Score Attack in Frantic Farming

In my first video introductions for Frantic Farming, my focus was Story Mode, as it is the Stories that are windows into the lives of the characters from Island of Happiness, offering more insights into their relationships as well as humour, drama and friendly rivalries.

It is Score Attack Mode that probably should be a player's first experience with Frantic Farming, however, as Score Attack allows a player to familiarise himself/herself with the puzzles. Furthermore, you can unlock all new Characters either by completing the game in Story Mode using other Characters OR by playing the game a specific number of times in Score Attack Mode.

In Score Attack mode, your score is significant only when it is your highest score, as it then will be entered in your Records. A low score, however, is as effective as a high score in terms of counting towards a total that will unlock a new character.

Furthermore, you can experience the Special Skills of all the characters in Score Attack. The Special Skill of each Character is one of the most entertaining aspects of Frantic Farming.

This video shows all the unlockable Characters in Frantic Farming and the Special Skill unique to each:

A Brief Tour of Frantic Farming

Here is the second of two videos I made to introduce Frantic Farming:



When contests are time-based, it is extremely difficult to take screenshots or clips and try to perform game actions at the same time!

Video Introduction to Frantic Farming

Here is a brief video introduction to the upcoming Harvest Moon game, 'Frantic Farming'. It is not really a tutorial, but rather designed to show a viewer a few of the different options that are available as well as some of the entertaining dialogue between characters who are well-known to players of Island of Happiness:



Without wishing to give away too much surprises, I did include some dialogue that should be of interest to all Island of Happiness fans. Was any one previously aware of how forgetful Lanna really is? We all knew that she was the dominant partner in the relationship with Denny but she now has no qualms in displays of absolute power.
Popper, who in Island of Happiness never made a squawk, now speaks up FOR Denny from time to time... There are many entertaining exchanges of this sort in Frantic Farming. You won't be able to experience them, however, if you do not prove that you are an expert farmer!

I daresay that the Multiplayer options will be fun, as Harvest Moon fans compete against one another. In one Mode, you can sow Rocks on your opponent's field rather like Brodik in Rune Factory Frontier!

First Look at Frantic Farming by Natsume

Frantic Farming could be considered a 'sequel' to Island of Happiness as the game is set on Sunny Island AFTER you have made the island a prosperous and popular location and persuaded all main characters to live there.

Those of you (including myself) who were rather infatuated with the silver-haired Vaughn will be able to unlock him as a playable character in Frantic Farming. In fact, you begin the game with only two playable characters in the form of Mark and Chelsea but each time you complete the game in Story Mode using a character, it will unlock some one new.

The Story Mode is based on a recurring theme in Harvest Moon (and Rune Factory). You are called upon to save your community from impending disaster. The other fundamental basis of the game is FARMING, which should come as no surprise to veterans both of Harvest Moon and Rune Factory.

The graphics are wonderful and the music is great. In fact, one of the 'unlockables' is a music player where you can play all the themes from the game on vinyl records. (It is interesting how vinyl refuses to become obsolete in ANY world, despite IPods and Zunes...)

Frantic Farming is a puzzle game and it is precisely what its name suggests: a game wherein one must harvest crops as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to move forward in the Story. There are other Modes apart from the 'Story Mode' in which a player can compete against other players as well.

Those who have grumbled about DS games that do not exploit the 'Touchscreen' option should be thrilled with Frantic Farming. The stylus is used almost exclusively. Crops are displayed on a small grid in squares in various stages of growth. Outside the grid, the Harvest Sprite awaits your orders. When you touch him with the stylus, he will move into the grid and begin to harvest ripe crops. It may sound simple, but quite a lot of strategy is involved. Whenever the Harvest Sprite harvests a crop, he then will water a specific number of squares surrounding that crop. Chains can be created that allow him to harvest more quickly and earn special bonuses. The legendary Gold Crops and Big Crops appear in Frantic Farming as well.
The puzzles can be quite addictive in themselves.

Note that the actual Mode of solving the various puzzles will depend somewhat on the character you play, as each character has a 'Special Skill' that can be utilised when a gauge is filled. The Special Skills can be dramatic or amusing. For example, Shea's Special Skill is a 'Crop Dance' complete with fire juggling while Natalies' Special Skill is the 'Sandwich', wherein a large Sandwich is given to the tiny Harvest Sprite to empower him to greater efforts.

What will make this game particularly attractive to Harvest Moon players, however, are the dialogues of characters in Story Mode, as they often offer added insight into their lives and histories. For example, Popper, the black bird who sits on Denny's shoulder, actually SPEAKS in Frantic Farming!

When I first began to play Frantic Farming, I was reminded a little of 'Princess Debut', another game that offered stylus action with an ongoing Story. Instead of practicing ballroom dances, one harvests Crops but in other respects, the two games are rather similar. There is a gallery of 'Memory' photographs to be unlocked for each character by completing the game for each in Story Mode. Records of scores are kept and players can compete either against their own previous records or against other players in Multiplayer Mode. There are differences, of course. In Princess Debut, you played a single character and it was the partner that you chose who would create variations in the Story. In Frantic Farming, you actually can play different characters and the dialogues and even the Chapters change in EACH Story.

I certainly would recommend Frantic Farming to any one who loves puzzles, any one who loves Harvest Moon in general and any one who particularly loved Island of Happiness.

Time Out from Rune Factory Frontier

I am NOT finished with Rune Factory Frontier by any means. I still need to upload a few Proposal/Wedding videos I created last month as well as adding more details to all my guides. On the other hand, Frantic Farming is due to be released very shortly and I would like to have a completed Guide for that game on IGN on the day it is released.

I have not received official permission to post about Frantic Farming yet but I think I safely can state that it is a very addictive, fast-paced game that is certain to appeal both to gamers who enjoy puzzles as well as any one who loved Island of Happiness. For reasons which I will explain in my general review of the game, I believe that players who liked Princess Debut will enjoy Frantic Farming. I hope to be able to post a detailed review in a few days and perhaps a few videos as well.

Thanks to Natsume...

Thanks to Natsume, I will be given a chance to explore Sunshine Islands and Frantic Farming in the near future. I will not publish ANY information about the games until given permission to do so officially but I would like players to know that I will be working on strategy guides for them.

There was a brief moment in time when I felt that I no longer had the energy nor skill to cover any game in a satisfactory manner. I am a perfectionist and none of my guides are perfect. In all honesty, however, the majority of players who use my guides do find them helpful and more than adequate. I put my heart and soul into them and will continue to do so.

I suppose I am writing this primarily to share my excitement at the opportunity to explore another aspect of the incredibly complex and diverse universe of Harvest Moon. Writing a guide for any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game may be a lot of work always, but the thrill of exploration and discovery makes it worth every effort. Too bad I have only one life in THIS world and one can't reload each day to use the time again and again...