If you are a fan of Harvest Moon, you already know exactly what to expect from the latest iteration of the blockbuster farming sim series. Even before you start the game, you know you'll have to build a farm, raise some livestock, find a nice girl (or guy) to settle down with, and save the world through agriculture. It's a familiar setup to be sure, but it's also one that has enchanted fans for more than a decade. So what exactly can we say about Harvest Moon: A Tale of Two Towns that hasn't been said before? Well, quite a bit actually.
The game starts off with a simple premise: The neighboring lands of Konohana and Bluebell were the best of friends until a fight broke out over the cooking skill of each country. Neither could concede that the other had a unique style of cooking, so, naturally, a feud was born that would last for centuries. In the Harvest Moon tradition, your character will be able to unite them with impressive farming and some diplomatic culinary skill.You can begin the game as a resident of either town. If you choose to reside in Konohana, you'll get a bigger plot of land to farm. However, if you prefer raising sheep to crops, Bluebell will be more your style, as you'll have a fully-stocked barn when you start. However, that's where the differences end. No matter which town you choose to reside in, you'll have the same goal: end the feud.
Of course, doing this won't be easy, and you'll have to do a lot of farming to do before everyone will come around. It seems there will be less of a supernatural element in this iteration of Harvest Moon. It's a bit of a relief, actually, as the Forest spirit storylines were getting a little old.
Aside from the new storyline, there's not going to be much different about Tale of Two Towns. In addition to chores, you'll have various neighborly quests you can take on via a community bulletin board, and you can always embark on a personal dating quest or two. The game will also feature regular "holidays" where you can meet people and participate in minigame challenges if you so desire. Like Harvest Moon games before it, The Tale of Two towns will give you the freedom to play as you see fit, which is always a good thing.
We recently got to test drive the 3DS version of the game, and the 3D effect did bring some freshness to the Harvest Moon formula. Trees and structures popped out from the background, and peering into the world of Harvest Moon felt like looking into a pop-up storybook. Though the 3D effect was far from dramatic, it was actually refreshing to see a 3DS game that didn't rely on "gimmicky" 3D shots and just let the game's environment speak for itself.
In addition to the 3D visuals, the 3DS version will also have exclusive content not available in the regular DS version. This includes a StreetPass mode that will let you share crops with people you meet as well as an exclusive "petting" minigame. The StreetPass mode sounds pretty cool (crops are expensive, why not get them for free?) but we didn't hear much about the minigame mode.
Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns isn't going to break the Harvest Moon mold. In fact, it is going to be the same Harvest Moon game that we've always played. The 3DS version is going to have some new features, but it's not going to be a totally new experience. As a Harvest Moon fan myself, I don't know if we can expect anything else. I can count all the farming sims I know on one hand, and the Harvest Moon series has always been the cream of the crop (pun intended). So if you've been just dying to get your agriculture on, Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns will be in stores this September, just in time for the fall harvest.
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