I need help finding a game.

[Rebel_Raven]

It seems like all of your criteria stems from experience with Harvest Moon style games and wanting something similar. Unfortunately not many games like that exist, but as far as HM goes, Magical Melody is by far my favorite on the consoles. My g/f tends to prefer the DS one Sunshine Islands or Back to Nature Cute (Back to Nature you play as a female, sadly it's only available on PSP afaik).

Most other games that have social aspects like developing relationships are either combat heavy RPGs like Mass Effect or Dragon's Age, or are Visual Novels which by nature are very subdued and don't offer much in the way of gameplay outside of social situations (though some more robust ones do exist).

Adventure games tend to be more focused on delivering their own predefined narrative than letting you interact with people. Finding games in general that don't have combat are fairly difficult outside of puzzle or skill games.

The closest thing I can think of for PSN is actually Terraria which is just a 2D Action Game, the early game is mostly just fighting but eventually you do get a small legion of NPCs attracted to you that you can build individual houses customized to them or just specific rooms in a massive castle. There's a huge crafting element to the game that lets you just build your own home how ever you please, unfortunately until you get those first couple of NPCs in one spot you will be harassed nonstop by enemies while trying to do any of this (The more NPCs you have together the less monsters spawn in that area)

Beyond Good & Evil also has combat but it's very basic one-button approach, it's action is more about stealth and puzzle solving.

Sadly I wish there was more I could recommend but ultimately unless you stick with Harvest Moon or Sims you will have to do some level of combat in your games, it just depends on how much. Consoles in general offer little selection for niche games like this. PC or Handhelds is your best bet.

You're correct. I've played harvest moon in the past, and am wanting something to help fill the gaming niche, and preferrably do so playing a female character.
Honestly, I put money on my psn account not realizing the game I wanted to get with that money, Beyond Two Souls, is disc only, so 'm kinda sitting on 60 dollars in my account, and a strong desire to put it to good use. Right now it feels like finding a game that meets my stipulations, and do that some time in october so I can make use of the 10 dollars back for spending 50 deal.

And you're right, there's an extreme drought of games that fit my criteria on consoles, especially the PS3.
I'm looking at Atelier Ayesha, but that time limit's killing me. I just wanna mess around forever. If it wasn't for the time limit 'd get it. Time limits drive me crazy! X(
Rune Factory seems like it'd work, but I read I have to beat the game as a guy first which just rubs me the wrong way as I'll likely experience all there is as him, then have little new to do in the game as the female character. And I have no idea how long it'll take to beat the game.

I don't mind combat, so long as it's not the driving force in the game. Honestly, I just wanna sandbox in an HM styled world on PS3 without having a time limit hanging over my head, play as a female character, and I don't wanna end up fighting most of the time.

It's not that I'm only going after the ps3 games listed, mind you, I'm certainly wanting variety, and will look into other consoles, but PS3 just feels more pressing atm as I've already invested.

In the time of posting this, and racking my brain, I settled on Rune Factory Tides of Destiny. I'm sure the game will be compelling enough to see me through, and I can prolly dodge a lot of content until I can play as the girl.

I still have money left in my account, and some income so I can work on more games to help fill the void in my library. Hopefully something will come up, or be suggested!

 

[aozgolo]

It seems like all of your criteria stems from experience with Harvest Moon style games and wanting something similar. Unfortunately not many games like that exist, but as far as HM goes, Magical Melody is by far my favorite on the consoles. My g/f tends to prefer the DS one Sunshine Islands or Back to Nature Cute (Back to Nature you play as a female, sadly it's only available on PSP afaik).

Most other games that have social aspects like developing relationships are either combat heavy RPGs like Mass Effect or Dragon's Age, or are Visual Novels which by nature are very subdued and don't offer much in the way of gameplay outside of social situations (though some more robust ones do exist).

Adventure games tend to be more focused on delivering their own predefined narrative than letting you interact with people. Finding games in general that don't have combat are fairly difficult outside of puzzle or skill games.

The closest thing I can think of for PSN is actually Terraria which is just a 2D Action Game, the early game is mostly just fighting but eventually you do get a small legion of NPCs attracted to you that you can build individual houses customized to them or just specific rooms in a massive castle. There's a huge crafting element to the game that lets you just build your own home how ever you please, unfortunately until you get those first couple of NPCs in one spot you will be harassed nonstop by enemies while trying to do any of this (The more NPCs you have together the less monsters spawn in that area)

Beyond Good & Evil also has combat but it's very basic one-button approach, it's action is more about stealth and puzzle solving.

