My thoughts on Harvest Moon: Tale of Two towns.

[Juxapose]

On Winter 5, year 2, I have completed the main storyline of Harvest Moon Tale of Two Towns. And the big question I want to answer is: "What do I think of it?"

Lets start from the beginning. Trust me, I wrote tons of notes about my experiences.

When the game started, I picked Konohana to live. When I played the game some time before, i chose to live in bluebell first. Now that I played for some time, I figured out why I never liked Grand Bazaar or my first play of ToTT. The village of bluebell and Grand Bazaar made me feel really uncomfortable. I think it's about the idea that I am living in Japan's idea of how the traditional west works. As soon as I live in Konohana, the Japanese town, I felt so much more comfortable. Now sure why, it's not the game's fault, but it's a personal preference than anything.

The story of the game is pretty stupid. The two villages having cooking contests is not a bad idea, but they only reconcile when you are present. They don't really explain why your presence matters in the healing of centuries of feuding. You're just "The chosen one" for some reason. And why can't the goddess just fix the tunnel, and force you to shell out wood, stone, and money to do it is beyond me.

The gameplay is a little blunt force trauma. There is a long list of annoying features which I already talked about in other topics. But I must say that the game does one thing right. Over time, the inconveniences of the game goes away one by one. Allow me to explain:

Spoiling: Once you understand how the spoiling system works, the feature doesn't bother you. You can still eat spoiled items and eat full stamina from them. Villagers do not want items that are "spoiled" or "going bad", but you can cook raw items to make them fresh once again. Spoiled flowers can still be made into bouquets to reset the "spoiling" rate. Flowers can be made into perfumes which do not spoil.

Seed Shop: Gombe was so frustrating to buy seeds from. But once you have the seed maker, Gombe is no longer a problem. Just make seeds whenever you feel like.

Request board: Irritating, but not required. . . . ever! 

Traveling to opposite village: Trust me, I hated traveling to Bluebell cause it took so long. But now the tunnel is open, this problem ceases to exist.

Money: Grinding for money is pretty much optional. With the Rice and Flour trick, you can make millions as often as you like. Growing crops or raising animals are not needed, and only serve to give you something to do.

Dating: I hate finding gifts to give the ladies. Once you are married, you no longer have to do it anymore.

I must say that the game did some things wrong. Many of the features of the game are quite cryptic, and you need a guide to fully understand how to use and unlock them. I never knew the functions of the wild animals until I looked at a guide. I don't know how to find wonderful stones until I read a guide. I did not know that Flower events can only be triggered by dating until I read a guide. I did not know that tools can even be upgraded until I looked at a guide. I did not know how to unlock Alisa or The Oracle until I looked at a guide.


So lets be fair. Is Harvest Moon: Tale of Two towns a good game? Yes it is.

Is it a great game? No.

The game is decent for where it came from. But the game still has lots of obvious problems from lack of beta testing. The request board is the biggest problem. The game developers need to make the request board be more like Rune Factory 2 and 3. I know I said it over and over, but I am just bothered that something that has been perfected before has become an irritating mundane series of tasks as opposed to a new way to interact with the world of Harvest Moon.

This game looks like the apology for Grand Bazaar.
The series has done this a couple of times before.

Sunshine Islands is the apology for Island of Happiness.
Animal Parade is the apology for Tree of Tranquility (Odd how Tree of Tranquility was a better game in my opinion.)

[Butterscotch]

Yeah, the game plot annoyed me a bit too. I really liked the fact that it was an original plot for a change, unlike any other plot in the series, but having a total stranger heal the rift between the two towns just makes the MC seem like a Mary Sue :[

As for the Harvest Goddess not being able to fix the tunnel herself, my personal headcanon is that her powers are weak following the events of DS/Cute. And she's lazy.

[Juxapose]

And so, on Summer 8 Year 3, my character Vale has married Nori. Once again, the credits roll symbolizing another chapter completed in the Harvest Moon ToTT story. And starting the next day, I'll be starting a new life with Vale's wife Nori. Yep, the cutest girl in the bunch, but also boring, uninteresting, and quite useless addition to my farm. Spent a ton of gold getting her to red flower to have a NPC who stands around the house doing nothing.

Mariage was quite uninteresting as well. Shame how I know what all these girls would look like if they had wedding outfits, but the game didn't bother to design wedding sprites in the game. Such a disappointment.

Despite my complaining, Harvest Moon: ToTT does do what many games don't do; Entertain. The game keeps my mind busy, and I don't have to think about what's happening tomorrow.

[Juxapose]

On Winter 6, Year 5, Baby Mariko is Born. The past 2 years with my wife Nori has been rather a dull and boring experience. Not to mention that 3 times a year (My Birthday, Her birthday, and the wedding anniversary) I am expected to stay awake until 8:00 pm to celebrate these days. Now that the baby is born, I have 1 extra day to celebrate.

Odd how this game does not roll the credits after the birth of the baby. But whatever, I don't care too much about that. I'll have to wait another several years for the baby to be fully grown.

[Butterscotch]

I thought the credits played when you united the towns?

[Juxapose]

It does, but that happened a long time ago. (Winter 5, Year 2, It is now Summer 1 Year 6.)