Harvest Moon: A New Beginning Gives You Complete Control - Preview
by Karl Koebke , posted on 09 June 2012 / 5,687 Views
Harvest Moon is one of those odd franchises that has been around forever but rarely seems to change much. Harvest Moon on the 3DS looks to change that perception. It's tough to totally reinvent a series built around specific mechanics like farming and dating, but Natsume has made a couple of additions that should give fans even more freedom and stuff to do.
There are 5 bachelors and 5 bachelorettes this time around for your eventual wooing and lovey-dovey activities. Additions to the tried and true gameplay mechanics include mining making it's return, as well as some new animals in the form of llamas and yaks. There are customization features for your character, but those looked pretty standard. You can also visit a stylist later in the game to change your appearance again if you feel the need.
Not-so-standard is that at first you only have a choice between a couple of different outfits for your character but if you use your farm to grow textile goods you can give those to a tailor to make you some new clothes. You can also use materials you gather to make other useful things for around the farm, like a fish trap which takes the boredom out of fishing. Instead of just sitting there waiting for fish you can set a trap and then go about your business and check it later. It may sound minimal but it's a change I find particularly heartening.
Not everything you can make is as simple as a fish trap though. You can build extensions and accessories for your farm, like a fountain to refill your watering can in. Once you have the necessary materials and build what you want you can go into a blueprint mode to put the fountain wherever you want. What's great about blueprint mode, though, is that it isn't just limited to small changes. While in this mode you can pick up and move your entire field to wherever you want. You can even change the configuration of the whole town. Find yourself visiting one shop in particular over and over again? Blueprint mode allows you to move that shop right next to your house for easy access. It's an unprecedented amount of control for the genre.
This entry looks to be making some significant changes to the formula without going crazy and turning away fans. Anyone who has been thinking that their 3DS needs more crops and dirt should keep an eye out for its release later this year.
