Harvest Moon Land of Beginning, Information Options

[Big Daisy May]

Oooh, I'm really looking forward to this one! I liked Twin Towns, but it's becoming boring. I never finished Hero of Leaf Valley because I seem to have gotten stuck somewhere and nothing is progressing, but this looks like it'll be a lot more fun than either! :D

Gotta wait until May to get a 3DS, though.
Still, it's not that far off. :)

[Pumpkin Patch]

This game looks amazing. But aaaaah I must shield my eyes. I have decided to spoil as little as possible. Looking in this topic isn't helping but uhh yeah I'm gonna go now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif) .

[Daniella]

I tried to avoid looking up stuff about the game, but doggies can get fat if you don't play with them, and when you get married apparently you can tell your fiance/spouse(?) what to wear for the wedding from about three choices.

So far I've still not picked one person I'm going after, which is nice really. :d

[BunnyChan360]

I return bearing gifts! (of information) Sorry that it's been too long since I last logged in! I've been lurking on here and now Ushi no Tane for info though. While lurking, I found that Nurse Fin had posted a list of outfits and thought we could use the info too. Here's the list!

Available from the beginning:
Farm Boy Wear * default overalls outfit
Farm Girl Wear * default overalls outfit
Red Checkered Jacket *the.. alternate default outfit
Working Apron Wear * alternate default outfit
Working Wear
Working Mini-Shorts

Blue Hoodie
Apron Skirt
Red Pants Farmer
Red Pants Worker * allen comment
Green Checkered Jacket
Gardening Wear
Orange Working Wear
Cool Worker Wear * neil comment
Purple Hoodie
Blue Apron Skirt
Simple Sailor
Sailor Scarf
Ethnic Scarf
Nadeshiko Style (best translate as 'ladylike style'?)
Wild Farmer
Nordic Style (vikings?!)
Kung Fu Farmer
Working China
Checkered Vest
Nordic Dress
Lavender Coat
Spring Green Raincoat
Lime Green Coat
Casual Jacket
Pink Checkered Vest
Evergreen Dress
Mint Green Coat
Mustard Yellow Coat
Aqua Coat
Red Checkered skirt
BKJ21 Vest Blue
BKJ21 Skirt Blue
Wild Rocker
Gorgeous Coat
Lord Style
Princess Style
Down Vest Wear
Casual Mini-shorts * Rod comment
Pink Sweater
Mini Vest Wear
Mod Poncho
High Neck Jacket
Blue Down Vest
Purple Mini-shorts
Yellow Sweater
Cool Vest Wear
White Poncho
Yellow Turtleneck
Funky Jeans
Casual Rock
Funny Style
Orange Overalls
Stripey Poncho
Cool Skirt Wear
Doctor Wear
Black Doctor Wear * neil comment
Chef Wear
Green Chef Wear
Blue Ninja
White Ninja
Red Ninja
Yellow Ninja
Green Ninja
Ruby Red China * neil hilarious comment lol
Sapphire China
Cowboy Style
Maid Uniform
Pink Maid Uniform
Cat Kigurumi
Dog Kigurumi
BKJ21 Vest Red
BKJ21 Skirt Red
Dandelion Jacket
Lime Jacket
Cream Sweater
Casual Salopettes
Black/purple Stripe Poncho
Natural Style (sounds like a birthday suit haha)
Blue Maid Uniform
Butler Uniform
Red Butler Uniform
Blue Butler Uniform
Panda Kigurumi

BTW here's Neil's "hilarious comment" translated by Nurse Fin:

Spoiler:
"Woah, what's with that getup!? Your legs are practically bare!
...huh? 'It isn't cute?'?
No, that's not what I...... well... it's incredibly cute. And I think that color looks good on you..."

... I'm sensing a rise in Neil fangirls...


Also, there was a thread on the cons which included:

No rival couples/ marriages (most common complaint by far)
Small fields
crops are too large (lol whut?)
Mukumuku isn't interactable.
2 save slots
The Witch Princess is a bachelorette again (I see what they're saying, but I do like the new hair)
Starts out slow
Trees are the new weeds
supplying hard to find materials for outfits
Cutscenes when shops open and pets go out to help (think Van's shop in AWL)
low stamina

Pros (so far)

Choosing spouse's wedding outfit (3 choices)
Crossdressing
variety of clothes to choose from
A shiek ton of customization
Crossdressing
Character CGs (feels more like a dating sim now)
Improved Dating/ Social system
Net Fishing
Cute Bachelorettes (I might even have a boy file)
Crossdressing.

