Rising Star Games, the company responsible for bringing (delayed) Harvest Moon games to Europe has opened a corporate blog. Since in my thesis I also write about the importance of blogs for corporation, I can only salute their decision :) So far it looks more like a news page, but we can contribute with our comments, which is great. I do hope that in future there'll be also stuff like behind the scenes talk, exclusive previews and the likes. I've already asked a question there yesterday (about the release of RF2 and RFF) and am awaiting a reply. And judging by my past correspondance with them, I'll mosT likely get one, as they have a great PR policy. I received quick replies from Richar Barclay, their marketing manager. He was patient enough to anwer all my nagging questions ^^ And once I sent an e-mail during the weekend and I received an automatic reply, that if I needed something urgent, I could contact him via phone. Wow.
Anyway, that's a new RSS feed for my Google Reader. I still have some questions for them, among them is, whether they translate directly from Japanese or from the American translation. But I'+ll wait until the chance to ask this shows up.
Anyway, I hope caring for the blog won't slow their main work down, but it'll motivate them to have faster releases. I mean, it took one year for Rune Factory to come from Japan to North America, and then almost two years to get to Europe. At least Rune Factory 2 made it to NA "only" after 10 month. HM:IoH took a year and a half from Japan to NA, but then just three months to Europe. So things are indeed looking better :)
Showing posts with label Harvest Moon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harvest Moon. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Friday, 21 November 2008
No luck with Harvest Moon
A few days ago, I think it was on Wednesday, we received Harvest Moon DS Cute. This time we made sure the games was an original one by buying one that had a picture of an authentic cartridge on the auction listing. And it really was authentic! the box art had better printing, the manual contained instructions and the cartridge had two sets of numbers on the back. BUT! The game didn't load. Not in my DS, not in Ana's DS Lite, blowing didn't help... We contacted the seller and explained everything. He said the game worked when he tried it before posting. But he's prepared to exchange cartridges, so we'll do that. I wonder what happened and that the next one will be ok.
Also it's been over three weeks since my HM:FoMT has been shipped from the UK and it still hasn't arrived. But it's not the first time that the Royal Post lost a package. They also lost Pokemon Pearl last summer, which in the end arrived much later (after a complaint was filed) and the package was in a bad shape (the game was ok luckilly). I contacted the seller and she said she'll raise a complaint with the post. I hope they'll find it soon. Maybe it travelled to Slovakia, I don't know.
Oh, by the way. I'll post this here as it's the m,ost appropriate place. I finally got my Visa Electron and the PayPal verification :) No more asking around for help, yay! \(^_^)/
Also it's been over three weeks since my HM:FoMT has been shipped from the UK and it still hasn't arrived. But it's not the first time that the Royal Post lost a package. They also lost Pokemon Pearl last summer, which in the end arrived much later (after a complaint was filed) and the package was in a bad shape (the game was ok luckilly). I contacted the seller and she said she'll raise a complaint with the post. I hope they'll find it soon. Maybe it travelled to Slovakia, I don't know.
Oh, by the way. I'll post this here as it's the m,ost appropriate place. I finally got my Visa Electron and the PayPal verification :) No more asking around for help, yay! \(^_^)/
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
I wish upon a star
I think that most gamers, in the pursue of that perfect game and gaming experience, find themselves wishing certain games were different, bigger, better. I am no exception. Here's some of my wishes.
Pokemon: I wish for a remake of the 2nd generation for the DS. Not only were those game great and big (16 badges, remember?), but it would also mean that Kanto would be featured in every generation of the games. I would especially like a remake of Crystal, as in my opinion, that's one of the best Pokemon games of all times.
I also wish for a game that would incorporate all 4 worlds of the main series (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh). The question here is how to make the games challenging and entertaining, as one has quite a high level after finishing one region. There are various solutions to this, but I'll leave it to the developers (if they'll ever pick up this project).
Harvest Moon: I wish that after marriage it would be possible to choose to play as either of the married couple. Tired of your boy charachter? Then work as your wife! I see the problem for marriageable characters who have a jon to do, for example Trent, the only doctor in Mineral Town. For cases like this I suggest having two characters doing the same job (in Trent's case, Dr Hardy?) and after marriage with Trent, Hardy would complain that since Trent quit his job he has much more work to do. Another addition here would be the requirement of having the other one at a high friendship, or else (s)he won't ket the bachelor(ette) quit the job and get married. And one more aspect (this is the last one): when playing as the spouse, you could resume your previous job for an hour, two, three..., lose some stamina and get paid for this. It would be also cool to play as your child (maybe at the teenage stage) and get a girlfriend/boyfriend (rivals' children).
