Harvest Moon: Skytree Village

Nintendo always has a good thing going for them when they focus really hard on making relaxing games. After all, some of their best-selling titles are those that are for the whole family and that can be calmly enjoyed. There's a special fun in those games you rarely if ever see the other two big companies make. Harvest Moon: Skytree Village is a clear example of this, a game belonging to an incredibly popular game series that takes us to peaceful farm life. But what's special in this version of the game and what is it all about? Well, let's talk about it!

About the game

Harvest Moon: Skytree Village begins, like virtually all titles in the saga, by giving us control of an empty land and tasking us with turning a barren plain into a fertile farm full of fruits and vegetables to sell. It's hard to believe that there have been six games of the franchise already released for the 3DS, and this is the seventh and pretty much "definitive" version.

All of these games focus on pretty much the same mechanics, and the same core principles. But surprisingly enough, we are not complaining about this, as it is actually what makes it special. That magic is still there, but this installment puts more emphasis than the rest on the narrative, the passing of the seasons, and, above all, the graphics, now more credible and attractive than other three-dimensional episodes that cried out to heaven for a return to 2D, which is possibly the environment in which the saga performs best.

Even though this game is more story focused than the other ones on the platform, we do have to note that this game is aimed at a younger audience, so you shouldn't really expect too much of a heavy story or dialogue. The Harvest Goddess has been affected during recent times, and it is our task to restore the lands of these people until they become real money printers, full-fledged golden egg hens.

Tougher competition

The Harvest Moon franchise goes back over 20 years, as it began in the Super Nintendo era, and since then it has been a pioneer in the farm management genre. But since then, there's been growing competition in this genre, and one of its biggest adversaries to date was released a little earlier than this game.

We are talking, of course, of the colossal Stardew Valley, that title developed by Eric Barone as a response to the lack of appeal he saw in the saga with its last episodes. This means that this title has a bigger weight to carry than the previous games of the franchise, as it now has a double challenge. Not only does this game have to be a great title as a definitive game on the platform, but it also has to win the fans back from the indie game that seems to have taken the world by surprise.

Pros:

• Great storyline
• Good gameplay
• Lots of content

Cons:

• Too simple tasks
• Gets repetitive fast