Nintendo DS - Harvest Moon DS

Format
Nintendo DS
Publisher
Natsume
Developer
Marvelous
Country of origin
Japan
Genre
RPG

First Look at Harvest Moon DS

By David Rasmussen
3rd Sep 06

The time of the GameCube is almost done. What with the coming arrival of the Nintendo Wii (the next gen console formerly known as the Revolution) it seems Nintendo is slowly preparing for the departure of an old friend. And, by default, we too have to prepare for the departure though it seems most of us have already said our farewells, what with the GameCube sucking so badly as it does now in terms of fan “loyalty” with only a few die hards still buying GameCube games.
Even with runaway hits like Resident Evil 4 out on the GameCube, Nintendo just couldn’t shake the stigma that surrounded their little “lunchbox” console, which is why it has finally come to this.

But for players of the Nintendo DS that time isn’t coming anytime soon, what with the DS being the next gen of gaming handhelds (alongside it’s counterpart the PSP from Sony). And, yes, that means eventually it would enter the Harvest Moon franchise and have it’s own Harvest Moon (as did the GameBoy, GameBoy Advance and GameCube before it). And thus, as the GameCube greets the final Harvest Moon of the present console system, so too does the DS greet Harvest Moon… only this time it’s being greeted as the first Harvest Moon of the next gen handheld system, Harvest Moon DS for the Nintendo DS.

Beating out it’s PSP rival by a few months (and their release of presently rumored to be titled Harvest Moon : Boy & Girl slated for later this year), the Nintendo DS becomes the first to embrace the Harvest Moon franchise with it’s take on the series… as to whether or not this will excel like (More) Friends of Mineral Town from the GBA remains to be seen.

When you have a good premise you sometimes tend to overwork it, just look at Grand Theft Auto and it’s many clone incarnations if you doubt that sentiment! But, in this case, the concept being replicated is the 100 notes thing from Magical Melody, only this time you are not as much finding notes for a magical melody as you are looking for wayward Harvest Sprites.

Returning to Forget-Me-Not Valley (Harvest Moon : A(nother) Wonderful Life), you find that a new resident named “The Witch Princess” has moved in. This “Witch Princess” seems to be a nasty troublemaker, playing pranks on people for no good reason. Well, one day her pranks go too far and before you can scream lawsuit it looks like she has accidentally made all the magic of Forget-Me-Not Valley vanish, along with it’s 101 resident Harvest Sprites (ala Magical Melody).
However this is abit more useful than finding the magical notes in Magical Melody, as finding certain Sprites will yield helpers for your farm (which didn’t happen with Magical Melody as the Sprites were useless there), while others will be of assistance in unlocking mini games and provide important information for you (again proving to be more useful than in Magical Melody).

Of course the meat and potatoes of the DS version, as with any Harvest Moon, is the usually lock, stock and barrel gameplay of farming, animal raising, and getting married. Sorry, this time out you’ll be the male character only (whose Japanese character name is supposed to be “Jack”) so there’ll be no option to pick male or female (ala Magical Melody).

There isn’t much known at this time about the upcoming game, but this much is known.
1-You find the same stock of animals from Wonderful Life here, in the form of cows, sheeps, chickens and ducks (though there is no goats here which is good).

2-The game promises (as all Harvest Moon games promise) a variety of crops and trees to grow, which is the usual but nice if it delivers. Here, however, the main focus of interest shouldn’t be what you’re growing as to how you work it… I.e. whether or not the stylus function will be used to make planting, watering and harvesting an easier chore or not.

3-The promise of new Festivals has been made, but considering that Festivals for the most part follow the same formula game after game I have to wonder what this game considers as “new” festivals. Though it is probably going to go without saying that the staple festivals like the animal competition festivals and certain festivals that emphasis group activity will probably return (as well as those which are primarily used to push forward any relationships between the player and the girl you are presently wooing).

4-Housing and probably farm extensions make their return ala Harvest Moon : (More) Friends of Mineral Town (most likely). That means, of course, the endless vicious circle of wood gathering or purchasing slash money acquiring to make upgrades.

5-Similar to Magical Melody, HMDS features unlockable mini games (this time unlocked seemingly through the saving of Harvest Sprites as opposed to the attending of festivals (and the meeting of certain requirements for certain festivals).

6-By inserting copies of Harvest Moon : Friends of Mineral Town or More Friends of Mineral Town into the GBA slot of your DS you’ll be able to unlock more secrets of Harvest Moon DS.

For a new gen port of a classic series this is looking to have quite a few potential, just as long as it doesn’t waste said potential with useless activities and inferior interfaces that weight the game down. Also the game needs to hold onto the present freeform gameplay of Magical Melody if it is going to keep playing, farming, ranching, fishing and mining for hours on end.

Only Harvest Moon DS’ full review will either confirm my hopes, or bring forth my worst fears, and that’s happening in a few weeks… stay tuned for my full review of the game in the coming days.

-- David Rasmussen 3rd Sep 06

Nintendo DS Harvest Moon DS Images