History VideoGame / HarvestMoon1

* AwesomeButImpractical: The golden hammer lets you smash large boulders in a single hit, with less stamina cost than hitting them six times with the small hammer. However, by the time you can get it, you'll probably have removed all the large boulders from your property already; the only real use for the hammer at that point is to remove broken fence pieces, and the small hammer works just fine for that (and costs less stamina per hit). The only real reason to upgrade your hammer is because you get 20 happiness points for doing it.

''Harvest Moon'' was one of the last games released for the ''[=SNES=]'' so it didn't get much recognition at the time. It was successful enough to have an EvenBetterSequel on the Nintendo 64, which spawned an entire franchise, along with some ''UsefulNotes/GameBoy'' side-games at the time. In 2008 it was added onto the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}'s Virtual Console and is also on the UsefulNotes/WiiU's Virtual Console.

Your grandfather has died and you decide to take over his old farm. You have a little over two years to get the farm back to what it once was. During that time you can get married, have children, or pretty much do whatever you please. After your time is up, your father will appear and review your progress.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: What is traditional for the games; for example, you can leave animals out in a storm at night and they will look freaked out the next day. (Or, in the case of chickens, they'll just leave behind a few feathers.)

** Ann is implied to be naked in her Star Night scenes at the [[HotSpringsEpisode hot springs]], though you only see her from the [[ShouldersUpNudity shoulders up]]. In three out of four of them, she also [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl doesn't seem to mind]] Pete hopping in to join her, though she'll sometimes get annoyed at him being DistractedByTheSexy (or so she claims -- but her affection still goes up).

* AccidentalAdultery: Downplayed; there's no actual affair, but it is theoretically possible for the player to be unsure which location their wife will visit on Star Night, and inadvertently spend the evening with the wrong girl. This isn't good for your relationship with your wife, although you do gain relationship points as usual with the girl you visited.
* AlcoholicParent: Ellen's father is always seen drunk. Even more concerning, whenever he's at the bar, Ellen is there, but isn't available to pay any attention to you; she's trying her best to get him to stop drinking and go home. It doesn't seem to work.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair:
** Maria, one of the available bachelorettes, has dark blue hair.
** Nina and her mother both have bubblegum pink hair.

* {{Cap}}: Some of the limits on what you can collect are quite inconvenient, especially the limit on grass storage, which is only just enough for a barnful of animals to survive the winter. Quite justified, though, since there's only so much space in your storage.

** An optional sidequest involves planting magic beans that grow into a beanstalk, leading you to a golden chicken.

-> Congratulations! You are the perfect rancher now!

----

* UselessUsefulSpell: The restaurant in town sells cakes, which make excellent gifts or recharge a lot of stamina -- but they come with such a hefty price tag that they're pretty much never worth it. A new farmer can't afford them, and a well-established farmer will have access to large amounts of produce that make nearly as effective gifts at a fraction of the cost (and often much less time, too). Cakes do have a very niche use for gaining happiness points by giving them on birthdays, but that's not advertised in-game anywhere, and there are plenty of other ways to gain happiness.

* HundredPercentCompletion: It's extremely difficult to achieve a Ranch Master Rate of 999, partly because it has a lot of requirements, but also because there are bugs in the calculation of your final score. Working around them pretty much requires that you consult a guide, as there are several counterintuitive steps to take. You don't need that to get any of the ending cutscenes you want, though.

* AndYourRewardIsParenthood: A TropeCodifier for the trope, especially within the FarmLifeSim. Having a child, or especially two children, is one of the more difficult tasks in the game, as it requires getting married very early on--but doing so helps you get the best ending.

* {{Cap}}: Some of the limits on what you can collect are quite inconvenient, especially the limit on grass storage, which is only just enough for a barnful of animals to survive the winter.

** Ann is implied to be naked in her Star Night scenes at the [[HotSpringsEpisode hot springs]], though you only see her from the [[ShouldersUpNudity shoulders up]]. In three out of four of them, she also [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl doesn't seem to mind]] Pete hopping in to join her, though she'll sometimes get annoyed at him being DistractedByTheSexy (or so she claims -- but her affection still goes up) .

* ShoutOut: An optional sidequest involves planting magic beans that grow into a beanstalk, leading you to a golden chicken.