Thursday, 7 November 2013

Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns - Nintendo DS

Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns - Nintendo DS

Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns - Nintendo DS


Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #4926 in Video Games
  • Brand: Natsume
  • Model: 719593100362
  • Released on: 2011-09-20
  • ESRB Rating: Everyone
  • Platform: Nintendo DS
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: .4" h x .4" w x .4" l, .1 pounds

Features

  • Choose to play as a boy or as a girl!
  • Choose from two different villages, each with their own shops, villagers, and festivals!
  • Grow crops, raise livestock, woo a spouse, and start a family!
  • Classic Harvest Moon Life Simulation RPG gameplay for Nintendo DS revolving around farming, animal husbandry and starting a family
  • New animal the alpaca
  • In-game message board feature at which you can receive tasks done for townsfolk
  • New activities like: horse and cart functionality to haul items, festival competitions and mining and fishing for in-game profit
  • Visit your friends' fields using local wireless or Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
  • Choose to play as a boy or as a girl!
  • Choose from two different villages, each with their own shops, villagers, and festivals!
  • Grow crops, raise livestock, woo a spouse, and start a family!
  • Classic Harvest Moon Life Simulation RPG gameplay for Nintendo DS revolving around farming, animal husbandry and starting a family
  • New animal the alpaca
  • In-game message board feature at which you can receive tasks done for townsfolk
  • New activities like: horse and cart functionality to haul items, festival competitions and mining and fishing for in-game profit
  • Visit your friends' fields using local wireless or Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

Product Description

Konohana and Bluebell villages were once great neighbors until a huge dispute erupted between them over FOOD! Yes, food. They were both certain that their cooking was the best. This bitter feud has divided the once-close towns, turning neighbors into enemies! As a new farmer to the area, it's up to you to choose which village to live in. Will it be Eastern-styled Konohana with its abundant fields of crops, or animal-friendly, European-styled Bluebell? Pick a home, build a thriving farm, and compete in a huge variety of festivals. Develop your skills enough, and you might even find a way to bring these two towns together once again!

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
4Decent, better than GB
By CisforCorgi
This game is a definite improvement over Grand Bazaar, but it's still not up to the quality of tree of tranquility or animal parade. To summarize, you're a novice farmer tasked with uniting two feuding villages using the power of...cooking. Yeah, IDGI either, but hey, HM isn't about the plot. When you start out the game you pick from one of the two villages: Bluebell - which has a larger barn but TINY fields, so you focus more on animals. Or Konohana - which has TONS of fields, but a tiny barn so you can only keep 5 animals. Ever. Period. The barn in Konohana never expands, just the fields. And vice versa for bluebell.The towns really vary in visual appeal. Bluebell is a rustic European style town and Konohana is a feudal Japan styled town. Besides that, both have general stores, and a horse/pet store. Bluebell has the feed/livestock store and Konohana has the seed store. You can travel between both towns, but before you get the owl it takes 3+ in game hours to run between both on the horse.Pros:-The music is amazing. The best for a harvest moon handheld yet, especially given it has pieces from the previous games in it. :P-The graphics are FANTASTIC. The backgrounds and art are just...awesome. When you're foraging on the mountain sometimes you've just got to pause and admire the scenery.-The ambiance is very good too. When I say ambiance, I mean the small stylistic things that pull you into the game. For example, as the seasons get close to changing, the scenery starts to change to reflect it. No more BAM it's Summer and suddenly the trees are all greener. It slowly transitions and you can see the lilypads/etc. growing in the rivers.-The addition of trenches removes the tedium or watering every plant. Basically you dig a trench and water once, and every square in that trench gets watered. However, the trenches degrade over time if nothing is planted in them, and once a single trench is interrupted, you can't connect them again.-Wide cast of characters that aren't as bland as the GB cast. Though they still lack distinctive personalities that have made other HM games good.-The addition of the request board, I assume borrowed from the rune factory games, gives you something to do in between farming and fishing.-Lots more festivals...though this has its downside.-The choice between two towns is kinda nice, however it contributes to an overall "halved" feeling in the game. It just doesn't feel like a complete experience when you can only focus on crops or animals, not both.-Alpacas!-You can fish by hand and catch critters!-Lots of wild animals roaming around. They're super cute.Cons:-No mining, still. In GB I didn't mind it, but I'm starting to miss having it as something else to do. Technically ore stones exist in the game and you can sort of mine once the tunnel is opened, but not in the sense of like, the wii games where you explore deep into a mine, etc.-Some of the wild animals, like the bear, will attack you if you get too close and don't befriend them. It gets annoying when you are trying to forage.-See the pro about the two towns. Again, feels like half an experience regardless of which farm you're on. In bluebell you're never going to have enough crop fields to farm decently, plus you have to run to konohana to get more seeds. While in konohana you can have only 5 freakin' animals which means if you already have cows by the time jersey cows are introduced, you gotta sell one of your favorites to make room.-You can only upgrade one farm at a time per month, and any upgrades only apply to that ONE farm. So if you buy the bigger house to have a kid in and then decide you want to move to the other town? Gotta pay the 1 mil and change to upgrade the other place too. Ugh.And the biggest con of all requires its own section:Okay, I am with the person who did the other review and complained about the seed/etc. shops. This was, bar none, the worst design decision in any HM game. To sum it up, the shops have a random inventory daily. They're closed on their days off (for the seed shop it's Mon AND tue) for festivals (of which you will have at least one weekly cause of the cooking festival. Most weeks it's 2 festivals.) AND ON RAINY FREAKIN' DAYS. WHY does rain make someone WHO SELLS SEEDS close their doors? IT'S RAIN. It's not like it's a hurricane!To put this into perspective, I'm in the middle of summer right now. The seed shop has been closed for the last FIFTEEN DAYS due to a combination of rain, typhoons, festivals, and its days off. That's 15 days out of 31 for the entire season, and given that corn and tomatoes have a 7-10 day grow time? I've lost the entire month in terms of crops. NICE. The few times the store has been open, due to the random inventory all he's sold has been soy beans (a mo and a half of grow time) and fertilizer. NO ACTUAL SEEDS. I imagine this will get better once I get the seed maker but COME ON. Half a month and no chance of planting seeds? I can't even take part in the radish festival because herpderp I can't buy any radish seeds.This is frustrating beyond belief. It's weird to play a farming sim with no actual farming. I mean really?However, despite these glaring flaws, the game itself is pretty fun if you're a fan of the HM series. If you're new to the genre I'd recommend another title over this one, something with a more familiar HM vibe that isn't as frustrating(like either of the wii games, or HM: DS). But if you're a bigger fan, this one takes the elements of past games and improves on it. It was definitely worth the purchase.