That's all I have so far. If I find anything more, I'll let everyone know! Ciao.

[Baby]

Crossdressing listed three times?! Now you've got my attention ;)

[BunnyChan360]

Crossdressing listed three times?! Now you've got my attention ;)

Well, I usually don't play as guys unless I have to. In most games, like Disgaea or Soul Caliber, the female characters are usually better, more fun, and overall visually appealing. (That's kind of true irl lol) I love designing characters in Soul Caliber for my brother, but the male options are just plain blegh. (Good thing he doesn't mind crossplaying) I'm glad they have the crossdressing option.

The crossdressing is benificial both ways, too. Sometimes you want a more bifauxen tomboy character. Now we have that option.

Let us embrace customization!

[Noviwan]

Oh god I sold soul calibur 5 for that very reason being that you had to buy a lot of the cool guy stuff like a month after the game came out.

I don't mind playing chicks but if its a choice I would play a dood and less I really can't see myself relating to the male avatar

[Big Daisy May]

I finally JUST got the game and love it so far! :D
My favorite part is how you can safe and not be forced to pick up again from the following morning.
I like to play before bedtime and often start to drift off, so it's great to be able to just save and pick up again where I left it.
I'm sorry I don't have more to say about it, I've literally only had it 2 days, and can't spend all day long playing it, so I'm still just starting off, but I sure love what I see!

Reminds me a lot of Tree of Tranquility so far. No lonnnnng loading times every time you do anything.
Music so far is unremarkable, but I never usually like the Summer music anyway, for whatever reason.
We'll see how Fall and Spring pick up. :)

[Noviwan]

I finally JUST got the game and love it so far! :D
My favorite part is how you can safe and not be forced to pick up again from the following morning.
I like to play before bedtime and often start to drift off, so it's great to be able to just save and pick up again where I left it.
I'm sorry I don't have more to say about it, I've literally only had it 2 days, and can't spend all day long playing it, so I'm still just starting off, but I sure love what I see!

Reminds me a lot of Tree of Tranquility so far. No lonnnnng loading times every time you do anything.
Music so far is unremarkable, but I never usually like the Summer music anyway, for whatever reason.
We'll see how Fall and Spring pick up. :)

we can't wait to hear more from you please keep it coming

[Big Daisy May]

we can't wait to hear more from you please keep it coming

Ok! I do notice some things that I really find make this HM installment super convenient and so far my favorite amongst the handhelds. :)

To start with, I made a mistake when I said it starts in Summer - of course it starts in Springtime! Sorry about that.

Ease in picking up and pocketing items - You do it all in one fell swoop! Just A button it, and you pick up the item and stick it in your rucksack in the same movement! Excellent!!!

Catching flying things is SIMPLE now - Remember what a PITA it was to have to jump to catch those pesky dragonflies and things in Futago no Mura? This is a thing of the past now! You just get close to it, A button and it boxes it up and stores it for you in one go! Makes collecting things so much more fun!

Now for a few personal things I like best about this game (though others may definitely disagree), I love that the theme of this one seems to be that you're starting from scratch. In the beginning, it's just you, an old guy who shows you the ropes, a kindly old lady for a shop keeper and a friendly neighbor lady. VERY simple. I prefer it personally just because when there's an onslaught of new characters, I feel I have a much harder time getting to know them. In Futago no Mura, I found myself getting so overwhelmed with having to go around visiting all of my new neighbors as well as the neighbors in the next town, they all started to get blurry for me, and I got stressed about losing important opportunities to advance myself in the game, rather than being able to relax and enjoy it.

I read where someone mentioned that the first year is a bit slow, but the pace for me is just fine because doing things like hunting for elements has been especially enjoyable. This is where I am enjoying the aspect of the layout that reminds me of Tree of Tranquility somewhat. When you wander back into the land of foraging for goodies, it's lush and beautiful, and there is, I feel, a lot more opportunity to find things other than rocks, grass clumps and logs.
Either way, it wasn't too long before two new characters came in! I'm still only in Spring, and a cute sourpuss called (at least in Japanese) Niel turns up and gives you your first cow, then opens up his market to sell you animals and animal goods. After that, the...what looks like she might turn out to be a wandering blacksmith of some sort shows up and takes residence in an empty house. I think her name is Iroha. By this time, you'll have earned enough money by trading away goodies and selling your first batch of crops to buy plenty of items from the store, too, so, so far I'm still having fun with it and have plenty to do. :)

Oh! Another thing I love is that, instead of having to hack down your pasture to get feed for the livestock, you can just buy some cheap grass seed and grow it in the small garden patch. This layout really reminds me a lot of ToT, because there's a little section you can plant in right outside the barn. I don't know, I guess it can seem silly to spend money on grass seed when you could get it free before, but the plantings seem to regenerate for a long time, and the bales in general last awhile, too. Easy to stock up!

