Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning

 3DS
  • Publisher: Natsume
  • Release Date: Nov 6, 2012
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 73
  3. Negative: 9 out of 73
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  1. petitpurin
    Apr 23, 2014
    7
    The tutorial is a month long in game time. Played the first 5 days and then put it down for 2 months as I was so bored. The game pace definitely picks up after the first month (make sure you hoard as much as you can, it really speeds things up later on). Money isn't a real issue in this game, you're mostly fulfilling requirements for Town Restorations with items you find. The game reallyThe tutorial is a month long in game time. Played the first 5 days and then put it down for 2 months as I was so bored. The game pace definitely picks up after the first month (make sure you hoard as much as you can, it really speeds things up later on). Money isn't a real issue in this game, you're mostly fulfilling requirements for Town Restorations with items you find. The game really rewards you for hoarding!

    I just don't like the Edit Mode, so clunky and time consuming. They really could have utilized the touch screen in this area. I find myself spending too much time just trying to put a building in a correct spot, or having to exit just to run back into town to get rid of a sapling.

    The graphics are lovely. however a little too simplistic for me. The grass could have benefited from some texturing. Music is okay. One track for each season with a few different tracks for events and some locations. Cut-scenes are incredibly annoying after the first few times.

    The farming aspect is incredibly improved from FoMT, although I find it somewhat of a chore after a while. The speed at which you use tools, pick up crops, harvest wheat etc... is a little too slow for me, and does not compare to that of Rune Factory 4. Also, he menu system isn't bad but still not as streamlined as I would have hoped.

    The game is very slow, however it is packed full of redeeming features and rewarding later on. It's fun trying to woo your future spouse and the farming is generally fun. It's a game that won't necessarily 'wow' you, but worth the money and enjoyable nonetheless. Looking forward to the next one!    … Expand
  2. nottomato
    Nov 21, 2012
    10
    Best handheld Harvest Moon since Friends of Mineral Town.

    This Harvest Moon is fantastic, they fixed almost every aspect that sucked in Tale of Two Towns. Freshness levels are gone, you can have multiple greenhouses, there's tons of livestock, an area that auto-waters after beating part of the game. Every feature has been streamlined and made less annoying, except for cutscenes. For    Best handheld Harvest Moon since Friends of Mineral Town.

    This Harvest Moon is fantastic, they fixed almost every aspect that sucked in Tale of Two Towns. Freshness levels are gone, you can have multiple greenhouses, there's tons of livestock, an area that auto-waters after beating part of the game. Every feature has been streamlined and made less annoying, except for cutscenes. For example, no more clicking two buttons to put a item away, all items are automatically put into the rucksack. Tons of great characters, many of which are completely new. Framerate has been improved dramatically, and if you played Tale of Two Towns on 3DS, then you'll know the pain of bad Harvest Moon framerates.

    Pacing is good after the first month, many people will complain about the slow pacing, maybe they didn't make it past the first month. To a Harvest Moon veteran, one month will feel like nothing. This game becomes extremely fun as soon as you finish the tutorial.

    Crops:
    Crops can be watered twice a day, 10 hours between, this can be mildly annoying until you unlock the auto-water land area. They are about the same as Tale of Two Towns in mechanics, besides the removed freshness rating, crops will last forever in this game! You get your seedmaker pretty early compared to most Harvest Moon games, I got mine within the first year which makes fertilizing crops worth it. Crop festivals are held once a month one the 30th and have three levels of entry, beginning, intermediate and advance - making it possible to participate every single month if you please.

    Animals:
    Livestock are a little more simple than Tale of Two Towns, making them less annoying. Petting game has been removed. They have continued the treat system, you get eight different species of livestock and two types of chickens. Your barn and coop can both hold 10 livestock each.

    Pets have been made more useful early one, they will herd (at least) five animals from your barn or coop with zero hearts (you must assign work to them in game). Pets will continually unlock much like Tale of Two Towns, but now you can sell pets if you please, meaning you aren't stuck with certain styles of pets.

    Farm:
    You get three different areas as the game progresses, one implied to be a crop area (auto-water area), and one for animals (flat area) and one for your house and other buildings (first area you get). The auto water area allows you to have 11 4x2 crop spaces that will be watered by moving a boulder everyday. Beehives and mushroom logs are in this game, along with the "paddy" crop. Each building, field and other objects can be moved and customized to wherever you please.

