Customer Reviews

Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got my copy of the game early - not sure why but I'm not exactly complaining. I was a bit put off by the release date being pushed back not once but twice - but the early shipping cheered me up a little.

I've played pretty much all the HM games since the n64, and as sad as that is, I figured I would put this here for other fans of the series that were looking into this game.

Pros:
-Graphics are A+ for a DS game, seriously.
-Love the art style.
-You start out with a barn built and you don't have to clear your field. One of my biggest gripes about some of the other games was that they'd kinda throw you into it with 3 bags of turnips and you had to scrimp and save until you got a barn. Then scrimp and save until you got a chicken, etc.
-You also start out with storage/cold storage to put your things in, but this also leads to a slight con.
-YOU START WITH A KITCHEN. WHile you have to buy some of the stuff to go in it, no more waiting until 239490234 house upgrades to get a kitchen.
-JUMPING. Seriously, so convenient. Oh hey a stream, LOL I CAN JUMP OVER IT! Also there are shortcuts around town, like jumping on a barrel near the cliff near your farmstead bounces you up and gives you faster access to the town, etc.
-They finally got rid of mining. I realize some would find this a con but I hated mining so, so much. Oh how I hated it. And I hated having to waste an entire day trying to MAYBE find ONE gold ore so I could upgrade my equipment.
-Your stamina depletes more slowly, and your house starts with a bathroom so you can replenish it a little. Also the house has a fireplace. SWANK!

Cons:
-Erm, the only tools you start with are a hoe and watering can. Granted, without mining and such it's not as essential to have the hammer, etc. but...still.
-Unfortunately, crop quality is back and that means everything you pick up isn't going to stack unless it has the star rating. THey at least give you 2 bag menu screens at first for this but lol, one day's foraging will literally fill both screens up because one toy flower will have 1 star, another will have 1 and a half star so they don't stack, etc.
-You can sell stuff during the week but it won't sell nearly as well as the stuff in the bazaar. The bazaar is only once a week. This means that all your money is totally incremental. I managed to make enough to buy a chick (3500 gold btw) at the first week's bazaar, but I can see this is going to be tedious. Also - you're selling stuff in your stall at the same time the townspeople are selling ESSENTIAL items you need. (Animals, upgrades, etc.)so if you want it you have to shut down your stall and go get it, losing money in the process. :\ I realize the bazaar is the whole point of the game, but it would be so much nicer if it was twice a week. On some weeks a festival pushes it from Sat to Sun. And if you're out of money, no seeds for you until you can sell stuff for a decent price. The dude in the store that you can sell to every day will straight rip you off for stuff. I guess to make the bazaar seem more enticing but jeez. I guess that's where the difficulty of the game comes from.
-Not exactly a stellar cast of characters. All the bachelors are pretty "meh" and the artist guy REALLY reminds me of David from Roseanne, therefore I can't even look at him without cringing in pity.
-You can only save when you sleep. I hate, HATE this archaic type of game design. Monster Rancher DS fell to this flaw as well. So great, my dog sits on the power button and an entire day's work is lost. WOO!
-I feel bad saying this, but there is very, very little to do. Play with your farm animals, run around and water your crops, say hi to townsfolk, give your bachelor/bachelorette a present, aaaaaaand you're done. And it's only 11am. So what do you do for the rest of the day? Catch bugs and fish I guess. Meh. THe problem is there's no underlying storyline besides, "Make the bazaar a success!" which in the early portions of the game is laughable. The dude sets your quota to like 15,000. Yeah, you're really gonna hit that with the 6 turnips you have to sell. Stock up for the next week and go with it. BUt otherwise there's no, "Save the harvest goddess." etc. type stuff to do. Cook, catch bugs, water crops, pet animals, talk to people aaaaaand you're done. Go to bed at 1pm.

In all I am not disappointed with this game. I think it is very pleasing and a great, dare I say, casual? harvest moon game. It's weird to call a game in a part of an already casual gaming series casual but...it's true. There's no stress. Sit back and enjoy selling your stuff and the festivals and whatall. Something to play after work or what-have-you. I'd say during a lunch break except lol you can't save without going to bed so it's not really, "OH MAN I EMERGENCY I NEED TO TURN THIS OFF!" friendly.

Good? No. Decent? Yes. Bad? No. If a more relaxing HM game is what you want, this is for you. My main hope is that they import some of the designs (jumping, etc.) for later games. Also if you blow into the mic the windmills turn faster...that's pretty snazzy.

cisforcorgi pretty much said it all. lots of great new easy controls but it's a very low key, play after work/school/life kinda game.

