So, we’re nearly two weeks into February and I’m only just now getting around to announcing what game from my backlog I’ll be tackling over the course of the month… My efforts for the Beat the Backlog Club are off to a great start, eh? In fact, I’m still hard at work on my January pick, The Legendary Starfy! (more on that in a future post… I’m determined to finish it!)
But the show must go on, and it’s my hope that as the months go by I’ll eventually start adhering to some semblance of a schedule and complete my target of 12 games by January 1, 2014. So, what lucky game will be the focus of my attention this month? It’s actually a relatively recent addition to my backlog… Harvest Moon: A New Beginning!
I was very much looking for a low-key game for the month, as I’ve also been tasked with reviewing Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, so I did an informal poll on Twitter to see what people would like to see more: Harvest Moon: A New Beginning or Fishing Resort. I honestly wasn’t very surprised to see Harvest Moon smash Fishing Resort out of the water, so I happily picked it up and began farming away on my pink x white 3DS XL (by the way, I’ll still be doing Fishing Resort later this year, so the three of you who voted for it have something to look forward to).
In all honesty, I haven’t gotten much farther than creating my character and going through the initial tutorials, but I do have a few initial impressions to share:
✄ It’s very satisfying to finally be able to make your own customized character! This is the first time players have been able to choose what their character looks like in a Harvest Moon game, and I have to say I’ll be disappointed if the option doesn’t return in future titles.
✄ I know this is a very individual thing, but I’m not very fond of the game’s art style. Not only do I not really like any of the character designs (okay, some of them, especially the animals, are pretty cute), but the 3D models of both the characters and the scenery look very blah, in my opinion. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been playing too much Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but the color scheme doesn’t gel with me very well, and I keep wishing the whole thing just, well, looked nicer.
✄ Gameplay-wise, it’s very standard Harvest Moon fare, so I know I will enjoy that aspect. I can’t wait to be able to customize my character’s clothing and house and get an adorable llama!
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| The llama’s the one with the pompador! |
For the curious, I’m playing as a girl named Appi with a very trendy cropped pink haircut who owns Yumyum Farm. As for my bachelor of choice (because we all know marriage is the most important thing in Harvest Moon), I might go for Amir or Soseki… Depending on how I go I might even swing for that jerk Allen, just because the things he says are so hilariously awful!
Stay tuned for another update in approximately a week’s time, and let me know what game you’re playing from your backlog in the comments!
That llama is adorable. This month I’m plugging away at FFIX. My backlog choice was Epic Mickey, but after a few hours i remembered why I quit playing it…
I’m with Justin: that llama is adorable! As is the brown, fluffy animal opposite the cow. (Is that also a llama? Or is it something else?)
I have to agree with you about this game’s art style, BTW. That’s the main reason I decided to give it a pass. I really wish they’ve give us another HM game with an art style like the one used in Magical Melody for the GC 🙂
Ohh, I just finished FFIX! It’s so wonderful! 🙂
No Harvest Moon was able to catch my interest as much as the first one I’ve played to death on a SNES emulator (I was pretty late to the game, hah.) I was psyched at first, when there were girl versions and later on you got to choose your gender for each game but the games never kept my interest for longer than a couple of days… it’s kinda like how I feel about every new Pokemon game now. At first it’s exciting and then it’s just more of the same old. I thought that Rune Factory might cater more to my taste when those started getting released, but the battles made stuff just more annoying to me…. Rune Factory Oceans might be one I will get back into, as my son loves it as well and he can do all the battling for me. 8)
I finished FFIX last week and I loved the ending. I cried shitloads of tears at first and then some more when it was all over. 8) The story got a little weird, yeah.. but that’s the case for most FF games at some point, if you ask me. ;> All in all 9 is definitely one of my favourites of the series… along with 6 and 12 (which is my fav gameplay-wise, the story was rather meh. Balthier, Fran and Penelo should have been the main characters, the others should just go away.. XD)
Oh, that’s a bummer that you couldn’t get back into Epic Mickey. But FFIX is a great choice! Hope you’ll be able to get around to finishing it eventually, it’s really a great game! 😀
That’s actually an alpaca! I don’t know why they decided to give the llama a pompadour but I love it. The black fur definitely makes it look like a bit of a rockabilly, haha
I’m glad I’m not the only one who isn’t a big fan of the game’s art style. It’s a shame that everything’s so tan all the time, haha. And I agree, Magical Melody is quite cute! Actually, did I mention I got the Wii version of that towards the end of last year? The price was too good to pass up 😉
I definitely understand how you feel about Harvest Moon being exciting at first but then turning into a chore like many Pokemon games do after a while. I suppose that has to do with the fact that both series are very much the same from one game to the next, eh?
Luckily I haven’t played enough Harvest Moon yet to get sick of the premise, but I do wonder if I’ll ever actually finish one of them! As for Rune Factory, that’s definitely on my list to play soon, but I don’t know how I’ll like the RPG aspects myself…
I’m so glad you enjoyed the end of FFIX, and am even happier to hear it’s one of your favorite FF games. Speaking of your favorites, I’m a huge fan of Balthier and Fran, too! I actually didn’t really like FFXII’s gameplay very much, but those two were so awesome XD
Oh, duh! Why did I get llamas and alpacas confused? I should know an alpaca when I see one thanks to those adorable new characters in New Leaf 🙂
As for this game’s boring art style: it’s too bad they didn’t do more things like that did with the llama. You know, jazz it up a bit. Maybe next time?
Did you get the Euro or Australian Wii version of Magical Melody, BTW, or did that version come out in NA, too? I only remember it being released in Europe for some reason…