ToT vs AP: Thoughts? (spoilers, natch)

SNES, HM64, BTN, STH, A Wonderful Life, Another Wonderful Life, AWL:SE, Magical Melody, Puzzle de HM, Tree of Tranquility, Animal Parade, Frantic Farming, Hero of Leaf Valley, My Little Shop, Seeds of Memories, Lil' Farmers, Light of Hope, Popolocrois: SoS, and Doraemon: SoS.
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serpentine
Growing Garden Gnome
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Joined: Jan 28, 2013 5:59 am

Post  Posted:

Since AP is sort of kind of technically a remake of ToT. I've been playing AP for a long time and just played ToT for the first time. Here's a breakdown on my thoughts comparing the two:

Visuals:

I think the game world of ToT is much, much prettier than AP's. Better lighting, richer colours, a somewhat more fluid camera, nice visual effects that aren't in AP (i.e ambient dragonflies and butterflies). Buildings look bright and cheerful in ToT; in AP, I feel they're quite dull looking and washed out by comparison. Ripping and comparing them side by side, I noticed that many of AP's textures are considerably poorer quality than ToT's. I'm mystified as to why this all is. I wish AP could be that pretty.

Characters:

Both games have largely the same cast of characters. ToT has two characters who have appeared as marriage candidates in several games throughout the series, namely Grey and Elli, but sadly you can't marry either of them in this game. Disappointing, but given that, it's just as well that they are absent in AP. ToT unfortunately has no special marriage candidates, either - the Harvest King, Wizard, and Witch aren't present, and you can't marry the Harvest Goddess.

I like AP's male protagonist a lot more than ToT's, because I think Kevin looks too much like a little boy. I thought Angela's model in ToT was so much nicer than either her or Molly's AP model though - the body shape was smoother and better proportioned, and every outfit doesn't have a weird built in tanktop/vest piece.

The roles, personalities and outward appearances of most characters are mostly the same in both games - in ToT Perry is an assistant at the clinic; in AP he is the keeper of the local church, which I like better, since it is eerily empty in ToT (though if he's still Jin's cousin in AP, it is never commented on). I like that Luna is taller and somewhat less bratty in AP; in ToT she looked and acted like a ten year old girl. If I didn't know already I would never have guessed she was a marriage candidate, and honestly, it makes me a bit uncomfortable. Owen is an extremely tall and muscular stud in ToT, but in AP they totally ruined his proportions, making him much shorter and shrinking down his muscles... me no likey. Grrr.

In ToT I fell in love with Jin's character, which goes into a lot more depth with his backstory. As you get closer to him,
Spoiler:
you eventually learn that he was married before and tried unsuccessfully to save his wife from a terminal illness - so either you or Anissa are his second love, something that almost never happens in HM games. To my knowledge, there are no other widowed characters in the entire series that the player can marry.
However, like his relation to Perry, if any of this is still canon in AP, it is never commented on, which is disappointing.

On area where ToT totally fails IMO is with the player's children. They all have boring personalities and generic appearances. My kid with Chase bore an uncanny resemblance to Gill, besides the eye and hair colour... Hmmmm.

Story:

The basics of the main plot of ToT and AP are the same: help the five harvest sprites in order to save the Harvest Goddess. However, I feel AP's story is much better, more in depth and better paced. It is also a lot simpler to complete - ringing the five bells in AP is much easier than gathering the ingredients for the five rainbows in ToT, many of which are difficult and time consuming to obtain, which makes it super tedious.
Spoiler:
In ToT, finishing the main quest felt more like a chore than anything else - and I didn't feel terribly motivated to do so, since all the characters who aren't there at the beginning are unlocked simply by completing the very first rainbow, and finishing the main story doesn't get you much IMHO (*cough*HARVEST KING*cough*).
Gameplay:

For the most part, I'd say AP is the winner here. In AP the clock is twice as slow and time does not pass indoors (which it does in ToT), and that is a huge bonus for me, because I don't feel rushed all the time. In ToT, you can't separate stacked items, like herbs, and a lot of items such as ores don't stack at all - it seems like such a minor thing, but this drove me absolutely insane with frustration. Among other things, in AP there are more crops to grow, the circus animal quest chain that will enable to teleport you around the island if you complete it, building hearts with everyone is easier, you can ride on all of your livestock, and you can actually get your spouse and kids to help with farm work. The only thing I liked better in ToT was being able to pick and choose from different plots to place your farm buildings, like in MM - in AP your house, coop, barn, and plots are always in the exact same place, and this can't ever be changed. ToT also allows a lot more customization for the inside of your house, too, like in MM - there is a larger variety of furniture to pick from, and you can move almost anything you want, wherever you want. In contrast, AP doesn't let you move most of your furniture, such as your bed and kitchen table, and there are very few places that it will let you place movable furniture. Kind of a bummer, but c'est la vie.

There, that's my two cents. Please don't tear me shreds!
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Robinstar
Huggy Chickens
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Joined: Aug 09, 2017 6:39 am

Post  Posted:

The reason I'm popping in is to mention that Elli does show up in AP on the television. If I recall from my notes, it should set both ToT and AP in the 64 universe.

But anyway, I haven't actually played ToT yet, but I've researched it and appreciate these extra bits of information. This definitely helps me decide not to ditch the idea of marrying Jin. Though I'm a bit concerned over Luna's behavior since I plan to marry her first. Already knew she was short.

And I'll like time moving faster since that's what keeps me from playing AP occasionally. I get kicked off the of the Wii.

And if you don't mind to remind me, how many different types of animals does ToT let you keep? Cause I did not appreciate the limit in AP.
Runey39
Growing Garden Gnome
Growing Garden Gnome
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Joined: Jun 23, 2016 9:40 am

Post  Posted:

One big reason I liked AP better was that I love Wizard and I liked how the female protagonist looked better. Mining was also less of a hassle, and the story line was more natural. I felt like I could do it at my own pace and it wouldn't affect my play style too much. I liked how I could have a pet boar, shiba, and white weasel all at the same time! <3 I went for Julius in the ToT game and obviously wizard in my AP game. I haven't played ToT since it first released, though, so I'm sure my opinion would be different regardless of whether it's positive or negative.
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