As I said earlier in the thread, just be aware that it's a long game. However, if you like Harvest Moon I think you'll really like this version of the game. The characters in FoMT are better and seem more like people from a farming village, IMO. I have to finish it before being able to make a legit comparison. I don't know if I'd put this game on a level with FoMT. The requests are totally optional and can be ignored, but as you fulfill more and level up, you'll find the rewards are much more valuable. Like if you can find two blueberries for Laney's recipe in the next four days, she'll give you 200G and a can of food for your pet. Villagers post requests on the town message board, and you get a reward for completing them. You can earn a lot of money selling the items you find on the mountain. IMO, foraging is a much bigger part of this game than any other HM. I think there are about 60 types of bugs, but don't hold me to that. As for Animal Crossing stuff, there is bug catching. And you earn titles and level-ups as you catch more fish. When you catch a fish, it tells you how big the fish is and whether it's a new record. At any time, you can check your notebook to see that you've caught 16 carp, for example. The game tracks every fish you've caught. Huge advantage over the DS version, in my opinion.įishing is indeed in the game, and it's there from day one. Your character controls with the D-pad or circle pad, though I've found the circle pad to be much more comfortable for nearly every task. I keep the stylus in my hand pretty much the whole time I'm playing, though it's only used on menu screens. The stylus can be thrown away if you prefer, though it's much better than buttons for certain operations, such as moving items from your rucksack to the shipping bin. I'll jump in here to take ScruffyYoshi's question. Occasionally items protrude far beyond what they should, and if you're after any sort of comfortable viewing you'll play exclusively in 2D mode. There's no coherence to the world, and what should be behind your character often appears in front, or vice versa. Most telling is that this is basically a 3D-enabled version of Harvest Moon DS: The Tale of Two Towns: while the 3DS release benefits from a wider viewing area on the top screen and a sprinkling of StreetPass item-swapping, the 3D effect is disappointing. There's also an online mode that lets you and three faraway friends visit a special online field to harvest crops, but it's limited and unsatisfying. These are extremely simplistic fetch quests but earn you money and impress the villagers, and can also lead to new tools, so you'll find yourself doing them whether you enjoy them or not. You can only save when you go to sleep, so you have to play a day to its completion before you can record your progress, and a new noticeboard system gives you the chance to do favours for villagers. There are other important features to note, though. Upcoming release Harvest Moon: A New Beginning looks to be just that a more ambitious refresh of the basics instead of another tread over the same ground.
If you've played a previous game in the series you'll be right at home, and that's either a comfort or a concern after nearly 20 years.
While the North American version had widely reported glitches with the petting game, we encountered none in our playtime with the European release.Ī split in towns is really the biggest upheaval to the HM formula here it's still a case of tilling and tending, slowly building up your assets and wooing a romantic interest. There are other, more nuanced changes: agricultural fans can now till irrigation trenches that let you water a row of crops with just one tip of the watering can, while ranchers have a petting mini-game to raise their livestock's friendliness. The differences between the towns and their respective farms aren't vast at first, but as your plot grows you unlock town-specific tools and areas, so if you know you want to concentrate on crops or animals pick one town and stick with it.