Rune Factory: (I married Melody in my game. She is a sweet girl with a thing for witches. She also wears a pointed hat.) I wish that after marrying Melody it would be possible to give her the "join me" command, the same as with animals. She would then join the player in dungeons and use spells. That would be so cool!
Wishful thinking? Yes, I know. But I'm allowed to dream, aren't I? :)
Pokemon: I wish for a remake of the 2nd generation for the DS. Not only were those game great and big (16 badges, remember?), but it would also mean that Kanto would be featured in every generation of the games. I would especially like a remake of Crystal, as in my opinion, that's one of the best Pokemon games of all times.
I also wish for a game that would incorporate all 4 worlds of the main series (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh). The question here is how to make the games challenging and entertaining, as one has quite a high level after finishing one region. There are various solutions to this, but I'll leave it to the developers (if they'll ever pick up this project).
Harvest Moon: I wish that after marriage it would be possible to choose to play as either of the married couple. Tired of your boy charachter? Then work as your wife! I see the problem for marriageable characters who have a jon to do, for example Trent, the only doctor in Mineral Town. For cases like this I suggest having two characters doing the same job (in Trent's case, Dr Hardy?) and after marriage with Trent, Hardy would complain that since Trent quit his job he has much more work to do. Another addition here would be the requirement of having the other one at a high friendship, or else (s)he won't ket the bachelor(ette) quit the job and get married. And one more aspect (this is the last one): when playing as the spouse, you could resume your previous job for an hour, two, three..., lose some stamina and get paid for this. It would be also cool to play as your child (maybe at the teenage stage) and get a girlfriend/boyfriend (rivals' children).
Rune Factory: (I married Melody in my game. She is a sweet girl with a thing for witches. She also wears a pointed hat.) I wish that after marrying Melody it would be possible to give her the "join me" command, the same as with animals. She would then join the player in dungeons and use spells. That would be so cool!
Wishful thinking? Yes, I know. But I'm allowed to dream, aren't I? :)
Thursday, 30 October 2008
The bootlegger doesn't rest
The bootlegger from the previous post obviously doesn't think we are done. Here's what happened:
Even before I received the package I got an email from him telling me that the game will arrive and asked me not to open a dispute on paypal.
After I got the game and wrote him that it was a bootleg, he gave me a refund and replied that the game isn't fake, simply "China version". Of course I couldn't keep quiet so I asked him if that meant that China version equals pirate copy. And asked him why then the game and manual aren't in Chinese and why the "instruction" are taken from a review of an other game. So far he hasn't replied.
Later I sent a message to various people who bought from him (so far to ten) and got three replies that they also got bootlegs. I know that one of them got a refund as well but also a request to ship the item back (he never asked me to do that). I told this buyer that if he wants to ship back that he should ask for the shipping fees as it's not his fault for receiving a fake. We'll see how this goes.
And then the seller turned his eyes on me. He filed an ebay complaint that I haven't yet paid for the item. I replied saying that I have paid, received a bootleg and got a refund. Well, he wasn't happy with the answer so decided to escalate the claim in an "unpaid item strike". Of course I appealed to ebay about this and explained the situation again. But if it's war he wants, he'll get it. I sent a detailed email to Nintendo of America's anti-piracy department. And I reported him for selling bootleg games to paypal. Why paypal? Because I got the feeling that he doesn't want things to go to paypal. Hence the email before receing the package and afst refund. If he won't calm down I guess the next step is the police.
I'll keep you posted ;)
Even before I received the package I got an email from him telling me that the game will arrive and asked me not to open a dispute on paypal.
After I got the game and wrote him that it was a bootleg, he gave me a refund and replied that the game isn't fake, simply "China version". Of course I couldn't keep quiet so I asked him if that meant that China version equals pirate copy. And asked him why then the game and manual aren't in Chinese and why the "instruction" are taken from a review of an other game. So far he hasn't replied.
Later I sent a message to various people who bought from him (so far to ten) and got three replies that they also got bootlegs. I know that one of them got a refund as well but also a request to ship the item back (he never asked me to do that). I told this buyer that if he wants to ship back that he should ask for the shipping fees as it's not his fault for receiving a fake. We'll see how this goes.
