In this blog I will be covering the first four games of the PlayStation 2 and GameCube era.
Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland/Bokujou Monogatari: Heart ni Hi no Tsukete
This was the first Harvest Moon game for the PlayStation 2. It was also released for the GameCube. It released on the following dates: July 5 2001 (JP), October 2001 (PAL), and November 20 2001 (NA).
Even though I have fond memories of this game, I can't say there was much innovation.Although I will take some time to point out changes they did make.
Starting out, there is once again grandfather's land involved and an angry mayor who would rather have an amusement park. You have one year to fix up the park, which leaves a shorter time line than usual. I will say that the interesting thing about this game is the lack of marriage. Due to the short timeline, it makes finding a soul mate and having kids impossible. This makes this one of only a couple games from this series where you cannot get married.
You would think with the short timeline, that there would be little replay value. However, that is not the case as there are nine endings. When you beat the game you get to keep your animals and money so you can work towards getting the other endings as well.
Rarity: This game is super easy to find. It cant be found for under $10 easily and in good condition.
The Japanese version is actually a bit harder to find and will cost about $5 more. Either way, it is still pretty reasonable.
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town/Bokujou Monogatari: Mineral Town no Nakama Tachi & Haverst Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town/Bokujou Monogatari: Mineral Town no Nakama Tachi for Girl
First things first, release dates: April 18 2003 (JP), November 17 2003 (NA), and March 26 2004 (PAL). More More Friends of Mineral Town the dates are as follows: December 12 2003 (JP), November 2004 (PAL), and July 26 2005. Why the long gaps in releasing this game...?
Both games are remakes of Back to Nature, so there really isn't much to explain here. The only details I want to go over here are the differences. First, there was connectivity to the GameCube version of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life via link cable. This allows for NPCs to comment about what is happening in Mineral Town and vice versa. NPCs will also travel between towns and return with new items and hints. Second, the "girl version" offers some bug fixes to the original game and has several extras. If you are going to choose between the two, I would actually choose that one.
Rarity: The NA version of Friends of Mineral Town goes for about $20-25 for just the cartridge. If you want the box and manual (used) it will cost about $50-60. The same is pretty much true of More Friends of Mineral Town. These prices lower to about $20 used, with a box and manual, for the Japanese versions.
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life/Bokujou Monogatari: Wonderful Life
Okay, before I talk about my nostalgia for this game, release dates: September 12 2003 (JP), March 16 2004 (NA), and March 26 2004 (PAL). It was released for the GameCube and the PlayStation 2.
This game was pretty innovative as far as this series goes, at least in my opinion. I personally had a ton of fun when this game came out. An example of these small details are things like having goats and ducks, having a new choice of dog, there is a yeti (for no real reason), etc. It also made bigger changes such as having crops that grow better during certain seasons. You can also have hybrid crops as well. One new, pretty big feature, is that the child you have will actually grow into adulthood and will have a set of personality traits. These are influenced by who you introduce him/her too in the town and how you treat them. At the end of the game they will have career options they will choose from. If they choose rancher, they will stay on the farm to take care of it, although they will be unable to marry.
Rarity: This game is pretty cheap for either platform, going for $15-25. As per the usual, the Japanese version was a bit more cheap.
That wraps up this blog. My life has become hectic, but I have no forgotten about my blog. Please stick with me and thanks for reading!
Sources:
http://www.ign.com/games/harvest-moon-save-the-homeland/ps2-1627
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/530597-harvest-moon-save-the-homeland/data
http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/08/16/harvest-moon-more-friends-of-mineral-town
http://www.ign.com/articles/2003/11/25/harvest-moon-friends-of-mineral-town-2
http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/02/24/harvest-moon-another-wonderful-life-special-edition
http://web.archive.org/web/20100910095944/http://www.natsume.com/games/HM_wl/
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