This game is super hard core!!! I feel most mobile players won't bother with this.. Farming should be easy like hay day not this complicated!!!
And though I could play HM FoMT on GBA4iOS, I may pick this iOS version up for the fact that it is a premium HM experience and not a ridiculously monetized, IAP-filled, timer/energy mess like most F2P farming games. People now are used to that F2P way of playing things, and it's just refreshing to have this series stay true even if it does look a little different.
Hi guys, I've spent a couple of hours on this and I thought I would share my initial impressions. Take note that Harvest Moon is one of my favourite series and I'm suprised it's taken this long to make it's way to IOS. First off let's start with the graphics. They're definetly Average at best. It feels cheaply made with this weird kind of horrible blend between the old 2D games and the newer 3D ones. Having said that, at least they're clear and functional. I'll also say that I've started to warm up to their picture-book-style somewhat, though I definitely prefer the charm found in the older pixel artwork. As others have noted, there are no portraits, obviously an attempt to bring down costs. Personally I feel it doesn't detract too much from the game as the writing tends to convey their emotions quite well. As far as the game plays, this feels like a re-imagining of the GBA title. Seasons, weather, time, relationships, stamina, season sprites, mining, cooking, fishing, animals, as well as tool and house upgrades are all here. One disappointing thing I found was the removal of your pet dog, unless you stumble across one further on in the game. The town seems a little small but there's still quite a few characters to talk to. Someone here mentioned the writing was pretty decent and I tend to agree with them. You can skip the text easily and quickly if you're not too keen on reading. Some of the systems seem a little more simple than before, e.g. not having to throw wood into the wood hut. It's still more in-depth than anything like FarmVille and actually requires you to plan around your energy and the different seasons. The music and sound effects are all pretty average but I at least haven't felt the urge to turn it off (at least not yet). The controls are quite solid, although I would have liked an option to use a D-Pad as I found myself often accidentally digging up patches of dirt when I was trying to move. You don't have to worry about switching tools as it's all context sensitive based on what you tap. Overall it seems to be fairly safe game which is both great news and also a little disappointing. I can't comment on the long-term content of this game, there really doesn't seem to be anything new on offer to seasoned fans. I feel like the current price of the game will probably turn away most casual gamers as and those new to the series. I almost think they would have been better off porting Friends of Mineral town and just updating the controls, which probably wasn't an option due to licensing issues. I've always wished for a proper farming/life sim on my iPhone yet I can't help but feel like this is a missed opportunity. Still, there's enjoyment to be had and I'm glad that there's finally a game that requires more than just "tap, collect, wait". And no IAP as well!
Played this on iPhone 5 iOS 7.2, 30 minutes in, works great so far! Instabought because this is the type of game lacking on iOS: premium with no IAP. Grind what you want, no nonsense timers or diamonds. How does this compare to the older Harvest Moon games? Well, so far, I feel that the town is small in this game. I've played my share of Rune Factory and Harvest Moons, I can say that this town feels too small for a Harvest Moon game. Hopefully it grows on me as I play longer. Graphics? To be honest, the NES games do look better than this one. Instead of cute sprites, this game opted for low poly 3d models instead. It might not look as good but it's not a dealbreaker for me. Controls? I like the touch control scheme for movement and farming actions! The control works like this: You can toggle between conversation mode/farming mode by pressing a button on the bottom left of the screen. In both modes, tapping on a location moves your avatar to the tapped location. In conversation mode, if you tap a character, your avatar will initiate a conversation with the selected character. In farming mode, tapping a farm tile will make your avatar act accordingly to whatever action the selected tile requires. No more selecting which tools to use: just select a single tile multiple times, your character will till the soil, plant a seed, water the seed, then fertilize! Easier to grind now! As a summary, I'm loving this game so far! Okay guys, I'm going to go farming now!
I think I saw a gameplay video where there was a pet dog and a pet cat. And the app icon would suggest you eventually get a pet dog. I hope there are still pets in there!
Thanks metalcasket for your imps as a new player, nice to know that they captured enough charm to engage someone for the first time. Thanks everyone else for long time fan reviews. Sounds good enough that they earned my $10. I'm hearing some legitimate complaints from long time fans, but do remember that a game like this isn't easy or cheap to make. At some point if you want to see better versions, you have to support their efforts along the way.
Haha you're right, somehow I didn't even notice the app icon. I was reading through the inbuilt encyclopaedia and it mentions getting a pet once you've upgraded your house. Hopefully I get to name him too, for some reason I always enjoy games more when I get to have a virtual version of my little fur-baby While I may have came across a little harsh with the game, I will admit there's plenty to enjoy here. It seems weird complaining about the price when 15 years ago a portable game with a similar amount of content would sell for 3 or 4 times the price. I do hope this game opens up more opportunities for similar titles. Maybe we can get an IOS port of Stardew Valley as well!
I really appreciate everyone's impressions! I couldn't stand it anymore -- I had to buy it this morning. No IAP, Premium game, Harvest Moon... even though I think the graphics are pretty cheap-looking, it deserves a spot on my iPhone.