And then the seller turned his eyes on me. He filed an ebay complaint that I haven't yet paid for the item. I replied saying that I have paid, received a bootleg and got a refund. Well, he wasn't happy with the answer so decided to escalate the claim in an "unpaid item strike". Of course I appealed to ebay about this and explained the situation again. But if it's war he wants, he'll get it. I sent a detailed email to Nintendo of America's anti-piracy department. And I reported him for selling bootleg games to paypal. Why paypal? Because I got the feeling that he doesn't want things to go to paypal. Hence the email before receing the package and afst refund. If he won't calm down I guess the next step is the police.
I'll keep you posted ;)
A great bootleg
Two days ago we received another bootleg game, Harvest Moon DS Cute. It was bought at the same time as the other two bootleg games so this time we were already expecting it to be a fake, as it came from Hong Kong.
But I have to say that bootleggers have started to put some more effort in their work. This time it wasn't "cartridge only", but everything was included: cartridge, case, manual and even foil. BUT! The foil had no official Nintendo strip. The cover of the box, manual and cartridge label were obviously printed with a normal printer, not some fancy factory printing machine. The "instructions" in the manual were copied from a review found online. And it was a review for the boy version, not the girl one! And it was a negative review! Imagine that the instruction manual tells you that what you bought isn't that great a game! :D Lastly, the cartridge was missing the lot number.
At least the seller gave us a refund quickly. I guess he doesn't won't things to go on paypal. But I reported him to ebay and warned some other buyers.
But I have to say that bootleggers have started to put some more effort in their work. This time it wasn't "cartridge only", but everything was included: cartridge, case, manual and even foil. BUT! The foil had no official Nintendo strip. The cover of the box, manual and cartridge label were obviously printed with a normal printer, not some fancy factory printing machine. The "instructions" in the manual were copied from a review found online. And it was a review for the boy version, not the girl one! And it was a negative review! Imagine that the instruction manual tells you that what you bought isn't that great a game! :D Lastly, the cartridge was missing the lot number.
At least the seller gave us a refund quickly. I guess he doesn't won't things to go on paypal. But I reported him to ebay and warned some other buyers.
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Shopping day
Today was quite a big shopping day. We did go to two grocery shops, but the main deals, the ones I'm happy about, were made on eBay.
The first victory was for Friends of Mineral Town. I'm buying it from a seller in the UK. The picture was of an original cartridge (at least the label), the game was quite cheap and it's near. There was a bit of a battle and someone even tried to outbid us in the last half minute! But in the end we won :D
The second victory was for More Friends of Mineral Town, bought from a seller from the USA, to whom I pleaded to send to Europe. The battle was quite fierce, but we waited till the end and then attacked and won! Actually Ana placed the winning bin more for fun, just to see if anyone else placed a higher one. Well, they didn't. Losers! XD
And lastly, we had the friend who wants Golden Sun 2 over for a visit. Then I checked just for fun if there were any new offers and we found two (2) good ones: one auction and one "buy it now". Both from the USA, both seemed authentic. So I sent a message to both sellers if they'd ship to Europe. They would and so we bought the "buy it now" copy.
Now we're still waiting for a copy of HM DS Cute that we ordered at the same time as both GBA games. But we are expecting another bootleg, because back then we didn't yet know how this cruel world of bootleg games goes. Oh well, more disputes ahead of us. In the mean time I'll probably still roam around eBay looking for fakes from time to time and report them. Won't change the world, but feels something like the fun of scamming email scammers.
The first victory was for Friends of Mineral Town. I'm buying it from a seller in the UK. The picture was of an original cartridge (at least the label), the game was quite cheap and it's near. There was a bit of a battle and someone even tried to outbid us in the last half minute! But in the end we won :D
The second victory was for More Friends of Mineral Town, bought from a seller from the USA, to whom I pleaded to send to Europe. The battle was quite fierce, but we waited till the end and then attacked and won! Actually Ana placed the winning bin more for fun, just to see if anyone else placed a higher one. Well, they didn't. Losers! XD
And lastly, we had the friend who wants Golden Sun 2 over for a visit. Then I checked just for fun if there were any new offers and we found two (2) good ones: one auction and one "buy it now". Both from the USA, both seemed authentic. So I sent a message to both sellers if they'd ship to Europe. They would and so we bought the "buy it now" copy.
