Harvest Moon Tree of Tranquility

Peanut got the newest Harvest Moon video game for her birthday last month from her uncle. As with most Harvest Moon games, there are similarities and differences between the games that came before it. It is taking us some time to get to know the ins and outs of this game since there aren't many people out there sharing their experiences with it yet. We're figuring things out by trial and error so far.

I like the fact that it teaches the children that there are different qualities of metal ores. Other games had varying degrees of vegetables and fruits you could grow by using fertilizers, tools, or planting in different soils. This is the first one I am aware of that does the same for rocks that you mine.

I dislike that so far there is no way to hybridize veggies or make seeds like we did on A Wonderful Life though. You seem to need a maker for everything on these games. So far no one seems to have a seed maker for sale anywhere.

I appreciate the fact that you can buy either a horse or an ostrich to ride on this game. (Not that I'd ride an ostrich in real life or anything, I'd probably break the poor thing's back!) I hate to take up space in my barn with animals that don't produce useful products which is the reason I starved my poor goat to death on A Wonderful Life. (Boy did that upset Peanut!) As nice as horses are, I like the idea of adding new animals into the mix. Ostriches lay eggs that you can either sell or hatch. It would be nice if the game gave you the option of butchering your animals, but I suppose some people think that this might be too much information for children to handle or something.

One of the features that really annoyed me on the other games was the fact that as soon as the season changed all of the crops instantaneously died. We thought that was really stupid since temperatures rarely ever change so rapidly that something would die so quickly. Just because the game says that plants can only be grown in the fall doesn't mean you can't plant the seeds in the end of summer, right? It was just crazy! Sometimes a plant would be only a day or two from maturation and it would die because the season changed. Like two days would really make that much of a difference. I was glad that my children were smart enough to realize that wouldn't happen in real life since they often grumbled about the game programmers. That doesn't happen on this game though.

The kids appreciate the fact that the makers were thoughtful enough to give the poor farmer warmer clothes as the seasons get colder. He have laughed about the poor farmer girl on Magical Melody running around in shorts and a short sleeved shirt in the winter. Tree of Tranquility gave us a jacket for fall. We haven't made it to winter yet, but Peanut is hoping to get a hat and mitten when the time comes. I guess time will tell if she gets them.

It appears that the carpenter thinks you need to build a house on every plot of land you buy on this game too. No one ever HAS to build something just because they own some land. I sure hope that's not the case!

This game won't allow you to plant plants where ever you want either. I find that strange that the creators of these games seems to think trees can only be planted in a "tillable" field. That's one thing I liked better about Magical Melody than this game. The graphics weren't as good, but we could break any soil anywhere we wanted to on that game. We can make our gardens wherever we please, am I right?

Another thing that bugs me about these games is having to water your crops every day. If you have better soil you should be able to go longer before having to water the crops again, right? I'm sure my children are also smart enough to realize the fact that plants don't have to be watered every day unless they're in a hanging basket in the heat of summer, but I'm not sure that message will be gotten though to all of the children who try these games.

This game also allows you to work part time at the businesses in town unlike the other games. Sometimes places need seasonal help and that's a good thing. It also shows them getting instructed by others in the job duties. Some kids seems to have the opinion that no one can tell them what to do. I think it's nice to show them that we can't possibly know every thing there is to know about every job and that even grownups need help figuring some things out.

As far as I've seen other games didn't have cemeteries or churches. I like the fact that this one has both. Even if people don't attend church it doesn't mean there are any towns without either of these things.

Do you or your children play these kind of games? What have you discovered that you like or don't like about these games? If there were features that you could combine together on the games, what would they be?

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy