Ushi No Tane - Harvest Moon

Just wondering if anyone else is currently playing this. I'm trying to limit myself to one Harvest Moon game at a time, due to stress issues.. (pathetic, right?)

Anyway I decided on this one. The forum seems a little emptier but I figured there's gotta be a group of players still hanging out. What's your progress like? Who are your favorite characters? Are you befriending anyone specific?

I'm playing as a girl, named Karrie after me. I'm wooing Kana. It was a tough choice between him and Hiro. I absolutely adore Konohona. Bluebell isn't really growing on me all that much but I do travel over there everyday to keep up with requests.

My mayors aren't friends yet. But I'm working on it. Specifically I'm really liking the characters in this game. I really like the children in Konohona. They seem to have more character then Cheryl over in Bluebell. I find her rather annoying and I pity Jessica and Ash.

I do like Ash in Bluebell, as well as Georgia. I wouldn't live there though. I just like to visit because it's more of a 'town' rather than the village like feeling of Konohona. It makes the game interesting for me as I always wondered what it would be like, specifically in AWL where the characters often talk about the 'city' and always go there. So now I kind of feel like I'm part of that.

I'm also enjoying the cooking festivals but it can be hard finding ingredients. I might have to pass up on a few but it's all right. I'm at the end of spring in my first year so I'm sure there's all kinds of cooking festivals to take part in.

I do find some things annoying. Mostly the freshness system. It's a pain in the but compared to other games like DS where I leave some things in my rucksack for seasons. I also don't like that I can't breed my own chickens. My chicken went with Jessica for what seems like forever ago.. In other games it's like what, three days to get a chick hatched? Kind of miss supplying eggs to the shipment box.

Overall though I find the game charming. The graphics are cute and the amount of content is all right. Though I still don't understand the 'trench' crop growing method. I've tried my 3 by 3 squares but apparently there is an easier way to grow crops?

I'm also looking forward to alpacas, which I believe come my second year? Does anyone know how many animals I'll be able to keep in Konohona? I have 1 cow, a chicken, and a horse right now. I'm highly interested in getting multiple alpacas though.

Anyway, do share your thoughts, opinions, progress, etc about the game. I'm just looking for people to discuss the game with mostly. So I don't feel so alone.

I say between 3 or 4. Mostly on 3.

I named my character: Bailey
Year: Spring 25 year 5
Married: Dirk year 3
Child: Had a girl, named Sarah. Year 3
Farm: Bluebell
Favorite Canidates: Ash, Cam, Georgia, Dirk, Hiro, Nori, Alisa, Reina
Mayors: Friends, full bloom each.
Tunnel: Complete

I quit playing basically, I got tired of it. I played it non stop for atleast 2 months.

I dislike the cooking festivals also. I liked the dating system and the jealousy system. So overal in it I say a 3.

I gave it a 4. There are a few things that irk me, but overall I think it's a pretty well done game. It takes a lot for a video game to capture my interest and I've been playing it pretty much every day for about 2 months now.

I'm currently in Summer, year 2 - had to restart because my first copy of the game was a loaner and I returned it after deciding to go ahead and buy the game. I'm raising the bachelors up more or less evenly, and will almost certainly go for Cam, but am putting marriage off. I delayed working on the tunnel because I wanted the seed maker, which I now have and the first tunnel expansion is done. Started the game in Bluebell (for the animals), moved to Konohana at the end of spring, year 1, then moved back to Bluebell at the end of spring, year 2 (once I had the seed maker). I like both villages, with perhaps a slight edge to Konohana, but I will stay in Bluebell at least until a) the tunnel is open and b) I have the maker sheds on the Bluebell farm.

I like nearly all of the characters in this game, even some of the ones I find a little 'flat' and I even like Cheryl. My least favorite are the religious trinity (Nathan, Alisa, Harvest Goddess), as I find them all incredibly annoying. I love Howard, the Oracle, Gombe, Ying, and Rahi, and I've been raising the villagers' friendships up more or less evenly as well. Almost everyone is right around 3 flowers.