Now we're still waiting for a copy of HM DS Cute that we ordered at the same time as both GBA games. But we are expecting another bootleg, because back then we didn't yet know how this cruel world of bootleg games goes. Oh well, more disputes ahead of us. In the mean time I'll probably still roam around eBay looking for fakes from time to time and report them. Won't change the world, but feels something like the fun of scamming email scammers.
Friday, 24 October 2008
Not everything is dark :)
If one were to judge by my previous posts, one would think things are pretty low. But worry now!, as there have been also many nice things :)
For starters, last week I got a new dancepad and turned on Stepmania after a long break. My old dancepad is actually still functional, but it's a PSX one. At first I had an adapter that worked well for the serial port, but after changing computers I didn't have a serial port anymore. I bought a psx-usb adapter, but it wasn't compatible with dancepads. The new dancepad connects directly to usb, so no problems there :) Plus it's a really great one ^_^
Then I downloaded Ultrastar, a PC clone of Singstar, and a bunch of songs. Singing is fun :D Imagine a game, where you would have to dance (ddr) plus sing (singstar). And for the hands maybe Guitar Hero XD
I also did school stuff :D I finished writing my report about the use of web in social work centres in Slovenia. Well, I'll still write some more and edit it so it'll look very fancy, but it's done. Now I'm working on my thesis again.
In HM:IoH I finally managed to get three wonderfuls and equipped them to my hoe. Now I can make trips to the bottom of the mine with no stamina consumption (except for what I spend hammering). And with two oranges and a green on my hammer I'm looking into lots of money XD
I tried HM: Shining Sun and Friends (a rom, not the proper game). Because I don't know Japanese all I did was try the gameplay and see the graphics. I must say that I love how they made it possible to move with the directional pad and kept the same tools usage system. I also like the new shiiping bin, where you tap on the bin and a new screen shows where you drag stuff in the bin. Very time saving. Later I also read that getting wonderfuls and determinating the colour is much more complicated.
I found an ebay seller who sells what seem authentic HM for gba copies, both versions! At first she wouldn't ship to Europe, but after my big plea she decided to do so. I'm really so glad about that :)
And today a professor emailed me back and said she would be my thesis mentor. I'll go see her on Tuesday so we can start the serious work.
For starters, last week I got a new dancepad and turned on Stepmania after a long break. My old dancepad is actually still functional, but it's a PSX one. At first I had an adapter that worked well for the serial port, but after changing computers I didn't have a serial port anymore. I bought a psx-usb adapter, but it wasn't compatible with dancepads. The new dancepad connects directly to usb, so no problems there :) Plus it's a really great one ^_^
Then I downloaded Ultrastar, a PC clone of Singstar, and a bunch of songs. Singing is fun :D Imagine a game, where you would have to dance (ddr) plus sing (singstar). And for the hands maybe Guitar Hero XD
I also did school stuff :D I finished writing my report about the use of web in social work centres in Slovenia. Well, I'll still write some more and edit it so it'll look very fancy, but it's done. Now I'm working on my thesis again.
In HM:IoH I finally managed to get three wonderfuls and equipped them to my hoe. Now I can make trips to the bottom of the mine with no stamina consumption (except for what I spend hammering). And with two oranges and a green on my hammer I'm looking into lots of money XD
I tried HM: Shining Sun and Friends (a rom, not the proper game). Because I don't know Japanese all I did was try the gameplay and see the graphics. I must say that I love how they made it possible to move with the directional pad and kept the same tools usage system. I also like the new shiiping bin, where you tap on the bin and a new screen shows where you drag stuff in the bin. Very time saving. Later I also read that getting wonderfuls and determinating the colour is much more complicated.
I found an ebay seller who sells what seem authentic HM for gba copies, both versions! At first she wouldn't ship to Europe, but after my big plea she decided to do so. I'm really so glad about that :)
And today a professor emailed me back and said she would be my thesis mentor. I'll go see her on Tuesday so we can start the serious work.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
eBay fraud
Two days ago we finally received both GBA Harvest Moon games. Oh were we happy :)
But then things atrted to go wrong. At first my game (FoMT) got its save file deleted when I played it in my DS (normal one). Ana's game (MFoMT) worked fine and both games worked fine in her DS Lite. The next thing Ana noticed is that the sticker was different from other games, too shiny and the seal of quali tywas hardly readable. We visited a friend yesterday and did some more comparing with original games. We noticed that original games have a code above the connectors, while our HM games do not. And this morning I did some research and saw on the web that the real difference is inside. So I unscrewed both games and saw it! The battery that distinguishes a bootleg from a proper copy!
