If you were born in the 80s or early 90s, you are probably familiar with Harvest Moon game series that started from SNES. It was one of the most epic farming role-playing sim game ever created with its simplicity and cute 2D characters. The game was so well-received, Natsume produced a couple more variations out of the first original game.

I, for one, am a big fan of Harvest Moon, especially from back in the day, when GBA was still around. Even though the Harvest Moon series has developed a lot throughout the years, it was still hard to find the one that would equal the classic Harvest Moon.

Harvest Moon: Island Of Happiness seems to be promising as it still retains the original game plot (you farm, you sell your crops, you make money and yadda, yadda, yadda. Trust me, it is fun.), but there are some slight differences with its predecessor. The characters are a whole lot cuter (3D), the plot got more complicated (This depends on each player. I honestly love the past game because of its simplicity but this one poses some challenges which is kind of interesting once you get the hang of the game), and there’s an absolute alteration in game control and many others.

The series starts with your character (you can choose to be a male or a female; the older version doesn’t have that) boarding a ship to go to an island to start a new life. The ship was struck by a terrible thunderstorm in the middle of the journey and the next morning you found yourself stranded by a beach on a deserted island (cliché, huh?). Turned out, you weren’t the only passengers stranded on the island as there was Taro (and old farmer) and his family (that will eventually help you with shipping) that would help you get on your feet as a farmer on the new island

What started out as a deserted island soon became a buzzing little settlement as you unlock more characters throughout the game. Much like the previous series, you will be able to woo a bachelor/bachelorette, get married and have kids.

The character development in Island Of Happiness is much more diverse and generally, it would be a real pain in getting to know what they love, like, hate and absolutely despised.  In the previous game, you could give a person weeds everyday and they will come to love you in the end (yeah, no kidding) but not in Island of Happiness. Giving gifts that the person loves would help speed up your relationship with the person and giving stuff that they hate would reduce your friendship points with them, so you have got to be careful and plan your game.

Everything about Island Of Happiness seems to hit the jackpot if not for the very infuriating game control which is fully touch screen control. You’ll be fine once you get the hang of it but most casual gamers gave up on the game because of it. Honestly, who wants to hold their Nintendo DS using one hand for five or more hours straight? Also, imagine having to tap the gazillions weeds, crops, branches and random stuff to execute an action (pick it up, throw it away, and etc). The stupid thing that I still can’t get over was the very minimal usage of D-pad on the Nintendo console. It is typically just there so that you could execute action using tools and controlling the four items you’ve put there. You’ll know what I am talking about once you try the game though. I don’t like the control system… at all. It was very praise-worthy for the game developer to make full use of the touch screen but it isn’t suitable for such game like Harvest Moon.

One other irritating aspect of the game is your character’s stamina and fullness meter at the left hand side of the screen. There are ways to improve your stamina but it also proves to be a real chore. Your first year in the game would be really hard if you don’t refer to any online forum for help. Oh yeah, the upper screen was not used to its full usage as well. The only thing you’ll be able to see there was the full map of the island (that wasn’t very helpful) that shows the others characters whereabouts on the island (but it doesn’t the specific place). The maps from GBA were a whole lot better since you can specifically see your farm and all the weeds and random stuff growing there.

Natsume seems eager in expanding Harvest Moon playability and appeal to the gaming market but they seem to forget the original charm that attracted gamers to them in the first place. For Island Of Happiness, I would advise you to check out various help site on the game to make it through. You don’t want to be wasting a whole year (game time... XD) to realize in the end that you should have done this and that to progress with the game. Trust me. I’ve been there.

Overall, despite the poorly-made control system, Harvest Moon DS: Island Of Happiness is still a pretty good game. It does not manage to top off the classic version of Harvest Moon but it was still a good effort on Natsume and Marvelous Interactive parts. Those who have been a fan of Harvest Moon game series from the start would not be super impressed but won’t be utterly disappointed as well. This is a game that could do with a little more improvement.

Pros:

-          Retains the original Harvest Moon format.

-          Better game play and more characters.

-          Main character to be played can be a male or a female.

Cons:

-          Worse control ever.

-          Useless map on the upper screen.

-          Character’s stamina and fullness level.