Best Game for a new player

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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Post  Posted:

I posted this in the wrong place first so I will post here too.

I wasn’t really sure where to ask this and here seemed general enough so I apologize if its not right.

I have played these games for years but my best friend is just getting interested in trying them after playing stardew valley with me. She is pretty bad at planning and likes to have a clear goal to work toward. Story of Seasons seems to confuse her so I was thinking an earlier hm game?

Any advice?
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Kikki
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All Bokumono games require some planning, imo, but some games have more obvious goals than others. Trio of Towns, for example, has some very clear-cut goals, via the main story with the farming tips and also all the town ranks goals. (They're also all written down for you and you can check them any time you want if you open the menu for them...it'll tell you what you what you still need to do to unlock a rank or to finish the current farming tips goals.)

A New Beginning also has fairly obvious goals since you have to do the 5 Town Restoration plans, which are also something you can check any time to see what you've already done and what you haven't gotten to, yet.

SoS1 has the vendors to unlock but I think it requires a bit of extra planning and figuring, particularly if you also throw in all the Conquest fields.

The earliest games are probably the simplest but I didn't like any of them so I can't really give any advice on those.
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greensara
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Post  Posted:

Of the entries I've played I'd say the Wonderful Life games and Animal Parade are probably the most laid back, if that's what you're going for. Most of the others have a lot more grinding and time management going on.
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elvis11300
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Post  Posted:

I agree with Kikki in that most games in the series require a degree of planning. Most involve finding a routine that works for you. I'd suggest to your friend that it's okay to start a new game if she feels like something isn't working out. The older games especially require some trial and error.
Lirishae
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While not a HM or SoS game, My Time at Portia might be a good fit for your friend. It's more focused on crafting than farming or ranching, but it's basically the same genre and the main story/side quest objectives are easy to keep track of. You can also select a quest from the menu to track it, which will pop up the objectives on the side of the screen and show you your progress in fulfilling it. You'll also be able to see where you need to go on the map.
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iLoveSprites75
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My first game was DS Cute, I like that one a lot and find it simple. You can easily find lists of how to find all of the Harvest Sprites. I'm sure you can find it for an okay price, assuming your friend has a DS or 3DS.

Otherwise, I think the Friends of Mineral Town remake on Switch is pretty great, too. I actually haven't played the original, but from what I understand it's not too much different, so there's nothing overly confusing about it!
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Post  Posted:

Thank you all for your suggestions. I considered Portia but she wants to try one of my HM games. I had given her story of seasons ages ago as a Christmas present. (I really didn’t know what kind of games she liked at the time and she had told me she doesn’t like real competitive game)

I have been playing since I was young with AWL so I have collected most of the games over the years. I guessed Animal Parade might be best as its my favorite and she like taking care of the animals in stardew. I usually have to plan out things for her though as she likes the social aspect a lot and does that and foraging the most. It’s been a while but I think Animal Parade was pretty clear.
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Post  Posted:

iLoveSprites75 wrote:My first game was DS Cute, I like that one a lot and find it simple. You can easily find lists of how to find all of the Harvest Sprites. I'm sure you can find it for an okay price, assuming your friend has a DS or 3DS.

Otherwise, I think the Friends of Mineral Town remake on Switch is pretty great, too. I actually haven't played the original, but from what I understand it's not too much different, so there's nothing overly confusing about it!
I have both the original and the remake for FoMT but I think she might not like that it doesn’t have a real plot. I am gonna suggest it though. I think DS cute might confuse her still. She is one of those people that never looks up game guides and I feel like the sprites need a guide.
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Ronin19
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Post  Posted:

I think a good entry point would be Animal Parade. It has a wide cast of characters and 10 girls and 10 guys to choose from.

I understand it's a Wii game and may not be easy to come by, so I would also recommend Story of Seasons Trio of Towns for having 6 candidates for each gender (7 if you buy the DLC) and a wider cast of characters than Animal Parade. There's also a lot of stuff to do as well.
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HotChocolate<3
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Post  Posted:

Grand bazaar might work? It’s not a huge map and less confusing? It still has a goal and stuff.
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Somerandom
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Post  Posted:

I started with the first Story of Seasons. I liked it but it wasn’t the best starting off point especially with all the vendor requirements, fields and items.

I would recommend Friends of mineral town (either original GBA or switch) or maybe even back to nature for PlayStation and PSP (the game mineral town is a port of). This game has a town to explore in addition to your own farmland , good characters, plenty of activities such as mining and fishing, fun events and most importantly simple farming controls.

Animal parade and tree of tranquility are also very beginner friendly, farming is simple and there is a simple story to play through.

Conversely I would not recommend A new beginning because of the extremely slow start to the game.

A major factor that goes into deciding a first game is the console. This can be either the console that they have available to them or the console they are most comfortable with. (Some people would prefer to play on the tv while others choose to play on a handheld)
RodCopper Fishin
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I think Trio of Towns and Tale of Two Towns would both be good. For Trio in particular, there are very little consequences, such as no friendship decay. The characters are awesome and the game doesn’t really force you to focus on any one thing. I found clothing collecting and cooking easier and more enjoyable in this game. Tale of Two Towns also feels very non rushed. It’s from a simpler time without all the crafting and collecting, and I miss those days! Either way I’m voting for these two games for your friend to try. Happy to nab another person into the virtual farming fold :)
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Burning Spear
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Magical Melody was simple but had a fun, rather uncomplicated story mission. You can collect the required 50 musical notes in less than an in-game year if you push to do it or just take it easy, enjoy the game and let the notes come to you. Lots to do and unlock, but not super-complicated. A perfect entry to the series, in my opinion.

If she doesn't have a Wii or GameCube, then perhaps a New Beginning on the 3DS/2DS would be the next best choice.
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