After that I filed complaints to ebay and paypal. And also sent emails to users who baught from the same guy.
This all means we need to get our money back and find new deals. And right before a week of vacation when we could've played to our hearts' desire. The good thing is that we now know to be more careful...
But then things atrted to go wrong. At first my game (FoMT) got its save file deleted when I played it in my DS (normal one). Ana's game (MFoMT) worked fine and both games worked fine in her DS Lite. The next thing Ana noticed is that the sticker was different from other games, too shiny and the seal of quali tywas hardly readable. We visited a friend yesterday and did some more comparing with original games. We noticed that original games have a code above the connectors, while our HM games do not. And this morning I did some research and saw on the web that the real difference is inside. So I unscrewed both games and saw it! The battery that distinguishes a bootleg from a proper copy!
After that I filed complaints to ebay and paypal. And also sent emails to users who baught from the same guy.
This all means we need to get our money back and find new deals. And right before a week of vacation when we could've played to our hearts' desire. The good thing is that we now know to be more careful...
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Why don't we use the animals 100% in Harvest Moon?
At least in the games I've played so far. Sure there are chicken, cows and sheep, but we can only take the eggs, milk the cows or sheer the sheep. Dear Marvelous Entertainment, it's also possible to milk the sheep and have sheep cheese! And why do we have to be vegetarians in the game? Ok, we do eat fish, but may people think also vegetarians do anyway. By the way, I'm sort of a vegetarian myself. Back to the point. Imagine taking care of your cow for so long, and then you can go to her with your axe and have a steak for lunch. Or go to your sheep. Or have a chicken soup that would cure colds. Horses are also edible, but there should be a way to get a new one then. And in the Chinese version you should be able to eat the dog too.
Or maybe instead of just going with the axe to the animal, on the DS we could use the touch glove and we'd have to follow a line, something like during sheering, to get the best meat of the animal.
Somehow I feel we won't see any of this in a game, hehe :)
Or maybe instead of just going with the axe to the animal, on the DS we could use the touch glove and we'd have to follow a line, something like during sheering, to get the best meat of the animal.
Somehow I feel we won't see any of this in a game, hehe :)
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Harvest Moon, Credit card, Paypal and ebay
I think it should be obvious by now that I became addicted to Harvest Moon games. And my girlfriends loves them too! And because one can marry the doctor in HMDS Cute only with a gba game inserted, I started looking for MFoMT for Ana, my girlfriend, at various places, but it's rare to find any gba games in stores, even e-stores. Luckilly we have ebay! Yes, but no credit card...
So first I checked my bank's webspace to see what are the requirements to get a Mastercard (the only one they offer). The only requirement is having had received "three monthly incomes (salary or pension)". I have neither, but I do have (actually had, it just stopped) a scholarship and I once already successfully argued that it counts as monthly income. Well, I went there to inquire in person and the bank clerk (who is always very helpful, btw) said that my scholarship probably wouldn't count, but that she'd make some phone calls to be sure and call me later.
After about two hours she phoned me and said that the comitee for credit cards probably wouldn't give it to me. Then she asked me why I needed it in case there was some other way around. But because I need it for e-shopping, it's the only solution. She told me to fill the form anyway and we'll try applying. In a moment she called back and asked me if I needed to make payments overseas. Of course I do! Well, their credit cards don't pay out of the country. Yet.
Then I was looking at paypal and various discussions if there's a way to deposit money on paypal without a credit card. Sorry, none. After chatting with a friend he said that his brother uses paypal and that he could ask him to help me. To cut this story short, I asked him to pay me some money on my paypal account and I'll pay him on his bank account. So finally I got the money, yay!
After bidding, winning and paying we are now waiting for the games to make it over here. Aparently it should take at least 2 weeks... Can't wait!
So first I checked my bank's webspace to see what are the requirements to get a Mastercard (the only one they offer). The only requirement is having had received "three monthly incomes (salary or pension)". I have neither, but I do have (actually had, it just stopped) a scholarship and I once already successfully argued that it counts as monthly income. Well, I went there to inquire in person and the bank clerk (who is always very helpful, btw) said that my scholarship probably wouldn't count, but that she'd make some phone calls to be sure and call me later.
