I never thought I'd say a game based on farming is fun, but this one sure is!
Harvest Moon is the first in the now-long series of farming-based games. It's a very good representative, and a good cornerstone for the other games. The goal of it is simple-you have 300 days to make your farm perfect, become married, have kids, and lots of animals.
Each day only lasts a few minutes, so it won't be over-tedious. You will, however, needs to get a routine going or you'll be overwhelmed. Thankfully, at 6 P.M. time stops until you go to bed, so you can spend as long as you wish tending your farm, though you cannot talk to anyone. However, you have an invisible stamina meter which decreases when you use tools. Speaking of tools, you have an assortment of them when you being the game, each with a practical use.
The ax allows you to destroy stumps for wood, while the hammer allows you to smash rocks. The watering can waters flowers, the hoe makes the soil ready for seeds, and so on. You'll acquire more tools later on, namely Golden versions of ones you already have. These tools use up much more stamina than normal tools do, (8 for each use compared to 2) but destroy stumps and rocks in one hit, or in the case of a watering can and the like, they cover more spaces.
Your farm consists of a few buildings, and LOTS of rough soil. There are tons of rocks, weeds, and stumps for you to clear away. You'll want to plant seeds, which grow in a few days and make you money, and grass, to feed your animals. Speaking of which, you can get a few. You can get chickens for eggs, cows for milk, and a horse to ride. You also get a dog early on, though he doesn't do much. (Though if you pick him up 100 times you get a better ending)
There are 20 different endings you can receive, and one way to get a good one is to get married. Now, there are 5 girls in town that you can marry. By talking to them, giving them gifts, and answering questions you can raise their interest in you. You can check how much they like you be reading their diary, the number of hearts designate how much they like you, from 1-10. Once you reach 4 hearts you'll trigger a special event, unique to that character.
To the left of your farm in the town I previously mentioned. Along with the 5 girls there are lots of other people there, including tons of shops for you to buy stuff in. To the north of you house in a mountain. You can talk to the carpenters there to enlarge your house, go fishing, or just explore the mountain.
As for the effects; they're done quite well. The graphics are superb, and the music is catchy. Everything is nicely animated, and looks really well. However, whenever you talk to someone you hear an annoying beeping noise, which is either them talking, or a call to 911.
Rating:
Gameplay: 8/10
Single Player: 8/10
Multiplayer: N/A
Sound: 7/10
Music: 7/10
Effects: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Character: 9/10
World: 9/10
Lasting Value: 9/10
Single Player: 9/10
Multi Player: N/A
Overall: 8.5/10