best Harvest Moon since N64!
You enter the game as Ragna, a young man suffering from amnesia. He's rescued by a ditzy young lady named Mist, who kindly sets him up on a farm and provides him with the equipment he needs to get started. You start with the bare essentials (hoe, watering can, and a pack of radish seeds) but quickly pick up tools as you befriend more townspeople and the storyline progresses. Newcomers to the game might find certain aspects confusing, as instructions are kept to a bare minimum, but Harvest Moon regulars will pick it right up -- the core "farming" concepts remain the same.
One brand-new quirk to the game (in addition to the "fighting" and "magic") is that instead of buying cows, sheep, and chickens, you must defeat and tame "monsters" who will then perform various functions on your farm. Depending on the monster, they'll either do nothing, aid you in fighting, aid you in your chores, or provide you with honey, milk, wool, eggs, etc. So far, I find myself very much enjoying this game. I've tried almost all iterations of the game since it first came out on the N64 (this includes the PS, PS2, Gamecube, and GBA versions) and so far, this is by far the most satisfying since the N64 version. Give it a try and see if you agree...