The latest Harvest Moon on the DS brings what you would expect from the farming series
Sunshine Islands looks and plays exactly like the previous Harvest Moon, Island of Happiness. Most of the characters you meant before are back with the same roles to fill. The main goal in this game is to make money by selling crops and raising animals and also find the sun stones that unlock the other sunken islands in the area. What interests me about this game is how things aren’t as simple as they were in previous Harvest Moons, where you started with a dog and got a horse in a couple days after starting. Sunshine Islands forces you to make friends with everyone on the island to see what they’ll give you if you don’t use a guide.
Making money is fairly simple and the controls are easy enough to use, you can basically just use the stylus to control the character. The strange thing about Sunshine Islands that was also in Island of Happiness is the shear amount of items on the ground that appear each day. I found myself spending my character’s entire day just foraging heart-shaped herbs, sea urchins, and wood. A new feature allows you to have the Harvest Sprites enchant areas of your choosing, like your ranch or a shop. Enchanting a shop will allow you to lower the prices of items or increase the friendship of the shopkeep.
Festivals, which are the staple in any Harvest Moon game, are back and just as fun. Nothing keeps me playing Harvest Moon more than seeing that I’m just a few days away from another festival on the calendar. Sunshine Islands is a relaxing Harvest Moon game that’s a nice addition to anyone’s DS library. Pick up Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands at EBGames today.
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