After about two hours she phoned me and said that the comitee for credit cards probably wouldn't give it to me. Then she asked me why I needed it in case there was some other way around. But because I need it for e-shopping, it's the only solution. She told me to fill the form anyway and we'll try applying. In a moment she called back and asked me if I needed to make payments overseas. Of course I do! Well, their credit cards don't pay out of the country. Yet.
Then I was looking at paypal and various discussions if there's a way to deposit money on paypal without a credit card. Sorry, none. After chatting with a friend he said that his brother uses paypal and that he could ask him to help me. To cut this story short, I asked him to pay me some money on my paypal account and I'll pay him on his bank account. So finally I got the money, yay!
After bidding, winning and paying we are now waiting for the games to make it over here. Aparently it should take at least 2 weeks... Can't wait!
Saturday, 4 October 2008
Mistake in Island of Hapiness
There was I in the beginning of my first winter, having more than enough money for buying Chen's wonderfuls from my first trip to the bottom of the mine. And then I was thinking "it can't hurt to buy the 10.000g ticket from Chen and ship it back. So I can get closer to his house upgrade plus I get one more item in the shipping list." Sounds good, right? Wrong. As it turns out, one doesn't get paid for shipping the money tickets and they can be only used in Chen's shop. And that's how I lost 260.000g for nothing. Arrrrrgh!
At least all the money from the mine didn't go to waste. I managed to buy the last bridge and upgrade all the roads, build the maker shed and one maker. But now I don't have money for buying the wonderfuls and there's still almost a whole month in front of me. So that's why I'm back in the mine, falling through the pitfalls, one or two levels at a time or too much stamina is wasted. The first time was already quite boring, so I really didn't look forward to this. I'll try to make it at least to the pink diamonds' level, then I'll see if I have enough recovery items to make it to the bottom for more ores and a recipe.
At least all the money from the mine didn't go to waste. I managed to buy the last bridge and upgrade all the roads, build the maker shed and one maker. But now I don't have money for buying the wonderfuls and there's still almost a whole month in front of me. So that's why I'm back in the mine, falling through the pitfalls, one or two levels at a time or too much stamina is wasted. The first time was already quite boring, so I really didn't look forward to this. I'll try to make it at least to the pink diamonds' level, then I'll see if I have enough recovery items to make it to the bottom for more ores and a recipe.
It's a long way...
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Harvest Moon rant
No, this is not a new title in the series, just me blowing off some steam in regards to this otherwise great game series.
My girlfriend and I are both Harvest Moon fans. She also has a soft spot for doctors and hence wants to marry one in the games, but so far no luck. In HMDS Cute she couldn't because neither of us owns a GBA game to trigger the Mineral Town visitors (among which is Trent, a doctor). But even if so, we heard that the GBA-DS connection doesn't work in all games. Because we'll have a Wii in a few months we started looking at HM games for it. ToT doesn't have a doctor in it, but Magical Melody does. BUT! While porting it on the Wii they "forgot" to add the female main character!!! And there's no PAL version of this game!
The next thing: In IoH I was happy that the eggplants ripened and picked them up for the crop contest the following day. They also were rank A, so I was looking forward for my next wodnerful. BUT! They lost a rank over the night so I can't win now!!! If only I had left them in the field for one more day...
And the bugs in HMDS.. Locking on the first entered dish at the contest, losing the marriage to a Mineral town girl, being unable to marry the Harvest Goddess or the Witch Princess. And in HMDS Cute they took out the possibility of having a lesbian marriage.
But still after all the frustration I keep liking the game and being an addict...
My girlfriend and I are both Harvest Moon fans. She also has a soft spot for doctors and hence wants to marry one in the games, but so far no luck. In HMDS Cute she couldn't because neither of us owns a GBA game to trigger the Mineral Town visitors (among which is Trent, a doctor). But even if so, we heard that the GBA-DS connection doesn't work in all games. Because we'll have a Wii in a few months we started looking at HM games for it. ToT doesn't have a doctor in it, but Magical Melody does. BUT! While porting it on the Wii they "forgot" to add the female main character!!! And there's no PAL version of this game!
The next thing: In IoH I was happy that the eggplants ripened and picked them up for the crop contest the following day. They also were rank A, so I was looking forward for my next wodnerful. BUT! They lost a rank over the night so I can't win now!!! If only I had left them in the field for one more day...