LOVE
- slow, easy pace.
- you already have a storage room, barn, and kitchen so no more scrimping for 5 real life years to afford these upgrades!
- entirely new cast (lots of twins for some reason?)
- bazaar play is fun
- the animation is much more detailed
- easy ways to track your friends, recipes, animals, etc

HATE
- you can only save at bed. i find myself going to be a lot at 10:30am...
- not a whole lot to do during the day in the beginning since you only have one small field and not so much money and a handful of the characters leave to work in the city.
- hard to find time to shop at the bazaar due to sales goals.


i love this series and this game, i've been playing it pretty much non stop in my free time since i got it. not for the action/adventure types, but still lots of fun

Overall I'd have to agree pretty much with the other review. The game is not a bad game but if you're used to previous HM games for the DS it's not the best. If you'd like a more relaxing HM game, then this is it.

I like the fact that they have made the watering of the plants so much less complex. Basically you fertilize your plants then water them every day (sometimes twice a day) unless it rains. It's not as complex as the other HM games where you have to worry about the amount of sun and amount of watering to get your plants to grow. The aspects of the bazaar make it fun although it's pretty slow during the week until the bazaar comes at the end of the week.

I'm one that enjoyed the mining in the last games and I'm disappointed that there is not mining in this one (at least not yet...have already been through 1 year of the game and no mining). Winter is pretty boring without mining and the rivers are frozen so you can't fish, and you can't grow any crops. They do have ore stones lying around that you can hammer and find stuff in but overall not much to do. I also hate how you can only save when you go to bed for the day. Either you have to finish your day or quit in the middle and lose what you've done so far that day.

If I knew the game was like this, would I have bought it still? I'd have to say "yes." I still enjoy playing it despite it being slower paced.

Awesome Game. Worth getting it.
Removing mining was the best thing they did so far.

Although, there is 1 annoying glitch. On random days, 1 of your sheep will not be in the barn; and instead will be outside.

This game has different dynamics than the other HM titles I've played. I have never played any of the Rune Factory games; only DS Cute, and the one for Game Boy SP. Getting though the first in-game week was very hard, getting used to the controls (you hardly ever use the touch screen. I feel like they could have eliminated the minute use of it entirely) and learning your way around your farm and town.

The big thing here is the addition of "Freshness" and "Ratings". You can't keep food items indefinitely. They will eventually expire and become rotten after a week or two. Very difficult when you want to cook with food that's out of season. And each item has a Rating on it, from one half to five stars. It seems unnecessarily difficult to grasp these concepts, or even make full use of them once you've got a grip, in the early part of the game.

The Bazaar feature is also kind of jarring. You can sell things to the shop owner in town (and you won't get the full price it's worth), but the goal of the game is to make as much money as possible at the Bazaar by setting up your own shop, which is only once a week. You have to keep your items fresh, and consolidate what you're carrying, since you can only carry 15 things at a time. Also, items that are the same, but a different freshness or rating can not be "stacked" (A Toy flower with a 1 1/2 star rating will take up a slot, while a Toy flower with a 1 star rating will take up another slot! Even though they are the same flower!), which ends up taking a lot of space in your storage and backpack.

Also: for the busy gamers out there, you can only save your game at the end of a game-day. And time in the game doesn't stop moving, except when you're speaking to someone. Meaning if you start playing, you have to finish the whole day; no sitting the game down to have a snack or answer the phone or put out a fire.

Game dynamic griping aside, once you get through that first week, and get a handle on how to make money at the bazaar, this game is at once infuriating and insanely addicting. It took me almost two weeks to play through the first 6 game days, but it became much easier to understand once I had actually done stuff. Anyone can tell you what to expect, but this game seems to have a way of being adjustable to each player's preferences. This is ultimately why I enjoy this game very much. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who had never heard of Harvest Moon unless I was there to help them (Which I have done, and gotten someone totally hooked). This game has a much greater span of game play time as well; in the other games I played, I achieved most of my major accomplishments by the end of the first game year, while in Grand Bazaar, I'm well into year two, and I'm just barely close to being married (and don't get me started on my near-empty cook book!). This game is definitely a keeper. Glad I bought it!

So I've been playing this game on and off for the past few months and I'm at Year 2 Summer. During the first season of Year 1, I was a little bored due to lack of things I need to do except talk to villagers, giving them gifts to increase hearts, and triggering events. But after I have received my fishing rod, I found my character going to bed late at night, sometime as late as 4am. I catch a lot of fish and cook them. These fish will earn me about 600g each or more. So I'd earn well over 60,000g and still have an 1 hour game-time or more to shop around the bazaar. I didn't use any guides, but I looked up recipes and found what I could cook. Cooked dishes makes A LOT of gold. And the goals needed to unlock bazaar levels is the motivation to continue with the game for me. Currently, bazaar is at 75%, I have the character I want to marry at Red heart level and the other village members to be at least 3 heart levels. It's pretty tedious to actually accomplish the chores required at my farm though. I have 6 cows, 2 sheeps, 9 chickens (thinking of getting more), 2 dogs, and 2 cats. Both cats and dogs are trained to bring in and out all animals.

