re just sitting on a shelf.
Lucy – Collect ALL the games?? Wow, that’ll be quite a feat! There are a ton of HM titles!
But yes, I am totally enjoying my time with the series. It’s so cute and calming… Except when I start freaking out about not having enough time in the day to do what I want, haha!
Motherplayer – Haha, you’ve got a good point, Motherplayer! I’m definitely going to hold on tightly to these GBA boxes, that’s for sure. I need to think of a really good way to display them… Hmm…