My Harvest Moon Blog

[The Last Horseman]

JT, that's simple. I'll write it here.

Farmville=Crap
Harvest Moon=Awesome

[J T]

JT, that's simple. I'll write it here.

Farmville=Crap
Harvest Moon=Awesome

Don't forget though that...

Harvest Moon = $
Farmville = $$$$$$$

Which, is why I'd like to see the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two laid side by side. I've never played either series, but I know Farmville is making more money than any videogame ever, which just kind of blows my mind given how much traditional gamers seem to hate it. I always hear people say that Harvest Moon did it first and did it better, but I would like to know what the differences are between the two and how did it come about that Zynga is now swimming in money like Scrooge McDuck.

[CFFJR]

JT, that's simple. I'll write it here.

Farmville=Crap
Harvest Moon=Awesome

Don't forget though that...

Harvest Moon = $
Farmville = $$$$$$$

Which, is why I'd like to see the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two laid side by side. I've never played either series, but I know Farmville is making more money than any videogame ever, which just kind of blows my mind given how much traditional gamers seem to hate it. I always hear people say that Harvest Moon did it first and did it better, but I would like to know what the differences are between the two and how did it come about that Zynga is now swimming in money like Scrooge McDuck.

I think a good part of that is because Farmville is built around exploiting the already addictive personalities of the people who spend more time on facebook than they do in their own lives.

Its a game built on constant updates and begging help from your friends. Everything little thing you do in Farmville is updated on your wall and sent out to all of your friends to keep up on your "status", and you can pester them further by sending them gifts in game and demanding more gifts in return.

As farming and actual gameplay goes, farmville is ridiculously simplistic. Everything you do is a matter of clicking once and watching the game go through the motions, and most of the money you earn is devoted to further decorating the farm and making it more lavish, which serves no purpose other than to say you're rich.

I'm a huge Harvest Moon fan, and after playing Farmville for a while I found it disappointing. Like I said, its clearly built to hook (and addict) people with stacked rewards, even allowing you to "cheat" and get more stuff faster by paying real money.

Harvest Moon has a lot of depth, and making money and being successful in the game requires careful planning and a lot of effort. Most of the games have an actual goal in mind for the restoration and upkeep of the farm, and that doesn't even take into account the social aspect of the games, involving making friends with the townspeople, starting a family, and simply becoming "good at life".

One might argue that I'm biased, but I genuinely tried to see what Farmville is all about, and that's how I felt about it in the end. After playing it for a solid week, I left it and never looked back.

I know that wasn't much of a review JT, but I hope it helps a bit.

[Opa Opa]

I have been a fan of Harvest Moon since HMDS, but no title in the series has grabbed me in the same way that that game did.

^That's a pretty good one.
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I'm trying to finish work on the HM GBC review. In the meantime someone gets to decide the next game I focus on.

Harvest Moon 2 (for GBC) or Harvest Moon 64?

First person to choose wins!

[sevin0seven]

I have been a fan of Harvest Moon since HMDS, but no title in the series has grabbed me in the same way that that game did.

^That's a pretty good one.
----


I'm trying to finish work on the HM GBC review. In the meantime someone gets to decide the next game I focus on.

Harvest Moon 2 (for GBC) or Harvest Moon 64?

First person to choose wins!

Harvest Moon 64!

[Opa Opa]

Harvest Moon 64!

A Winner Is You!

HM 64 is next on the queue.

[alienjesus]

I have played 3 harvest moon games. Back to Nature and Friends of Mineral Town were fantastic (and basically the same game). A Wonderful Life was dire. I've never really wanted to take the risk on another one after AWL. FoMT will keep me going just fine.

[Opa Opa]

A Wonderful Life was dire. I've never really wanted to take the risk on another one after AWL.

A Wonderful Life is... unique to say the least.

You should try out HM 64 if you enjoy BtN/FoMT.

[lwcook]

How about the spin-offs? (Innocent Life and Rune Factory mostly.)

[Opa Opa]

How about the spin-offs? (Innocent Life and Rune Factory mostly.)

It'll be a while but I'll eventually get to those. I'd really like to post about Innocent Life.