Developer: Bizarre Creations
Release date: june 7th 2001
Other consoles: Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows
Genre: Third person shooter, platformer
playthrough status: Completed
thoughts & feelings
I literally love this game so much. I often tell people it's the best game ever and I kind of mean that. It's a much bigger game than you would ever think and there's genuine challenge throughout. there's so many references to other media in it that i missed as a kid, but are really funny as an adult. my favorite area is dinotopolis. it's where dinosaurs live and everything is really big, but you are small. it was so much fun exploring!
Developer: Victor Interactive Software
Release date: july 5th 2001
Other consoles: N/A
Genre: Life/farm sim, roleplaying
playthrough status: Completed
thoughts & feelings
Unique story for a Harvest Moon game. I remember feeling like it was really hard to complete as a kid. as the title implies, the goal is to save the town from being turned into a theme park. you have one year to do this. there's 9 different ways to do this. i think it's obvious this game was not made by the usual harvest moon crew at the time. the whole game feels dark also, like visually and story-line wise. i felt like the female characters were a lot cuter than the other games though.
Developer: Team Silent
Release date: september 24th 2001
Other consoles: Xbox, Microsoft Windows
Genre: Survival horror
playthrough status: Completed
thoughts & feelings
I have fond memories watching my step-dad play this when I was a kid, even though it would make me have scary dreams. My boyfriend and I played it together when we first started dating. As an adult, it is still very scary! I did not know until after we played through it that it is secretly a "choices matter" game.
Developer: Punchline
Release date: february 13th 2007
Other consoles: N/A
Genre: Adventure, life sim
playthrough status: Not completed
thoughts & feelings
Really funny and quirky game. It's hard in the way a lot of older games are hard, it does not hold your hand and the unspoken rules don't always make sense at first. I need to play it more to get a better feel for the story!
Developer: Zener Works, SCEI
Release date: october 2nd 2001
Other consoles: N/A
Genre: roleplaying
Playthrough status: Completed
Thoughts & feelings
another quirky game from my childhood. i love the characters, the dark vibe throughout, the random silly monsters you fight. it is a bit of a grind in parts, but i generally enjoy that in games. close to the end of the game, there's a part where you finish one boss fight and are thrust almost immediately into another. the first time i did it, i did not save before i started a new day, died in the second boss fight, and had to start over from my last save which was before the first boss fight. i got so frustrated i had to stop playing for almost 2 weeks!
Developer: ConcernedApe
Release date: february 26th 2016
Other consoles: PC, PS4, xbox one, PS Vita, ios/andriod
Genre: farm/life sim, roleplaying
playthrough status: effectively completed
thoughts & feelings
as a farm sim enthusiast, naturally i love stardew valley. i suffer from decision paralysis though and I get a bit overwhelmed when I get to the 2-3 year mark in game. there's SO much to do in it. it has the classic charm i loved in older harvest moon games that a lot of new farming sims lack.
Developer: Nicalis
Release date: november 4th 2014
Other consoles: PC, PS5, PS4, PS Vita, New 3ds, wii u, xbox one, ios
Genre: Roguelike
playthrough status: effectively completed
thoughts & feelings
I'm not usually a fan of roguelike games but the rng in this one scratches my brain just right.
Developer: P-Studio
Release date: september 15th 2016
Other consoles: PS3, PS4, PS5, PC, xbox one
Genre: roleplaying, life sim
playthrough status: completed
thoughts & feelings
I want to replay this game and choose different choices, but I feel like I would need to take a month off work to do that. It's a very long game and well worth every moment.
Developer: Pax Softnica
Release date: april 8th 2003
Other consoles: N/A
Genre: adventure
playthrough status: Completed
thoughts & feelings
such a cute game about love. I really loved the music in this game as a kid.
Developer: Marvelous Interactive
Release date: april 18th 2003
Other consoles: N/A (remake is on other consoles)
Genre: life/farm sim, roleplaying
playthrough status: effectively completed
thoughts & feelings
this was the first harvest moon game I ever owned which inspired a lifelong love of farming sims. I particularly loved the very cute anime-styled character portraits.
Developer: Marvelous Interactive
Release date: september 12th 2003
Other consoles: Playstation store
Genre: life/farm sim, roleplaying
playthrough status: effectively completed
thoughts & feelings
this is my favorite harvest moon game. it's the most realistic. all the characters, including yourself, age over the years. your cattle need to have babies in order to continue producing milk. your child may not want to take over the farm depending on how you raise him. it's a true gem. the characters are all unique and quirky. i find them very fun to get to know and befriend. the marriage candidates are unique and influence how your child looks and his future interests.
Developer: Genius Sonority
Release date: october 3rd 2005
Other consoles: N/A
Genre: Roleplaying
playthrough status: Not completed
thoughts & feelings
I need to revisit this game as an adult. The premise is a lot of fun, but I remember getting stuck and not knowing what to do as a kid. Probably something dumb that a walkthrough would've helped with.