Category:Harvest Moon: 64

Description
The third installment in the Harvest Moon series, released for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan as Bokujou Monogatari 2 (牧場物語2). It is the sequel to the original Harvest Moon game and is one of the most highly regarded games in the series; and regarded as one of the most rare, sometimes selling for $100US or more. Although it was a simple game at the time, there were differences that made it stand out, such as the interactive festivals and a visible heart level when speaking to candidates. Although short, it is considered addictive.

After the death of the protagonist's grandfather, he decides to take over the farm that he left behind. There's a time frame of two and a half years to grow crops, raise livestock, befriend villagers, get married and have a child before the protagonist's father return to evaluate him on his progress.

Features and innovations

 * Grow and harvest crops
 * Raise livestock
 * Fish
 * Collect recipes
 * Mine
 * Upgrade various tools
 * Interact with various characters
 * Wed one of the candidates
 * Raise a child
 * Partake in various festivals
 * Many events that last through the years
 * Automatic Tool Upgrades
 * Visible heart level when speaking to candidates
 * Heart Events
 * Photo Album
 * Rivals for candidates
 * A more robust house expansion system
 * An expanded festival system
 * First appearance of the Birthday System

Characters introduced in this game
Some of these characters' names weren't mentioned in-game, but stated later in Bokujou Monogatari Official Illustration Complete Works. Of the before-mentioned, the dumpling shop couple at the top of the mountain's names are Mugi and Yone, the Photographer's name is Kano, the Midwife's name is Gaya and the Potion Master's name is Doga.
 * Ann
 * Elli
 * Karen
 * Maria
 * Popuri
 * Cliff
 * Gray
 * Harris
 * Jeff
 * Kai
 * Basil
 * Pastor Brown
 * Duke
 * Gotz
 * Greg
 * Hall
 * Kent
 * Lillia
 * May
 * Rick
 * Saibara
 * Sasha
 * Dumpling Shop Man (Mugi)
 * Stu
 * Dumpling Shop Woman (Yone)
 * Zack
 * Carpenter Twins
 * Thomas
 * Anna
 * Midwife (Gaya)
 * Potion Master (Doga)
 * Mrs. Mana
 * Gourmet
 * Sammy the Salesmen
 * Harvest Sprites
 * Harvest Goddess
 * Photographer (Kano)

Reception
Harvest Moon: 64 is considered by many as a "masterpiece", despite criticisms that this game could have had better graphics and music.

Although other Nintendo 64 games fully utilized the system's advanced graphics chip in developing superior graphics using complex rendering, Harvest Moon 64's graphics are limited in comparison, being referred to as "simple" or "basic". This simple usage of N64 graphics may be attributed to the size of the Harvest Moon 64 cartridge (8MB).

Aaron Boulding rated Harvest Moon: 64 for IGN, giving it a 8.2 out of 10, stated that though the game portrayed "graphics, animation and audio elements (that were) far below the N64's capabilities", he was able to overcome these shortcomings because he played it for hours at time.

Homan Mohseni rated Harvest Moon: 64 at RPGFan, giving it an overall score of 72%. While Graphics, Gameplay and Sound/Music were rated at 80%, 75% and 75% respectively, Control and Storyline were rated the lowest with both at 65%, as "the controls weren't responsive" and the game lacked a "complex storyline".

Joe Fielder rated Harvest Moon: 64 for GameSpot, rating it at 7.3/10. While he described the game as both "quirky" and "charming", he also remarked the game was "strangely compelling, (an) original little game that (made) hours melt away incomprehensibly".

Nintendo Power ranked Harvest Moon: 64 as the 278th greatest Nintendo game of all time.