The town is populated with a small host of characters for you to interact with and befriend, and depending on how nice you are, they might even give you stuff once in a while. The social life of Forget-Me-Not Valley, while varied, isn't exactly bumpin' for a hot young thing like yourself. The club scene is really quite dismal, and the most romantic guy is probably Sebastian, a 70-year-old butler. But lucky you, there are a few other eligible, slightly more age-appropriate bachelors to court during your first year, and you get to marry and even have a kid with one of them.

   I do want to point out, though, that the developers seem to have skimped out on the bachelor choices, and for no obvious reason. Apparently other games have featured five choices for a spouse, whereas this one only has three. And to be honest, none of these guys is really a huge catch. I know they're only polygonal models, but if I'm going to get hitched, even virtually, I want the guy to be hot. Whereas our only choices here are Rock, the pretty blond whose name matches his intelligence level, Marlin, a hard-working fella with the longest chin I have ever seen, and Gustafa, who constantly plays his guitar and, were the game slightly more adult-themed, would always be asking you if it was 4:20 yet.

   Yes. I'm speaking of herb.

   That aside, once you do make friends and boyfriends out of the people around you, you can trigger cut scenes that are a little more involved than your usual walk-up-and-say-hi. Your choice of what to say during these scenes determines the other character's opinion of you, so you can turn one guy off and capture another guy's heart as long as you exercise those social skills I just know you have. These scenes are the only real insights you get into other characters' personalities, and aside from the development of your farm, are the only plot arcs that the game has. They don't come as often as I'd like, but they're usually well-written and on the amusing side, so they accomplish their purpose.

   But if you're really bored with the people in the town, don't worry, because you'll have the chance to add your own little spice -- that is, you and your husband will have a child. And you'll be responsible for bringing him up, influencing what he likes and what he'll do when he gets older. The child that is, not the husband. And you thought the cows were difficult.

Security Video Cameras and Surveillance Cameras can help to protect people’s businesses and homes. When looking to purchase a Surveillance Camera System, check out this security products website today.

It's the little things that count

   The world you get to explore seems a little small to me, though it's standard size for Harvest Moon games. Like I mentioned, your farm is practically a quarter of the town, so as you can imagine there's not overly much else. But what's out there is pretty. There's a waterfall, tons of flowers, an ocean, and various dwellings, all with fairly good textures and pretty colors. And while the scope might be a little small, the game doesn't skimp on details. With every season comes a change, from the plants to the characters' moods (watch out for that Nami, she's even more moody than usual in the summer. No, seriously).

   Because of these details you'll have to pay close attention to your farm. Animals might get sick, crops might dry out in the sun, your dog might let a burglar into your freezer if he's not very well-trained. And if you're a newcomer to the series, you will definitely make some mistakes. This was a little frustrating for a perfectionist like me; I'm one of those people who tries to get every treasure chest, so I wanted my cows in top-notch shape from the first day. But I had no idea, for example, that you had to put fertilizer in the pasture to get the grass to grow. I know, perhaps if I'd utilized my common sense, I would've avoided the dreaded C-rated milk (tastes about as good as it sounds, judging by the look on my character's face when I made her drink it), but I didn't.

   In other words, while the game gives you some direction as to what you should be doing to have a successful farm, the only real way to learn is by doing. You're not entirely alone: your semi-mentor Takakura leaves you a notebook that you can read for instructions, and the occasional TV show will give you advice as well. There are also several tips provided in the gamer's manual that only made sense to me after I'd already figured them out. And it's also a possibility that I'm just particularly slow and the game has no learning curve whatsoever, so I'm sure you'll be fine.

I've got S rank milk, now what?

   Once you've got things figured out, the game settles into a routine that, despite its similarity to my boring real life routine, is surprisingly comforting. So far, at least. I have yet to get sick of the game, but I also don't doubt that I will. Overall the name of this game (besides its actual name, I mean) is "repetitive," and that has its appeal for a certain amount of time and absolutely no longer. That will be different time frames for different people, but if you've ever tried a role-playing game like The Sims and hated it, definitely stay the hell away from this.

   This installment of the series is not revolutionary, but it's a solid addition. As a female in real life, I appreciated the chance to get to play one in the Harvest Moon series. The other characters in the game are well-done, though I'm sure I'll get sick of them in a few more "years," since once again, there's only a limited pool to interact with. In the end, I think a little more choice could've helped add more dimension. For example, I would've liked the option of choosing what my character looked like, though I do at least get to change her clothes if I want to. And really, would it have killed them to include a few more hot guys for bachelors? But Another Wonderful Life, despite its lack of choices, is still a well-done game that will pleasantly occupy your time. At least for a while.

       ... Ellix