How is it? Good? Okay? So-so? Options

[Oscar]

Okay, so I was looking forward to this game right when I heard about it, but now I just don't even want it. I wasn't even able to get my kid to grow up fully in ToT. What I'm trying to say is that I guess the games have become less interesting or more boring...


I don't know exactly if this game is an improvement over ToT, but I would love to hear from you guys that own AP. Is there more to do in AP? When exactly did you start getting tired of playing? Is the actual story-thing better than ToT's? What else can you tell me that I should know about this game?

Thanks!

[Mizukithepanda]

Well, seeing as I found ToT so uninteresting that I never even looked at it twice, I'd say that Animal Parade is quite an improvement. The characters are still lame - if you didn't like them in ToT, you won't like them in AP - and the still camera is annoying as waffle, but the actual gameplay is rather fun. The map is a lot larger and it takes longer to get from place to place, making you have to plan out what you do in a day or risk not being able to do it. The storyline's quite a bit better in my opinion as well. The quest for the bells is fun and not too difficult (while not being overly easy either) and trying to get everything together to bring back the circus animals is fun too. I'd honestly recommend it - it's far better than I thought it would be.

If you're really that worried about it being boring or you not being able to get anywhere with it, you might want to see if you can rent it from somewhere first. I wouldn't shell out the fifty bucks if I was uncertain, but it's definitely worth renting at the very least.

[Marley]

Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to rent. I would know.

The story is better than the straight fetch-quests in ToT. I mean, it's still kind of an excuse plot, but it's much more engaging than the plot of ToT. As for the point in the game at which I got bored, in the Japanese version, I didn't slow down until I was married to Vivi with two kids. I was going for all the wishes, still...
I haven't got that far in the American version, because I've only had it for a few days, but it's still buckets of fun.

On the other hand, I enjoyed ToT. But AP is so much more immersive and in my opinion, more interesting.

[Oscar]

Mizuki and Marley: Thanks guys! Hmm, it's good that you guys both feel that it's better than ToT. But why is it not a good idea to rent it Marley?

[Mizukithepanda]

Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to rent. I would know.

She's not saying it's a bad idea, just that it's very, very difficult to find a copy for rent. Which is unfortunate. Though, I remember older HM games being hard to rent too, back in the day when renting games was a lot more popular...

[Oscar]

Oh, okay! You're right, a HM game would be hard to rent. Maybe I'll just go watch a lot of YouTube videos about it.

Are there any island tour videos?

[Zen Clarke]

I think there's one or two. It was too big for Nurse Fin to do this time around. That, and I don't think she really felt like doing it. Wow. I forgot about how excited about EAM I was. Reading this has made me antsy for Christmas so I can get it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif) Anyway, about the videos....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwQFu3tEe8o ~ This is Nurse's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8tWNMDdkNE ~ This one's not great.

That's about all I can find. You could watch other videos, though, of characters talking....

[Marley]

Yeeeeah. I'm renting from GameFly, and it took them a month to finally get it to me. D< They pushed back the release date like, five times or something... just when Natsume had only pulled two pushbacks, I've gotta put up with a flurry of them anyway! And then it took forever to ship...

We rented Harvest Moon 64 (then promptly bought it because it was made of awesome), and Magical Melody and Another Wonderful Life. And I saw ToT at Blockbuster once, but I already had it...
It's a bit new, though, and not a big enough game for people to start renting on the release date. Shame, shame.

[Oscar]

Thanks, Zen!

Okay, so after you beat the storyline, is there a lot left to do(besides marrige, kids and raising friendship levels)?

[Marley]

Well, keep on plugging for 100% Completion: there are a bunch of trophies that you get for achievements in Farming (shipping one of every crop), Ranching (having one of every animal at some point), Mining (shipping one of every mining product), and, uh, some others, but I don't know what they are. They also make pretty house decorations!
>> Honestly, there isn't much you have to do, but there's a bunch of stuff to keep you occupied.

[Oscar]

And is the way you farm here changed from ToT? Oh and is the way you take care of animals also changed?

[Zen Clarke]

I know it doesn't make that annoying, "There, there," noise anymore. And petting animals is a lot faster. And the tools upgrade the opposite of ToT. Now, when you get a higher level, it just takes less energy. When you get a gold tool, you can do more, like, water more squares. It makes more sense, but ugh, this is gonna annoy me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif)

[Oscar]

Oh okay, I hated the long petting sequences. -_-

[Zen Clarke]

Dude! I got this game today for Christmas! It's so much fun! Seriously. :D And the layout of the place is actually similar to ToT. Or at least, it seems that way to me. The town part is a little different, but it's actually the same basic concept. Your house is like where it'd be if it were on the hill plot, and up behind your house is the path to the mine district, just like in ToT. The carpenter's comes first, and then the blacksmith's. I've had a cow for six days and it already has one heart! So if I keep this up, I should be able to ride my moo moo around early summer. :D It's really fun, Oscar. You should get it.

[Chase What Matte...]

I think AP is quite a bit better then TOT...