42 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
3Some Nice Touches Can't Save It Overall.
By Athrun Aznable
I've been torn whether to give this game a 2 or 3 due to the disappointment this has become. Let me begin...from the beginning.Story: You coming to a town and your horse is spooked and ends up crashing. The 2 mayors from Konohama and Bluebell find you. You then proceed to choose which town to live and work in. Konohama is geared towards raising crops, while Bluebell is all about animals. I won't spoil much more, but the progress in the game is based off patching things up between the 2 towns through Cooking Contests.*Note: You can change towns from the 23rd to 31st of each season, so it's not a big deal if you don't like your initial choice*Characters: They are bland. They are very similar to ones found in Grand Bazaar. On a side not, the Harvest Goddes is back in this one. She wants you to help patch things up between the villages and whatnot. She also tells you when you've done certain things in the game, like catching 50 fish through hand-fishing. The rest of the town characters open with the same one-liners and become very boring very quickly.Farming/Animal raising: Let me point out where the Shipping Bins are. There is 1 in each town. That's right, if you want to ship something you have to go to town. There is no shipping bin at your farm. The animal raising is similar to previous HM games on the DS. If you choose Bluebell, you get some useful things for your farm, which is geared towards raising animals. HOWEVER, the farming (my fav. part) has been changed. They've added in the ability to make irrigation trenches to plant your crops and fertilizer into. This is an awesome addition, BUT it falls on its face, due to not getting things in stores that you WILL need to do well. I will highlight that in the next section. The trench idea though is very good and useful, since you can make a nice long one, then turn it to continue it, basically turning it in on itself until there is no more open spaces left. You then water your crops very easily if you have a trench, by just watering the trench, which transports the water throughout the trench. You made need to refill your can, but you don't have to water each individual crop, which saves time and stamina. Of course, you can also plant crops one at a time in a single space, but trenching is much more effective, especially when fertilizing. Take a large trench and fill it with fertilizer, leaving 1 square for a seed. Water it and watch it grow. You'll have a 5 star crop in no time, then just turn it into more seeds so you don't have to do that again. You also have the ability to water twice, like in Grand Bazaar. If you water early, you can come back later in the afternoon and water again. This lets your crops grow more quickly.Shops: I hate them, especially Gombe's shop. They are hardly ever open (Gombe is closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and Festivals, which there are alot of them). They work like other shops in previous HM games, where they are closed certain days and on festivals. They are also closed...when it rains. It rains ALOT in this game. They also only have a very select few staple items they sell and the rest are random. So, with Gombe closed Mondays, Tuesdays, Festival days, when it rains, and randomly having fertilizer when he is actually open...you see why I'm really aggravated now don't you. It can also stop raining at 1 pm, but you must check your radio to find out, which you get through a request later in the game. This whole shopping experience just makes everything go to waste. You have the seeds and have made an irrigation trench, but the silly shops aren't open or don't sell fertilizer...Requests: This is a nice addition...at first. You quickly realize that to get ANYTHING or upgrade ANYTHING, you must accept requests. When upgrading, you must choose what kind of upgrade you want and stick to it for the rest of the season. No more walking up to the carpenter and saying "I want a larger field." If you fail to get the required items, don't worry, the request will come back around...eventually. This also holds true for items, like your Hammer, Frying Pan, Radio, etc. You must accept the request and get whatever is needed to get those items in the time given for the request. I don't know what happens if you fail, since I had many of the items and money necessary, since I spent alot of time foraging in the mountains, since my farm was useless thanks to the shop problem. There are redeeming qualities, like other requests that are easily accomplished and give a decent reward. The main problem is the stuff you're used to getting (much more easily) has become a chore.Festivals: There are ALOT of them, which may sound nice. However, all shops close for festivals. There are 4 Cooking Festivals and 2 other Festivals each season (yes, 4 cooking festivals each SEASON). With 6 per season and 4 seasons in a year, that gives you 24 a year. The Cooking Festivals increase the friendship between the two towns, but they can become annoying, since you've basically got 1 every week. Your mayor helps out the first season by giving you the ingredients, but then you're on your own and becomes annoying quite quickly. They are still nice festivals at least (fishing, bug catching, etc.). They all seem to begin at noon, which can be annoying due to the save system (can save only when you go to bed...no diary to save the game with).Mine: You can mine in the