I have been neglecting games quite a bit lately, nothing catches my interest for some reason… However, there is one particular game I am playing at the moment though, Harvest Moon: Sunshine Island . I think this is the third time I’m actually playing a HM game properly without cheats or give up after 2 days, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature (PS1) and Harvest Moon DS Cute being the first two. But honestly, I’ve played enough games in this series to understand how tedious it’s supposed to be. So why am I playing this then… other die-hard fans can probably guess: 1) it’s a Harvest Moon game; and 2) Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar is going to be released in less than a week! The latter is my main reason for playing this, although the two games are not related story-wise (in contrast to HM:IoH and HM:SI); but because HM:GB is coming out, I need a little warm up.

My general impression of the game so far? I like it. Instead of just tedious farming, I really adore the addition of Sun Stones in the game. It’s practically the sole reason why I am actually interacting with the villagers – of course, other than courting my favorite dude (*ahem*Will, anyone?) The characters are simply adorable too, I mean just LOOK at Eliza, she may be narcissistic, but you have to admit she’s pretty damn cute. (Haha, yes I love cute games what more can I say. )

( HM:SI rant )

I still have not pre-ordered my copy of Grand Bazaar, shall do it asap. I wonder if I’ll still get the bonus item (horse plushie)… I hope so lol, it’s so adorable!

→ Permanent link (283 words, 1 image, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

Posted in: gaming, impressions
Tags: harvest moon

Firstly, just in case anyone is looking for this game, I bought it off Play Asia a few weeks back, it’s still in stock the last time I checked. The PS3 version of this game has been discontinued, hence why it took me awhile to find a shop that had it in stock. I didn’t want to buy it off eBay ’cause the price was either too expensive or the shipping was. Anyway it took about 1.5 weeks to arrive, in wrappers and mint condition.

Up to now, I only finished the first chapter of the game, Raindrops. Took me about 3 hours, mainly because I enjoy exploring the towns and talking to every single townie I could find. The battle system is time-based, each player character gets about 5 seconds to attack. I haven’t gotten that many attack variations as of yet, but their light and dark attacks are quite interesting since they change depending on whether your character is in the shadows on not.

The graphics IMO are amazing – especially the detail of the towns and surroundings. I especially love the character design, I mean they are adorable – big eyes, round face, and pretty hair. The cutscenes are quite realistic, and did I mention the bright and soft colors throughout the game? They really add to the overall enjoyment of the game.

One thing I didn’t like about the game was the slowness of each cutscene, I cannot fast forward each dialogue without skipping the scene completely. I sort of wish they added a way to just display the entire piece of text with a press of a button, but the downside to that would result in the skipping of frames in the scene. That’s pretty much my main complaint, otherwise I am enjoying everything else (so far at the very least)!

→ Permanent link (306 words, 1 image, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)

Posted in: gaming, thoughts
Tags: cute, eternal sonata, playstation 3