Gameplay is really what Harvest Moon: Back to Nature is all about, and it's in this department where the game shines. Basic it may be, everything sounds authentic enough, be it the rooster crowing in the morning or the sound of rain pouring down on the fields. All in-game chat is text-based with no voice-overs at all. The 2D sprites, tile-based environments, and basic animation found in Harvest Moon provide little for gamers to get excited about, yet the simple graphics complement the rustic, slow-paced nature of the title perfectly. Of course, because you now have sheep, cows and chickens to look after, your days are just as busy as ever. As time goes by, however, you'll be able to level up your implements, allowing you to do things more efficiently, such as watering an entire 9x9 square of crops in one go.
Clearing the land, tilling the soil, planting crops, and watering them is a time consuming affair, mostly due to your basic and ineffective tools. Your first year on the farm is relatively hard. Each season: spring, summer, fall and winter bring with them new crops, challenges and festivals to attend.
Although you're free to continue long after your three-year limit is up, the villagers will evaluate your performance after the allotted time elapses and decide whether or not you've lived up to your promise. Forget to plan ahead and you could end up wasting an entire day.įortunately, the game is paced very well, giving you plenty of time to accustom yourself to farm life and the trials and tribulations that come with it. The Winery for example, is only open between 9 and 12 in the morning, while the Clinic is closed on Wednesdays.
Finding enough time in the day to tend to your farm, head into town, explore the countryside and chat with your sweetheart is a challenge in itself, a problem compounded by the fact that shops are only open on certain days and during certain hours. Harvest Moon however, manages to not only make farming interesting, but exciting as well. At first glance a "farm simulator" may seem like an incredibly mundane concept, poorly suited to the world of videogames.