Crops - trenches take a little while to get the hang of, but are pretty easy once you do. First, you have to have been offered the tutorial by the mayors (in spring of year 1). Then, it's a matter of pressing the A button in rhythm with walking forward (or backwards or sideways). The biggest thing is to try not to rush - some people find it easier to do if the character is in walk, not run, mode. Also, if you mess up partway through, you can continue the trench by re-hoeing the last spot on your existing trench and continuing from there.

Animals - Konohana's barn holds 2 chickens and 4 livestock and cannot be expanded, ever. The horse does not count against your livestock total. Alpacas are available starting in fall, year 2.

So I could have 1 cow and three alpacas? Cause I could live with that. I'm more of a crop growing, I just really want some alpacas and at least one source for milk. I can make money without animals. Fishing seems to be a fast way to rake up some money.

At times I do find I have to force myself to play the game. It bugs me that I can't cancel requests after I accepted them and have them go back to the board. They also expire before I accept them which also bothers me. I accidentally accepted an S rank from Eileen and now I have to wait until next season to accept the right extension. Really bugging me. But I'm still playing. The game has it's charm and I can see the characters becoming nostalgic later on in life for me.

I'm trying to focus on one Harvest Moon game at a time right now but it is becoming very hard for me. I keep thinking about Island of Happiness, and Grand Bazaar. It's incredibly hard once you become addicted/obsessed with one game series. >.<

Something has to hold me over until the announcement of Pokemon Gray!

Yup - any combination that adds up to 4. You might want to consider getting a sheep long enough to grab some wool for the clothing requests (if you're interested in those) and then selling the sheep afterwards. Since alpacas aren't available til late year 2, you could keep some sheep for awhile and stock up on wool to have available down the road.

I know what you mean about the requests - I actually tend to be pretty particular about not accepting requests unless I'm confident I can do them (I don't like having to cancel out of the 'talk about request' dialogue and I talk to most people most every day). It doesn't bother me if they expire off of the board - out of sight, out of mind, I guess.

I haven't played Grand Bazaar yet, but I did play Islands of Happiness a few years ago. Really enjoyed it, but the whole sun/rain point thing and the villagers constantly moving out did me in. Otherwise I probably would've bought it.

hello
i named my character poppy, and im also wooing kana, well i already wooed him now cos hes been trying to propose ive really delayed marrying him though cos i didnt wanna end up bored with the game like i did last time, but anyhoo im in summer year 3 now i also perfer konohana, but i live in bluebell cause i was struggling to make enough money from my crops
i really like the game though (although im not big on the cooking festivals all the time), i thought all the marriage candidates were good too, it was so hard to choose! the villagers were ok, but some were a littlle dissapointing tbh, just bleh... (especially jessica- i dont like her grrr) i love howard though aha
but i like that theres more to do in this one, like you have to actually earn and unlock the mines and stuff, so theres always summat to do and although obvious as it may be haha, i love the whole two towns thing and you can travel between them and move and stuff

oh and i get what you mean about the one game at a time thing and becoming obsessed i reallyyy wanna get my hands on grand bazaar now! i played SI though and found it least enjoyable out of all the HMs ive played i gotsa admit

I was frustated at the beggining, cos I wanted to expand my farm as I always do in HM games: as soon I have the money and materials. ToTT made me learn about patience, but I believe I still need more. And It's a good thing actually, cos every day 1 brings news. The downside of the game is saving only before going to bed. I really hate this. Yesterday I lost 2 days because of that (I fell into the river and passed out the first day + game freeze at the second day ). I had caught a new critter and end up messing my writings about the treats. What can I say, life goes on. There's another thing I don't like, but I forgot what it was, it's probably not that bad.

All in all, I love this game. I finally felt I had a choice about marriage, and I'm not in a hurry to really get there. I even let Mikhail travel, at 5 flowers, so I can see all other bachelors events! My seed maker is coming in one or two seasons (I haven't decided yet if I'll keep ignoring the Cooking Festivals so I can get it in Fall or go there to try a better cart and delay the seed maker again until Winter). No other game gave me the will to think about it and have strategies. For me, it's a 4,5 star

Edit: I remembered the second thing I don't like: why can we only have 4 livestock animals??? I wanted to have one of each, so 6 would be just perfect.

