The Blue Fox Alley

Hello everyone, I AM A HM FAN AND A TARD! HOLLER AT COMMENTS IF U HAVE THE GAME!!! WOOT!!

*sigh*, despite the low scores it has because the scores were probably given by people who suck at HM, I decided to pop this game, after playing several versions of HM. I did some research, played it till fall, and decided that it deserves a review.

The amount of time i spent in the game = half the time I am awake in real life… OMG!

Summary on Harvest Moon type games

Choose to be boy or girl

Ever heard of farming in an RPG? All harvest moon games satisfy all players who like farming to a certain extent by giving you a farm. Call it ranch, farm or plantation, its all the same thing. No, I’m serious, its not gold you’re farming but vegetables. The amount of #*&$ing expensive upgrades you can accumulate makes farming even longer. Alas, the greatest satisfaction from this game is the feeling of living in a town, where there are many suitors whom you can date and marry, and in some games, these may be small and simple, but in Island of Happiness, it is slightly more detailed. (*cough*, unlike some harvest moon on the PSP where you can’t romance cuz u’re a robot) Like some HM games, you get to choose to be boy or girl, as shown above. The boy can date the main character girl & vice versa, but it takes a long time to unlock.

Lets start with the bad parts of the game

Graphics

Graphics suck, even by NDS standard, but unless you’re a graphics whore, you shouldn’t care about its low graphics. On the internet, graphic whores are worse than racists, as mentioned in some forums. People are racist against graphics whores, so be quiet if you’re one. What do u expect, HD? Rune Factory does a good graphics version of HM, so get that if you love graphics.

Controls

For the first time, the controls for HM, sucks, but it doesn’t once you get used to it. I was feeling horrid when I first touched it but I love it so much now. Now, don’t be a control freak, learn to adapt. Control freaks are not welcomed in the BFA except for the Sojourner.

Replayability

Will you watch Dark Knight ten times(i watched it twice)? No, so this isn’t an issue. With the option to play the game as a boy and a girl, you can play it twice. Twice is good. Not an issue. Don’t be a replay retard. Get a life! Playing harvest moon shows that you don’t have a life. Playing it more than twice… is unforgivable

Sequel

Sadly, the sequel of the game is much better, but only available in MOON RUNES. Unless you can read moon runes, this game will last you, for at least 1-2 years, until the sequel comes out in English. It is titled: Shining Sun and Friends. From my experience, the sequel will take a LOOONG time to be released.

Aha! Now that the great P-Meister has very justly justified the weakness of the game, tis’ time to move to the

GOOOOOOOD PARTS!!

The crops don't look THAT ugly, he must be planting trees

Farming

In this version of HM, farming is absolute, especially at the start. Worst thing is, the start is quite hard and the learning curve is rather tough. This in a good way adds some challenge, unlike other HM games where time>skill. This game increases the skill level and thus is more enjoyable. Tip: Eat every seaweed and coloured grass and not sell them. You’ll hit the end of the game this way.

Farming is also more realistic in this version because of the importance of weather effects. SUN is the most important thing in farming. Too much and your crops die. Too little and your crops don’t grow. On the contrary, whilst you can control how much water your crops receive, a series of rainy days can spell death for your beloved turnips.

The extent of farming is expressed in a different way, grinding. For those who are not satisfied with the field. with 255 levels of mining to do, there is no way you can finish grinding your way to satisfaction. With gems and ores and special items to make equipment that enhance your abilities on the farm, mining is the path to successful farming. Yes, replayability sucks, but… the game never ends, so you’ll never ever need to replay the game ever again. Period.

Animals

Got milk?

Animal rearing can also be quite fun, items like yogurt and eggs require animals to produce. These items are great for the hot babe Julia, which 99% of the board members at gamefaqs are aiming to marry. If you’re hungry or worn out, these can feed you as well. I’ll talk a little more about these items in a bit.

Besides cows, sheep and chickens, you can also fish (but not keep them in aquariums). Fishing big fishes is not only profitable, but fun as well. You never know if you’ll fish up treasure or a 2m giant fish, or… a boot. Fishing enough also unlocks potential marriage candidates for the game as well. An uber cute girl.

Shearing Wool

With fishing competition, cow competition and even egg and wool competitions(i think), it is fun to explore the rearing part of the game.

