Harvest Moon 64

Many people know me as a big Animal Crossing fan. But before I got hooked on Animal Crossing, I was addicted to another simulation game: Harvest Moon 64.Harvest Moon 64 title screen.With a new Harvest Moon game (Seeds of Memories) coming this year to Wii U, I decided this would be a good time to revisit my old Harvest Moon 64 game save that I haven’t played in years. In my main file, which was in spring of the sixth year, I was married to Karen and had a son.

Since it had been so long since I’ve played, I’ve forgotten how to do everything I was supposed to do. But I took a quick tour of my house, including a stop to use the bathroom–I’ve been holding it in for years, after all!

I checked in on my chickens, my sheep, and my cows to feed them all. I went in my greenhouse to ship some corn that was ready, and I watered my few remaining crops. By this point in the game, I had already bought everything I needed so I didn’t need the money.

I then went into town to speak with the people, including Ellie’s grandmother who is thankfully still alive. (I think in a secondary save file, she ended up dying). In the cafe, I bought some cake…and ate it too.

Eating cake in the bakery (HM64).Once I was done in town, I went over to the vineyard. I tried to steal some wine like I used to, but I must have been doing something wrong, so my bottle remained empty.

In the mountain area, I saw a cut scene where Maria helped get a grasshopper off of Karen (who was freaking out). Those are the nice touches that give Harvest Moon 64 its charm. It’s easy to see how I was once so addicted to this game.

Karen: Quick! Quick! Get it off!As I began to go up the mountain, night fell and the screen got dark. Very dark. I suppose it was just my TV settings that made it nearly impossible to see anything at all, but I struggled just to find my way back home! The short length of days was always my biggest complaint about the game. There isn’t enough time in the day to even see the whole village.

Still, I wanted to take a walk on the beach, so I headed in that direction as the next day started up. After enjoying the ocean atmosphere, I finished up my game at the town square, where the sowing festival was being held. Kai selected me to go into the hot air balloon with him, so we went up, up, and away. The day concluded immediately after–I guess I should have fed my animals first. Oh well, I didn’t save my game so they’re still fine.

Here is a video of my adventure:

Like I mentioned above, Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories is coming out on Wii U at some point this year. Once it does, I will be blogging regularly about my adventures in the game. So please bookmark http://www.jvgs.net/hmsom/ if you’re interested in following along.

As you may know, the original developers of the older Harvest Moon games are no longer associated with new Harvest Moon games and have gone on to make Story of Seasons. But that game is only on 3DS so far, and I prefer home consoles over portables. If they made Story of Seasons for Wii U, I would gladly buy that as well. But for now, I’m looking forward to giving Seeds of Memories a shot as soon as it’s released.

Splatoon – 50 Surprise Attacks Vol. 2

It’s time for a new Splatoon compilation video! My first 50 Surprise Attacks video is one of my most popular Youtube videos lately, and at last, the sequel is here with 50 brand new clips! Here it is:

I play Splatoon often, and I’m almost always recording footage. I make notes as I play so that I can go back later and save specific clips that I use for various video compilations. I was more picky this time, so I think this one turned out even better than the first one.

I want to say thank you to all who have subscribed to my Youtube channel. I just hit 10,000 subscribers today!

If you haven’t seen the first 50 Surprise Attacks video, here it is:

Xenoblade Chronicles X

I’ve been playing Xenoblade Chronicles X lately, and I’m currently about five hours into it. It’s a role-playing game with a huge world to explore. You play as a Xenoblade Chronicles X title screen.character that has no memory of his identity or past. But you quickly find out that you’re a human that crash-landed on planet Mira (along with a city full of others) after escaping from Earth shortly before it was destroyed.

The planet is full of native creatures known as indigens. Some of them are harmless, but others pose a significant threat to the humans’ base. But as you’ll soon find out, they aren’t the only things you have to worry about.

A large indigen in Xenoblade Chronicles X.I haven’t played the first Xenoblade Chronicles, so I’m not familiar with the combat, menus, etc. So the complexity seems a bit overwhelming at first (as is often the case with RPGs). It takes time to learn the combat system, how to properly equip your characters, and so on. I’m starting to get the hang of the basics, but I clearly have much more to learn. I really wish the game had some tutorials to help explain these things.

The graphics are amazing (definitely the best I’ve seen on Wii U so far) and they really make you feel like you’re exploring this huge world. If you see something in the distance, you can go there. Well, maybe not the moon.

Nighttime on Mira. (Xenoblade Chronicles X)The graphics aren’t perfect, though. There is a fair amount of pop-in, where background items seemingly pop up out of nowhere. And some of the text in the game is a bit too small–but that may not be a problem if you’re playing a large TV.

The game gives you a lot of freedom to do what you want. Once you become a member of BLADE, you can choose which division to join. Each division deals in different types of tasks/missions. I chose to be a pathfinder, which means my primary duties involve heading to unexplored areas and installing data probes. But you can still perform other duties as well, and you’re free to go off exploring when you want.

As I was finishing up Chapter 3, my team encountered this creature named Tatsu hiding among some other vegetables. We invited him to come along with us, and initially, he seems to be added just for comic relief. Characters refer to him as a potato or a turnip, and they repeatedly threaten to put him in a salad. For some reason, he reminds me of Cait Sith in Final Fantasy VII. I find it hard to bake take him seriously; I don’t think I trust him.

Tatsu in Xenoblade Chronicles XAs I returned to base, the game started telling me about squads and online play. But I’m going to focus on the main one-player mode for the time being. I am enjoying the game so far, but I’m not addicted…at least not yet. For me, RPGs pretty much always take a while before they really draw me in. But so far, so good.

Looking to buy Xenoblade Chronicles X?