New Harvest Moon Games

For those, like myself, who intend to play every Harvest Moon game that is released, I would like to confirm my own intention to write a guide for every new HM game. Rune Factory was scheduled for release on 31 July. If there are no further delays, I will begin the guide as soon as possible after that date.

There will be a version of 'Innocent Life' for PS2. There probably will be a few minor differences between that and the original PSP version and I will try to address those in a guide written specifically for the PS2 game. Meanwhile, though, my own General Guide for Innocent Life for PSP should be helpful for players with the PS2 version.

More and more differences are being found between the various versions of Harvest Moon for DS. A large number of events that were included in the original Japanese version were eliminated from the first U.S. version. A second U.S. version eliminated a number of 'exploitation devices' that existed in the first: the Bonus Ranch Trick and the Billion Gold Fishing Bonus are among these. Unfortunately, it failed to eliminate the 'freeze file' problem that causes players to lose BOTH save files when the game freezes at the point of reloading. The U.K. version eliminated the connection with Mineral Town, all books and two of the Casino games. My General Guide does contain a section that deals with the differences between the various versions. At some point, I intend to include a list of the events that were included in the original Japanese game but deleted from the English versions.

All that having been said, Harvest Moon for DS remains a fabulous, intricate Harvest Moon game that combines the characters from Forget-Me-Not Valley and those of Mineral Town and contains a wealth of activities for the dedicated Harvest Moon fan.
Very few players are content to play the game once. Like other Harvest Moon games, it is one of those games that possesses true lasting appeal.