Gaming Generations :: Harvest Moon DS

NeedsMoreZazz · Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 10:42 pm Post subject: Harvest Moon DS

Developer: Marvelous Interactive
Distributer: Natsume
Release Date: 9/12/2006
Genre: Simulation
ESRB Rating: Everyone

The world's best farming RPG returns for the Nintendo DS
Thats right, farming RPG

Graphics
The graphics in this game are substandard. The Nintendo DS is considerably more powerful than the Game Boy Advance, yet the graphics are almost unchanged between the two games. Not only that, but there is a scene in the game where you produce a giant version of one of your crops and the thing is just a blown up version of the regular one. It's so badly pixelized you can barely tell what it is and just looks awful.

Plot
The Harvest Witch has accidentally turned the Harvest Goddess to stone and all the Harvest sprites have been locked away! It's your job to rescue the goddess, make some money and get the girl the only way you know how. Farming.

Setting
Forget-Me-Not-Valley, a small rural town in which your tiny farm is located. The town is comprised of a few older people and a handful of cute single girls, as well as an equal number of single guys.

Gameplay
The game primarily consists of taking care of you crops and animals, collecting wood and stone, fishing and hitting on girls. Days progress very quickly and if you spend a lot of time farming, it's very easy to waste away your entire day brushing sheep and watering plants. Luckily, there is no time limit on the game itself so you can take as much time as you want to building your farm, wooing a variety of stereotypical cute girls, raising cash or exploring the mines. Basically the game is one huge time waster with a number of goals to grind towards.

Sound
Nothing spectacular here. Simple sound effects and music usually befitting of the setting, season and time of day.

Summary
Despite the games simplicity and the fact that it's more or less just a way to waste time, it's actually quite a bit of fun. The most important thing I learned was to take your time. Don't try to raise chickens, level your fishing, get married and explore the mines at the same time. You just dont' have the time or stamina. Pick one or two things and work at it. Who cares if it takes you 20 years to rescue the goddess. You don't age. The biggest frustrations on the game are how it artificially slows you down. You can only buy one new item for your home a week. The other problem is storms. In summer you get thunderstorms and in winter you get blizzards. Realistic eh? yeah well, these storms wreck your stuff. Destroying trees and knockin over your sheds. There is nothing like spending seasons building up your wood or stone to buy a new chicken coop, then having it blow down one winter and force you to start over. Luckily, if you save your game every night before bed, you can check the weather forcast when you get up, if it predicts storms, reset the game and try again. The weather is randomly determined each night when you sleep.

Graphics: 5/10
Sound: 7/10
Control: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Replay: 5/10
Overall: 7.5/10