Well, the POSITIVES of this game is... numerous activities, numerous kitchen recipes, windmills, fishing, interaction with villagers, bazaar, and more (can't think of more right now)

the NEGATIVES of this game is... inability to redecorate the house, inability to change character appearance, repetitive dialogues of villagers, lack of more than one settings

Tips I have for the summer is grow radishes! Have a couple cows. Cook radish and milk together and you get a dish that sells for about 1140g. Or get onions and cook it into onion salad. They sell. Fish at zephyr's cafe for Willow Gudgelow, Silver Goby, Sweetfish, and Dark Chub. Willow Gudgelow and Sweetfish makes Grilled Fish (4.5 star sells for about 700g), Silver Goby makes Fish Stew (4.5 star sells for about 700g), and Dark Chub makes Fish Paste (sells at bazaar at only about 100g-250g, but cooked with flour you get Udon Noodles)

Tips for Winter: Catch Sculpins and Silver Gobies! Make sure you have a hammer to break the ice. Sculpins make Sashimi. Sashimi+Rice+Egg=Sushi Bowl (Sells at Bazaar for about 1200g) And at this time, you can upgrade your water can. I also recommend upgrading your fishing rod to full 5 stars. It catch higher star fish which sells for a much higher price if you cook them.

Well, I hope you guys enjoy the game! It's a little slow-paced at first, but after you have access to the fishing rod and the 2nd windmills, I believe your game will have a lot more activities for you to do. Remember to have fun!

I love this game! I have no idea why people would rate it badly. There are a few cons, though.

Pros:

- KITCHEN! In other Harvest Moon games you have to get 100000000000 upgrades or something to get a kitchen. You start with a kitchen, though.

- If you see all the rival events of a bachelor/bachelorette, they DO NOT marry, unlike in other games.

- Hours and hours of fun! In Animal Crossing, it is based on real time. On HM, hours are real minutes and minutes are real seconds. You can play five days in one day.

- No mining! Nobody likes to mine, based on other reviews.

It is very hard to explain how fun it is, since I have not played the other games in the series.

Cons:

- If you step on plants, you will lower their rating.

- You can only save by going to bed and starting a new day. (For example, you just won a festival and you want to save, but is only 2 PM. You will go to bed and you will wake up. It will be the next day.)

- In the beginning, Felix only gives you 8 turnip seeds. That is like garden, not a farm.

- It is very hard to earn money in the beginning, but this can lead to a pro, too, since you don't earn money so quickly and you are actually "working" to get money.

- Always keep 4-5 medicene in your storage. It is very frustrating how Raul's shop is closed on Fridays and bazaar days. Sometimes I have sick animals and I have no medicine. If you do not cure them, they will die, you either let them die or lose a day of progress by turning off your DS.

This is June 6, 2011 and have been playing this game since Aug. of 2010. After playing 7 years and into the fall of this game, I have finally gotten married to Ivan!! Whooweee...this is the longest game that I have stayed with and played!! In about 9 more days, I will be having a baby! Enjoyed this game to pieces and was trying to get married for a long time...and finally have done it!

Also, I have 7 million dollars in my bank account from selling at the bazaar...when you get married your husband/wife doesn't work even half as hard as you do. Just had to rewrite another review.....since I wrote my last review on this!



Have been playing this game since it first came out...5 months at least?! I love the game...and have almost all the Harvest Moon DS Games...and this one is the best!

Have learned how to really cook and make my dishes to sell at the Grand Bazaar. I do walk over my crops..but I usually am so busy milking all the cows, the sheeps, feeding the chickens, my cats and dogs....fishing...that if the crops go down in value, it doesn't matter.

The more you learn how to cook up newer and better tasty recipes, you can sell them at the bazaar for over 500 to 1000 dollars. So far I have collected 2 million dollars selling, but there are 3 people who are winners for selling the most at the Grand Bazaar.

The Grand Bazaar is now from 500,000 to 700,000. to be able to be one of the contestants. I'm finding out that making jewelery, a broach, necklace can bring in over 40,000 to 60,000.00 a piece...but it is expensive to gather your stones and metals to make the jewelery. I have achieved being No. 1 winner in the Grand Bazaar for over 600,000.00 but it is very hard!

Also, I have not gotten a husband in the game, and I'm going in my 6th year. I do have 6 hearts on 2 bachelors but will have to figure out how they will get to propose to me, so I can have a baby?!

I looked up cheats online...because I've never played an Nintendo game for 5 consistent months....but have enjoyed this game to pieces!!

Now I finally have my Wii set up again..after not using it for over a year and would like to buy Animal Parade or Tree or Tranquility Harvest Moon.

This has been my favorite game out of 50 Nintendo ds games!

We had to be on the road to our vacation destination for 8 hrs.
This proved to be a good choice to help my granddaughter have
a fun time on the way.

I must have picked up this box at GameStop 10 times before I decided to buy it. Wow, all the time I wasted that I could have been building my farm! I spend every free minute playing this game. This is my first Harvest Moon game and I'm hooked! My only complaint is how long it takes for your pets and horse to like you - but that is probably just me not spending enough time with them. Fun fun fun!