I have been playing this on-and-off since its release to achieve the one thing I never could as a kid: see the true ending of this game.

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life was a childhood staple for me, and there's never been another game quite like the AWL/FoMT combination in the way these connected with each other and the story progression in the separate games but also between them.

It was the only console Harvest Moon to release in Europe for a long while, and as a kid needing some help with the English language (shout-out to this game for teaching me all the animals), a lot of hours were put into this.

The SoS remake implemented a lot of very necessary QoL changes without changing the game at all. You are no longer locked into a gendered game version where you can only marry the opposite gender. Tools have their own slots, and some questionable writing has been removed while still making sure to preserve that core that reminds me of my childhood.

That also means it's stuck in the farming sim gameplay we had in 2003/2004, making it very slow and cozy. It's the perfect game to pick up and play for a bit to relax, but not one I can play for very long periods of time, and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Currently in year 3!

Just not for me right now.

I feel like Persona 1 is truly a product of being the first in the series and was clearly developed as a Megaten spinoff and nothing more. Coming from what Persona would eventually turn out to be, this was hard.

It's more of a dungeon crawler than what I was in the mood for right now, with the story taking a backseat to the gameplay, which I genuinely enjoyed.

To me, it feels like the game doesn't really try to push the story as much at this point (I did only get 5 hours in... twice) and is mainly using it to guide you further along to experience new demons and the gameplay, leaving me confused about the characters and their intentions.

I'll probably read the manga and eventually come back knowing exactly what I'm in for.