Farming eh? Not the most exciting job on the planet and I bet when you were a kid you never wanted to grow up to be one. Well in Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life you can without falling into mud pits or having to stick your hand up a cows arse.
The HM games have been around since the days of the SNES but this is the first one I've played and although it was a little confusing at first to get things up and running you'll soon get into a routine and the cash will start raking in.
Now this is a game that contains no guns, no violence and no swearing…a kids game? No, it certainly isn't a kids game. It's more a strategy game like Sim City but on a much smaller scale.
So what's HM all about? Well you inherit a farm and begin with a dog and cow. You have a few fields to grow various crops, a pasture where your animals can run around and some buildings like your house, a barn a chicken coop and more. As you get into the game you will grow crops and sell them to make a profit and upgrade your tools or buy more animals like chickens and sheep. You'll also have to find a woman to marry and then you will have your own little kid wont that be sweet.
When it comes to growing crops it's quite easy. You buy seeds from another farm in the valley and grow them in your field. You have to water them regularly and also make sure the fruit or veg you're growing actually grows in the season you're in. Eventually the fruit will grow and you will be able to pick them then sell them, or eat them. With the animals you can press Y beside them and you will give them a cuddle which is important if you want to keep them happy. You'll get the horse quite early which is good for travelling around and much quicker. You can also fish and dig for fossils much like Animal Crossing.
A year in the game is only 40 days, so a season is only 10 days, so timing when you will grow crops and when you want your cow to give birth is very important.
But how does HM actually play? Well the controls can be a bit fiddly. The control stick seems to be very sensitive which can be annoying when you're trying to water crops, it would have been better to have an option for the control stick sensitivity to make the character you control a bit less loose when you control him.
Graphics aren't exactly top notch but for a game like this they don't really have to be. The water effects look really good though as does the moonlight as it shines on your trees. But it's not the best looking game on Gamecube and isn't on to match the graphics of Metroid Prime or Zelda the Wind Waker, but they work well.
Sound is probably the only annoying thing in the game. The background music is very annoying and you will most likely turn it off. The sound effects get irritating too. It might sound cute when you hear the boing noise when you get off your horse or jump a fence but it soon wears off. Also the characters don't speak in the game it is only text that appears but the characters look cartoony and you know how those American voices sound in computer games, so maybe it is a good thing that the characters don't speak.
This game is very addictive if you can really put effort into it, and I certainly want to see how the game progresses. When I get married and have a child and see how that child grows up. Will he grow up and take over the farm when I get into my old age? Or will they decide to leave the valley and start a new life? It's all down to how you interact with him. I also hope that this game doesn't go down the road of Animal Crossing where you get bored of it after you've completed everything. I don't think it will happen with Harvest Moon though.
Overall I love this game! If you have the patience and time to get to grips with the game you will get the most out of it. If you have a Gamecube buy it!
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