I rated it a 5. I really like this game! I'm in Year 6 and this is the only HM game that has held my attention for this long. I started in Bluebell and am still living there; I want to open the mine and then move to Konohana. I married Cam. Occasionally I'll get a little bored when I'm just trying to make money for the next big request, but it's managed to keep me interested so far! The cooking festival was annoying when I had to do it to make the mayors be friends, but that was the only thing that really annoyed me.

I gave it a 4. There are some unnecessary drawbacks like not being able to save mid-day, etc. But overall, it's very fun and has a long story line, which I like. Also, as a side note, I'd recommend 2 Alpacas and 1 of each cow so you can have both kinds of milk if you're living in Kono. You'll need both kinds of sheep at some point for their wool too. And of course one of each chicken type. That's what I plan on doing.

Character name: Lily (short for Lillian)
Year: Summer 4 Year 1 (I just restarted)
Marriage: Hiro (haven't yet, plan on)
Children: I'll let randomness choose gender and name

I'm fairly new the game, in the Fall of the first year so I haven't really had the chance to achieve much that I want to yet : P But I voted 4 stars;

Pros;
- Awesome new setting
- Portable on DS/3DS (although they didn't release a 3DS one here)
- Two towns means you don't get bored of visiting the same place over and over
- You can move between those towns whenever
- There are so many interesting upgrades unique to each farm
- You can catch fish and insects in Animal Crossing style
- The bachelors give you a nice selection of guys to aim for
- The game actually lets you play as a boy or girl
- Outfits
- There's new animals like silkie chickens and alpacas
- SO MANY RECIPES I love to try and finish all recipes :D
and so on and so on...

Cons;
- Stuff rots unless you have the super fancy carts that cost bajillions
- I don't like star and freshness ratings
- People don't open shops on rainy days
- Half rain half sunny days
- The actions for looking after animals are a little long
- You have to move your animals back in the barn before night or they get annoyed
- Waiting a really long time for seeds and expansions to be unlocked, when you already have the money ready
- Time is too slow and too short at the same time, hard to explain but time doesn't stop inside buildings anymore and so chores take up your time but then it takes me half an hour of real time to finish one day of the game
- You can only save when you sleep at the end of the day

Yeahhh ahah I'm into the older style HM but like lots of items and expansions and things to see, just without new silly game mechanics around time or growth and stuff XD That's just my style though : P

My character, Aubrey, is in year 4 and I've been living in Konahana since day 1. I love growing crops a little more than taking care of livestock. Even though crops, at a lower level, don't make as much money as livestock products. My farm is 62% complete and I'm gonna stay in Konahana until the farm is complete and the mines are open. I married Kana and am expecting a child in about a month and I can't wait until my child, whatever gender it is, is born. However, while playing the game, I took a liking to Dirk and am going to marry him in my second game which I just started.

All the characters in this game are amazing and unique (to me) in their own way. But I do like the villagers of Konahana a little better than the people in Bluebell. The tunnel is open, which is awesome, and I'm just waiting to complete my farm. It's a long process but I think I can make it.

I think the only thing that I didn't like, only for a while, was how hard it was to make money and deciding on which upgrades I want before others. But I guess making money shouldn't be super easy or we would all have the maximum amount of money and nothing to do with it. XD But I kind of don't like how some things, like the house upgrade, was super expensive. It took me so many seasons to raise 1,000,000 G. Oh, it was crazy.

But other than that, I love everything about this game. The cooking festivals, although they get annoying, are kinda fun just to get things and raise the mayor's friendship level for the tunnel upgrades and whatnot. Anyway, I gave the game a five because it's probably the most interesting Harvest Moon game I've played (even though I've only played a few).

Character name-Hariet
Married to-Dirk
Favourite Marriage Candidates-All the girls, Dirk and Ash
Daughter-Molly fully grown
Town-Konohana
My Konohana farm is almost complete.I am currently on Year Nine XD
I like this game, but minor setbacks have annoyed me and i have resorted to cheating, I can moon jump now XD I would give this game 4 stars

I would rate this game 4 stars.
In the beginning there's a lot of things to do,and I mean A LOT.But after you finish the tunnels,woo or befriend everybody,build the mines and makers and everything there really isn't much left to do.

I give this game a four. It's a really nice game,but it gets REALLY boring if you play it every single day for hours.