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).

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!