There are lots of pathways blocked by rocks, so I'm guessing that they mean business when they say "DAICHI." I'm not sure why it was translated simply to "land" (Land of Origin, or Land of Beginning, as I've seen), since the 大 in it indicates BIG. I would think if they made a direct translation out of this game's name, they might want to give it more of a nuance of a vast, sweeping land of plenty. I'm really looking forward to when these areas are unblocked to see just how much more of this greatland we'll be able to see!

Oh yeah, and the Harvest Goddess hasn't shown up yet, but someone keeps annoying me in my sleep, speaking in a condescending baby talk style, so I'm guessing it must be her. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif) I'm guessing she'll make her first appearance soon.

I think the customization of the characters is a lot of fun. Various hair colors and styles, at least for the girl, though only two outfit choices. Not sure when we'll be able to get more creative with clothing, and I'm kind of gritting my teeth and hoping it won't involve the ordeal growing hemp, cotton and collecting the finest quality wool to have clothing made...I guess we'll find out soon!

That's all I've got for now. It's only my personal perspective, and I'm sure many of you will find your own things to love or hate about this game, but for me, so far, it's the easiest to pick up and play, and the easiest to sit back and enjoy. I especially love that the soothing rain sounds, and the sound of evening owls and other ambient night noise is back!

[Noviwan]

I await the US release also saving for a 3ds now

[BunnyChan360]

@Daisy Yessss! No more trouble with those stupid dragonflies and blue butterflies!!! I hate wasting so much time just to catch one dragonfly only to find out it's one that's not worth as much.

As for the characters, yes the guy who gives you the cow is Neil and the blacksmith is indeed called Iroha. (Fun Fact: "Iroha" is a famous Japanese poem that is a perfect pangram. That means it uses every character of the Japanese syllabry exactly once. The word "iroha" itself can also be used to mean "the basics" in Japanese terms, comparable to the English term, "the ABCs".)

I hope the game continues to be fun!

[Accidentally The...]

I'll still wait and see on a 3DS (at least till it drops more in price and there are more than 3 games I want for it), but I think this'll make my to-buy list once it hits the states. Sounds like there's a LOT to do, the characters (I've heard) have more depth and interaction similar to the older games (I felt that this was missing from MM and onward), and faux-same-dinosaurs in the room courtship.

Thing is, I greatly prefer the console installments, but maybe this will actually change my mind about the handheld titles. Even if I'm still not entirely thrilled with the character designs. (I still prefer those to be a bit simpler, like the Mineral Town crew.)

[Big Daisy May]

I hope the game continues to be fun!

It's TOTALLY fun! I've never been so busy with a Harvest Moon game in my life! Not only can you have your little garden patches for the usual crops, but you can get yourself a massive gardening space, the size of a huge square (I don't have room for it yet because I don't have the axe strong enough to chop down the pine trees in the way on my property yet), AND a rice paddy space where you can grow things like lotus root in water!! WOW! There's also a new way of fishing where you lay out what looks like a rattan box in the water and just wait for things to get caught in it. You find shiny coins that will get you plenty of money pretty often, and there are at least 3 places to stick them early on in the game. I'm still only in the Summer season of the first year, and all of this has happened! :D Fishing, in my opinion, is more fun, too. You can't see the fish in the water anymore, so you just throw your line out there and wait for something to tug on it. It's pretty forgiving in letting you catch more often than you let them get away, and I'm really satisfied with it so far!

Getting a lot of money is pretty easy in this game. I did buy the complete guide book, so I'm trying to figure out how they've tweaked the rules in this version in as much detail as possible.

One more thing that is pretty interesting is that you not only get to customize your property, but you get to beautify the town, too! Old Man Dunhill makes the suggestion to make and put down benches around the town at one point, and if you do it, eventually the harvest goddess comes along and pats you on the rear for it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif) Kind of a fun little thing.

Then there's the whole pounding musical tree stumps with your hammer business. I still haven't quite figured that one out yet, but at certain points in the game, it looks as though you get a melody to play, and if you do it, certain parts of the forest map open up for you to do some more exploring! So far I've had it happen once, and was pretty happy with the outcome!