Sadly I wish there was more I could recommend but ultimately unless you stick with Harvest Moon or Sims you will have to do some level of combat in your games, it just depends on how much. Consoles in general offer little selection for niche games like this. PC or Handhelds is your best bet.

You're correct. I've played harvest moon in the past, and am wanting something to help fill the gaming niche, and preferrably do so playing a female character.
Honestly, I put money on my psn account not realizing the game I wanted to get with that money, Beyond Two Souls, is disc only, so 'm kinda sitting on 60 dollars in my account, and a strong desire to put it to good use. Right now it feels like finding a game that meets my stipulations, and do that some time in october so I can make use of the 10 dollars back for spending 50 deal.

And you're right, there's an extreme drought of games that fit my criteria on consoles, especially the PS3.
I'm looking at Atelier Ayesha, but that time limit's killing me. I just wanna mess around forever. If it wasn't for the time limit 'd get it. Time limits drive me crazy! X(
Rune Factory seems like it'd work, but I read I have to beat the game as a guy first which just rubs me the wrong way as I'll likely experience all there is as him, then have little new to do in the game as the female character. And I have no idea how long it'll take to beat the game.

I don't mind combat, so long as it's not the driving force in the game. Honestly, I just wanna sandbox in an HM styled world on PS3 without having a time limit hanging over my head, play as a female character, and I don't wanna end up fighting most of the time.

It's not that I'm only going after the ps3 games listed, mind you, I'm certainly wanting variety, and will look into other consoles, but PS3 just feels more pressing atm as I've already invested.

In the time of posting this, and racking my brain, I settled on Rune Factory Tides of Destiny. I'm sure the game will be compelling enough to see me through, and I can prolly dodge a lot of content until I can play as the girl.

I still have money left in my account, and some income so I can work on more games to help fill the void in my library. Hopefully something will come up, or be suggested!

After thoroughly scanning through the PSN, I can't say I found anything that hasn't been mentioned. I think Rune Factory, Beyond Good & Evil, and Legend of Mana are probably your best bets for Playstation though they all are a bit off from what you really want. Sadly you're right in that all the Harvest Moon games you can only play as a boy, which is very unfortunate since Back to Nature and A Wonderful Life DO have alternate versions where you play as a girl (they just didn't bother to port them). Most of the other games where you play as a female are combat heavy sidescrollers or fighting games, action adventure games like Tomb Raider, or just Sandbox RPGs where you can make your own character.

For Sandbox the best game would be Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning, again it's a game with combat in it, but you can make your character and spend a lot of time between fighting upgrading her and talking with people, but if Skyrim didn't offer what you wanted I can't say this one will either.

So that's all I really can suggest for that console unfortunately. Being a guy it never really occurred to me how little there was to offer female players who prefer immerse content that isn't combat heavy. Harvest Moon, Innocent Life, even River King all have male protagonists it seems.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

After thoroughly scanning through the PSN, I can't say I found anything that hasn't been mentioned. I think Rune Factory, Beyond Good & Evil, and Legend of Mana are probably your best bets for Playstation though they all are a bit off from what you really want. Sadly you're right in that all the Harvest Moon games you can only play as a boy, which is very unfortunate since Back to Nature and A Wonderful Life DO have alternate versions where you play as a girl (they just didn't bother to port them). Most of the other games where you play as a female are combat heavy sidescrollers or fighting games, action adventure games like Tomb Raider, or just Sandbox RPGs where you can make your own character.

For Sandbox the best game would be Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning, again it's a game with combat in it, but you can make your character and spend a lot of time between fighting upgrading her and talking with people, but if Skyrim didn't offer what you wanted I can't say this one will either.

So that's all I really can suggest for that console unfortunately. Being a guy it never really occurred to me how little there was to offer female players who prefer immerse content that isn't combat heavy. Harvest Moon, Innocent Life, even River King all have male protagonists it seems.

Yeah, the ports of the guy only harvest moons really annoyed me due to ignoring the girl versions. X( There's Boy/Girl but it's handheld, of course. It's like being stranded out in te middle of the ocean with no supplies. So much water, yet not a drop to drink.