Too many Harvest Moon games.

[Xtra]

I currently have:

A Wonderful Life Special Edition (PS2)
Harvest Moon Animal Parade (Wii)
Harvest Moon 64 (N64)
Harvest Moon Sunshine Islands (DS)
Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town (Wii U/Downloaded)
Story of Seasons (3DS/downloaded)

And I'm not very far in any of them.

FoMT was what got me into the series back on the GBA, and it was a good thing (my view in the series was soured by the original AWL on the Gamecube). And since then, I bought most of the Harvest Moon games that have came out, and made the jump when it became Story of Seasons.

But now that I have all these games, I don't think I'll get much farther unless I whittle it down to just one, but I'm not sure which one. Or maybe I should toss all of them and make a fresh start with Trio of Towns.

I'm not sure. What are your opinions?

[Bluie]

You're going to burn yourself out on the farming sim genre if you try to play these all at once. I'd suggest you play them between other games so you don't get sick of them. I burned myself out on the turn based RPG genre earlier this year so i've been playing more action oriented games, and just as they started to get a bit tiring, I went back to a turn based RPG and i'm enjoying it a lot. Spreading them out has certainly helped my enjoyment in the long run.

Also, as every HM game is different and has it's quirks, everyone on this forum favours others over another. I personally hated Story of Seasons as if felt like busywork to me, but a lot of people here like it. You'll get a different opinion on every game here listed.

[Guest]

Too many? No way. There's probably less than 30 Bokumono games over the span of 20 years. I do recommend not playing them all in one go.

For example, I freakin' love JRPGs and platformers. So I brought several on Virtual Console... But now I'm stuck not wanting to play them because they're all pretty similar. I can't play several Mario games in a row--I get bored.

I do wish Marvelous would go back to making 1 or 2 big console games a gen rather than 4 or 5 handheld ones though.

[copernicusmaximus]

I personally suggest Animal Parade, unless you don't like slow games.

Special Edition AWL for the PS2 is laggy to the point of it being unplayable. I never played 64 but it's the same townsfolk as FoMT (though some are wildly different in this iteration) so if you want a new crew anothe game could be best. MFoMT has some good improvements but it's ultimately 99% the same as FoMT. I've never played Sunshine Islands but I heard good things, definitely improved over IoH. And a lot of people liked Story of Seasons, but I wasn't honestly that huge on it (didn't like location based dialogue, ultimately didn't like the rival system, didn't like the shipping system). Trio of Towns is SO much better, too, imo.

So yeah, my vote is either Animal Parade or Trio of Towns, followed by Sunshine Islands (only because I can't 100% vouch for it since I never played it).

[FaerieFarm]

My favorite to play and replay is always AWL for the gamecube but it is pretty long and grindy. I don't really see the point in AnWL and AWL:SE since they whittled down the chapters to 1 year each, making it impossible to get some of the difficult career endings but a lot of people are fine with getting the default endings.

It's very hard to stay invested in all games at once so I would pick just one and play it to the end (or until you're satisfied). I currently have Trio of Towns loaded in my 3DS with the goal of seeing my child grow up and see the family events before I put the game away. My child is at the crawling stage so almost there! Although I recently found a Nintendo Switch and I'm totally addicted to Breath of the Wild at the moment...

[Sufjan Swordsman]

I would start with the oldest game (64, right?) first and slowly work my way to the newer games. You could eventually skip any of the games to return to them later, your choice!

AWL:SE isn't too different from the original AWL, so you might want to skip it or return to it later. I've also heard bad things about the ps2 version...

[Guest]

[quote="copernicusmaximus"]I never played 64 but it's the same townsfolk as FoMT (though some are wildly different in this iteration) so if you want a new crew anothe game could be best. MFoMT has some good improvements but it's ultimately 99% the same as FoMT[/quote]

I disagree. I have wanted to play 64 for almost a decade but never brought it. I am however well-accustomed to the Mineral Town personalities. Playing 64 feels like a breath of fresh air. They're the same characters but so different and new at the same time. BTN/FOMT and 64 are two different experiences.

But, yeah, AWL SE is so terribly laggy. I've played AWL and ANWL many times but have yet to make it past Childhood in SE.

[Terra575]

I think you should take each game one at a time, or perhaps alternate between a new one and an older one so they won't be too similar.

[Shan O 123]

I only played the newer games starting with sunshine islands so I know nothing about the older games unfortunately. However I did like SoS and 3oT really has improved with it.

[Xtra]

I'm thinking that I'll be keeping Animal Parade and FOMT, and buying Trio of Towns. Maybe keeping 64 as well.

[LiliaoftheWind]

HM 64 is an amazing game. I remember when FoMT came out and I was so irritated when they changed all of the families/personalities. Both are great games, but the game play in 64 is vastly different than what's in the newer games. I hope that you keep 64 and give it another chance when you have the time.

AP and FoMT are great games as well. I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you decide to keep.

[copernicusmaximus]

HM 64 is an amazing game. I remember when FoMT came out and I was so irritated when they changed all of the families/personalities.

I'm so worried that my experience with HM 64 will be tainted by the fact that I played FoMT first but I am gonna try to be super open minded when I get around to playing it

[jianadaren1]

64 is a good call. I think it's the fastest of them too.

I highly recommend against mixing multiple games: you'll forget your progress, lose the immersion, and get bored.

[AWLfan4ever]

I don't know how AWL soured anything, it's like one of the best games in the series. There's also no such thing as too many HM games.

[Xtra]

I don't know how AWL soured anything, it's like one of the best games in the series. There's also no such thing as too many HM games.

Because by the third chapter, I ran out of things to do or goals of any kind to shoot for. I had a self sufficient farm, a full compliment of Chickens, ducks, and cows, as well as the seed maker. There was nothing to buy (except for the self milker, which would probably just make the situation worse), no goals I wanted to pursue, nothing to really do anymore. And I still had 6 years ahead of me.