Gamecube - Harvest Moon: Magical Melody

Format
Gamecube
Publisher
Natsume
Developer
Marvelous
Country of origin
Japan
Genre
RPG

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody

By David Rasmussen
3rd Sep 06

The time of the GameCube is almost done. What with the coming arrival of the Nintendo Wii (the next gen console formerly known as the Revolution) it seems Nintendo is slowly preparing for the departure of an old friend. And, by default, we too have to prepare for the departure though it seems most of us have already said our farewells, what with the GameCube sucking so badly as it does now in terms of fan “loyalty” with only a few die hards still buying GameCube games.
Even with runaway hits like Resident Evil 4 out on the GameCube, Nintendo just couldn’t shake the stigma that surrounded their little “lunchbox” console, which is why it has finally come to this.

With the PS2 being the only present console system holding out as long as possible, what with Microsoft already courting it’s XBox360 crowd and Nintendo now looking towards the Wii, it seems we are now counting the days as the last GameCube games worth playing roll out into stores… this being one of them.

Yes, after the first (and last) two Harvest Moons for the GameCube, A Wonderful Life and it’s “alsoran” companion game “Another Wonderful Life” you could almost not be blamed for thinking that there was no more energy in Natsume’s formerly powerhouse title to pull off another Harvest Moon game for the GameCube… that is until you got ahold of Harvest Moon : Magical Melody, and realized that there is still a little spunk left in the farming sim that could as we finally get the first recommendable Harvest Moon for the 21st Century.

Don’t mind the Harvest Goddess, she’s suffering from a bad case of the neglects. Having felt that nobody in the village of Flower Bud Village (yes, we return to the village from Harvest Moon 64 though it will not be the same village you remember from that version) care about each other, or her, anymore, she offs and becomes all drama-queen like by turning herself to stone. This causes her little Harvest Sprites to panic, and they soon find aid in a purple haired person (whose gender is always opposite of whatever gender you pick to play) rival named Jamie… which leads nowhere.

A year passes, and Jamie is no closer to saving the Harvest Goddess than a year ago, but that’s when you arrive. Once again answering a ad in a newspaper (ala how you came to be in Mineral Town in More Friends of Mineral Town for the GBA) you have come to try your hand at the farming life only to find strange little people at your doorstep the first day there. It is then that they take you to the Harvest Goddess’ sanctuary where you are tasked with bringing her back to “life” by finding 100 notes… actually, well, you only need HALF those notes to bring her back to life but don’t let that stop you from finding all 100 as you will find much good in this… I hope. I am only now getting to the halfway point and the revival of the Goddess so I still have a ways to go.

Abandoning the fancy stylings of the Wonderful series, the game returns to it’s HM64 slash Back to Nature (PSOne) roots and thus the game excels once again. With the step back in animation the game gets back all that was previously lost in depth, from the return of festivals and events (meetings), to the depth of your cooking menu and the many things that you can do to make a honest gold piece in the village. From fishing, to farming, to mining, it’s all here. Also, another plus, is the fact that you can pick the way you earn money by the lot you buy. There are three lots (Village, River and Ocean), each a different size and geared for a specific way of earning money. The lot you choose to start off with, thus, dictates how you’ll earn money, but buying all three and doing everything is one of the vital things to do in this game, which shouldn’t be too hard since buying land and building things right off the bat is not too expensive though more elaborate upgrades will cost you abit more. This is also a plus since you have the option to relocate structures you’ve already built to your newly acquired properties, which means you can dedicate one lot just to your home, and another to your farm structures. Oh, and did I mention that the village is filled with community lots that you can grow stuff on free of charge? You can’t build on these, but you are allowed to grow plants there which opens up lots of possibilities for farming without cluttering up your personal property.

Pretty much everything from the previous Harvest Moons that I said were worth owning (Harvest Moon 64 for the Nintendo 64, Harvest Moon : Back to Nature for the PSOne, and Harvest Moon : (More) Friends of Mineral Town for the GBA) are here, added to that the expansive system of property (in both ownership and the means by which you use public property), as well as the whole note system of earning 100 notes (requiring you to complete certain requirements to earn each note, which in turn earns you a musical instrument for every 5 you earn up until you awaken the Harvest Goddess), and the new game mechanics for fishing, mining and farming (and the unlockable mini games which can be played in multiplayer mode separately from the main gameplay) and you got yourself a good addition to your Harvest Moon collection.

