Please: Tell me about Harvest Moon games (and Animal Crossing) :)

I have never played any Harvest Moon games and would like to know about this series - what do I need to know before I buy?

I have read the individual reviews for the games and am a little confused. Are the games one story that you play in a certain order? The reviews say the games in the series are similar to each other...are they so much alike that a new gamer would just get the most recent version? Or are they all very different games?

The ones I can find in the Wii series are: Harvest Moon, Harvest MoonTree of Tranquility, Harvest Moon Magical Melody, Harvest Moon Animal Parade (not out yet), and Rune Factory Frontier. Did I miss any? Which one would be best to start with? Which one would be best if only getting one?

I am also wondering about Animal Crossing in comparison to a Harvest Moon title. How similar are they? Is getting a Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing redundant?

Also. it sounds like there is an "endless" nature to these...is playing them on a DS better? I ask because it sounds like you can spend as much or as little time as you like in a gaming session and a portable player would be good for short sessions. Or am I way off on that idea?

I am looking for some lighter, mellow games (I have Mario Kart, Super M. Galaxy, MLB Power Pros 2008, and others that are hard or that can get a bit crazy - I just got Endless Ocean but haven't had a chance to try it yet). TIA for any information!! :)

I would strongly recomment Wikipedia for information on the games, but I'll see what I can do with information:

Animal Crossing: Animal Crossing is where you play as a character who's moved out from home and is going to live their own life. Unlike with Harvest Moon there is no general story, it's basically a collection game where you buy and obtain items for your house, pay a debt, make friends, catch bugs and fish, collect fossils and paintings and generally just live a quiet, unremarkable life.
It sounds dull, I know, but the games are quite endearing and the creation options in terms of designing your own clothes aren't too bad, though a tad limited. The game is intended to be a 24 hour, real time, year long game, or multiple years. Some things are hard to get and do require downloading, other things require conditions to be met.

Harvest Moon: Harvest Moon is a farming life sim, basically you play as a man or woman, usually male since the releases outside Japan usually only allow for a male character - smacks of either sexism or they believe that only males play games and that males are uncomfortable with having the option of playing as a female - and you have a run down farm to revive.
You make friends with the villagers, or islanders depending on the version you've got, form relationships, get married and generally just live life and work hard. The Harvest Moon games do have stories at times, though they're nothing remarkable, they do need a lot of improvement to be as good as they used to be. But they can lasta while, depending on how you play it can take weeks or months or even a year or more to do well at the games.

Both game types are good, nothing remarkable, but they can be very calming and relaxing and farming can be surprisingly soothing in Harvest Moon.

R/T

Thanks so much, Smokescreened84! I went & checked Wikipedia as you suggested :).

So, I think they might be worth a try; I am wondering about the differences between theHarvest Moons (plus Rune Factory)...I will have to do more research!

I just tried Endless Ocean for an hour...it is a bit corny but the diving is kind of nice.Odd kind of game but it was nice change of pace for relaxation instead of reading or watching tv.

Well form what I've read about Rune Factory, it's a mix of Harvest Moon and RPG, you tend to your farm while also going monster hunting. It's said to be not too bad, different and challenging enough. Curious about them myself.

R/T