Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Review

Games like Harvest Moon have been rare on the Gamecube. Except for Animal Crossing, which would be the game most comparable to Harvest Moon, GameCube doesn't really have any games in this genre. Unfortunately, the game itself is mediocre. It's a good solid play, but can get old and repetitive very quickly. Simply put, Natsume should have delivered a more complete package especially with a title as renowned as Harvest Moon in it's release, A Wonderful Life.

The basic premise of the Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is farming; however, you also lead a life with the townspeople as well. This creates different levels of gameplay that help to alleviate some of the monotony. The game is played in a day-based manner, but unlike Animal Crossing it's not real-time, so you don't have to worry about fiddling with the Gamecube clock when you want to play ahead in the game. Each day, you basically go through a routine of milking you cows, watering your crops, and tending to other basic farm duties. You can also fish in the streams, which is typically boring and just wastes game time. One unique feature is eating. To work constantly throughout the day, you have to keep up your energy by eating and resting properly.

Of course, this can also become annoying at times, especially at the beginning when you have to forage for plants to serve as food. Interacting with the townsfolk is somewhat fun, but becomes very predictable. The basic formula the game follows is: certain people like certain gifts, and making friends will lead to some advantage later in the game. Also, you can get married by courting one of the three available girls in town. This too becomes drab quickly. One girl can simply be won over by giving her a flower every day. Oh, and there is some sort of link capability with Harvest Moon for the GBA, but I don't have it, so I couldn't try it. It most likely doesn't have a major impact on the game.

Milking the cow

Credit: Brandon