Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility Review (Wii)

Gameplay - 7

Story - 8

Graphics - 8

Sound - 8

Overall - 7.75

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility is a pretty nice game. While I'm not a fan of the series, I'm pretty sure that this is the first game in the series' 10 years to have a real, solid storyline. It isn't the greatest story in terms of dramatic turns and plot twists, but it's still a nice piece of work. You begin the game and you are on your way to an island. Upon arrival, you discover that the island has very few inhabitants. This is because of the island's guardian, the "Mother Tree," has passed away. After the death of the tree, the island experiences frequent storms and there are horrible currents throughout the surrounding ocean, making travel almost impossible. Your job in Tree of Tranquility is to restore the island to its former glory and revive the Mother Tree.

Graphics in Tree of Tranquility are good by Nintendo standards. The style is a bit storybook-ish, which makes for a nice addition to the game. Animations for harvesting and other various farmwork are pretty cool as well. Little things like the soil getting darker after being watered have always been in Harvest Moon, yet it still helps to throw a little realism in there. Although the game's graphics are well suited to it, this wouldn't be the one you buy because it looks gorgeous. Animations are smooth though, with no laggings or tearing, no cuts in the scenery, and no mysterious pop ups while playing. Everything is detailed fairly equally and in 3D. Even in this advanced graphic age some games like Oblivion still have the old trick of 'rotating 3D' where a 2D object turns with the camera to seem 3D. Harvest Moon is totally 3 dimensional, right down to the grass itself.

Sound in the game is a bit lacking. There is no spoken dialogue in the whole game, save for the various quips and remarks your character may make while working or petting an animal such as "There, there," which tends to get quite repetitive, since he/she says it every single time. But the music is nice, and changes with the seasons and the areas, so it's always different. Not much else to say about it, but just know that if you put great thought into musical aspects in games, then this one will satisfy you. The music always suits the time and place, which makes for a somewhat immersive game.

Gameplay is basically the same as all the other Harvest Moons. There are optional Wii Nunchuck movements, but the game can be played without them using the Nunchuck controller or with a Classic controller. You may use the motion control for a while, but once you play for a bit you'll revert to good ole joystick and buttons. A couple of things may get a little frustrating, such as learning exactly where to stand to target an object, but you learn pretty quick. Controls are simple, of course. Walk around/run with the joystick, do everything else with the A button. It's amazing how much fun you can have with a game that has two or three basic controls - Move, Accept, Deny. There aren't any fancy button combos or sequences to memorize. Harvest Moon always has been and still is a very relaxing game to play. Growing crops and raising animals is fairly simple, and won't have you racking your brains to figure out how to keep something alive. There are also in-game books you can buy to explain everything a little better, not that you'll need it.

This game is great for all ages, and will keep you entertained for hours on end, and it can always be picked up again later on. There are many different ways the story can turn out, if you choose to follow it. It's worth playing through a couple of times, for reasons I'd rather not say for fear of ruining the game. Just try it, you'll like it.