    Town/Wilderness:
    Your town has two plots of land, one of which is unlocked early in the game and three wilderness areas. You will decide where villager houses go, along with deciding what town decorations will be. Along with town building, you will also be able to unlock certain forest areas, gifts and blueprints with "Musical Stumps", which will be introduced to you early on during Spring of Year 1. Almost all villagers are completely new, except for Amir (I think he's in Grand Bazaar) and the Witch Princess. There are many benefits to befriending villagers and wild animals, including free blueprints, gifts and even a certain villager moving in if you befriend his wife, Hana.

    Love Interest:
    The bachelors and bachelorettes are equally wonderful and interesting in this game, you are allowed to save slots meaning you can make a boy and girl character if you wish. This game also allows cross dressing (although your character will not change sex), the first time appearing in the Harvest Moon US series along with customization. They've added a feature where you can "date" your love interest before proposing to them with a Blue Feather, which is nice because you can also break up with your love interest if you want.

    Festivals:
    Each festival you win or participate in will give about 1000 friendship points with every villager, making festivals very much worth participating in. They are pretty easy to win (especially beginner class), meaning you'll enjoy participating in almost every festival (except the Gardening Festival).

    Cons:
    The repeated cutscenes. Which happen FOUR times a day if you have pets and Neil/Rod unlocked. There are two unskippable cutscenes that occur and the only way to avoid them is to hide inside a building or run off the map they occur on when they are suppose to happen. It's not a big deal but it does cause your schedule to adjust around it (unless you don't care about the cutscenes.

    You will most likely be able to beat the game before the end of Year 2, making the game not too dramatically long, but good for most Harvest Moon players. One year will zoom by pretty fast as soon as the tutorial ends for you because the gameplay is so much fun compared to most handheld Harvest Moons.    … Expand
  3. Lokathor
    Dec 25, 2013
    2
    For a game that's supposed to have the customization as a fun new feature, there's not too many options to pick from. Since they're all aesthetic anyway, they should have had like 10 times as many things to pick form in every category. I don't have any helpful advice to add to this point, they just needed to put in more content.

    The game doesn't have too much in the way of systems or    For a game that's supposed to have the customization as a fun new feature, there's not too many options to pick from. Since they're all aesthetic anyway, they should have had like 10 times as many things to pick form in every category. I don't have any helpful advice to add to this point, they just needed to put in more content.

    The game doesn't have too much in the way of systems or simulation; it's not any more intricate than the first harvest moon. Considering that this is like the 17th game in the series, it's really a disappointment. The people don't have much to them at all, you just give each one a specific thing each day until a number fills up. Not really any jobs or interactions there. The economy has fixed prices for buying and selling everything, it doesn't shift from year to year or adjust based on how much you sell of a particular thing or anything like that. It's all very static sort of stuff.

    Starting a new game is video game agony, the first month prevents you from doing most of the things until you go through a tutorial on each thing, and each tutorial doesn't show up until a specific day. It seems like designers should be aware by now that some players know what they're doing, particularly anyone that's played a harvest moon game before, and they should have tutorials that you can skip over. They even provide the info in a help menu in case you forget later on, so there's no reason at all to not have all the slow opening stuff be skippable.

