I was watching the quick look...thing...and although there's a different UI and the mechanics are slightly different, conceptually the whole farming and things actually taking time to happen thing, that seems like a load of Harvest Moon right there. I loved me some Harvest Moon, but I've never played Farmville. Any thoughts?

No, it's not (in my opinion).

Harvest Moon is one of my favorite gaming franchise (which I think peaked with Harvest Moon 64). It is a game about self-improvement and farming at one level but it is also about characters, romance, mystery, economics, etc.

Farmville is mostly just a piece of software where the only way to be any good is to advertise the game to all your Facebook friends endlessly or spend a ton of real life moolah. There isn't anything at all to the actual act of farming. You don't really water the plants, you don't harvest them individually, you can't cook dishes, you don't have any tools (or work to get better ones) unless you count cursors.

Harvest Moon is at the center of its most obvious gameplay about farming but there is so much more under the surface (mining, getting married, having a child, winning contests, seeing festivals, getting secret items, befriending the harvest sprites, etc.) and Farmville doesn't have any of that really (at least, in my experience).

Skip Farmville, play Harvest Moon. That's what I say.

Viva Pinata is pretty great, you guys.

No. Harvest Moon is fun.

@PrimeSynergy said:

@sirdesmond: Ah a fellow hardcore Harvest Moon fan. One who also seems to enjoy Harvest Moon 64 just as much as I did. Good man...good man. I've been trying to talk myself out of getting Back to Nature on PS1 classics for the sole reason that I could easily spend an obscene amount of time on that game...again lol

I never owned any Playstation until the PS3 and you just reminded me that I need to go back and visit those games in the series (that were well received) that I never got a chance with.

@CrossTheAtlantic said:

I played it, and it felt like I was just updating a (simple) spreadsheet everyday.

This is entirely true. It also applies equally to every single Zynga Facebook game I have ever played.

Harvest Moon is awesome!! Farmville is not.
 
Rune Factory is pretty good too.

No. Harvest Moon is fun.

More like Harvest Moon and Farmville are both like Sim Farm (but not as good). Give credit to the original farm game, guys.

Harvest Moon is actually a fun experience that doesn't annoy everybody I know.

Viva Pinata is pretty great, you guys.

I would never ever play it, but my impression of Harvest Moon was it had something farmville doesn't. Heart. Harvest Moon is an rpg. Farmville is something to do.