a unique, "futuristic" harvest moon title where you play as a robot boy, tasked with saving his home island from the volcanic wrath of the fire spirit. not for all; but for me, a nostalgic revisit. (7/10)
when i was younger, maybe around 10 or so years ago, i used to play this game a LOT on the ps2. i didn't have much friends at the time. at most i only regularly talked with my plushies (my friends!) and was content with that sort of "interaction". i was young and didn't know what was going on on the screen, but whenever i played this game, i kept feeling this weird sense of emptiness. something i couldn't quite describe at the time... since then, this game has always been at the back of my mind for many years now. following me up until two weeks ago, where i finally decided to get some closure and find out why it left such a hole in me...
this is harvest moon innocent life. or that's what i call it—the title is actually "innocent life: a futuristic harvest moon"... but that's too long!! if you're familiar with stardew valley, then maybe you've heard of it's inspiration, story of seasons... well, back in MY day it was called harvest moon!! something about the original developers deciding to localize their own games as "story of seasons", while the publisher (still owning the rights to the "harvest moon" title) went on to release more harvest moons that were a shell of their former self... or so they say.
anyway, i grew up with the original harvest moon games. played back to nature (got the bad ending¹ for being so clueless too, yeesh), friends of mineral town. i played a bit of a wonderful life and save the homeland, but only because my neighbors would lend us the game for a short time. now that i think about it, i kinda miss the latter. i'll put a pin on that and get back to it, so i don't get so distracted... there was also harvest moon ds... and harvest moon ds cute, my personal childhood favorite entries in the series!
you could say i've played a lot of harvest moon :3 i've even played stardew!! i'd like to think i've barely scratched the surface of the harvest moon iceberg, though. there's a ton of other titles i wanna take a look at sometime!! but they all follow a similar formula: you farm, make friends... maybe even get married, if you wanna! and you're usually placed in this rural, towny kinda setting.
from the title, though. innocent life takes a whole different approach to this formula. some may compare this to rune factory, but i haven't played it myself... but one thing is that the exploration takes a huge chunk of the gameplay. in the game, you try and save your home island from the fire spirit's wrath, who threatens to unleash a volcano if the land isn't saved!! why? see, there was this war between the volcano and the easter people... and their hate destroyed so much of nature and it's balance between the spirits, so the spirits made the land barren for a long time that it led to the death of its original inhabitants. while the island has found a way to thrive eventually, the volcano spirit threatens it yet again with extinction! by blowing it up! volcanoes! it's a bit dark.
the only way to save it is through love... a huge love for nature, that is, and that becomes our protagonist's goal as they restore life to the barren ruins that serve as their "farm". you don't get an upgradeable house like in the usual titles, by the way. you get a sweet buggy, though. i don't think any of the other harvest moon titles lets you drive around.
really, the differences between this and the other harvest moon games is a lot. the marketing of this title being futuristic really live up to the name—the menu ui looks sleek and techy. you have strange contraptions like tube elevators, basket rails, a literal farm robot to help you out. you can automate things, but i never really bothered to. if anyone wanted a new kind of harvest moon experience, i'd direct them to this game...
but.
a big majority of harvest moon's player base find appeal in the marriage aspect of the games: unfortunately, they will not find that here. for starters, your player character is a young robot boy. it's off the table!! strangely though, there's no friendship system here either! no birthdays, a bit barren in special events and interactions between villagers... and the fact that you start out as someone who ISN'T human, it gives off this odd sense of loneliness while you explore the world and save all these people you don't get much of a chance to know about. at the very beginning, some even comment that they don't even believe you could do anything to begin with. no one believes in nature, and they've come to embrace technology, so they underestimate you and raise their brows at you for trying. i can finally put words into this feeling i've felt between me and the other harvest moon titles... apart from the weekly visits to your maker (and father, technically), there isn't much reason to connect yourself to anyone in town. plus, they say the same things with little variation anyway. there truly isn't any reason to, and so the "social" aspect of this game really falls flat. sometimes houses have so many pretty and detailed rooms, but they're almost always empty. i spent 90% of the game alone.
i guess it compensates itself with its exploration. truly, the environments in this game are stunning!! i remember that the style of this game really stuck in my head, and i still remember how unique the ruins design and everything was 10 something years later!
that said, since we're on the topic of adventure: the game's pacing is a bit slow. you start your first week confined to the ruins until you make your first shipment. then the rest of the spring season is a bit of a drag until summer, where a lot more (very pretty and visually interesting) paths are opened up to you. naturally, this is great! wow!! the issue is that: without a guide, it's a bit difficult to know which direction you should be heading unless you use a guide. the guide² i used for the game is actually really detailed and helpful—making walkthroughs for such a niche game deserves some recognition too... but at the same time, i guess i wish i didn't rely so much on it? this one was on me. the game gives you plenty of time to quell the fire spirit's anger, but there's just some things it DOESN'T tell you.
