The Harvest moon series suddenly changes with new elements, letting some people down and making the day for others.
However, the animation of people was in 3 dimensional, but the fact that these are recorded moves instead an actual 3 dimensional person moving in your face really throws of the magic of everything.
As for the windmills, that is an interesting element that forces you to spend time out walking in the woods to collect whatever it is this game throws merciless at you.
The fact that you have to actually buy the complete set of tools really confuses me, you shouldn't have to do that and i don't think it was a good idea.