Harvest Moon: Magical Melody

[Martamania]

Anyone else into the Harvest Moon series? Anyway, I got this game recently and it's my second favorite game I've gotten in the last few months (my favorite is Kingdom Hearts 2).

Personally, my only real complaints with it are that the controls are too changed from A Wonderful Life for my tastes (though you can modify those) and the game ends if you marry Jamie.

I could say something about the graphics, but I've never been one to care about those so I don't really mind them.

[CrazyBen]

I've long been a closet fan of Harvest Moon, though I've never had the chance to get any of the games in the series but Harvest Moon 64. The one you're talking about is for the GameCube, isn't it?

[Martamania]

Yeah. It just came out, and is the closest to 64 there's been in quite a while. There are differences, but there are more similarities to 64 within MM than there are in A Wonderful Life and its various incarnations, or in Friends of Mineral Town.

[Lockeownzj00]

I really wanted to play the GC versions of HM, as a fan since the SNES series, but I never was able to buy/get into Wonderful Life. If this is truly good, however, I might have a looksee.

These days, however, I only tolerate HM on handheld. I'm sorry, but farming in small intervals a la Animal Crossing as it is convenient to you, on the go, is much more digestible to me.

[misterchainsaw]

I have loved the series of Harvest Moon, since the N64 version. Its a great game that probably took 4-5 months out of my life. I will be lookinf for this new version, as long as its a close to the N64 version, like is being said in this thread.

[Althane]

Is there any real major changes that have affected the gameplay since the SNES version?

Because that version rocked. I need to play HM64.

Actually, I need a gamecube, and a PS2. But we know which one is going to go first. >_>

[Novasol]

Changes:
-- You choose between one of three starting plots of land; the village center, which has very little land, but is close to everything in town, the riverside plot, which is a bit farther out but has more room and very fertile soil, and the ocean side plot, which is huge, but has bad soil and is far away from everything. You can buy more land, though.
-- Your stamina is much lower (you'll pass out after breaking two stumps with the first level axe). However, food restores more stamina, which means there's much more of an emphasis on eating regularly, which is further confirmed by the game giving you a fishing rod, bonfire set, and kitchen knife cooking set right off the bat.
-- Speaking of stamina, you can see a stamina meter now.
-- Staying up late causes your stamina to deplete MUCH faster.
-- 11 potential spouses for whichever gender you pick. PROTIP: Do not marry the androgynous nightmare that is Jamie. Your game will end.
-- Much more furniture to customize houses with. Also, barns and chicken coops can be placed anywhere that you own land.
-- People move into or out of the town depending on how you treat them. The village square might as well be called 'Hobo Junction," because that's where characters that are considering moving in, but have not done so, will hang around.

[Mirai Gen]

-- 11 potential spouses for whichever gender you pick.
-- Much more furniture to customize houses with. Also, barns and chicken coops can be placed anywhere that you own land.
Okay, I'm getting this game.

[Althane]

Oh, so the kitchen knife wasn't made to kill everbody in town?

Oh... right... uhm.. crap.

Anyways, is there a way to increase your overall stanima? Like the fruits (forgot their name) from the SNES?

[Novasol]

There are five power berries.
-- You get one for winning the summer swimming contest.
-- One for reaching level 100 of the mine.
-- One for participating in the pumpkin festival (i.e., submitting a pumpkin).
-- One for winning the level 3 horse race.
-- One for collecting 30 notes.

I've only done the first one so far, but it looks like it added about 15%-20% to my stamina bar.

[Martamania]

I've gotten the 30 notes one as well as the Power Berry you get for entering the Pumpkin Festival. But yeah, this game has much more of an emphasis on eating, though once you get 50 notes you never really have to eat again, as every time you go to see the Harvest Goddess she will completely refill your stamina. Comes in great for clearing off an enormous piece of land you can buy in the mountains not far from there.

As stated, Power Berries add a lot more to your stamina than before.

[Novasol]

Alright, I'm on summer 19 now, and I have three power berries. I'm thinking it is 20% a berry, because when I get 4 and 5 it looks like my bar will be double its original size.

And I want to know what genius decided that the horse shouldn't be able to jump fences. That's ridiculous.

[Lockeownzj00]

-- You choose between one of three starting plots of land; the village center, which has very little land, but is close to everything in town, the riverside plot, which is a bit farther out but has more room and very fertile soil, and the ocean side plot, which is huge, but has bad soil and is far away from everything. You can buy more land, though.