And the bugs in HMDS.. Locking on the first entered dish at the contest, losing the marriage to a Mineral town girl, being unable to marry the Harvest Goddess or the Witch Princess. And in HMDS Cute they took out the possibility of having a lesbian marriage.
But still after all the frustration I keep liking the game and being an addict...
Saturday, 27 September 2008
Harvest Moon and me
I first heard of Harvest moon several years ago, in the era of GBA and GC. A friend from Sweden, SkuttyWan, mentioned the game to me. A game about farming? No thanks, sounds boring.
Then many years have passed and this summer my girlfriend was going through some DS games and said she'd want to try Harvest Moon DS Cute. She started playing it, liked it and soon after I started playing HM DS (not the cute one). I must say that I was very wrong years ago, as farming has never been so fun! Sure some things are very frustrating, like levelling up animals, but overall the game is very enjoyable. At least it was for the first two years or so. At that point I had already married Celia and life was getting ot repetitive. Get up, water the plants in the basememnt, water in the fields, pick up any ripe crops, pet the animals, collect the eggs, ship stuff... What put me off is also the fact that I played a glitchy game (I heard that later they started selling debugged games).
After HMDS I started playing Rune Factory: A fantasy Harvest Moon. This game has a story through the game: you come to a village and have amnesia. A girl offers you an abandoned farm where you start working and going to caves/dungeons to fight monsters, farm and unravel the misteries. I liked this games also because it makes use of a speciall skill system, where the better you skill in a specific are (forging, pharmacy...) the better stuff you can make. I hated the obvious time sink in the game. After some caves you have to wait till winter to enter the next, which meant two full seasons for me. I spent most of that time killing monsters for loot and levelling myself up in the process. The result: I swooped through the next dungeons :D I got married to Melody there and finished playing after the main storyline was over.
I'm currently playing Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness. Farming became more difficult here, as it's not enough to water the crops every day, but they need a certain amount of sun and water if they are to grow. And there are no better tools as such in the game, but certain wonderful stones that boost the tools. And these wonderfuls are somewhat hard to come along in the first three seasons. The most money I made so far came from getting to the bottom of the mine, but that took me a lot of real life time. Still I have enough money to upgrade all the roads and some of my buildings. All in all, I feel this game is much harder than HMDS and it'll take me much longer to feel I completed my goals :)
I'm also looking forward to Rune Factory 2 and when we have a Wii, Tree of Tranquility and Rune Factory Frontier.
Then many years have passed and this summer my girlfriend was going through some DS games and said she'd want to try Harvest Moon DS Cute. She started playing it, liked it and soon after I started playing HM DS (not the cute one). I must say that I was very wrong years ago, as farming has never been so fun! Sure some things are very frustrating, like levelling up animals, but overall the game is very enjoyable. At least it was for the first two years or so. At that point I had already married Celia and life was getting ot repetitive. Get up, water the plants in the basememnt, water in the fields, pick up any ripe crops, pet the animals, collect the eggs, ship stuff... What put me off is also the fact that I played a glitchy game (I heard that later they started selling debugged games).
After HMDS I started playing Rune Factory: A fantasy Harvest Moon. This game has a story through the game: you come to a village and have amnesia. A girl offers you an abandoned farm where you start working and going to caves/dungeons to fight monsters, farm and unravel the misteries. I liked this games also because it makes use of a speciall skill system, where the better you skill in a specific are (forging, pharmacy...) the better stuff you can make. I hated the obvious time sink in the game. After some caves you have to wait till winter to enter the next, which meant two full seasons for me. I spent most of that time killing monsters for loot and levelling myself up in the process. The result: I swooped through the next dungeons :D I got married to Melody there and finished playing after the main storyline was over.
I'm currently playing Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness. Farming became more difficult here, as it's not enough to water the crops every day, but they need a certain amount of sun and water if they are to grow. And there are no better tools as such in the game, but certain wonderful stones that boost the tools. And these wonderfuls are somewhat hard to come along in the first three seasons. The most money I made so far came from getting to the bottom of the mine, but that took me a lot of real life time. Still I have enough money to upgrade all the roads and some of my buildings. All in all, I feel this game is much harder than HMDS and it'll take me much longer to feel I completed my goals :)
I'm also looking forward to Rune Factory 2 and when we have a Wii, Tree of Tranquility and Rune Factory Frontier.
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