    I thought that this game would be a great purchase, but it turns out that it's probably gonna be the worst 3ds game I'll have ever bought.    … Expand
  4. Rikkuyo
    Nov 19, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's not the best Harvest Moon, but certainly not the worst. The game starts of really slow, but once you get into it , its fun and addicting. The reason I gave it a five out of ten is mostly because of all the materials in the game you have to find are extremely hard to locate even when you get the mine. Like to build the inn you need "glass stone" which is extremely rare to find on your own, unless you find someone to trade with. In Harvest Moon: A New Beginning many things are different such the ability to build,change clothes if you have the materials to make them, change your hair, and in the game your character will pick up an item and immediately put it away. Like in Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar the ability to jump is given to the player once more, however you cannot jump on cows or animals or into the water. Overall its a great game, if you have the patience to complete it. Town Restoration Plans that the mayor or whatever Dunhill calls himself may take on 2 or 3 years to complete. It may even take you 5 or 6 years in the game to actually finish it. It may take the player 2 or 3 years to get married. The new system allows the player to go on dates by giving their preferred bachelor/bachelorette a ring, sometimes if the bachelor/bachelorettes heart isn't high enough they will reject the ring. If you feel up to the task or are a fan of the games go out and buy it!… Expand
  5. Trustyweasel
    Jan 11, 2013
    9
    This is probably the best Harvest Moon I have played in a very long time. It brings back the memories I had of the original, which I missed in every subsequent release in the series. While the tutorials are a little in your face, cut scenes become a nuisance (I will seriously stand around waiting until ten minutes after 10am and 6pm on Neil's shop days before heading into the town area)This is probably the best Harvest Moon I have played in a very long time. It brings back the memories I had of the original, which I missed in every subsequent release in the series. While the tutorials are a little in your face, cut scenes become a nuisance (I will seriously stand around waiting until ten minutes after 10am and 6pm on Neil's shop days before heading into the town area) and let's not really quibble over the waste of the touch screen, this installment is indeed a new beginning for the series. I had almost given up on reigniting the spark I felt for this series after Island of Happiness. The edit feature is a godsend for the series. The fact that I don't have to throw my crops into the collection bin, amazing. The art style is gorgeous and the 3D makes it pop. Honestly with most 3DS games, I end up playing with the feature turned off. Here, as with Ocarina, you really miss out on the quality of the graphics without it turned on. The depth of the gameplay, is terrific. You could spend your entire time just playing with the crops but there's so much more to do. As much as I want to punch that cowboy hobo mayor in the face every time he barges into my house, I really feel invested in his mission of revitalizing the town. There's more appeal for growing and expanding the town than I felt in Island of Happiness. Hunting down new blueprints, recipes, and music sheets is a terrific diversion. Sometimes though, the rewards from the Sprites for expanding the town are a bit underwhelming. The additional fact that they have to be unlocked in sequential order -- for instance I built the clinic before the cottage but I didn't get the clinic's music sheet unlocked until after I unlocked the sheet from the cottage -- is a tad annoying but not so much that it detracts from the game. Despite the slow start of the first month, you're constantly compelled to be doing something: foraging, fishing, flirting, building. This game is great.… Expand
  6. FantasyGameFan
    Jul 19, 2013
    10
    As a long-time fan of the Harvest Moon Series (ever since I was gifted a copy of Harvest Moon N64 way back when, one of the (relatively) few copies shipped to the North American market) this game has been my favorite Harvest Moon since the N64 version and my favorite hand-held since Friends of Mineral Town.

    It has EVERYTHING I could ask for from a Harvest Moon game and then some. The    As a long-time fan of the Harvest Moon Series (ever since I was gifted a copy of Harvest Moon N64 way back when, one of the (relatively) few copies shipped to the North American market) this game has been my favorite Harvest Moon since the N64 version and my favorite hand-held since Friends of Mineral Town.

    It has EVERYTHING I could ask for from a Harvest Moon game and then some. The start had me cringing, but if you stick with it past the first month the game goes absolutely bonkers in a snowball effect of things you can do. I absolutely LOVE the competition/festival system (you can win due to categories! IF you work very very hard). I also truly enjoy the fact that there are achievement awards for practically every major (and some quite wacky) action you take.

    Let me put it this way. The first two hours into the game I wanted to take a hammer to the cartridge and call the entire series quits. After the customization stuff actually came into play my mind was blown and this game has become one of my favorites on the DS and on any handheld system ever created. The game just gets better and better the more you play it. It is truly impressive. There is also an enormous sense of accomplishment every time you do anything significant.

    For anyone new to the Harvest Moon series, I'd say pick up this game and run with it. Don't surrender after the first couple of weeks because the pay-off is huge.

    For returning fans, this is the crystallization of 15 years worth of input and it finally gives a return as a true "New Beginning" for the series. Definitely pick up a copy for your collection, it is much much much better than Tale of Two towns.    … Expand
  7. Mmmmph
    Feb 15, 2016
    4
    Slow, ungodly, UNBEARABLY slow. I'm wandering around talking to villagers and nothing they keep saying the same pre-recorded stuff to me. So all I'm left to do is run around and farm, that's it, wake up in the morning water plants go collect random garbage from the forest, water plants go back to bed. THAT IS LITERALLY ALL I HAVE BEEN DOING OR ABLE TO DO IN THE GAME FOR A MONTH(ingameSlow, ungodly, UNBEARABLY slow. I'm wandering around talking to villagers and nothing they keep saying the same pre-recorded stuff to me. So all I'm left to do is run around and farm, that's it, wake up in the morning water plants go collect random garbage from the forest, water plants go back to bed. THAT IS LITERALLY ALL I HAVE BEEN DOING OR ABLE TO DO IN THE GAME FOR A MONTH(ingame time).

