| Harvest Moon | |
|---|---|
North American boxart |
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| Developer(s) | Pack-In-Video |
| Publisher(s) | Natsume |
| Platform(s) | SNES, Satellaview, Virtual Console |
| Release date(s) |
Virtual Console
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| Genre(s) | Simulation/role-playing video game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) |
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Harvest Moon (牧場物語 Bokujō Monogatari) is a virtual role playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed by Natsume, first released in Japan in 1996, and 1997 in North America. This is the first game in the long-running Harvest Moon titles. A PAL version was released by Nintendo in early 1998 for Western Europe and Oceania, with language localizations for Germany and France.
The game was released on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console on January 4, 2008 in Europe and on February 11, 2008 in North America.[2]
Contents |
The game play consists of daily tasks, and strategically using your time wisely for the best outcome in the end. For vegetables to develop, they must receive water each day; lack of water does not kill crops, but does keep them from growing. Animals must be fed once a day to keep producing. While the only care that chickens require is feeding, cows must be continually talked to, brushed, and milked to retain their health. A cow may become sick and even die if not fed for a day. The only way a chicken can die is to be left outside and allowed to be blown away in a storm or eaten by wild wolves. After dark, the only business in town that the player can access is the bar, where a number of non-player characters gather to drink and talk.
The overworld is humid subtropical and changes as the seasons and weather patterns do (i.e. snow, in the winter, rain, etc). The weather, such as rain, forces the villagers and people on the mountainside to go indoors, so you have to go inside to talk to them.
Each year has four thirty-day seasons, which are more like month-long seasons, and the player has limited time each day from 6 a.m. before it becomes dark. The clock stops at 6 p.m. Unlike in later Harvest Moon games, the player can effectively stay outside as long as he wants without penalty, as long as he does not run out of energy. Even then, energy can be restored at the hot spring for as long as the player wants. However, when married, the character loses a few affection points with his wife if he comes home after 6 p.m. unless he is married to Eve.
Crops, eggs, and milk can be placed in collection boxes, from which a shipper will collect them at 4 or 5 p.m. each day, the player being paid the next morning. The player can also gather herbs and wild fruit in the forest for sale. A small pond can be fished. The player can farm vegetables only during the spring and summer. During fall, the only things that grow are mushrooms—a normal one and a poisonous one—in the Forest, and the hay grass. In winter, nothing grows but the herbs in the cave in the Forest, and they grow all year round.
The player starts with basic tools, such as a watering can, axe, hoe, sickle, and hammer. All these tools can be upgraded if the player completes certain side quests (although the watering can's improvement must be purchased). Only two tools, (or in combo a bag of seeds), can be carried at a time.
At the beginning of the game, the player adopts a dog, though it requires no special care and its only contribution to the game is barking to warn the player that the farm's fence requires fixing. The player must also hug (pick-up) the dog at least 100 times during the game to receive the best ending. Although the dog's default name is Koro, it can be changed to whatever the player wants. In the winter of the first year, the player also adopts a horse, which is helpful at harvest.
The barn and henhouse are each capable of holding up to twelve of their respective animals. All cows are purchased from a livestock dealer in town, as is at least one chicken. Additional chickens can be hatched by placing an egg in an incubator instead of selling it. Cows, when first purchased or born, require time to grow before they can be milked; afterward, they grow larger and produce greater quantities of milk. Fully developed chickens and cows can be sold for profit.
There are five young women living in town who the player can marry. Each girl has her own tastes and preferences as well as a diary. The diary displays the affection level of that particular girl toward the protagonist. They are Ann, Ellen, Eve, Maria, and Nina. In order to marry a girl, you must meet certain requirements. A blue feather bought from the merchant serves as a sort of engagement ring analogue. You must also expand your house at least once in order to get a matrimonial bed. The girl of your choice must have at least 5 hearts of affection in her diary. After marriage, aside from their hair color the women look identical. The player's activities are severely curtailed: he is expected to come home by a specified time. Returning home after his wife has gone to bed consistently (with the exception of Eve) will cause her affection rating to drop (a wife whose affection rating drops too low will leave the player). When the player has both house upgrades, is married to his wife for 20 days and his wife has high enough affection towards him, she will get pregnant, later giving birth in the farmhouse. It is possible to have another baby once the first baby is 31 days old and provided the wife has a high enough affection towards the player.
At certain points in the game, the player has the opportunity to take part in side quests that provide benefits. There are a number of events (some scheduled, some not) that break up the gameplay:
Some of the game's special events require natural disasters to allow the player to access it. After an earthquake or lightning strike, for example, the player can meet the "Harvest Sprites" who live in tunnels under the farm. They can also gain access to a pond where the Harvest Goddess lives. Doing these things allows the character to upgrade his tools without paying money.
In the version of the game released in America, all references to alcohol are changed to "juice," even though anyone who drinks said "juice" clearly becomes intoxicated. While many elements of the game were "westernized" for its American release, some Japanese references were overlooked. For example, townspeople sometimes discuss the church and its religion in Shinto terms, such as referring to the existence of both a "God of the Harvest" and a "God of Business." In several "New Day" cinematics, the character eats an onigiri, a food not familiar to many outside of Japan. The news anchor on TV in the game bows to the audience in a welcoming manner. This is uncommon in western countries.
BS Bokujō Monogatari (BS 牧場物語) was an episodically released ura- or gaiden-version of the original Harvest Moon consisting of 4 unique episodes on the Satellaview. Each episode had to be downloaded by players from St.GIGA (at NikoNiko Ranch on the BS-X cartridge) during a specified broadcast week and during a specified time-window.[3] It featured "SoundLink" narration (radio drama-style streaming voice data intended to guide players through the game and give helpful hints and advice). Due to the nature of SoundLink broadcasts these games were only broadcast to players between 6:00 and 6:50PM on broadcast dates.[3] The game was never released outside of Japan and as with all other Satellaview titles it has never been re-released as a stand-alone title. Online Satellaview emulation enthusiasts refer to the game unofficially as "BS Makiba Monogatari."A single rerun of the broadcasts was conducted in the same weekly format from November 4, 1996 to November 30, 1996 at 5:00 to 5:50PM. The BS-X download location changed to Bagupotamia Temple.[3] The episodes were known as:
With the exception of HonestGamers, who gave 'Harvest Moon' a 3/10, the game received mainly positive reviews and has a Gamerankings standing of 69.52%.[4]
For the release of Harvest Moon on the Wii's Virtual Console, IGN rated the game at 8.5, praising the game's still gorgeous 16-bit graphics and addictive gameplay.[5]
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