no one in the game mentions spirit water or how important the monsoon watering can is ffs, and you NEED it so you could plant anything in the winter or you're softlocked for the season. no one also tells you that when the hermit says "i'll wait for you at the mermaid tower oo hurry we must be quick" you won't even be able to access it until WINTER (and i finished this plotline around SUMMER)... so the usage of a guide leaves me at a bit of a conflict. a yes, a no, and a maybe all at the same time. it didn't take away from the enjoyment, but yeah. i guess i was just so scared of running out of time. it moves too fast in the game, so i'd make a point to finish major story beats within a day. spring was slow, summer was VERY busy and stressful, while autumn and winter were a slog until the last week or so... i guess those weeks of free time were meant for the player to explore themselves, but whatever.
funnily enough summer was so stressful because i had unknowingly planted lots of tomatoes. tomatoes grow in many bunches, so i had to harvest so many of them and pull them out of my bag one by one (it was later that i realized i could just dump everything in the shipping bin with the triangle button), and pray that i still have time to do the story exploration. my days would usually end super late. i never want to see a tomato in that game ever again.
around the middle of winter, the game starts to pick up again with new things... glad that it did because my days were just wake up -> water crops -> tend to animals -> prepare shipments -> zzz. a repetitive cycle, since there was no point in talking to anyone. compared to a title like ds cute, there are only a total of 3 festivals in this game, and there is not much to do in them than just "ship This crop and talk to everyone and go home". when the christmas party came along, i got so excited because that meant more exploration!! oh, dad is also dying. but more exploration after two whole seasons, finally!! and again, the environments for the forest, the mermaid tower, and the volcano area were lovely. the latter two being my favorite :) ..
it's in this later bit of winter on your first year that you wrap up the story. a bit time sensitive since you can ONLY finish the game in winter, but you actually have 2 years to complete it before you trigger the bad end of this game³ ;) ... not wanting to relive my back to nature days, i did my last few quests. offered the nature sprites the forest crest and watch them turn into the nature spirit (a big sentient tree!), offered the water spirit up the mermaid tower her crest, stole the fire crest from the volcano, then dumped it in the ice grail to calm the fire spirit down.
... the whole scene with the fire and water spirit at the end was a bit underwhelming, but i don't wanna be too mean and unreasonably ask for something flashy. it was 2006. let's be generous. at the very least, i appreciated the journey there! minus autumn and the first half of winter. pah.
but there's still something charming about this game. about how you, little robot boy only born yesterday, still strive to bring life back to a hopeless patch of land. all to save people who, again, you barely know. you don't know much about humanity, but you've been told by your father to embrace and love it with all your heart. you don't have to eat food, but you're allowed to learn how to cook and enjoy your own meals. later on, you go on to help make cakes for a christmas party... everyone loves it! and then you go onto saving the whole world again immediately after. your father says something around the summer, that he feels guilty for having to rely on you to save the island. you're only a boy, but you work so hard. and over time, you see more of your "human" stats rise up... there's even a stat for love that maxes out by the time you reach the last few days, and something i like when you're returning the stolen water crest was that the hermit who helps you says that "it was humans who stole the crest, it's only right that a human should be the one to return it." signifying that being human is love. and that love is human. being human is helping others, and learning to share sorrow and joy. sorrow is particularly highlighted in grief, something that the protagonist eventually experiences. ironically, after the world is saved.
stories where something isn't human but tries to be are so dear to my heart. machines who try to be human are right up my alley. and coupled with a warm sort of nostalgia, i'd still say that experiencing this game again was a lovely time. last week i was feeling especially down, and this helped calm me. that feeling i had as a kid while playing this game was definitely a sense of loneliness—story-wise, i didn't have much to lean on but my own when saving the island. and i was a lonely kid, so no wonder i felt so attached to thia game. i wasn't even able to complete it, leaving that feeling unresolved. now though, i'm glad to say that thinking of this game will leave me with fonder memories now :) i feel like i've given closure to that part of me who wondered so much about the mystery of this game for years.
it's a very nice feeling.
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1 "Harvest Moon Back to Nature Bad Ending." HMP Contests (YT). i remember this made me so sad.
2 "Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon Special Edition FAQ/Walkthrough." acornbuddy_5. can't express my appreciation for this enough!
3 "Harvest Moon Innocent Life bad/sad ending [HD]." Teh Kering (YT).
the ruins/farm music was so nostalgically good. music doesn't rotate per season here, unfortunately. but i'd still like to share the soundtrack. sounds a little melancholic, does it?
"Innocent Life: A.F.H.M.G ~ Track 3 OST." Raito (YT).
being human, harvest moon, loneliness & feeling disconnected
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✉️: angelais@protonmail.com