All About the Fashion

Animal Parade takes character customization to an entirely new level, introducing not only many new outfits and accessories for your character, but for your children as well!  Sonata Tailoring alone offers three different levels (two upgrades) with a total of 12 different outfits (per gender) and 40 accessories and hats.  Shelly also sells many rare (and highly priced!) outfits and items at her booth at the New Years festival, so save up for that!

The hundreds of combinations give you the ability to customize a unique look for your character for each day of the season! There are styles for everyone as well!  While "Western" and "Sporty" might tailor to a more casual dresser, "Chic" and "Formal Dress" have an elegant and classy design for a more formal affair.

But perhaps the most exciting aspect of the new in-depth customization is the idea of dressing your children!  While you can't do this until they are at the final growth stage (young tikes!), it offers still dozens of outfits, accessories, and ultimately personalities for your kids.  Many of the designs and pieces for your children are smaller, cuter versions of the outfits and accessories available to you!  This puts a fun spin on family portraits.

You can also obtain true accessories at Mira's Accessory Shop.  Using silver/gold and a refined gem (optional) you can create one of many unique rings, brooches and necklaces (among other options).  Another unique feature is the ability to purchase the accessory as either a gift for yourself OR for somebody else.  Now you can give your spouse or friend a more thoughtful, refined present.

A list of all the Sonata Tailoring and Accessory Shop inventories can be found in my Harvest Moon: Animal Parade Game Guide, coming soon.

Quick Update!

Thought I'd let you all know I'm currently working on my HM:AP Walkthrough! My plan is to follow up with Sunshine Islands and then track back to the earlier games, but I'll see how this goes.  It's definitely a very trying process.  My fingers have to take a break every hour or I'm sure they'd fall off.

Needless to say, I'm very excited! I plan on submitting it to various sites and see if I getting any bites, but until then, it's strictly "in the works".  I'll have to update, but at the moment I'm working on a section titled "Weather".  Yes, very exciting I'm sure.   I might end up adding the walkthrough(s) here as well, but as I said, we'll see how things go.

Until then, keep on farming!

The ToT/AP Debate

The eagerly anticipated arrival of Harvest Moon: Animal Parade brought mixed emotions to the HM gamers.  Some, like myself, wasted no time in pre-ordering a copy and memorizing the strategy guides and walkthroughs released even before the games.  Others, however, wore a skeptical face, causing even the most religious gamers to question the purchase.  They questioned the play-ability of this game.  Some challenged the "uniqueness" of the features, complaining of the recycled NPCs.  Others simply rolled their eyes, stating they didn't need an upgraded version of HM:ToT.

How wrong they were!  A common misconception, HM:AP is not a better HM:ToT, but an entirely new sequel of sorts.  In no way is it comparable to WiiFit Plus (the undoubtedly better but practically identical follow-up to WiiFit).  Seeing as it not only introduces a new town and story line, but new character design as well, not much is left the same.  In fact, you can have a completely different life in HM:AP than in HM:ToT, as there are so many differences.

The first is farming.  Many gamers complained of the setup of HM:ToT's farming system.  After all, they completely erased the idea of 3x3 sowing by having seeds planted in a 1x6 format.  Many gamers were disappointed to find their seed packs wasted and their time as well.  This issue, however, was resolved this time around as HM:AP brings back the original 3x3 planting.  On top of that, you can now walk on top of your crops (just as in ToT), getting you more bang for your buck as you can water all nine squares as they grow.  Even the watering system (and all other tool upgrades) was changed. More on that later.

The game's beginning has changed as well.  Some say for the better, while others disagree.   You start out hitching a ride on a hay wagon that Cain is driving.  You choose your name, favorite food and birthday (just as with Pascal in ToT).  He drops you off at your new home (beat-up and small) and you see Hamilton run up and introduce himself.  This is where the similarities to ToT stop. Now, the positives and negatives are introduced:

1. Your house.  You may have noticed that you didn't get the opportunity to select the location of your house.  This is because every gamer is stuck in the same run-down hut in the middle of your farm.  Luckily, it's in a pretty central location right in the middle of the island.  This makes traveling a breeze, and considering the island feels bigger and more spread out, you'll be grateful. However you will hear from Hamilton you'll have to pay a 5000G mortgage for your house.  Hurrah.

2.  As a trade off for not being able to choose your own house, you've been rewarded with a pre-built barn and coop, along with crops already growing in the field out front!  This makes it a breeze to start off on the right foot with a built-in starter income, which you'll greatly appreciate.  A lot of other freebies are found at the beginning of the game, including free seeds, a brush, camera, tools, and what's this? You get a free calf as well? Talk to Cain in the barn at Horn Ranch and you get the choice of a brown, black, or spotted calf you can raise in your barn.  This is one of the great opportunities to earn money at the beginning of the year, as you can milk and ride the cow when it's full grown.

3.  The beginning also introduces a more challenging task, and that's earning money.  What may seem like a free ride can soon turn challenging, and without the right tactics and hard work, it can be overwhelming.  And trust me in my saying that the saying "You have to spend money to make money," won't be a welcome thing to hear when you're starting out.  Nearly every cent you make with the "freebies" you're given at the start are sent to the purchase of necessities such as seeds and makers.  If you're smart, you won't go spending your minimal gold willy-nilly, but most of the time, you won't even have enough to do so.  The biggest problem with this is that every necessity seems more expensive and money harder to obtain.  Fishing is more challenging, getting you pointless pond smelts the majority of the time.  And with seeds sold per square instead of six, it often feels like you're forking over more money than you should be for the basics.

And those being only a few of the controversies at the beginning, it's easy to see why people would shy away from the game.  Especially if you're trying to shift from ToT to AP (even the controls have been altered!).  Luckily it has it's ups as well.  This isn't even skimming the surface to cover all the differences, many of which are only happier occurrences.   You can now have two kids, a wider range of pets, more bachelors/bachelorettes,  vacation homes, and entirely new story to enjoy.

 To me, there's no debate: HM:AP takes the victory this time.

It's Kind of Revolutionary

What started as a game that nobody thought would catch on became a phenomenon that is followed by fans across the world.  The Harvest Moon franchise has hooked thousands of casual gamers like myself with it's captivating style and surprisingly entertaining gameplay.

As a game that at a glance is just about doing chores, Harvest Moon often doesn't get the credit it truly deserves.  Luckily, fans all over will tell you that it's so much more.  Not only is Harvest Moon a farming simulation, but it's a life one as well.  Many players enjoy the courting aspect in which you court and marry an eligible bachelor/bachelorette.  In other cases it's the goal to get the highest ranked crop or win the Animal Festival.  With such an in depth world and so much to explore, the possibilities really are endless.

And whether you're a newcomer or a veteran, you know better than to question HM's power.  The truly addicting style has drawn countless gamers in and hasn't released us yet.  With each addition to the series, more options and excitements are added on.  No game is alike, though they flow seamlessly from one title to the next.

In some ways, I guess it's kind of revolutionary...