tunnel between the two towns after you bring them back to peace. The tunnel also makes it easier to go from one town to the other.Other: You can ride your horse all over the place. You can also carry your storage unit in the form of a cart that your horse pulls to add more storage on your trips. You've got your fishing with both your hands or a rod, though you must wait until summer Year 1 to get the rod. Bug catching is still fun, which is good. You can, of course, grab random items on the ground. They've also put in foraging spots, like a Tree Stump, where you go over and hit "A" to just grab stuff. It's kind of random, but still a neat addition. There are also ALOT of wild animals (rabbits, foxes, monkeys, bears, boars, etc.), which you can befriend by feeding them certain foods (bears like honey) and they can then help you with some things (don't want to spoil too much).Saving: You can only save when you go to bed. This is annoying and I miss my diary. What makes it annoying is that things are too randomized and it would be much easier to be able to save "on-the-fly" if you will.Pros:Irrigation Trenches is a great idea.Alot of little things to do, like fishing, foraging, etc.There is a mine, albeit not accessible until later.The Festivals are nice, though a little too often.You can ride your horse.There are alot of wild animals to befriend.Time goes by slowly, similar to Grand Bazaar.It's a large game overall.Cons:SHOPS ARE HARDLY OPEN!! When they are, they may or may not have what you need.Requests for upgrades and necessary items is ridiculous.Each town does specific things, meaning each farm is for specific things. You can grow SOME things in Bluebell and you can have SOME animals in Konohana, but it's annoying in the end.No shipping bin at your farm or in the mountains, where you will spend alot of time foraging and doing other things.The characters are bland.Saving is a hassle.In the end, this could have been really awesome, but a few little problems throw the whole thing off balance. Think of a small part in a watch going bad...this forces the watch to stop. The shop problem, of course, is the biggest cause of the overall problem.EDIT/UPDATE: 9/25/2011 - I continued playing to give it some more chances, and to figure out if I wanted to give it a 2 or 3. I'm glad I gave it a 3. I was finally able to get a large amount of fertilizer stockpiled one day one the shop finally had some more. I have since made a large irrigation trench and filled it with fertilizer and 4 seeds. Since, the fertilizer in a trench affects every crop (you place a fert. bottle, which takes up a crop space for a while) in the trench. This has let me stack ALOT of fert. for optimal star ratings on my crops. I'm also looking forward to unlocking more of the little things, like a better fishing rod. However, the main problems mentioned are still there, but atleast there are plenty of little things to keep you busy.P.S. I forgot to add in about typhoons. You can go out in them and work. Things also don't get messed up (remember having an awesome farm going and BAM...the typhoon wipes it out) around your farm. So, I just fish and collect things on those days, while watching my character run really fast when going with the wind or very slow when against it.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
4A Great 'Starter' Harvest Moon; more for the casual, less-patient fan!
By Kay J
For some reason, I have almost every Harvest Moon for Nintendo DS and a couple for my Wii, and I've beaten approximately none of them. Zip. Zero. I don't even think I've gotten married in any of them, but well, I really enjoy the series in general. I'm charmed with the whole ordeal, have these plans, and then my interest tends to sort of, I don't know, peter out with the monotony of it? I get discouraged by how little I can accomplish on a day-to-day basis, and it ends up in the bottom of my Nintendo DS case.This wasn't the case with Tale of Two Towns, which charmed me from the get-go. One of the most positive changes for me was that it allowed me to raise livestock from the get-go, my much preferred way of making money. And gosh, there are so many ways to make money from the get-go! In addition to foraging in the forest, I could also go hand-fishing, foraging for items, catching bugs throughout the mountain. By the end of the first season, I'd made enough money to be able to afford absolutely anything I wanted the next one. It's not the easiest game in the world, but everything feels much more attainable for me than previous versions have. Even the romance feels simpler, since I got to a second 'flower' level with my chosen bachelor before the end of my first season!And while the game is much more accessible, it remains challenging through various ways - such as the shop scheduling, seasonal upgrades, and a whole host of other issues that you have to try and think your way around.If you're someone like me, who enjoyed the games more in theory than in practice, and have difficulty keeping up interest - I think this is the game for you. It's been two weeks since I bought it, and I'm already playing my second year when I've never reached it in most games. In fact, I bought the new Professor Layton game, and actually thought - "Man, I'd much prefer to play Harvest Moon rn. I'll play this game more later'. Unheard of, for me!For a more expert Harvest Moon player, I can see how this is not as challenging or seems arbitrary. But it makes me want to go back and beat the old games!

