Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life is a laid back, simulation game about farming; targeted toward female gamers. The content is very female-oriented and PG enough for even very young children; which is good because the game-play is a little too simple for most adults to enjoy for very long.

The game begins with an older man named Takura receiving a letter from an old friend’s daughter. She writes him asking for assistance in starting a farm for herself. You play the game as this girl making a life in a small town. She starts out with a lactating cow that Takura has given her so that she can make money from the milk. She also begins with some money of her own so that she can buy more supplies or animals; whichever she deems fit.

She can order supplies for Takura to buy when he goes to town; which he does on a daily basis. As far as animals go there are different breeds of cows to choose from, chickens, and sheep. She can also buy what is referred to as potions, which really is the semen of bulls, to impregnate the female cows. If she has a bull of her own she can use his potion on one of her cows at no cost to her, but she does need to order it from Takura’s ordering sheet. The bulls and cows will breed on their own, but to get the ball rolling it is best to use the potion the first time. Once the calf is born she can sell it or keep it for milking or breeding later on. To get the best grade of milk make sure the cows are fed and groomed regularly; not to mention give them lots of love. The S milk is the best. If cows are the way you want to go in the game then it is best to buy the milking room and the food processing room so that she can make the most amount of money from the milk that she gets from her cows. The sheep will also give her money, but not as often. Every few weeks the sheep will be able to be clipped; make sure to treat them good and keep them clean as well because then they will give her gold wool. If you buy a hen and a rooster she can keep them for breeding then sell the eggs or the chicks when they are born as another form of income. Tools can also be ordered and purchased through Takura to replace and upgrade the ones that Takura has already lent to her. The lighter the tools, the longer she can work without a break. Make sure to stock up on animal medicine because they get sick often and unexpectedly so having some on hand is best. There are other things that can be purchased through Takura, some are useful and some are not so useful, but if there is something else that you would like to buy that you cannot get from Takura then there are other places to get them in town.

Van opens his shop up on the 3rd and 8th of every month; the months only last ten days so there is not a lot of time to wait in between. The most useful item to buy from him is a fishing pole. Fish can bring in good money when you sell them at Van’s store or open up your own shop. The two best places to fish are by the waterfall or the pond that is near the waterfall. The fish in the river will fetch a better price than the fish in the pond.

There is a farm on the opposite side of the river from where she lives that you can buy seeds from to plant in her garden. The vegetable seeds are only good for one use, but the fruit seeds will last her forever. Have her hoe up one of the squares then sprinkle a seed down; water the crop and wait for it to grow. Once a vegetable has grown there she can pick it and sell it. The fruit trees work the same way with planting, but you cannot plant trees next to each other like you do with vegetables. When the trees sprout fruit she will get multiple produce instead of just one from each seed that was planted. The trees will then bloom again next year at the same season. The best way to make money with the vegetables and fruits is to buy the seed maker when it becomes available through Takura. Each vegetable or fruit is made into two seeds; this doubles your money.

If you are the type of person that plays games strictly for the stories they tell then this game would be a horrible choice for you. The story line is horrendously boring and superficial. The conversations are often repetitive and nondescript. There are basically no twists or turns in the story that make you want to keep going to find out how it’s going to end. The game-play itself is very repetitive and what you see in the beginning is what you get in the end. There is no new developments that are worth waiting around for. If it doesn’t grab your attention right away there is no reason to hang around waiting for it to.

You can interact with the story line and change it in certain areas only . You have the choice between three husbands; which will also change the story of the child and the future that the family shares together. There are a few other questions that are asked, usually at the beginning of a new year that will also develop the story line. However when you are having a normal conversation with people throughout the rest of the game it usually doesn’t give you a chance to respond. Most of the dialogue is repetitive and if you want to develop a friendship with anyone you must spend a lot of time listening to their inane chatter. Making friendships will unlock certain items and change the play of the game to a small degree.

The game-play drags on for quite sometime and eventually there is nothing else to do that you haven’t already done before. After you buy everything you can from Takura, Van, and the Farming Lady the only thing left is playing along with the story line; which I already established earlier is not any good.

At the beginning of the game the novelty of the game-play hooked me in. I played for hours on end. So the game isn’t completely lacking in fun. It is similar to Sim City or the other Sims games where you play out the lives of people on the screen, but it is lacking an important feature that makes those games so fun; in the Sims you get to build things. Whether it be whole cities or just a house you are able to be creative in the Sims. However, with Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life you do not have room to keep developing the farm. Once you purchase everything your done and there is certain places that things go, you don’t get to choose. So right there this game loses it’s artistic/creative players that love the Sim’s games so much. Plus the story line is already laid out for you. You only have the choice between three husbands and that determines your children; you can’t even pick the genders. Basically this game doesn’t cut it in the action department, story department, or the creative game-play department.

Considering all the bad things that I have said about this game it’s a wonder that I would still recommend it, but I do. This would be a fine rental that might last you a couple days before you are through with it. I think what really draws you in is how different it is from other games. People really seem to enjoy things that are out of the ordinary because there isn’t many of them. So if there isn’t any other game on your list for the evening and all you want to do is relax a little give it a try and see if it bores you to tears.