Upgrading and storyline

Upgrading is necessary for the storyline to continue. Upgrading is the only way you can have a house big enough to fit your family and your child. In addition, you get to unlock even more bachelors and bachelorettes to take home to hump. Of course, since it is rated E, you can only take home one guy/girl and you get to hump once but not see it. The child will just appear magically one day… awww.

The initial storyline is rather shallow and can be summarised simply as: You sail out to seek a new life, in a storm, your ship was wrecked and you and some people arrive on an island. The island is inhabited and you guys decided to start a new life there. You, as the poor sucker, get to be the farmer and u have to farm and grind millions of gold before you get to marry your babe.

Good thing is, the story is made by you, the player, and it is fun to see how the story develops according to the way you play. A huge part of this lies in romance.

Relationships and romance

Relationships are the most important parts of the game. Increasing your relationship can help you unlock some things in the game, such as a dog and a horse for your farm. However, thats not all, relationships with your sex target is the greatest part of the game. If you’re slow on your target, rival events may occur. If you haven’t reached a certain heart level, you get to see a ‘romantic’ scene, total of 16(20 if you count marriage). There are four scenes for each girl /guyand there are 4 girls/guys who have potential rivals. There are 6 girls/guys you can possibly marry though. No, you can’t be gay/lesbian.

Thankfully, I'm not after Natalie.

If you accidentally let your target get to a certain heart level with your rival, they will marry. Dang dang dang dang! Its over. You on the other hand can experience different events at different heart levels. There can be many variations on the events you see with the partner, with a total of 8 different variants but you get to see only 4 of them, so make the best choices. Perfect experience for the losers who can’t experience it in real life. Suitable for the boys and girls.

A scene of her being surprised that you noticed her new haircut.

Gifts you give to the girls can be something you picked up from the floor or made from the farm. No, during their time, there’s no shortcut to Tescos or Carrefour or Megamart and whatever, thus no easy way to get the items they like. Girls in the game are happy with a flower. Girls in real life aren’t satisfied with even a dozen. Some even want 999 roses. Sometimes I wonder why I haven’t married my DS yet. I haven’t bought my gf’s bday present which is coming in 2 weeks, but i am giving Julia gifts everyday. Guess what, she loves the eggs from my farm. I bought 15 eggs for my gf because her kitchen has ran out and I didn’t even get a word of thanks. Thankfully I ate some. Oops, I’m getting off topic.

Anyway, their favourite items however sometimes need special attention, such as yogurt(don’t think dirty, please…) for Julia. Compared to other items she likes, the yogurt produces a different response. Damn, I know what you perverts are thinking, creamy white yogurt…

I found a new source of milk!

Anyway, there’s much more to explore in relationships, but i will cover some under events and the rest, for you to explore yourselves.

Events

In HM:IoH, unlike other HMs, not all the events can be won in the first year. The only one i managed to win was the crop festival, because I like to farm and I brought a huge eggplant to the festival. No, not THAT eggplant, dirty minded people. Either eggplants, I’ll still win anyway.

The events however are very rewarding. Some are competitive, some are not. An example is the Harvest festival, where there is a pot luck and everyone just dumps something in. You can dump something that you think is nice and edible, or something that is poisonous like a toadstool. It affects the relationships you have with people. The toadstool will of course decrease your relationship with everyone, but increase that of the Witch Princess, if you’re dating her. She’s quite a hottie, imho.

Witch Princess

WIFI

I haven’t really explored this part of the game but I think its possible to voice chat like a telephone and compare ranks with people online. It is optional however and not necessary to play the game.

Conclusion

The thing about HM games is: you either like it or you don’t. If you have played previous versions of HM and you love farming, then its good for you. Else, its worth a try, if you don’t like it, then you lack the gift of appreciation, that only the wisest would have. If you prefer some sword action + farming, wait up for HM:Runefactory 2, which will be out in English in a few months time. If you are a loser who is desperate for a relationship, this is the best game to ever have. If you got the preorder, u get to get a plushie of a cow, chicken, sheep or dog. Too bad u can only get it in ebay now. Sucks that I don’t have it!

Credits: Pictures from Gamefaqs.com and Fogu.com: Ushi No Tane

Sorry gals that i didn’t cover the male candidates enough, but this is the guy 99% of the people at gamefaq boards are after, and he has a bad ass attitude like Rukawa/Sasuke.

A picture of the female player and him playing with dogs.