Simply put, this game will take over your life--if you give it the chance.
The character starts in a rundown farm, and the goal is to renovate it to its prior glory (or better) in 2 years. The beginnings are humble, and you might have to play through or start over several times to reap the greatest benefits from your veggies, animals and relationships.
Yeah, there's love in this game. Imagine that... love... in a video game. Not just some sappy RPG storyline where you're destined to love some princess, but plain old love, where you can choose who to love, and how to love them. This is probably what pulls you in the most. Aside from getting to know townspeople, the occasional festival (which are entertaining and rewarding), and the constant upkeep and improvment of your farm, there's really not much else to do.
So woo any girl you like, and if you're real good at it, you can marry the dame; maybe even make a kid. Your choice. A lot of it is coincidence and random timing, like in real life. Sometimes you'll come back to your farm and a girl or townsman will be waiting with an event (a kind of sidequest that gets you more involved with him/her), and because you arrived too close to hour's end, they'll walk off, and the opportunity may never present itself again. That's the way this game works. It's worth going through the daily cycle of feeding, watering, cutting if even one spontaneous thing happens.
That sounds sad, now that i type it, and it is. You'll ache sometimes wondering if you'll ever have a second chance, and you usually don't, so checking a guide every once and a while might help. Might... I don't know, I refuse the things in favor of a good ole surprise.
The days move fast, so you'll usually be running around like a madman to get everything you need done, and when it rains you'll thank the gods. You can definitely do a lot more once you have some money, so start saving right away if you want to get on easy street with a cow, the luxurious greenhouse, and some precious strawberry seeds.
Enough of the amazing game-play. I could keep boring you, but I won't. The game is pretty solid in most areas though. Graphics fit the game, being a kind of realistic quirkiness, and are good by N64 standards. The sound department varies. The FX are simple and fine, but the music is a thorn in this rose of a game. There are four songs. Four. One for each season. So if you don't want to be driven insane by the time you get to your third or fourth year, head into town or pray for rain.
Yep, even after the game is 'over' (the end of the second year, when you father comes to assess how you've done on your grandad's farm), you can, and should, keep playing. It's freakishly open-ended, and supposedly can go on for 30 years; I got sick after seven... and started over.
Harvest Moon will devour you. You'll become so immersed in making money, raising prize-winning animals, numerous festivals, horse racing and keeping your love-life going, the days will slip away. A compelling game that most players won't have the stamina for, but if you do, kudos. You get to play this gem.