Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life

Release Dates

Releasing roughly a year after its GameCube predecessor, Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life returned players to Forget-Me-Not-Valley, this time as a girl. As with More Friends of Mineral Town, this installment featured a number of slight tweaks beyond the gender of the character.

The biggest change brought to the game was a shortening of the life chapters. Each chapter took a single year of in-game time in the sequel. Players progressed from inheriting the farm, to marriage, to raising a son, to growing old in a span of six years. The player’s father’s friend Takakura was along to narrate the events and provide guidance.

Playing as a woman who would start a family and grow old on her farm naturally required the inclusion of several bachelors. Players could court and marry one of three available men: Gustafa, Rock, or Marlin. Each of the men had a rival players needed to compete with to win the affection of their desired mate.

Fun Facts

• It was only possible to have a son in this version of the game, but the child behaved differently based on whose son it was. Rock’s son, for example, was the most outgoing and least likely to inherit the farm.
• Players could find each of the bachelors’ diaries inside their bedrooms, sometimes in the couch cushions or on a table.
• It was possible to connect with Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town on the GameBoy Advance. To do so, players had to make an offering to the Harvest Goddess in Forget-Me-Not Valley.
• The shortening of the individual stages of life (the chapters) increased replayability of the game and made it more likely for players to experience marriage with each of the three bachelors.
• The female perspective added to the game brought with it many new dialogue choices and several new items for players to discover.