See all 46 customer reviews... Nintendo.com Harvest Moon DS: The Tale of Two Towns Game Info
Years ago, a tunnel connected livestock-loving Bluebell village with the crop-growing town of Konohana, but boisterous bickering between the burgs created a ...

Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns Coming To Nintendo DS...And ...
Does Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns sound like a localized name for Harvest Moon: Twins Village? We think so, too. Natsume have finally announced ...

Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns - Nintendo DS - IGN
IGN is the Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns (NDS) resource with reviews, wikis, videos, trailers, screenshots, cheats, walkthroughs, previews, news and release dates

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Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns ...
This review is from: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns - Nintendo DS (Video Game) I love harvest moon this game is great!!! Harvest moon never fails me.

Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns Arrives On Nintendo DS In ...
Natsume have announced a release date for the Nintendo DS version of Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns. The game will be released on September 20th in ...

Harvest Moon: A Tale of Two Towns Coming to DS and 3DS - Nintendo Life
Natsume, the house that Harvest Moon built, has announced plans to bring Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns over to North America for both Nintendo DS and 3DS ...

Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns Comes with Fluffy Surprise - DS ...
Natsume's next farming adventure is nearly ready to sprout in North America, with Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns coming to DS on 20th September. As is par for ...

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Harvest Moon: The Tale Of Two Towns (US Version) for Nintendo DS (NDS) is available from Play-Asia.com. * In stock, usually ships within 24hrsChoose to take care of ...

Amazon.com: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns - Nintendo DS: Video Games
Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns is a Life Simulation Role-playing Game (RPG) for Nintendo DS. The game features classic Life Sim gameplay involving farming, the ...

Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns - Nintendo DS

Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns is a Life Simulation Role-playing Game (RPG) for Nintendo DS. The game features classic Life Sim gameplay involving farming, the ...,Harvest Moon: The Tale Of Two Towns (US Version) for Nintendo DS (NDS) is available from Play-Asia.com. * In stock, usually ships within 24hrsChoose to take care of ...,Natsume's next farming adventure is nearly ready to sprout in North America, with Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns coming to DS on 20th September. As is par for ...,Natsume, the house that Harvest Moon built, has announced plans to bring Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns over to North America for both Nintendo DS and 3DS ...,Natsume have announced a release date for the Nintendo DS version of Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns. The game will be released on September 20th in ...,This review is from: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns - Nintendo DS (Video Game) I love harvest moon this game is great!!! Harvest moon never fails me.,Order Harvest Moon DS: The Tale of Two Towns from any of these online retailers! It's easy - each logo takes you right to that retailer's Harvest Moon DS: The Tale of ...,IGN is the Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns (NDS) resource with reviews, wikis, videos, trailers, screenshots, cheats, walkthroughs, previews, news and release dates,Does Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns sound like a localized name for Harvest Moon: Twins Village? We think so, too. Natsume have finally announced ...,Years ago, a tunnel connected livestock-loving Bluebell village with the crop-growing town of Konohana, but boisterous bickering between the burgs created a ...
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