If you've played any Harvest Moon games in the past, the Gameplay is very similar. The ability to do absolutely anything you want is exactly what Harvest Moon games are famous for. The game gives you a quick guide at the beginning, giving you a quick overview of your farm layout. The game also has Notes that teach you how to play the game, these are more for the Novice players, not for the Harvest Moon veterans. The game uses an in-game clock, in which 1 in-game minute is equal to around 1 second. Sometimes, this can get kind of quick, but that's for me. To name a problem with the overall Gameplay is that the map takes quite a while to get used to. This is a problem in most Harvest Moon games, but not all. The game provides an in-game map with descriptions for each major location, but since the camera does not stay at the same angle, it's hard to figure out which way is North. After playing through the game or a while, you begin to understand more of the map, memorizing each location. This brings up another point, the camera. Believe me, the camera is done VERY, VERY well. As you run around, the camera slightly changes at times, but when you press the back L button, the camera centers smoothly. Remember when I said the game, "A Wonderful Life changes all of that and manages to incorperate the advantages of both versions"? Well, when you move up to the soil where your crops are grown, the camera changes to a bird's-eye-view, which makes it a whole lot easier to plant and water. There is a tad problem with this, when you are running near the soil, your camera may change unexpectadly and you may lose sense of direction. You can quickly get used to this, however. It's hard to say anything about the difficulty for this game... At the beginning, it is challenging to get used to things and to figure out how to start your... Well, farmlife. A suggestion is to choose between planting crops or caring for animals. I chose animals, since you start with a cow. The game wants you to eat, sometimes your character will pat his tummy and have "Guu~" shown over his head. It is not always a good idea to waste your crops so you can feed yourself, instead you should collect things that grow outside. There are little plants that grow in certain spots on your farm, they change with each season. These plants can be picked up and eaten when you get hungry, this is what I tend to do. When starting the game, you have to understand that when you ship your items, your money will not magically appear in your wallet the very next day. The game requires you to read the Ledger in order to receive your money. The Ledger is located in the same house as the shipping bin, so it is not hard as you would visit the shipping bin daily anyway. One last thing for gameplay, the controls. In my opinion, the game does not have very easy to use controls. The A button usually does anything, like in a Legend of Zelda game, but the A button is a lot less important than it is in A Wonderful Life. Every day, I have to PUSH (A button) my cow in order for me to face it so I can TALK (A button) to it and not accidentally MILK (A button) it and get it mad.
Other Helpful Reviews for Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
This game is really fun and sorta addicting. But after a couple of years and after you got the seed maker you get bored. Gameplay 7/10 The gameplay is very simple and straight forward and its a farmer game which is kin... Read Full Review
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is another game in the very popular Harvest Moon series. Though it might be shunned by those looking for a more violent game, those who give it a shot and enjoy running the farm will see wh... Read Full Review
