Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility Preview

E3 2008 Preview

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility is a title that hopes to bring back fans that have lost faith in the franchise over the years. While it doesn’t look to have as much depth as it had in the past, the upcoming Wii title is adding in over a dozen new animals and romance quests to participate in.

The new animals that are being introduced include a half dozen different dogs to breed, bear cubs, squirrels, panda bears, ostriches and many other exotic animals. I am sure the idea of raising your own panda cub is going to attract a big crowd of gamers back who’ve enjoyed the Harvest Moon series over the years.

The overall look of the game is still premised on having light colors for a more pleasant experience. Though, I wouldn’t say it’s a big improvement over the Playstation 2 or Gamecube versions.

There are motion controls being implemented, but they are basic in nature. With a simple swing of the controller, players can cut down their crops and harvest them without too much button pressing. If players prefer the old button-pressing controls, players can opt to use them over the motion controls if they get tired of swinging their arms.

Though I didn’t see a lot of improvement on the grander scale of things (such as innovation, graphical progression, story originality), Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility will be a safe haven for fans that still play and love the series with every iteration. The inclusion of the new animals may be just enough to attract fans back to the series.

Releasing August 26 (simultaneously launching alongside Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for the Nintendo DS), Tree of Tranquility will arrive exclusively on the Nintendo Wii. Players can expect a much bigger marketing scale in game shops and toy shops nationwide with plush toys as it’s the 10-year anniversary of the Harvest Moon franchise.

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