PSP - Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl Recommended

Format
PSP
Publisher
Marvelous Interactive
Developer
Natsume
Country of origin
Japan
Genre
RPG

Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl

By David Rasmussen
18th Nov 07

Of the many many iterations of Harvest Moon a few stand above and beyond as worthy of your attention.
The classic Harvest Moon 64 for the Nintendo 64. The closing title from the Nintendo GameCube, Magical Melody. A(nother) Wonderful Life (GameCube and a special “A Wonderful Life” version for the PS2). At the top of this chain is a game that has inspired several re-visions and re-releases, including this latest re-release (Boy & Girl).

Of course I am referring to the cult classic PSOne Harvest Moon, Harvest Moon : Back to Nature.
The only PSOne version of Harvest Moon as far as I know, it is the essential Harvest Moon without a shadow of a doubt. Set in the town of Mineral Town, it has one of the most colorful histories of the franchise as well as being part of the first attempts to work a female lead into the game franchise.

Also it has inspired the most games.
Besides the classic PSOne version (including the seldom seen girl version which you are playing now for the first time), we have Harvest Moon (More) Friends of Mineral Town (GBA, which includes a female version in the “More” version) as well as the ability to link the GBA games to the Game Cube Wonderful Life games (and have a set amount of “interaction” between the two).

Then there’s Harvest Moon DS which, for all intents and purposes, looks like it’s game engine was mostly “borrowed” from the (More) Friends of Mineral Town franchise for the GBA (despite the fact it was set in the world of Wonderful Life). (Once again interaction with the (More) Friends of Mineral Town games is available for this game).

Finally we have this version, the latest game set in Mineral Town.
This game, Boy & Girl, features both the classic PSOne version as well as the Japan only “for Girls” version with a female lead (who still looks like her character was based on the Boy design with a blonde wig… that is until you try out the extra gimmick of the game).

That is also the first thing you notice about the game.
Despite the fact it has the “For Girls” version, that version is NOT a mirror of More Friends of Mineral Town ‘s story. Unlike that version, where your character is tricked into moving into Mineral Town because of a faulty ad, you take the Titanic step to move in when you wash up ashore after your ship sank leaving you abit short of memory (but long on lifespan). With only memories of this boy you once was close to (similar to the boy’s memories of a female he was best friends with in the original PSOne version) you take over an abandoned farm and set out to make a life for yourself.

This is the only point where the game’s differ. While a majority of both games have the same content it’s the little “side story” about each that is different. Thus the two roads the game offer you to walk, which maybe should have been the title of the game… Harvest Moon : Destiny & Fate.

“Destiny” is the boy’s quest, as you take over a relative’s farm to bring it back to life (and marry the girl who you’ve known since forever, that special girl who was your best friend).

Meanwhile in “Fate”, you are a stranger in a strange land who must rebuild an abandoned farm in order to fit into your new home. Along the way you fall in love with the person who turns out to be your childhood friend from the orphanage (I think it’s an orphanage).

Past that what is the appeal of the game? Mainly the solid gameplay that made the classic PSOne version fun to play with. Also, now with the PSP and it’s WiFi capacity you can trade animals easier than before. Probably not online though, which would be a hassle since you’d have to actually find a person who owns this game to trade animals with. Sigh.

The only problem with this is if you didn’t like the classic PSOne version then you won’t suddenly become a convert with the PSP version. If you loved this game before, and have been looking forward to a chance to play this game again after missing it for so long (your PSOne version stopped working, or whatever) then this is for you. Also, and this is my opinion, if you are looking for your first Harvest Moon experience then this is the one for you.

Otherwise if you were never a fan of Harvest Moon, let alone this version of Harvest Moon, nothing will suddenly make you a convert now that it’s on the PSP. It’s basically the same game as the original, so nothing about this game will suddenly convert you into loving it after so long.
Sure, after seeing all the modifications done in (More) Friends of Mineral Town it would have been nice to have seen some touch-ups and modifications to Back to Nature… but seeing how this game was great to begin with it would only have been a prettier set of window dressing on an already good game.

Still as far as classic retro games go having a chance to play this game once again is a treat, and I want to thank Natsume for bringing this game back for the PSP.

Now if they can retool Harvest Moon 64 for a return on the Nintendo DS (or the WiiShop for purchase on the Wii) then we’ll be talking then! For now, for bringing back a beloved classic in a brand new venue, I’m giving Harvest Moon : Boy & Girl 4 milking cows out of 5.

-- David Rasmussen 18th Nov 07

PSP Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl Images