Review – Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar (Nintendo DS)
Developer studio Marvelous Entertainment has delivered more than 25 Harvest Moon
games since SNES owners back in 1996 first was challenged to conquer the simple pleasures of husbandry and agricultural cultivation. Not satisfied with having only four titles on Nintendo's DS handheld, publisher Natsume has added another entry to the roster - Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar ready to compete for player's attention and cash just as autumn is about to set in.
No poking around
Harvest Moon's take on the farming-simulation genre has - to a large extend - remained unchanged across the years. Simple and surprisingly durable, the basic premise in Grand Bazaar is instantly recognizable to returning fans, as players once more are put in charge of an empty and undeveloped estate, that must be brought back to prosperity and renown through perseverance and months of back breaking, manual labour. Along the way, you'll help bring the struggling town of Zephyr back to its former glory as a bustling centre of trade.
Much as in reality, the life of a farmer in Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar is busy from dawn to dusk! Between tilling fields, watering and fertilizing crops and tending to domestic animals you'll have to find time for extra curricular activities such as making new friends, attending tea parties and pushing your produce to bargain hunting shoppers during the weekly bazaar in nearby Zephyr.
Nice, a brand new pair of shears
Grand Bazaar takes care not to overwhelm newly appointed farmhands from the get-go. Setting out with just a hoe and a few seeds, possibilities and demands are added slowly and measured; purchased livestock needs care and medicine, wind mills act as factories and your farm grounds can be expanded, if you have the needed money at hand.
Controls are intuitive and easy to learn, with a user interface build on consistent and well chosen icons. Youngsters should need little guidance to enjoy the game on their own, with a bit of parental reading assistance on occasion.
Slow burner
Spending hours upon hours working the land and giving flowers to would-be-friends sounds like a recipe for pure drudgery, but Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar posses an allure not easily resisted. As your country retreat blooms, carefully usage of energy and time will have to be applied, and you'll need to balance income and expenses between current demands and investing in the future. All in all resulting in a captivating mix of zen-like trance doing chores and stressful anxiety, when funds are low, and your favourite sheep is in need of expensive medicine.
Should you yearn for human company from time to time; four friends can go farm hopping together, locally through wireless ad-hoc or online using the somewhat cumbersome Nintendo friend codes.
Strutting your castle
Marvelous' offering isn't a true showcase for Nintendo DS but the game's universe is loaded with attractive, rural scenery and syrupy cute, bubble-headed townsfolk. Animal squeaks, roaring rivers and other sound effects are used with good results, and the limited, happy-go-easy sound track remains fresh even after hours of listening.
Working 5 to 9
Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar requires hard work but if you can stomach the glacial pace and numerous tasks that are on a farmer's daily plate, a rewarding and addictive game lies at the end of the rainbow. Grand Bazaar brings precious little new to the Harvest Moon experience, but carving out a homestead of your own has rarely been this much fun - a recommended endeavour indeed.
Verdict: Get it! (Verdict list: 'Get it!', 'Rent' or 'Never mind')
For in-game screenshots and more Nintendo DS and PSP game reviews, news and articles visit:
Burning Thumbs.
Review Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar (Nintendo DS)
By: Tommy A.
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