Natsume has released a new Harvest Moon game for the Android platform as well as mobile IOS. It will be released later this year for the Wii U and the PC platforms. I only recently obtained a real smartphone that allows me to play Android games such as Family Farm Seaside. My old cellphone was almost useless, sleeping on the job constantly and NOT able to download any games at all.
When a very old Harvest Moon/Rune Factory friend asked if I would be willing to write a guide for the new Harvest Moon game, I was a little hesitant. I have serious health issues now, with pain levels that makes it difficult for me to focus on anything.
Harvest Moon games traditionally are extremely detailed and quite demanding. There are many secrets to uncover as well as rewards that become available only after YEARS. Daunting at this point. I rather thought I would be happy if I never explored another mine, for example.
Yet, when I began to play this latest offering, I found it very user-friendly, and less taxing than the old Harvest Moon games. Please do not misunderstand. There was a time when I loved the old games and the more challenging they were, the better. I loved to explore the Events, to see how early they could be experienced, to race down the mines, uncovering every possible item as quickly as possible.
That all has changed for me, though, and one of the reasons I am writing this review is to recommend THIS Harvest Moon game not only to the veteran player who will be charmed by the ability to play a real Harvest Moon game on his/her smartphone, but to the so-called 'casual gamer' who is not prepared to explore 65,000 floors in a mine.
Seeds of Memories has all the elements required in any traditional Harvest Moon game. You can play either as a male or as a female and engage in the time-honoured tradition of Courtship followed by marriage and the creation of a family. Indeed, you can have more than one child in this game.
There are quite a few Crops and a nice variety of Trees, as well as ALL the regular Ores and Gems for the most part that are found in any Harvest Moon mine. There are fewer varieties of Fish, but quite enough to give the player an opportunity to cook Fish Dishes.
Foraging will give you a nice variety of items as well from Bamboo Shoots to Fruits and Flowers.
It probably is not a good idea to write a review so early in the game. I have played only to the end of the first week in Spring, but I have raised many Heart Levels to Level 1, have two Chicks, a Calf and a Lamb and have explored half of the floors of the Mine. There are 100 Floors in the Mine in this game.
What is really attractive to me is the ability to save or reload anywhere. Time does not really pass in the Mine. The position of the Ladder does not change when you reload, allowing you to uncover the ladder to descend without using much energy. The items within the rock formations do change with each reload, although specific items are found on specific Floors. Most items are useful, though, so there really is no point in endless reloading of the rock formations unless you need something very specific.
Your tools can be upgraded and an upgraded Hoe will uncover an entire row of squares in the Mine. It really makes matters a great deal less exhausting.
I recommend this game to any veteran Harvest Moon player who wants a real Harvest Moon game on his/her smartphone as well as any player of games similar to Family Farm Seaside.
No, Harvest Moon Seeds of Memories is NOT a free game, but frankly, the free games like Family Farm Seaside tend to cost serious players far more in the end than the $10.00 that will give you Harvest Moon Seeds of Memories forever, without any further need to invest real money in the game. I have a group on Facebook for players of Seaside and one member confessed that she had spent over $800. on the game in the past year alone. So perhaps a final price tag of $10. is not that large of an investment! You will be given three slots that can be used for three different games or one game at different stages. You can play either a girl or a boy and the game will be entirely different obviously in terms of Courtship and Marriage depending on your gender, although there is a glitch that sometimes allows same-gender marriage!
I am working on a little guide for the game. You can find it at:
hmseedsofmemories.blogspot.com
