Ah, Harvest Moon. The family-focused crops 'n' cow raising/dating simulation has been a staple of our gaming diet for well over a decade now, with the latest title, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, being specifically built to take advantage of Nintendo's newest handheld, the 3DS. Having launched in both Japan and America last year, the newest entry in the series promises 'a new beginning' for the franchise, with tons more to do, new characters to meet and the ability to customise both your character and town. While the translation into European languages always takes a while, it's recently been announced that we'll be getting our farming fix in just a few weeks' time!
Also new - GIANT crops.
In a similar way to the previous games, the tale begins when your character arrives in a deadbeat town, known as Echo village, to take over an old run-down farm that you've inherited from your parents. Sadly, the little town has seemingly seen better days, as just before you arrive, everyone else decides to up sticks and move to pastures new, leaving the place almost deserted. As the title of the game suggests, it's up to you to give Echo village a "new beginning", turning the struggling hamlet into a nice place to live again, and luring back everyone who left when the economic downturn took hold.
But Echo village isn't the only thing to be having a new beginning - it's been some 15 years since the first Harvest Moon game hit Europe, and over the course of the past few years, some have argued that things had been starting to stray a bit from what a true Harvest Moon game should be about. In order to try and refresh the series a bit, developers Marvellous have added the one thing the farming/life sim has been sorely missing - customisation. Instead of simply choosing between a pre-set boy or girl or two, you can now design your own character, with over a hundred different costumes and accessories to choose from. The customisation doesn't stop at your person either, as you can also create and rearrange your own farm - by picking up buildings or entire fields, carrying them across your land and plonking them down again, like a more cutesy version of the Incredible Hulk.
The heart of the game is still in the farming and building relationships though - you'll still need to water your seeds and feed your animals (including the new yaks), along with somehow finding time to woo, marry and start a family with a number of eligible bachelors or bachelorettes. And when you're not toiling over turnips or courting the cute guy or girl next door, A New Beginning promises a much more extensive world to explore with tropical islands, ancient ruins and snow-topped mountains to discover.
Harvest Moon: A New Beginning hits the 3DS in around three weeks time, on the 20th September - pre-orders are open now, and GAME are offering an exclusive Harvest Moon-themed Hama Bead set as an added bonus. We'd have probably preferred a cuddly yak, but the bead set is a definite improvement on what the UK usually gets as a pre-order gift - absolutely nothing.