Yes, there are a few flaws here and there but it’s not a harsh thing in comparison to the overall goodness of the game. Festivals for the most part are a simple matter of walking from person to person and talking up everyone in order to make them progress (it seems to have lost the interactivity of the festivals of previous versions). Also you can’t unlock certain festival mini games unless you raise animals to compete, which makes it necessary for you to build that important farm building so you can start raising horses, cows and sheep for festivals (and profit).

Also there are two things in this game that don’t work at all. One is the Harvest Sprites, the other is the game’s Rivalry system. First, the sprites. Yes, while the game does have Harvest Sprites (who keep track of your notes and occasionally help out) they no longer have the useful ability to help you farm ala Harvest Moon : Back to Nature or (More)Friends of Mineral Town. For the most part the Sprites are barely seen, and do barely anything (a downer from previous experiences with the Sprites).

Then there is the rivalry system, but other than the rivalry between you and Jamie the rest of the impromptu rivalries that pop up (rival inns, rival tool makers, rival flower shops, etc) are just window dressing with no real depth or influence to the overall story.
As for your rivalry with Jamie? Most of it is tracked off screen on a chart screen (despite what the jewel case for the game promises) which lists the shipments of yourself and your rival on a daily basis, which is bad since this means most of the time your rival is ahead of you since you’ll not be able to muster enough shipping power to consistently overcome your rival until at least the 2nd year at the earliest (and that’s if you work your tail off in order to get it going). Also your “rivalry” at a few festivals is not that well done (added to the fact that the game offers up your rival as Potential mate #11).

Yes, Potential Mate #11. This game sports 11 possible marriage candidates regardless of whether you’re playing as male or female, which is understandable since this game is a veritable who’s who of Harvest Moon. Characters from previous games all make their appearances, including a few from the recent Wonderful Life franchise. Of course all of these people you have to get to know better since they (once they become friends and bring you a gift to your house) yield a note each (lots of first events, festivals, and requirements that make you accomplish x amount of something yield each a note once completed).

Your house is also quite evolvable. Besides being able to buy all the buildings for your farm (including the windmill to turn corn into bird seed), you’ll also be able to upgrade your home and stock it up fully ala Animal Crossing… only unlike Animal Crossing the house isn’t as interactive short of a few key things like the TV, calendar or cabinets. While you can buy sofas, chairs and tables you don’t seem capable of interacting with them (a downer).

Otherwise the game is more on the plus side over the minus, with this game promising to keep you going at it for hours and hours on end (both in collecting of the notes and the open ended gameplay that’ll keep you farming with little sign of boredom for a long long time -- and don’t forget the many unlockable mini games which provides multiplayer party gaming potential to this game once you got them opened up).
A few aspects could have been tweaked more, but all in all as the finale of the GameCube era of Harvest Moon I am pleased to say that this one is a keeper. More on that on the breakdown.

Harvest Moon : Magical Breakdown
What’s Hot?
Providing a generous slice of fun, this last GameCube version of the Harvest Moon franchise brings you a nice fistful of playability and variety, while providing up a little bit of unlockable content that’ll keep you at this game for hours and hours on end.

What’s Not?
A few things about the game, like the festivals and the rivalry system, could have stood abit more tweaking. Otherwise there is more good to this game than ill, so I have no complaints overall about it’s few failings.

Moments to Remember?
Quite abit of this is memorable, actually. All good and all solid overall.

What to Ignore?
Why is it whenever you hold down the button to water and build up power it sounds like your character is rather… constipated? Take something for it already!

Overall?
The GameCube generation is coming to a close, and while most of the gamers of the GameCube have abandoned it to it’s fate far sooner that they should have at least those who were loyal to the system up to now have been rewarded with the last Harvest Moon of the present generation console that is worthy of ownership. With more pluses than minuses, Harvest Moon : Magical Melody for the GameCube is a cut above Wonderful Life, and brings back a firm solid open ended playability that was missing from the previous outing, truly worthy of being apart of your collection in these last days of the Cube.
Take it for a spin, you’ll be glad that you did.

-- David Rasmussen 3rd Sep 06

Gamecube Harvest Moon: Magical Melody Images