The newest Harvest Moon brings back a familiar pattern that may be boring for long time fans, but is great for new players
The Bazaar that You Built
Like most other Harvest Moon games, you start off as a stranger in a strange town. The mayor gives you a ranch to work on. This ranch used to belong to someone who had already passed away. In return for getting the ranch, you are also tasked with boosting the town's bazaar and making it the best in the country.
The weekly bazaar is the main focus of the game and is where most of the fun is as well. You will get a sales target that you need to hit and you also need to answer the questions of your out-of-town customers in order to improve relationships. You get a stall in the middle of the bazaar and can expand it over time.
You can sell anything you like at the bazaar, even old boots! Most likely you'll take things that you grow, like grapes to sell. Processing these things (turning grapes to wine for example) will increase your profits. There is a lot to try out and discover here, which will certainly keep you busy. Once you get good at this, however, hitting your sales target can get a bit easy and repetitive.
The House that Someone Else Built
When you first get your ranch, a lot of stuff is already done for you: animal pens are already made, your house is done, and the farm is clear of weed and stones. Older fans may feel robbed of an experience but new players may be glad that these things are out of the way.
Fishing and Bug Catching is still in the game, but mining is gone. Time moves at a really annoying rate and doesn't stop, even when you are organizing your bag. Also, you can only save once a day, so you should not play the game unless you are sure that you can do everything you want to do.
Overall, long time fans of the game may be disappointed at this bland entry to the Harvest Moon series. However, newer players may discover their love for Harvest Moon thanks to this simpler version of the game.
Rating:
Price: $29.99
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
