Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns
a game by | Marvelous Inc. |
Platform: | 3DS (2011) |
Editor Rating: | 8/10, based on 1 review |
User Rating: | 10.0/10 - 3 votes |
Rate this game: | |
See also: | Anime Games, Simulator Games, Manga Games, Harvest Moon Games |
Farming life simulator games have always had a coveted place in gaming culture. Games in this genre are always engaging and relaxing, and gamers often use these games to unwind after a long day. There is something about handling the day to day minutiae of running a farm that puts people at ease, and their open-ended nature means that even if you reach the end of some kind of story mode, there is still always a farm to run, meaning you can basically play these games indefinitely. One such game in this genre, Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns, has stood the test of time as one of the great examples of the genre. Its sweet tale of two small towns that have a centuries-long feud is just set dressing for an incredible farming simulator experience. If you’re interested in trying Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns, here is everything you need to know.
An Endearing Tale
Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns has an adorable, lighthearted intro. The player character rides up between the two feuding towns of Bluebell and Konohana when a fox jumps out into the middle of the road! This startles the player’s horse, sending your character tumbling down a hill. When they awaken, the player is joined by the mayor of each town, who each insist that the player belongs to their town. As a result of the tumble, the character can not remember their hometown, and thus you select where you will live for the duration of your playthrough.
The amnesiac protagonist is a well-used trope in most Japanese games, and its implementation here is perfectly fine. It serves to set the stage for the player and gives you a nice little overview of the history behind the warring towns of Bluebell and Konohana.
Varied Gameplay
Once you’ve selected your gender and hometown, you will begin your farming adventure. The two towns have different specialties as far as their farming goes, and the town you pick will determine how your time is spent. If you chose Bluebell, you’ll mostly be raising farm animals, and if you chose Konohana, you’ll mostly be raising crops. This kind of gameplay will be familiar if you’ve played Stardew Valley or other games in the genre. Besides your standard farming, you can complete requests on the town’s bulletin board, travel between towns to interact with everybody, and you can even marry a citizen of either town!
The rivalry between the two towns comes to a boiling point at the cooking festivals that occur periodically. You can choose to either participate in these competitions or cheer your town on, and either action will earn you friendship points that build up and fill a meter. Filling up the friendship meter is the ultimate goal of the game, and once it is full, both towns will become friendly again and drop their feud. This is the kind of peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution that many expect from a farming simulator.
Pros
- Classic farming simulator gameplay
- Lots of characters to interact with
- Cooking festivals are a lot of fun
Cons
- If you aren’t interested in the farming aspect, there isn’t much for you to enjoy
- It is only possible to marry the opposite gender
Download Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP