Gamertell

Title: Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness
Price: TBA
System(s): Nintendo DS
Release Date: TBA 2008
Publisher (Developer): Natsume (Marvelous Interactive Inc.)
ESRB Rating: TBA
Pros: Tons of villagers, rice is once again a crop, farming gets more in-depth and players have the option to play as a boy or girl.
Cons: The music grates on the ears. Some notes only dogs can hear.

Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness will be the best portable Harvest Moon. It not only revisits all of the Harvest Moon gameplay aspects fans have come to love, but finds a way to add even more down-home goodness. Kudos to Marvelous Interactive and Natsume for making such a quality game. I am glad to have had the pleasure of playing the Japanese version.

HM: Island of Happiness for the DS doesn’t begin in the traditional manner. The player, who can choose to be a boy or girl, is on a ship taking a trip when a storm destroys it. The player ends up on a deserted island with a family of four and a merchant and his son. They decide to make the island their home, and the player is charged with being the food/revenue producing farmer.

Farming is totally different in HM: Island of Happiness. There are different weather conditions each day, and certain crops do better in certain conditions. Also you don’t have to water every day, as some only need water every two days. Rice also is available as a crop (you plant it in spring and harvest in fall) and once again mushrooms and orchards can be grown.

The village life is revitalized as well. The town starts with only six villagers. As you reach certain farming milestones, more people come to live there. While there are a set number of characters with portraits and actual parts in the ‘story’, the island can grow to be home to 100 people.

The method of acquiring animals is tweaked as well. You aren’t just ‘given’ a dog and horse. First you need to befriend certain townspeople, then they will bring you the animals or the event will occur. Also the dog and horse must be fed. The touch screen petting game from Harvest Moon DS has been retooled as well, and now when the animal feels like it you can pet it for a love boost.

Probably the most drastic change is in the control system. All movement, menu selections and rucksack sorting is controlled with the stylus. The directional pad (or action buttons if you’re left-handed) serve to activate and use one of the four tools or items assigned to it. Initially this may seem complicated, but after 15 minutes becomes more comfortable than previous control schemes. Don’t worry if you’re left-handed, there is an option to adjust the controls to make them more comfortable for you.

HM: Island of Happiness also looks amazing. Instead of looking like a GBA title (ahem: Harvest Moon DS), it is perfectly tailored for the DS. It reminds me a bit of an Animal Crossing-Harvest Moon hybrid. Plus there is such attention to detail, like in summer you can even see cicadas on some trees.

But don’t all go placing preorders for Harvest Moon 2 at GameStop. The Harvest Moon 2 in their systems is most likely Harvest Moon DS: Cute, the girl’s version of Harvest Moon DS. Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness probably won’t be out until Fall, 2008.

Read [IGN] Site [Bokujou Monogatari: Kimi to Sodatsu Shima]