    The game advertises that you can customize your character but they don't really tell you that any and all kinds of clothing options and whatnot are locked until about year four. I'm being told that the tutorial is a MONTH LONG, ingame time and that's a lie, the game just doesn't let you do anything but farm for a month.    … Expand
  8. ERB
    Jul 28, 2013
    8
    A peaceful game.
  9. twizbuck
    Jan 8, 2013
    9
    I find this installment to be a nice step forward. Almost all of the HM games on DS have failed to hold my interest for one reason or another, but A New Beginning kept me interested from the start, even if the first month is just as everyone says: slow. But being able to re-create the town as you want with the edit feature, as well as your farm that expands three areas by the end, is aI find this installment to be a nice step forward. Almost all of the HM games on DS have failed to hold my interest for one reason or another, but A New Beginning kept me interested from the start, even if the first month is just as everyone says: slow. But being able to re-create the town as you want with the edit feature, as well as your farm that expands three areas by the end, is a great addition, and the character models are very refreshing. I didn't enjoy the almost kid-like appearance and sound of previous HM DS games. If you enjoy HM, you owe it to yourself to give this game a shot. If you don't usually like HM games, this one might change your feelings on them.… Expand
  10. Kahnqueror
    Jan 5, 2013
    8
    TONS of fun and extremely addicting! So much content! If you like Harvest Moon, you are going to love this game. I've logged 62 hours of gameplay on it and only JUST got through the first year, and while I'm burned out on it for the time being, I know for sure that I'll pick it up again in the future and continue on with my game. As one of the critics pointed out, yes, it does start offTONS of fun and extremely addicting! So much content! If you like Harvest Moon, you are going to love this game. I've logged 62 hours of gameplay on it and only JUST got through the first year, and while I'm burned out on it for the time being, I know for sure that I'll pick it up again in the future and continue on with my game. As one of the critics pointed out, yes, it does start off pretty slowly (but doesn't every Harvest Moon game?) but if you stick with it, you'll find it difficult to put it down. The only other criticism I have of the game is that sometimes, if you're playing without looking at any guides, you're going to end up screwing yourself over but not wanting to start over since it's such a time investment. For example, I lost the Spring crop festival - I could be mistaken, but nowhere in the game did it tell me to only water fertilized crops once a day! I had to find that out the hard way. Another way I screwed myself over was selling all the honeycomb I collected in the Spring when I was hard up for cash, only to later find out that you NEED the honeycomb to build beehives and collect honey at one point to progress the game, but found this out during a season when honeycomb isn't available, and had to wait for the season to change, thus significantly delaying my progress in the game. Another criticism is that depending on when you get certain things, some of the festivals are poorly timed and are pretty much setting you up for failure. "Oh, you just got a Llama? We're going to have a Llama festival in 3 weeks." That's not nearly enough time for you to increase your animal's friendship to the point where you'd be able to win the beginner class without grinding it through multiplayer. I also screwed myself over by impregnating my first cow pretty early on, which meant that I would have lost the Cow Festival if I hadn't grinded friendship for the cow on multiplayer which was tedious. A note on multiplayer: It's a great idea, but it feels almost like cheating. You can get a TON of money in this way which may feel cheap and like cheating. My final criticism is that things in the game get a bit tedious when there is just so much to do, and you can't do it in the quickest, most efficient way possible. If you have lots of animals and crops growing that you have to fully care for every day (treats, brush, talk, feed, harvest, fertilize, water, etc.) you will do it all and then barely have any time left in the day to do anything else productive. This is what led me to get a bit burnt out on it. Still, I had TONS of fun with it, and I know I'll pick it up again. If you already know you like Harvest Moon games, get this game! You'll love it! If you've never played a Harvest Moon game but you enjoy "simulation" games and want to try a farming sim, I'd say give it a try! It's fun!… Expand
  11. Oceanicus
    Nov 20, 2012
    8
    It's a normal harvest moon, slow paced, the style of wait and look the flowers, not for everyone definitely, but if you enjoy this kind of games, you won't be disappointed, however if you expect something faster rather than relaxing, wait for a Rune Factory title.
  12. Aquaris475
    Jul 5, 2013
    9
