Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility - Nintendo Wii

HOW I DISCOVERED ITI am a BIG fan of the Harvest Moon series. One day, my family and I drove by a game store advertising Harvest Moon Tree of Tranquility. We went inside and bought the game. I was skeptical about it at first, and the graphics were different (but WAY better than Magical Melody). Because it was new and confusing I soon stopped playing Tree of Tranquility and went back to Magical Melody. Since I was playing Magical Melody so often my Mom decided to try Tree of Tranquility. After watching her play for a little, I decided I wanted to play ToT instead. My Mom had so much fun playing after reading the FAQs that she purchased another ToT on Amazon so we could play at the same time. We had to limit our time so that we wouldn't be stuck on the TV all day! The great guide helped us know what the rainbow quest was and how to build rainbows. It told us everything about crops and relationships and all sorts of things! It improved the fun of the game a whole lot.STORYLINEYou move to Waffle Island because of an interesting brochure advertising a beautiful town with a wonderful ranch. After you get there, you realize that it wasn't everything in the brochure, but it's still beautiful. After you move into your farm and live there for a while, the mayor shows you half of a quilt about harvest sprites on the island. After you get farther in the game, you get the other half of the quilt and start collecting recipes for rainbows. After you build all of them, you have to re-plant the dead Mother Tree before it's too late and the Harvest Goddess is impossible to save. Can you do it?DETAILSAlong the way of your adventure, you can get make friends and eventually get married. You can play as a boy or a girl. When there's a festival, you can attend. You can befriend wild animals, and different from Magical Melody, the animals can move in with you and become your pets! You can have a baby, that, when he/she grows up a little, can help on the farm. You can fish, mine, smash stones, chop trees, plant crops, weed your garden, and explore the island. Certain places you have to unlock because there's a root blocking the path, or a stone, and it's always fun to do your rainbow quest and see where the rainbows lead... I'm not spoiling anything though!!!PROSI like the entire storyline! I especially love that this game is the only adventure game I have without mild violence. There are no battles or killings, and if you don't like calm (yet so involved!) games, then this might not be for you. Personally, this game is perfect for me. You can befriend animals to make them your pets, your child can help on the farm, and your spouse gives you a box lunch everyday to boost your stamina. Unlike Magical Melody, in ToT getting married isn't mandatory. You can win the game without being married. I also like that you can attend any festival you want, with or without a date. In some Harvest Moon games, if you didn't have a date, you don't go to the festival. So the fact that you can go with or without someone is nice. Also you can choose the gender of your baby. Odd but fun.CONSYou can't pick up and hold your baby, and you can't feed it. That's a little strange. And I feel so guilty when I just leave her at home so that I can go out and do chores! At the beginning of the game, your stamina bar is small, but the more power berries you eat, the more you can endure hard work. The small stamina bar is a con for a little bit, but, as you get used to it and treat your character nicely, it's not such a big deal. You can still catch a few fish and plant a few crops. Also, once you win the game, it's not very fun to start over, unless you messed up on a lot of things and want to re-do your game and do it better. It's also fun to start over if you haven't played it in a while and sort of forgot it.OVERALLOverall, I don't have problems with this game, like some people do. I personally think it's awesome and fun, and would highly recommend this game to all ages. It is rated E for everyone, and no, it's not E10+ it is just E. It's not super lovey-dovey, like some people might make it sound. Overall, I would say- BUY IT!

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (HM- harvest moon)Pros:+ Can play as a girl or guy+ 3 different plots to build your house on (makes for 3 different replayable game styles)+ 4 total purchasable plots of land+ Not a requirement to get married (other HMs your game would end if you didn't marry before the 2nd year)+ Freedom! (unlike other HMs where you needed to adhere to a strict schedule, this one allows you to do whatever you want, whenever you want. There's no rush to get married, buy animals or even plant crops. You can spend all your time fishing, collecting or mining if you wanted. The game is finally a 'complete at your own pace' game and it's awesome!)+ Better usage of stamina (now you only get tired if you perform an action, cutting grass, fishing, etc, but you can run around all day)+ Set wake up times (other HMs would force your character to get 8 hours of sleep causing you to wake up late if you weren't able to get to bed on time, this one, you always wake up at 6, even if you got to sleep at 5:50, it's wonderful! You will need to go to sleep before 6 though otherwise your character gets tired, but they have wake up herbs and other means of getting around it if you wanted)+ More realistic crops (you can harvest some crops repeatedly and they will continue to bear fruit through their season)+ Upgradable tools (use less stamina the more you upgrade)+ Proficiencies (affect a wider range. Being lvl 2 with the water can lets you water 3 squares in front of you. Lvl 3 waters a 3x3 grid)+ New farm animals (ostrich, silk worms, ducks)+ Mini-games+ Up to 5 pets (12 different types, including a panda, penguin, and bear cub)+ Huge map (plenty of places to explore, that change with the seasons)+ Larger variety of crops+ Larger variety of fish+ Customizable house (upgrade your house up to 5 times, buy goodies for your house: tvs, refrigerators, ovens, etc)+ Clothing (equip your character with the right clothes and accessories for the season)Cons:- Glitch for girl characters being unable to marry Calvin (game will freeze if you try)- Minor text errors (that are misinforming but not game ruining: Green Bell is a Spring flower, when it's actually a Winter Flower, etc)- Loading times (each transition from place to place takes you to a loading screen, annoying but easily overlooked)Overall:An awesome game farm sim game, that's highly addicting! I recommend highly! You will keep saying to yourself "I'll just play one more day.. just this last day" and before you know it you played a whole (game) week and have played the game late into the night. Sooo fun and great for all ages. Animals do have a lifespan and will die, but it's nothing that will scar younger children.***Don't like my review? Tell me why not by leaving a comment. That way I know what can be improved upon when writing reviews for you.Like my review? Sweet! I'll keep on writing this way.