Some of you may perhaps recall my recent rant on the subject of PC gaming and my personal disillusionment with it, and also my purchase of a second hand, faintly crusty PS2 along with a stack o'games. Unfortunately, there was something I failed to take into account when making the move from PC to console: me. You see, from the criticism PC RPGs usually accrue, it has become increasingly apparent that, with their turn based or otherwise non reflex demanding combat and point and click control interfaces, they are designed for people who suck at computer games. Unfortunately, Japanese RPGs aside, console games aren't. And although my friend have valiantly attempted to train me up (if only there were montages in real life) it seems I have the reflexes of a 80 year old crack whore with no hands. So having spent several weeks crashing my car into walls, falling off ledges and getting repeatedly shot and beaten up, occasionally even by passers by in Grand Theft Auto, I decided it was time for something new.

So I got hold of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. This is bizarre, charming little game is perhaps best described as a "farm simulator." Or, if you prefer, an RPG in which the role you play is "a nice young man from the city who has inherited a farm." Apparently, Harvest Moon is an enormously popular and long-running series of, err, farm simulators but I came to it completely new and clueless. The game kicks off by filling in your background for you: despite looking about 12, you work in the city (I decided in investment banking), but then your father dies (we'd drifted apart, oh the tragedy) and leaves you the farm he bought with his best friend many years ago, offering you the chance to fulfil the dream he never could. All say awwww.

Your farm - which you can name - is a small but promising piece of land on the outskirts of Forget-Me-Not-Village. You start the game with a small amount of cash, a cow (which you can name), a puppy (which you can... well you get the idea, it's the sort of game in which you can name everything), your father's best friend to guide you and a handful of seeds to plant. Your goal is make your farm flourish, which for the most part revolves around a daily routine of planting crops, watering crops, harvesting crops and looking after your animals by making sure they have plenty of food and hugs. Yes. That's right. Every morning, you should start the day by hugging your cow(s) because happy cows produce better quality milk. Somebody should really tell the government. You can also visit the village, buy and sell stuff, indulge in a spot of fishing ... or spend all afternoon in the local pub if you want. As your cash accumulates you can buy new crops and animals (including chickens, sheepses and a completely pointless but oddly endearing goat who produces poor quality milk for a short space of time and then basically bungs up space in your barn), and if you're feeling brave you can even try a bit of crop splicing to produce new dodgy new plants which probably ought to be illegal.

But the thing about Harvest Moon is that it comes very very close to being boring and, to be honest, it ought to be boring but somehow it isn't. I found playing it required quite a significant adjustment on my part as to what I was looking for from playing a game. I think I usually play games to relax and also to stimulate myself (no, not in a sex way). I mean, there's no better way to shrug off a long day than losing yourself in an alternative reality of epic struggles between good and evil or, you know, mindless violence on the streets of San Andreas. Harvest Moon, however, involves planting tomatoes and cuddling chickens. It's not exactly bursting at the seams with adrenaline-pumpin' action, if you know what I mean. Unless you're unhealthily into chickens or something.

And at first, I have to admit, I struggled. Your character does everything as if he doesn't have a care in the world (which, actually, he doesn't) by which I mean: very very slowly. From hugging a cow, to watering a crop, to walking from one end of the village to the other, your character meanders, dawdles and generally takes his own sweet time. Initially this infuriated me. I had crops to buy. People to see. Cows to hug. Goddamn it. But then I realised I was missing the point. So when I walked to the neighbouring farm, I took to watching the horizon, the clouds scudding joyfully across a clear blue sky, the gradually fading gold of the rising sun, and the lengthening shadows as the day progressed. I took time out to wander amidst the wild flowers, occasionally stopping to pick a pretty one so I could present it to my sweetheart. I really began to pay attention to the world around me and the changing seasons, the movements of the other villagers, the breeze rippling through the long grass, the different sorts of flowers and before I knew it was I was completely engrossed. Not in the usual computer game way, caught in a cycle of addiction, frustration, adrenaline and eventual pay off, but comfortably content in my slow-moving little world. It was ... relaxing and gratifying and satisfying and quite unlike any other computer game experience I've ever had.

There's more to Harvest Moon than cow-hugging, however. You also get to pick a wife from the nubile youth of Forget-Me-Not and, I hear, raise a child with her in later chapters but I'm still saving up for another cow and I'm not quite ready for the commitment. There's Celia, a sweet, smiling long-haired farm girl type. There's Muffy, the blonde barmaid I secretly suspect is a bit of a slut. Lumina is a shy orphan and lives all alone in a mansion on the edge of town. And finally there's Nami, a red-haired tomboy who's something of a loner. I'm steadily wooing Cecila on the assumption that she'll make a good wife and, since she dreams of having a farm of her own, be the happiest with the simple homelife I'm likely to offer her. As you can tell, I'm taking it all rather too seriously.

The other thing about A Wonderful Life is that you're probably receptive to it or not; I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoy playing it, although this can't really count as a proper review because I've only had my farm for less than a year and my life might get considerably less wonderful as time progresses and I find myself burdened down with familial responsibilities and too many useless goats. Computer games are, to some extent, about fulfilling fantasies. If you sat me down and asked me I would be quite happy to admit that I occasionally fantasise about mowing down pedestrians in a fast car or BEING THE GOD OF WAR (or in my case THE GOD OF SPAZZ because I'm really not very good at it) or even saving the world from evil in any kind of generic way; it would never have crossed my mind to say that I'd quite like to have a farm and a pretty smiling wife in a green dress and be a well loved part of my local farming community ... but ... hey it seems I do.

It's hard to judge A Wonderful Life as you might other games. I mean, the graphics are nice but not spectacular although because the game area is so contained the sheer loving attention to detail is certainly arresting. And the gameplay, such as it is, involves walking slowly about an imaginary landscape (or later, trotting around it on your horse) and performing repetitive tasks equally slowly. It doesn't feel like grind but nor does it really feel like gameplay; on the other hand, once you get into the spirit of it, it's not devoid of fun. It's even pleasantly zen-like. And, if you can get past (or get into) the overwhelming niceness and cuteness of everything and everyone, it's really an incredibly charming experience.

The other thing about A Wonderful Life is that it really deserves credit for being something a little different. I remember some time ago I was talking with one of Dan's old friends and he commented on how frustrating it was to him that, with all the advances in graphics and technology and everything else, most games still consist of essentially hitting people in the face with a wrench. Part of what drew me to Harvest Moon (beyond a desire to indulge a secret girly love of cuteness and the handless crack whore problem I mentioned earlier) was to see if games based on principles other than the wrench-face-repeat formula could work. Perhaps it's not so for everybody but I've discovered that, for me, with a few attitude adjustments and different expectations from what I want from the game, they can.

And, to finish, here is a picture of my cow. Her name is Myrtle Moo