Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town

The familiar, fun gameplay is here. You're a kid taking over a farm. The farm is in disrepair and needs help. You start out by weeding the garden, chopping the logs into boards and breaking up rocks. You slowly start growing crops, raising horses and chickens, and making a name for yourself.

You might think this would get boring, but time is running all the time. You have to get food to your animals, play with them, keep your crops watered, get your field cleared, mine for supplies, go into town and chat it up with the local girls.

There are the usual goodies - horse races, other festivals that come on certain days of the year. There are upgrades to your tools and little sprites that help you out with your tasks. You can fall in love with the girl of your dreams and build a life together. With lots of customizable names, from your farm to your dog to your horse, it really begins to feel like your own little world.

The graphics are great, and while it's not a button-mashing extreme, the clock is always ticking so you get a sense that you have to get going with your life in order to feed yourself and your animals. There aren't goals to meet or points to score - there is a farm to tend to and responsibilities to manage. It's a great game for all ages and VERY rewarding.

My one complaint about this game - and keep in mind that this is a HUGELY addictive game for me so I love it - is that it only lets you be a male. Why?? I would LOVE to be a girl on the farm who is dating boys. It can't be THAT hard to switch a few names and pixels. Why am I forced to be a boy? Why can't a girl run a farm?

That being said, it's a ton of fun and well suited for the GBA. Grab a copy - but be warned, you'll be playing it a lot!


Fun on the farm!   December 21, 2003
85 out of 87 found this review helpful

My fiancee and I picked up Harvest Moon FOMT right after it came out. Niether of us had ever played a Harvest Moon game before, but we did enjoy Animal Crossing and had heard that the games were somewhat similar.

I've got to say I am very impressed! It is a very enjoyable, highly addictive game. We've been playing it regularly since we've got it. Certain parts can get a bit monotonous at times, but overall the game is a fun-filled experience.

The owner of the farm passed away and left the farm to you. You raise and harvest a wide variety of crops over the Spring, Summer, and Fall. You start with a dog to care for and raise, and you will get a horse early in the game as well. You can purchase and then raise cows, chickens, and sheep. You'll need to make certain they are well fed, kept out of the bad weather, and get lots of love and attention. Raise them well, and you can enter them in various contests and have champions!

Another major aspect of the game is finding a girlfriend, who will eventually become your wife if you can win her over. You have 5 girls to choose from, 6 if you count the Goddess. You have rivals for your girls, so you have to really impress your girl if you want to make her your wife! You'll need to visit her everyday, participate in events with her, and buy her gifts CONSTANTLY. This is one part of the game I can't say I'm terribly happy with. Getting a girlfriend/wife basically means you just buy her nice presents everyday. I had hoped it would be a bit more interesting than that.

There's plenty more to keep you entertained. You can fish, get lumber, go mining, expand your house, befriend the townspeople and magic sprites, play with your dog, or even just watch tv. Its a never-ending fun adventure!

In summary -

PROS

Enjoyable change of pace from the majority of games.
Good graphics for a GBA game.
Decent sound.
An in-depth game, with many different things you can do.
Long varied gameplay without a set ending, you can continue playing as long as you like.

CONS

Certain parts, such as the harvesting, can get a bit repetitive at times.
The dialog is somewhat limited.
Getting a girlfriend/wife really means buying them presents everyday... and those are the kind of girls I prefer to avoid!

Again this is a very enjoyable game. If you have tried and enjoyed Animal Crossing, or any of the previous Harvest Moon games I'd say you'd like this. If those kind of games aren't really your thing, then you won't find what you are looking for here.


Life Is A Like A Garden, Dig It! True For This Game!   June 16, 2003
Keeper Of The Key Of The Twilight (United States Of America)
49 out of 58 found this review helpful

Harvest Moon GBA also known as Harvest Moon: Friends Of Mineral Town starts out with jack the main character, him being you, is taken to mineral town by his parents to get some fresh air. He soon wanders off being the little kid he is to some old man's farm. Your worried parents find you at the farm and the old man asks the parents if he could stay there for his vacation. They agree and you go off in various activities. While you are there you meet a young girl Soon they come back and you and the
man decide to become pen pals but you don't see the girl again. But one day he
stops writing and you go to investigate and soon find that the man has died
and left his farm to you in his will.

This game is excellent, and i might add much more improved then the latest gbc conterpart. The graphics have improved a-lot, theres a cute music to add and did i mention the characters are based off the ps1 version, harvest moon: back to nature. For those new to the harvest moon series, you start out with excrusiating pain of clearing the feild on your farm of stumps, rocks, and weeds. (DARN THOSE WEEDS BAKA BAKA!) Only one problem you can't cut the stumps up with your ax without upgrading it. And to upgrade it you need to have 1000 g, and a copper ore and one day of waiting to do so. The boulders need a level 2 hammer and the big rocks need a level 4 hammer. So you see it does get a bit frustrating. After that you can plant crops, try to marry the cutest girl in town, upgrade your house and more! Including rasing animals. Some amusing things that i have found is when you work too hard and get sick your face goes blue and the background music goes wack! Or when you whistle in a house with other people they look around in alarm (*lol*) Overall this is a nice addition to the harvest moon series, that newbies and old fans will enjoy! And i expect i'll enjoy this game too when it comes out in north america since its difficult to read japanese right now.

Aidos~Keeper Of The Twilight ..A Fifteen Year Old Female Gamer


Will be the best!   September 28, 2003
James (Appleton, WI United States)
29 out of 39 found this review helpful

Do not listen to the "Only get this game if you need your veggies..." reviewer, he/she obviously does not know what he/she is talking about. Anyways I bought the Japanese imported game of HM: FOMT. All I can tell you is that this game is going to be the best harvest moon game ever! It basically is Harvest Moon Back to Nature (Is on PS1), same town, same characters, but all new features, events, minigames, locations, and tons, tons more! The graphics as well can be comparable to HM BTN, which of course is a good thing.

I would like to tell you more about this wonderful game, but that would be spoiling it for you! ...


Harvest Moon FOMT A Awesome Game   September 19, 2003
27 out of 29 found this review helpful

This game is going to be great.I was lucky to get in the September shipment before it sold out.I can't wait for to get here.It is much like the other Harvest moon games that you have to save a rundown farm .This game has a whole lot of new stuff to do.You can choose between six girls to marry.It has new crops for you to plant.New mini games like playing with your dog.You can get up to four houses to live in.You can have a baby and it grows up a little bit.You can buy stuff off the TV Shopping channel like a kitchen which you can cook your food with over a hundred recipes.You can mime in the two mines that are near your farm.Some things that you can mine are Gold,Silver,Rubys,Copper and a whole lot more that you can sell and you will need to upgrade your tools.And you can connect with Harvest Moon AWL for Gamecube.There is so much more I can't say because I won't have room.This is a awesome game.