Harvest Moon: Magical Melody returns to the concept of the original Harvest Moon game, excluding much of the newer features brought into later titles.

Returning to the game are full 30 day seasons, festivals, and the top-down look of the originals. Also a first for the Harvest Moon series, play as either a male or a female (note: there is only a male character in the European/PAL version!) and choose from numerous spouses to marry. Other new features include buying land, placing furniture in the player's house, and numerous other things. Multiplayer mini-games are also available to unlock, to play with friends and family.

Another feature is the rival system, where an opponent also tries to save the Harvest Goddess, win prizes in festivals, and be the one who ships most items on a daily basis. In the English version, the player may eventually even marry their rival, but this ends the game. Next to finding a spouse, the second major quest is saving the goddess. To do so, the player needs to reach goals to gather musical notes, to form the titular magic melody.