There is one thing that sticks out in my mind that kind of annoys me in this game. You can get a hand bell to call the animals in this game, but...it's not quite the same, and I don't like how it works. All the bell does is attract the cows to you if you're relatively close to them. It earns you love from the cows, but in the end, you still have to heave their heavy butts into or out of the barn. They're very very slowwwww, and you can't help but end up in the barn with them when you push them in, rather than, for instance, a situation like AWL where, when the cow gets close enough to the door, it'll mosey on in there by itself. It can be a little frustrating, especially in a rain storm where you really want to haul 'em on in there as fast as you can. Also, for whatever reason, while you're pushing on the cows' rears to get them into or out of the barn, you start to slip, which means you have to reposition yourself fairly often. The whole thing isn't a joy killing serious flaw or anything, I've just found that it can become tedious. I haven't checked ahead yet, but for all I know, there may be some way to help this later in the game. I loved the way pets could drag the chickens in and out in Twin Towns, for example, and I hope they can function the same way in this game, once they become available. :) There's a pet section in the guide book, so it looks like things might get pretty involved with them!

Another thing, and I hope you'll forgive me for this, is that there is a LOT to read in this game. There may well be things that I'm missing because I couldn't read this or that kanji, and this may be affecting the way things are coming out for me in the game, so please keep that in mind when you read my babblings here. :) My Japanese level is coming along, but kanji is a tricky beast, and it takes time to learn them all! I have a basic understanding of what's going on and have been able to follow instructions and hints from characters to help advance myself, but I know there are other things that I must be missing. Still and all, I hope that everything I've posted so far in here has at the very least been able to reassure you that this game is absolutely fantastic, and totally worth it! If you like being a busy bee, but with enough time to be able to finish everything you want to do from day to day in the game, this is the one for you!

[Mizukithepanda]

I really wish I had this game in Japanese. Screw the 3DS's gosh darn region lock. >:E

Anyway, it sounds awesome. I can't wait for it to come out in English, though I have to admit that it'll be really weird playing Harvest Moon in English after all this time...

Also, the reason that "daichi" is translated as land is because "大地" literally means land. Think more along the lines of the, "It was a vast land, covered in fruit-bearing trees," type of land. The word written as it is can also simply mean "the ground". Here "dai" doesn't alter the meaning of the second kanji all that much, though it's not like it has no effect at all.

From the sound of it, it looks like it'll be a while in-game before I can play as an adorable trap who's wooing the equally adorable tailor girl. Oh well. I doubt courting her will take me half as long as it took me to court Dirka in Twin Villages, so I guess I don't care that much. (Seriously, as I long as I don't have to spend over a year dating her, I'm good.)

[Big Daisy May]

Also, the reason that "daichi" is translated as land is because "大地" literally means land. Think more along the lines of the, "It was a vast land, covered in fruit-bearing trees," type of land.

That's pretty much what I said.
With the DAI, it carries the nuance of being a vast land.
I hope whenever it's translated to English, that nuance will be reflected.

[Mizukithepanda]

That was more an example as to the type of "land" used. "Vast" wasn't actually included. I used that more to imply that it means "land" like "country" not "land" like "a plot of land".

Regardless, I think they translated it properly either way. I think it'd sound retarded if they called it "The Vast Land of Origin".

[Big Daisy May]

Regardless, I think they translated it properly either way. I think it'd sound retarded if they called it "The Vast Land of Origin".

Sure, anything that literally translated would sound odd, but I think current translation of the name sounds clunky to start with. Boring, as well. "Land of Origin." Ho hum. It sounds like something that would come up if you ran the Japanese name through a bad online translator. They've been creative enough in the past when a title just doesn't quite translate well directly to English.

Is this the official title they've chosen to translate it to, btw? I don't frequent Harvest Moon forums or websites much, so I'm afraid I don't know the up to the minute news on the games.

Hopefully they'll just rework the title altogether to give the idea that it's sort of a back to basics game with a lot of territory to unlock and explore.

[Big Daisy May]

As for the characters, yes the guy who gives you the cow is Neil and the blacksmith is indeed called Iroha. (Fun Fact: "Iroha" is a famous Japanese poem that is a perfect pangram. That means it uses every character of the Japanese syllabry exactly once. The word "iroha" itself can also be used to mean "the basics" in Japanese terms, comparable to the English term, "the ABCs".)

What a great fun-to-know-fact! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif)
I didn't know that, and thanks for the information!
That's one of the things I really love about digging deeper into Japanese language. You start to realize that besides just taking a name or title at face value, there's often another meaning to discover, and it makes you (I say "you", but hopefully I'm not only speaking for myself (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif) ) want to study more and more to uncover the surprises! :)

[Daniella]

I wonder how much stuff they'll be taking out of the game when they put it out in the US.