Monday Memories - Harvest Moon 64 (Nintendo 64)

Have you ever wanted to have a farmstead handed down to you by having it inherited at the instance of your grandfathers passing as in accordance to his will? Ever wanted to grow crops and raise farm animals, live the life of a ranching farmer? Ever wanted to get married and have your wife help you with daily chores in the farmstead? Have you ever wanted to make ends meet with dependence on the growth of your crops or produce of your farm animals? This is the life of a great memorable sweet farming simulation game, Harvest Moon 64. It also seems to have influenced a more recently popular game, Farmville.

Where most games usually try to attract gamers with its will to make a more violent video game than the one before, Harvest Moon 64 does a lot to stray from the medium of game development. This game was developed by Victor Interactive and published by Natsume Co. It made quite a huge impression and made a game addict of me. One can conclude to say that the more current and popular game, Farmville, has had a lot of similar features as it was probably influenced from this game’s ideal concepts and plain mechanics. This guilt-free game does seem to have been the first of its kind. No one will need to die at the hands of your mercy, ever. It has been noted that the developers main influence for the games’ unique concept were, in fact, violent video games. Violent video games influenced him to separate from the mean and create something both lasting and unique. He created Harvest Moon. Harvest Moon actually had its first appearance in the SNES, and the two games are quite similar. The N64 version, though, has improved graphics and gameplay. There have been many more iterations of the game after the N64 version made by the same developers, but I feel that many of the other games never quite compared to this classic Nintendo 64 version.

Instead of running around and shooting people or shooting things, you instead run around and maintain a farmstead.  The player will need to water crops evenly and feed farm animals to build an in-game currency to make improvements on the ranch. The game starts you off in a sad notion of your grandfathers passing that will put you in a sympathetic emotion. These emotions are captivated by in-game interactions with other non-playable characters whose dialog you can read as you speak with them. The mayor of the town will inform the playable character that an abandoned and neglected farmstead has been left to him and that it is up to him to manage it. A player begins the game customizing the playable character’s name and by naming the ranch to his. The player will also be given the option to name a pet dog and horse, which will later be acquired in the game through playing.

The farmer begins with bare essentials. A house, shipment box, hay silo, barn, and chicken coop will be provided at the beginning of the game, but the player will not have farm animals until about mid-year. Essential tools are to be found in a shed which will be used to begin farming; the player will find a hoe, axe, sickle, hammer, and a watering can. These tools will eventually be upgraded determined by how many times you use that certain tool. It begins as a plain iron tool, but the more use it, it will continuously upgrade to silver, than lastly, gold. Having gold tools dramatically cuts down the duration of farm maintenance as it will improve the effect. The days are counted within a season, every season has 30 days, and there are only four season. Every season will have specific vegetation, not everything can be grown throughout the year. Grass is the only crop that will grow yearly, to save up hay for the farm animals for the coming seasons. It is the player’s responsibilities to make sure he tills soil, plants seeds, and waters them daily in order for the plants to grow. Once the plants or vegetables are fully grown, you can throw them into the shipment box to make profit. A delivery man will visit daily around noon to pick up any shipment and deliver payment.

When the player finally raises livestock, it will be his responsibility to make sure they are fed regularly. Chickens will need to be fed seeds. It is easy to begin with one chicken and end up with a coop full of chickens. Each chicken will lay an egg, and if left to incubate, it will hatch to a chick, which will then become a chicken to lay more eggs. Eggs are thrown in the shipment box for profit. Sheep eat hay and will grow wool which can be clipped and thrown into the shipment box for profit as well. Cows are the hardest of the animals to maintain, but it’s still relatively simple. Cows will need to be fed hay and brushed daily. The more you brush a cow, the happier it will be. The happier the cow, the better the produce the player can milk from it. Cows will produce from small, medium, large, to golden bottled milk. The milk can be thrown in the shipment box for profit also. Cows will also have the ability to birth calves which will be raised to full grown cows or sold for even more profit.

The player will also be required to meet non-playable characters as well as maintain a relationship with the young ladies of the town. Eventually, the player can marry one of the women and bring her to the farmstead to help out, becoming a great asset. The player’s family will also grow as the wife will eventually have a child. Every possible spouse in the game will have unique abilities and will help out accordingly to her specific role.

There is a town in the world as well with an assortment of fresh characters whom which will all have unique dialog and characterization. There will be a shop for almost everything you will need in the game. There is the seed shop, where you can purchase seeds to grow crops for the relative season. A bakery will provide you with food to regain the playable-characters limited stamina. The bar will open up at night for the heavy drinkers who like to take it easy after a hard day’s work. There will also be a ranch in which you can purchase livestock as well as chicken feed or hay. You will also need to purchase specific items from the ranch in order to milk cows or a brush to keep their spirits high, which will result in better produce. The town also has its own mayor who will come to you for favors and will also host many fun events within the year. A church is also located next to the town’s square where you can go to speak with a priest. There are a ton of events that the mayor will hold within the year that will make the game even more appreciative. One of the more interesting events are the dog races where you can make bets and bank off other players losing’s. It is also possible to enter your own dog in the dog race; you will need to constantly train your dog in order for him to achieve an outstanding medal, though. Throughout the many events, you will also have many chances to buy unique items you would otherwise never come across, so it is always a good idea to save money and make those hefty purchases.

In the woods, the player can find a group of carpenters who will help with expanding and improving the characters personal home. Although it is not a necessity, it is always fun to have something to build up for. You will need to provide the carpenters with wood, as well as the monetary expenses. With the axe, the player can run around the woods finding stumps to cut down to collect wood. Among the woods, the player will also find a warm spring in which he can dive into and relax. There is also a cave which will eventually lead to a home of bizarre pixies. The player will also come across a fisherman who will provide a rod to fish in the pond. The fish can also be sold for profit. Many strange things can occur while in the woods as well. The player will be given many random tasks throughout the year in which he will find himself returning to the woods. The farmer can also harvest mushrooms, flowers, or grapes in the woods in accordance to the season. Items harvested in the woods can be returned to the shipment box for profit.

This game will leave you contempt through it’s simple but disciplined habits. It has left its lasting impression on me, as well as it has left its impression on the more popular but less favorable game, Farmville. It is nice to know that developers, such as Victor Interactive, love to deliver something not mainstream, but rather unique and lasting. It is definitely not your typical violent first person shooter and it will leave you consciously at peace. We will all need to learn to cultivate our own garden one day.