Recommended play order?

**Posts:** 2479

Ah Halo, I do believe Vann wants to still play Tree of Tranquility since it is an entirely different game however. You know, different random events and heart events plus the differences around town. The farmhouses are a bit different as well since you can have up to five pets in Tree of Tranquility and it drops to a maximum of four in Animal Parade.

And of course if you were to play Animal Parade first you and even I would find Tree of Tranquility a bit dull in comparison if we were to go back and play it for a second time or the first time.

**Posts:** 64

Thanks for all of the replies. I'm really considering getting AP next, though, which goes against everything I said. ^ ^

I'm really burned out on FoMT. I don't know if I can go directly into another 2D HM without coming to a halt shortly into it. I can't just pick up a game halfway through it, I need to start over if there was a break. That's why it took me 7 years abd 5 attempts to beat Legend of Dragoon. -_-

Why don't the newer games have their own board here?

**Posts:** 15076

Vann Borakul wrote:

Why don't the newer games have their own board here?

this is primarily a forum and webiste for the handheld HM games, so all of the console games are lumped into this one section, while each handheld game has its own section.

**Posts:** 2479

You're certainly welcome Vann. I hope you enjoy Animal Parade to its fullest, it certainly does seem like a kicking new Harvest Moon title. My favorite improvement over Tree of Tranquility has to be... frozen time indoors! Of course there are so many other awesome things, but being able to dilly-dally inside buildings has always been relaxing and fun. And relaxing is what half of Harvest Moon is for me. :>

**Posts:** 64

Well, I looked more into each game. I'm basically splitting them into 3 groups for those that I want to play in order. I'm also going back on that AP thing - I might as well not spoil myself and save some money at the same time by buying it later (although the Witch looks tempting)

I'll just get these out of the way.
Rune Factory
Rune Factory 2
Rune Factory 3
Rune Factory Frontier
Question - Is Frontier like a 3D version of the normal RF's? Since it is on the Wii and all.

2D Games
Harvest Moon - SNES
Harvest Moon 3
[Friends of Mineral Town] (already done)
Harvest Moon DS
Islands of Happiness
Sunshine Islands
Question - How much different is SI from IoH? I really don't mind cutting out games, but I like to have everything of worth on a list nonetheless.

3D Games
Harvest Moon 64 (I think it is 3D, or is it 2D gameplay in a 3D world?)
A Wonderful Life (might skip)
Magical Melody
Tree of Tranquility
Animal Parade
Question - Same deal as IoH/SI; does AP overshadow ToT at all? It looks like it's worth a play. ToT doesn't have the Witch though. D:
Not sure if I'll play AWL.

Nina Star 99 wrote:

Vann Borakul wrote:

Why don't the newer games have their own board here?

this is primarily a forum and webiste for the handheld HM games, so all of the console games are lumped into this one section, while each handheld game has its own section.

Why only focus on the handheld games, though? I don't see any negatives to having a board for each console game.

**Posts:** 457

Vann Borakul wrote:

Question - Is Frontier like a 3D version of the normal RF's? Since it is on the Wii and all.

The RFs for ds look like this and for RFF. Considering RF and RF2 are handheld, the graphics are really good.

RFF is a Wii game, and it's included in the RF section.

**Posts:** 2479

Rune Factory Frontier is the sequel to the first Rune Factory. Different stories, towns, villagers, et cetera, and they are both rather awesome.

As for not playing the game before in the series such as Island of Happiness and Tree of Tranquility, I must say that you probably wouldn't miss a whole lot, but you would still miss a bit. I do admit both SI and AP look spectacular and definitely do topple their predecessors. I would feel zero guilt suggesting you to play Sunshine Islands and to skip Island of Happiness since it really does lighten up on the difficulty Island of Happiness gives you in the very beginning.

As for skipping Tree of Tranquility... I think it just has a separate little charm from Animal Parade. The different towns/areas and random/heart events that occur always have me buying each Harvest Moon, but even I am starting to come around that nothing is as spectacular in ToT while comparing it to AP. While no Witch is in Tree of Tranquility I will tell you what it does have: Short Luna. Luna is much taller in Animal Parade. Also your child will look more like you in Tree of Tranquility while the children in Animal Parade will always take after your wife's hair and eye color. Yup, you can have pink haired boys even in AP. And as said earlier too like all other Harvest Moon games that share a cast the heart events will differ along with the dialogue as you raise the characters affection. Ah, and you can have five pets in ToT rather than AP's four pet limit; It is something that I myself found to be rather nice.

You could skip A Wonderful Life, but I thought you would like to know it is rather fast paced so it wouldn't take too incredibly long to complete. Ten day seasons which is forty days a year over the course of six years that have a slight story to them. No festivals take place which is a bit of a bummer, it is mainly about growing old with the villagers around you and raising your kid as he grows. Or she If you buy AWL: Special Edition (which is laggy in comparison) or Another Wonderful Life which allow you to have a female daughter. Also time moves in doors and the farming isn't anything too special. I actually found it a touch annoying since the water dries away some days and you must water again. No tool upgrades either.

Also SI, IoH, and the Rune Factories are all 3D on the DS. The Rune Factory titles have mainly 2D worlds though. And Harvest Moon 64 is entirely 3D in it's 64 bit glory.

If there is a game I can warn you of on your list though it would be Harvest Moon DS. Gathering sixty sprites takes some extreme work, ranging from one year to two years in game depending on how tough you work. I have heard a few people who it took three years for as well. I encourage you to take a skim over the sprite page and see if how you get them doesn't sound too incredibly tedious for you. Just click the link that says 101 Sprites: http://www.fogu.com/hm6/ I like my Harvest Moon games to relax me so I didn't purchase this one. And as you may hear around here, it is the glitchiest Harvest Moon Natsume has ever localized. Game-breaking things are present and accounted for.

As for why it only has individual boards for hand held games it is because that is what the forum was primarily created for as Nina said. The hand held games of Harvest Moon. River King as well back when it was popular, but that seems to have faded with time.

**Posted:** Nov 07, 2009 12:31 pm

Oh ho, Rune Factory is a fine title my good man! I can assure you will find them to be worth your while. Especially Frontier with how many drastic changes for the better it has, but that will come in due time after the first two of course.

As for almost every other opinion of mine they seem to have been magically stated by the user above me. I applaud your rant for the defending of Tree of Tranquility!

Ushi No Tane - Harvest Moon

Recommended play order?