Shit. That's definitely appealing. Changes the whole dynamic of the game. Gives people their own playing styles, I like. I also like the fact that you can place barns and shit where you want. That gives me just the God-sim feel I need in my Harvest Moon.

[Novasol]

Well, the thing is, unless you're intent on doing a mining-centric game, the riverside plot is the only logical choice. Almost all the land on it is at its highest fertility level. That reminds me...

-- Soil has different fertility levels. Dark soil = best. Things grown in dark soil sell much higher than those in regular soil (and much, MUCH higher than those sown in light soil). For instance, breadfruit grown in fertile soil sells for 300g apiece. Each season essentially has a "gravy-train" crop.

Of course, this becomes moot once you can afford fertilizer, since it allows you to permanently upgrade soil. Coming up with the 10 limestone necessary is a bitch though (not for EVERY fertilizer, just to "unlock" it in the shop), because they're hard to find.

Still though, right now I've currently got a level 2 house on my riverside plot, and a level 1 house at both the ocean side plot and the village center plot, which I plan to utilize in the winter so I'm close to everything. Right now though, toot toot, all aboard the corn train!

Also, I hate Saibara and Ronald. I planted orange trees on the free land next to my riverside plot (which prompts Ronald to consider moving into the village). Well, Saibara moved in and destroyed my orange trees. "Alright, fine then bitch, I'll just plant some grape trees NEXT to your property." So, I forage some oranges and ship them... and Ronald moves in and destroys my grape trees.

Bastards.

[Martamania]

Once you've got fertalizer though I suggest you buy this huge plot of land in the mountains. Cheap at only 10,000 and easily the biggest piece of land you can buy. The only reason it's so cheap is because you have to clear off a ton of rocks and trees in order to put anything on it.

Anyway, another factor I question is the programming on the swimming game. I've won it two times in a row, and yet when the award ceremonies appear both times the prize has been given to somebody who wasn't even involved in the minigame.

About Saibara and Ronald, the same happened to me.

[Thornwhistle]

I have this game and I love playing it. I love the voices you hear when you talk to someone. (it's neat) I'm a big fan of the Harvest Moon series.

[neyo the king]

Man, I want this game.

I LOVED HM64. I played that game to death, and loved every minute of it.
I wanted to get some other ones out for the GC and PS2, but, mainly, I was afraid of an ending. When I play a HM game, I don't want it to end at Year 2! I want it to end when I have burnt a laser hole in the disc.

By what I've heard here, I have no need to fear the ending game, unless I married Jamie, which, once I get this game, I will avoid doing.

[Novasol]

You won't want to marry Jamie anyway. He/she/it is a bitch, and will always outperform you no matter what.

I'm not even kidding. In my game she managed to ship about 10,000g of products during a typhoon. Keep in mind that this isn't like Back to Nature or Friends of Mineral Town where you can enslave the harvest sprites to do your work, either.

[Martamania]

The only times I've ever managed to defeat her were several days in the winter, as the Winter Mine is an awesome way to make tons of money very quickly.

She apparently adjusts herself to be able to compete no matter how much you make, as usually she'll ship about 3,000 per day but if you ship more she'll ship about twice that.

[Novasol]

Well, I'm rich. Goodbye losers, whom I've always hated!

(Ahh, there's a Futurama quote for everything).

Anyway, I've found a surefire way to make tons of money without much hard work, and I'm not even going to charge you 3 payments of $49.95 to find out what it is. Here's what you need to do it:

Pot
Aging pot
A kitchen for the pot and aging pot
At least 120g to start

For optimal performance, you'll also have these things:
The riverside plot, along with a house (level doesn't matter)
A chicken coop or barn by the house
The level 3 rucksack

Alright, here's what you do. You go to the Blue Sky Ranch, buy as many good eggs as you can for 120g each, then hop on over to your house and boil them in the pot. Then, you chuck them in the aging pot, and voila! Deviled eggs, which sell for 250g apiece, a full 130g more than you paid for them. The level of the egg doesn't matter, which means if you'd like, you can throw your spare eggs into this scheme as well to get a little more profit. When you're done getting the deviled eggs, hop on over to the chicken coop. Since time doesn't pass in the coop, you can ship at your leisure. Lather, rinse, repeat for a full-bodied wallet.

You'll want the riverside plot and a house on it because it's right next to the Blue Sky Ranch, which means you could make tens of thousands of gold a day doing this, as long as you're patient enough.