Harvest Moon Games Go Gold

I am the ultimate Harvest Moon fan girl, and I cannot wait for Animal Parade (Wii) and Sunshine Islands (DS) to be released on November 10th. If you pre-order these copies, which I plan on doing this week, you will receive a plush duck for Animal Parade and a plush pig for Sunshine Islands.

In the Animal Parade edition, five elemental bells are missing, causing the wind to cease blowing and crops to fail. It’s up to you to find the five bells and awaken the Harvest King so he can save the village. While you search for these bells, you can spend your time fishing, cultivating crops, mining, and raising exotic new animals! I thought being able to raise ostriches and silk worms in Tree of Tranquility (Wii) was awesome, but in Animal Parade you get to raise monkeys, penguins, and  pandas! In addition to taking care of them, you can teach them tricks and then show them off while you parade them around town.

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In Sunshine Islands, you reunite with characters from Island of Happiness (DS). The Sunshine Islands sank a long time ago from a large earthquake, and it is up to you to find the magical Sun Stones and raise the sunken islands. You will harvest new crops and befriend animals such as ducks, monkeys, and badgers. There will be new characters, new festivals to compete in, and new mini games in which to train your pets.

The focus in Animal Parade seems to be on the animals, of course. This will be a new and refreshing aspect that I have always wanted. However, Sunshine Islands seems to be an expansion on the previous DS game, which is not necessarily a bad thing. In any case, I am happy for new and improved Harvest Moon titles.  They have come a long way from being just a farming RPG.

Read the press release for Harvest Moon: Animal Parade here.

Read the press release for Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands here.

Tags: animal parade, DS, harvet moon, Natsume, Nintendo, sunshine islands, Wii