Topic: another exclusive gone? sorta but not really.

[joeamis]

Harvest Moon Oh! Wonderful Life is the tentative name for the next Harvest Moon console game, this time on PS2.  Supposedly not coming until 2006, although I think 2005 could be very likely, the game is based off the GC release but has some substantial additions, including: you may now have either a boy or a girl for a child when you get married, there are now upto 4 wives to court for marriage, and perhaps the best one is that you may continue to build up your farm even after the story campaign.  

Now at first I said to myself, hmm another 'port' of an exlusive GC title to the PS2.  But really, Harvest Moon games that have been released between consoles during the same generation have been largely based off the prior release.  For instance, HMOL on GC was basically an enhanced port of the earlier PS2 release.  So in this situation, it's just the opposite.  I don't know how well HMOL sold, but maybe that was one of the reasons too, or perhaps that the time that would've been spent on a brand new PS2 release isn't possible because they're making Harvest Moon for the DS and PSP.

[Guitar Smasher]

The game was bad.  Bad for an HM game, that is.  I haven't heard that this port will even make it out of Japan.  The new features are pointless.  Boy or girl child?  Who cares, it's the same idea of raising a kid.  4 wives?  The 4th one is what I originally believed to be a young girl.  Not cool.  No game end after final chapter of story?  Nobody requiring any sort of stimulation will be capable of making it to the end, so that's just useless.    

[KDR_11k]

What, HMWL had a storyline? Guess I gave up before that kicked in.
Anyway, the graphics in HMWL were so crappy this move really doesn't surprise me, it's as if someone at Natsume decided "Hey, we have too many PS2 titles in development, can one of you rerig that one game to run on the GC?". The whole game smelled like a cheap port.

That "little girl wife" thing leads me to believe Lumina is available there? She didn't seem much younger than the main character to me. Well, anyway. They should have allowed you to court any person of the opposite sex in the game.

Either way, reminds me I should play a bit of X2.

[joeamis]

Quote
Originally posted by: Guitar Smasher
The game was bad.  Bad for an HM game, that is.  I haven't heard that this port will even make it out of Japan.  The new features are pointless.  Boy or girl child?  Who cares, it's the same idea of raising a kid.  4 wives?  The 4th one is what I originally believed to be a young girl.  Not cool.  No game end after final chapter of story?  Nobody requiring any sort of stimulation will be capable of making it to the end, so that's just useless.

HM AWL is bad?!  You guys sound like Harvest Moon haters, HMAWL got the highest ratings of any HM console title.  How are the new features pointless?  Having a boy or a girl translates is a significant thing.  An extra wife choice, when the previous only had 3 is also a good addition.  I also think it's cool the game doesn't end simply when the story does.  And saying the graphics were so crappy... since when do graphics matter so much, especially considering it's HM, a game not known for great graphics but rather a unique concept.  I thought the graphics were excellent anyways...  they especially translated well from the original 2d ones now into full 3d.  I find it hard that you can argue about the graphics, and that being the reason for the game being remade onto the PS2, especially when a game can look like Animal Crossing and it doesn't mean a thing because it's the gameplay that makes these games good, afterall HM was an inspiration for AC...

[Guitar Smasher]

Quote
Originally posted by: joeamis

Quote
Originally posted by: Guitar Smasher
The game was bad.  Bad for an HM game, that is.  I haven't heard that this port will even make it out of Japan.  The new features are pointless.  Boy or girl child?  Who cares, it's the same idea of raising a kid.  4 wives?  The 4th one is what I originally believed to be a young girl.  Not cool.  No game end after final chapter of story?  Nobody requiring any sort of stimulation will be capable of making it to the end, so that's just useless.

HM AWL is bad?!  You guys sound like Harvest Moon haters, HMAWL got the highest ratings of any HM console title.  How are the new features pointless?  Having a boy or a girl translates is a significant thing.  An extra wife choice, when the previous only had 3 is also a good addition.  I also think it's cool the game doesn't end simply when the story does.  And saying the graphics were so crappy... since when do graphics matter so much, especially considering it's HM, a game not known for great graphics but rather a unique concept.  I thought the graphics were excellent anyways...  they especially translated well from the original 2d ones now into full 3d.  I find it hard that you can argue about the graphics, and that being the reason for the game being remade onto the PS2, especially when a game can look like Animal Crossing and it doesn't mean a thing because it's the gameplay that makes these games good, afterall HM was an inspiration for AC...

Let me rephrase:  AWL was bad for an HM game.  And that's coming from an HM fanboy.  It was too complicated and too boring.  Personnally, I prefer the cutesy cartoon graphics of the other installments, instead of these semi-realistic ones.  In other words, graphics like Animal Crossing suit this series better.  And please don't tell me you played it until the end!

[joeamis]

Quote
Originally posted by: Guitar Smasher

Let me rephrase:  AWL was bad for an HM game.

alright, but you're in the minority with that opinion.

[KDR_11k]

I second it. AWL is unnecessarily complicated and seriously boring. Other HM titles are fun to play, etc, but AWL just takes forever and gets boring (days too long, etc). Well, at least it shows you that farm work IS a chore...

[MaleficentOgre]

Harvest moon is gone, but more importantly is the loss of monkey ball.  ps2 and xbox now have monkeyball DX, which is an amalgamation of 1,2 and a truckload of new content the nintendo games don't have.  here's hoping smb3 comes out late enough to not make it to those consoles.

[KDR_11k]

Yes, but that 's the topic of another thread.

[couchmonkey]

I think having a fourth wife to choose from would have improved A Wonderful Life significantly.  I tend to agree that the farming was made overly complex in AWL, but to be honest, I haven't had enough time to give the game a proper playing.  I enjoyed what I played quite a bit.