Minimum req should be iphone 5 unless when you reach halfway through the game and it crawls like a baby then it must be 5s but playing don't starve on i5 still bearable compare to this games graphics.Oh well still enjoying this hope doesn't encounter some probs.
no cloud saves ^ the graphics remind me of a uglier version of the legend of Zelda link between worlds
I was going to wait for a proper review but I caved last night and bought it anyway! I have played lots of harvest moon games, including the Rune Factory games and it's one of my favourite game series. Here are my first impressions :- GRAPHICS - Quality wise they are no where near as good as the DS and wii versions and knowing what the iPad is capable of this is a disappointment. However I always preferred the 2D graphics to the fully 3D ones. They have a slightly rushed feel to them. CONTROLS - These are fluid and for me fits well on a touchscreen. It would have been nice to have the option of a D pad or even moving the location of the control buttons slightly. It's a little too easy to dig when you're trying to walk. THE TOWN/PEOPLE - The town and mountain areas do feel rushed and not as big or well evolved as other versions. There isn't as much variety as in previous games and it doesn't seem like there are any areas you can't unlock until you've reached a certain point in the game. GAMEPLAY - this feels simplified and almost dumbed down. You have access to your barn and coop straight away instead of having to 'earn' them and it's very easy to get your mitts on the starter tools. You don't have to forward plan as much such as making sure you put your wood/stone away. You also don't have to select which tool you want to use which is both a good and a bad thing. OVERALL - Despite my quibbles with the game I still played solidly for an hour after buying it and would have played for longer had it not been so late so the game does have the 'I'll just dig this bit.....now I'll just....' Feel about it. Given a choice between playing this or digging out my DS I would play this. I'm used to touch screen now so it would feel slightly alien to go back to physical controls, plus its conveniently with me on my phone. However if there was a DS emulator on IOS that I felt comfy controlling I would choose to play a DS version. That said I don't regret buying this, it's premium, it's enjoyable and the only way to show I want harvest moon on my pad is to buy the game.
Thanks for everyone's impressions, but I'm still on the fence on this one. I've been playing Harvest Moon games since getting the first one for the Gameboy Colour. I think I'll hold fire for now on this
Is anyone else experiencing a glitch when fishing with good bait? Once I click a tile in the water the game time continues to progress but I cannot do anything other then restart the game. Full disclosure, I am playing on an IPad 3 which is not listed as a compatible device but everything else has been fine. Just curious to see if anyone else has had this issue.
It's crazy to see how far Harvest Moon games have come. I remember watching my daughter play them on GameCube, PS1 and DS back in the day. Personally I'm not big on the genre but when I told my daughter it was out she got so excited that I couldn't help buy it for her. Happy to see everyone is giving the game such raving reviews here.
Im a fan of harvest moon and let me tell you all something, i spend money on so many harvest moon games that im almost have an entire collection of only that game in fact when i was a kid i remember playing harvest moon friends of mineral town, that was my obsession playing all day, and even in school!, i didnt lowered my grades by that game, it gave me focus, my love for that game was so strong that one day i was assaulted and i loss a lot of money, many many gba games and my homework (lol they even stole my backpack ) all i regret losing was my kid, my farm and wife popuri , not the money, not those other zelda, Mario's, metroid, castelvania and random games i wasted money on, and i got this game, the harvest moon for ios, that game isnt worth 9 usd maybe 3 and that is much to say, why?, because it looks like if it was made with 3 usd, the graphics, are awful puke of 3d/2d they on the past made great games with only 2d and some experiments with 3d on the ds and up, the game cube/wii games were great too, and that game made for mobile is bad, the controls, i hoped that at least it would have a virtual pad, but no, all tactile, the map isnt just small but really bad made, most harvest moon have a limited map but on some ways they trick with the visuals to make them look huge, most of his recipes for that were a beach, mountain, mountain cape, valley, river and lake, hidden areas and hidden items. This harvest moon dont have all of that, it dont have any of those well draw town people portraits when you talk to them, that made the game more personal, because you fall in love with those npc draws and behavior, here they have the behavior but not the look. Now lets get straight to the final words of my review, i would strongly recommend you to download this game because is good, has a lot of potential and is part of the collection of natsume serious fun games but careful with this!. If they dont make some updates with map, artwork, and playability this game is just an overpriced waste of money, it hurts me to say this last because i grew with these games, but i really felt that i just threw money to a fire that my money didnt worth at all, but I'll eat my own words, literally ill print this review and eat the page if they make those soo needed updates on this game, and if not, at least they should port great classics like harvest moon friends of mineral town, tale of two towns, and other great hits for ios because with those they will still win money and maybe not everyone will buy them but be more than sure that my money will be spend on their ports as long as they keep them compatible with ios 6 and up.
So looking at the videos and most of the reviews here this game really is just a cheap and simple knockoff of a Harvest Moon game. People are still buying it though coz it is harvest moon. I loved those games and would still buy this but ill wait for it to go on discount or maybe if it got some really good updates.