    Boy, is this game addicting. I only recently got into the Harvest Moon series; this is my first game. And I can say that this is a series that I'm going to love. Since this is a simulator, the plot is non-existent. The premise is that Echo Town is failing and you have to bring it back on top. While I do think they could've worked with this plot a bit more, it seems pretty okay. But itBoy, is this game addicting. I only recently got into the Harvest Moon series; this is my first game. And I can say that this is a series that I'm going to love. Since this is a simulator, the plot is non-existent. The premise is that Echo Town is failing and you have to bring it back on top. While I do think they could've worked with this plot a bit more, it seems pretty okay. But it means nothing with the gameplay. I didn't think a farming game could be so addicting. I'm always constantly working on my farm and town, and progressing and getting the town and farm bigger. I love the feeling of getting progressively stronger, and this game shines in that. Heck, this is the first game where I had to take notes just so I knew what I had to do. Other small concepts in the game I like a lot. marriage, for example, I find really cool to add. it's these little things in the game that add to the already huge replay ability. The graphics are pretty good. The 3D on the game is ok at best, but I usually prefer not putting 3D on at all. Something I found a bit irritating was the music. the music isn't the best, and it gets repetitive that it plays on loop. Something I was surprised about was caring for the characters in the game. I always felt like I should talk to them and give them gifts, because I wanted some friends in the game. I didn't think I should be alone in this game, and I think that's a huge pointer of the game. Overall, I chose right with getting into the Harvest Moon series and getting this game. the plot may be barely existent, and the music can be annoying, but the addictive gameplay, little things added to the game, and good character development make this a worthwhile title.… Expand
  13. Roozu
    Sep 15, 2013
    8
    This game is great, but not flawless. First off this game has great characters all of them are pretty interesting. However the game is broken by multiplayer, once you unlock it and the maker shed you don't really have to worry about money. Also the beginning in this new beginning is a chore to get trough, it really is boring, but worth it. I really liked the about of customization you getThis game is great, but not flawless. First off this game has great characters all of them are pretty interesting. However the game is broken by multiplayer, once you unlock it and the maker shed you don't really have to worry about money. Also the beginning in this new beginning is a chore to get trough, it really is boring, but worth it. I really liked the about of customization you get going as so far as you make the village for the most part, best of all: it isn't bad. Lastly I would recommend this game to anyone interested in harvest as it is such a solid installment.… Expand
  14. basilion
    Feb 6, 2014
    8
    It's slow.
    It takes at least 5 hours to get to the good game.
    I'm sure most people abadoned the game before getting to the real deal.
    If you got this game, be patient. After nearly 25 in-game days, the game becomes a true harvest moon game, and a pretty good one. If you get through the first boring season, you get a great game. But because of this boring part, I give this game an 8/10.
  15. kiwikelly
    Aug 2, 2015
    9
    This is my first Harvest Moon game ever and I think it's great. I'm only at day 31 of Spring though, I heard some people say it only gets fun after you have passed all four seasons but it's quite enjoyable for me.
    I like how you can bake pudding, just those little details, they're fun :)
  16. TJ_of_Carolina
    Jan 10, 2019
    6
    When you first start playing the town is barren and the game holds your hand with annoying unskippable tutorials for an entire in game season. The beginning is extremely slow paced and tedious and you're expected to build the entire town from the ground up with required grinding for materials, and whether said materials show up is often down to RNG. After you've built your town the gameWhen you first start playing the town is barren and the game holds your hand with annoying unskippable tutorials for an entire in game season. The beginning is extremely slow paced and tedious and you're expected to build the entire town from the ground up with required grinding for materials, and whether said materials show up is often down to RNG. After you've built your town the game picks up slightly but not enough to make up for the grueling haul in the first in game year and a half. Game's pacing is awful. If you're considering this game I'd say it's better to look at the newer Story of Seasons games which fix the pacing, or if you have a GameCube, I recommend A Wonderful Life… Expand
  17. JCScarmyth
    Jan 23, 2021
    9
    I have sunk more hours of my life into this game than I can ever imagine. Truly an addicting experience. Time passes, the seasons change, and I am continuously drawn back to this charmingly simply game.
  18. Sockifed
    Jun 25, 2023
    10
    One of the best games I've ever played! None of the newer Harvest Moon [Story of Seasons] games have ever came close to this. The npcs are very well done and the story is very interesting and kept me hooked. The only thing that could make this game better is it being ported to the Nintendo Switch.

Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Best 3DS Game of 2012
16
#16 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2012
10
#10 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Cubed3
    Feb 18, 2014
    80
    It isn't without its faults in presentation, control and the opening few hours, but does offer one of the most comprehensive experiences to date - great for newcomers and series veterans alike.
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  2. games(TM)
    Nov 14, 2013
    70
    None of this is entirely new. [Issue#141, p.122]
  3. Eurogamer Portugal
    Oct 29, 2013
    60
    This can be the alternative that some players seek to Animal Crossing.
    Read full review
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