PSX, the pinnacle of gaming tech back in the Mid 90's. It was in 1997 we saw the rise of Sony as a home entertainer and yet, we fondly forget the games that brought us there. And the quirky ones soon to be replaced with things like Loco Roco and Katamari Damanci.
Harvest Moon is one of the longest running games about... Farming. Think about this a moment. This series has been around for 20 years. And it's about... Farming. Who in the hell thought that shit up!? I mean who randomly says "I feel like making a game so tedious and repetitive people will love it!"? Well obviously, the game has had some staying power since it's been around about as long as Final Fantasy.
The PSX version was a remake of the 64 version which borrowed on elements from the previous SNES versions which took from the Gameboy version. A game that takes from it's predecessor. Highly original. Anyways, whether that string of text is right or wrong, the PSX version is a rehash of the 64 version with some changes. Like.... New people. And names. That's about it. Oh and the town is a bit different. Otherwise, it remains largely the same. I'm not joking.
Your character wakes up one day to his grandfather, who he hasn't seen in 10 years, dying and leaves him the farm. Considering that the man was already like 70 when you visit him, it's a wonder how he remembered you. I mean when you get the farm it looks like the old man let it go for years. There's garbage every-freaking-where. So you get a choice. Stay or go home. There should have been an option called "Sell the bitch and be set for life.", however such option does not exist. If you choose to leave, Game Over. Worlds fastest game. Minus the 10 minute intro. Obviously, you're not gonna have that happen so you pick to stay on the farm. Then the curveball. You have 3 years to make it into a successful business in order to keep it....
Who makes the inheritance rules in this game!? Russia!? (just kidding.)
So, how do you achieve this goal of making it successful? You begin by cleaning up a farm that will later be known as Staten Island. So if you're a perfectionist like most gamers, you're gonna want to clean the farm up quick. Too bad it takes 2 upgrades of your normal equipment to do so. So your farm in the beginning can only be about 60% fully clean. Now, we need to till the ground. If you spent all day cleaning with the tools they gave you, you're probably exhausted by like 2:00. What a lame ass farmer dude. One swing of that ho, not swing at that ho for those of you out there, and you'll most likely pass out.
So no we'll wait. As time goes on you'll figure out theres a not so big town with people who have not so big stories. Amongst these people are the important ones... The shop keep, the Inn Owner, the Chicken lady, the blacksmith, the Rancher and 5 random girls you have to pick to be your bride.
Look.... This is a buzzkill... how the hell are we supposed to know all these things without reading the manual which is filled with tiny ass words!? Either way, this week's retro minute comes to a close as I take a stroll down memory lane another day.
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