AuraWielder Reviews - Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning
Well, I decided to start a sort of 'review' section. Occassionally, I'll review various things whenever I feel like it. And today, I feel like reviewing a 3DS game I've had for a while now, and has also finally being announced for Europe. That game is Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning.
History:
First, I think a little history lesson for the Harvest Moon series is in order. The first Harvest Moon game was released for the SNES back in 1996 for Japan, 1997 for North America, and 1998 for Europe. Since then, the game has been released on the Virtual Console in 2008. The series consists of both farming/tending to your crops and animals, as well as wooing the bachelor(ette) of your choice to eventually marry. Basically, the series is a Farming Sim, with a lot of Dating Sim aspects incorproated into it. However, despite the fact that the series consists of farming, the game was incredibly addicting, and many players get that feeling of 'just one more day, then I'll stop'. Fans of Animal Crossing might be interested, though I'm personally not a big Animal Crossing fan.
Flash forward to 2013. The HM series is still going on, through both ups and downs. While the games still have console releases, there are MANY more handheld games for the series. Which does make sense to a certain extent, since the game has a great 'pick up and go' nature to them. However, some of the HM handheld titles have been... lacking. After Friends of Mineral Town for the GBA was released, I feel that none of the DS games could match up to FoMT. The first DS game suffered from horrible bugs, Island of Happiness had abysmal touch-screen controls (which is considerably bad because of the series' fast pace), Grand Bazaar was the most 'dumbed down' of the HM games, and the 3DS version Tale of Two Towns was also horribly bugged.
Cue Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning. Island of Happiness was created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the franchise, and A New Beginning was created for the 15th anniversary. While Island of Happiness failed, A New Beginning manages to do a lot of things right. Now, onto the game review itself.
Story:
The Harvest Moon games have never really had much of a story, and A New Beginning is no exception. You come into Echo Town to get your grandfather's property. On the way there, you help an old man who passes out from heat stroke. Later on when he wakes up, he'll tell you that his name is Dunhill and also explain the current situation of the town. The town starts off as being very barren, akin to a ghost town with very few people. He wants you to help renovate the town and bring in more people, along with taking over the farm, of course.
Graphics:
Harvest Moon: A New Beginning is no graphics powerhouse, and doesn't push the capabilities of the 3DS all that far. But with that said, the game looks nice and LEAGUES ahead of the ugly and rudimentary 3D graphics of Island of Happiness. Character models look smooth and pretty, especially compared to the more blocky-like models of Island of Happiness. Character portraits return, and they still look great, with emotive expressions for various scenarios. The environment is also pretty to look at, and also has really nice subtle effects, such as leaves blowing on the top screen in fall (which look VERY nice if you turn the 3D on). The graphics won't wow you, but the game looks nice, vibrant and lively.
Sound:
Same with the graphics, the sound is also not much to write home about. That being said, it isn't bad. Various melodies play during different seasons, in cutscenes, festivals, etc. They are all made well, but you WILL be hearing some of the same tunes VERY often. For example, each season has a different theme, which only changes upon the arrival of the next season. And while the music isn't BAD, it can get VERY repetitive. You will also be hearing the 'cutscene' music much more often than you'd want...
Gameplay:
Gameplay is where this Harvest Moon truly shines. Like in every other Harvest Moon, the premise is simple. Buy seeds, buy animals, plant and water crops, take care of animals. What's nice about activities like milking your cow or petting your sheep is that there are NO DUMB MINIGAMES. The 'Touch Glove' minigames in DS do not exist in A New Beginning, something you and your touch screen will appreciate. That said, there are extra ways to raise their love for you aside from standard care/petting/brushing. Treats can be purchased in-game for your livestock, which help to raise affection more. Overall, the core gameplay is still the same, with festivals for crops and animals still around.
But there are new features added. And rather than being stupid features like the infamous Touch Glove minigames, they are instead very fun features. The most notable one is the 'Edit' mode. In this mode, you can have a lot of fun. Don't like where your barn is? Pick it up like the incredible Hulk and move it somewhere else. Move your house. Move your crops. Heck, rearrange the whole town if you want! This feature is easily among the most fun things in the game. You can also buy blueprints for various things, like to build decorations, restyle your town, and also upgrade your tools.
There is also a useful shortcut built into the game. Pressing the 'R' button will cause a screen to pop up, and you can quickly cycle through your tools rather than having to open the menu and manually select it.
The game has a wonderful cast of characters. What's interesting about this Harvest Moon is that around 95% of all of the characters are brand new. Aside from one or two people (like Amir from Grand Bazaar), almost all of the cast of characters debut in this game. And they all have wonderful personalities, with good variance. Neil is the 'aloof and socially awkward' guy that seems to be a Harvest Moon standard personality trait. Rod, on the other hand, is friendly right from when you unlock him, being very cute and lovable. But some will be complete jerks, like the manipulative Michelle who is a pretty late unlock. It's a good thing their personalities vary, because you have 1 of 6 options to woo as your husband/wife.
Most characters that appear in the game have to be unlocked. It's YOUR job to construct their houses, complete the town renovation plans, and bring them in.
Also of note. This is the first Harvest Moon game to feature character customization. At the beginning, you can construct your character to look however you like. While the options are a bit limited compared to the Mii Maker, it is definitely a warm and welcome addition. Later on, you can unlock a stylist and tailor, where you can change your hair and make clothes.
With all of my praises said, the game is not without its' faults. I'd be foolish to talk about what's good about a game without mentioning what's not so good.
First off, the game starts out slow. Very slow, even by Harvest Moon standards. Your first Spring will be a long, tedious one. It's arguably the worst section of the game, since the 'Edit' mode is locked until near the end of Spring. With how slow it starts off, it can be hard to get yourself to play the game. However, if one can keep going until the 'Edit' mode is unlocked, it WILL pay off. After that first Spring, things speed up pretty quickly, with many more things to do later on.
Secondly, THE CUTSCENES. They will get VERY, VERY ANNOYING. All the cutscenes are completely unskippable. For example, Neil will come into town between Monday and Thursday, with his shop opening at 10:00 am. If you happen to be in the town area at 10:00, or come into the town area between 10:00 and 10:10, you will be stuck watch an annoying unskippable cutscene of him coming into town and setting up shop. What's worse is that you will likely see that same cutscene over and over, with no option to skip it even if you've already seen it. Same with your dog/cat rounding animals. First time? It's cute. 37th time? Not so much.
But honestly... those are my only major complaints. Aside from those two points, this is the optimal Harvest Moon. I haven't enjoyed an HM game this much since Friends of Mineral Town. If you can push past these flaws, you may find yourself sucked into it, and put MANY hours into this game.
Final Score: 9/10
