While Harvest Moon DS doesn't stray too far from the series' tried-and-true formula, it's still a very enjoyable game.
Long story short: Harvest Moon, while ultimately off-beat and with a subject matter that in reality is far from interesting, has a pretty strong, cult-like following. I should know -- I’ve owned every Harvest Moon game on the market since 1997.
At any rate, Harvest Moon DS begins slightly differently than the other games in the series. This time, it’s your job to help the Witch Princess recover the Harvest Goddess and 101 Harvest Sprites from some netherworld after a prank spell goes horribly wrong. And to do so, you’ll have to farm, raise livestock, and get married. Yeah, so it sounds a little contrived, but…let’s move on.
Harvest Moon DS plays identically to all the previous versions of the game, though in this case it’s mostly similar to both Harvest Moon: It’s A Wonderful Life (GCN) and Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (GBA). If you’re looking for some perspective, you can think of it as a fairly accurate combination of the two.
You’ll have to plant crops, raise and care for animals (which include Cows, Chickens, Sheep, and a new addition: ducks), and build up your farm. In fact, you don’t even start out with the usual animal and chicken sheds -- you have to acquire the materials and build them yourself, with the ability to place them wherever you’d like. It’s a new addition that adds a bit to the customization of the game. Also new to the DS version of the game is the utilization of the touch screen. While there are a few mini-games involving petting, brushing, milking, and clipping your animals, this is mostly limited to making menu selections, as now your rucksack is constantly open and appears on the bottom touch screen of your DS. In my opinion, it makes accessing tools and items easier.
Ultimately, Harvest Moon DS is a great game, but it’s not without its flaws. In the couple of weeks that I’ve had it, it has locked-up once, and since then I’ve started to save often (always a good strategy with any game). The graphics are slightly dated in comparison to newer games, but they’re pleasant to look at, and if you’re a fan of Harvest Moon, this shouldn’t bother you. Finally, there are rumors of glitches here and there, such as not being able to build a basement more than one level down without lock-ups, or disappearing sprites, or the like. But regardless of its faults, I highly recommend Harvest Moon DS, especially to long-time fans of the series.