Like most anyone that even knows about this game, I am a Harvest Moon fan.  I've put many hours into playing HM: Friends of Mineral Town for GBA and HM: Back to Nature for PSOne, and they have been great experiences.  This game will have a good first impression (the reason for all of the good reviews); but it's extended-play and replay value are very poor.
This game put me to sleep on several occasions (I'm in Chapter 4 of 6); I'm trying so hard to end this game (that's my motivation to play it right now).  It is so repetitive.  All the common tasks, such as watering crops and making cheese/butter, are done pretty slowly.  For example, watering crops take about 4-5 seconds EACH crop seed (no special can that waters more than one at a time like other HMs and still no sprinkler system).  This doesn't seem that long unless you factor in the number of crops (average of 30) and it must be done twice per game day.  I've stopped farming and took up sleeping as an occupation so that time will fly.
The most annoying thing about this game is the events.  First of all, there are no special festivals such as animal contests and birthdays.  There are only three boring festivals where you just watch.  Festivals are what made the other HM games so special.  Moreover, the game description will brag about having over 100 trigger events, but most of them are just basically boring repeats.  Additionally, most of the events are so corny, maybe a 5-year old may find it funny.
There are many other flaws, but the ones mentioned above are "enough said" ones.
On the positive side, this game does have some cool features:
-The graphics are nice to view.
-The entire outdoors is preloaded into memory, so you don't have to wait for different sections to load.
-Characters, including yours, now age.
-You can ride your horse all over town.
-Gift-giving requirements to make friends are reduced significantly.
-and other minor ones.
If you buy this game, make sure that you have a lot of energy before each play.
Like most anyone that even knows about this game, I am a Harvest Moon fan. I've put many hours into playing HM: Friends of Mineral Town for GBA and HM: Back to Nature for PSOne, and they have been great experiences. This game will have a good first impression (the reason for all of the good reviews); but it's extended-play and replay value are very poor. This game put me to sleep on several occasions (I'm in Chapter 4 of 6); I'm trying so hard to end this game (that's my motivation to play it right now). It is so repetitive. All the common tasks, such as watering crops and making cheese/butter, are done pretty slowly. For example, watering crops take about 4-5 seconds EACH crop seed (no special can that waters more than one at a time like other HMs and still no sprinkler system). This doesn't seem that long unless you factor in the number of crops (average of 30) and it must be done twice per game day. I've stopped farming and took up sleeping as an occupation so that time will fly. The most annoying thing about this game is the events. First of all, there are no special festivals such as animal contests and birthdays. There are only three boring festivals where you just watch. Festivals are what made the other HM games so special. Moreover, the game description will brag about having over 100 trigger events, but most of them are just basically boring repeats. Additionally, most of the events are so corny, maybe a 5-year old may find it funny. There are many other flaws, but the ones mentioned above are "enough said" ones. On the positive side, this game does have some cool features:
-The graphics are nice to view. -The entire outdoors is preloaded into memory, so you don't have to wait for different sections to load. -Characters, including yours, now age. -You can ride your horse all over town. -Gift-giving requirements to make friends are reduced significantly. -and other minor ones. If you buy this game, make sure that you have a lot of energy before each play.