[Turnips] Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar

Taya

Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar: Released Aug 24 in USA, Sep 1 in Canada, never in Europe

This is the latest game in the Harvest Moon franchise to be released in North America. Japan is ahead of us by one more HM game (Twin Villages)... two if you count Rune Factory 3. Anyway here's some info!



You have just moved into Zephyr Town, a place known far and wide for it's fantastic weekly bazaar. However, the bazaar is kinda crappy these days and the mayor of town, Damon Gant, wants you the new farmer to restore the bazaar to its former glory.



There is no shipping bin in this game. To earn money you either sell items to the Mexican sterotype, Raul, or you sell it in the weekly bazaar. Just place your items on your stand and ring your bell to attract customers. You can also make customers happy by giving them discounts or making friendly chit-chat. Try to reach the goal set by the mayor... I wouldn't want to make him angry.


The mayor: Damon Gant, I mean Felix

Here are some other crucially important points about Grand Bazaar:

* You can make more than 20 kinds of tea, more than 15 kinds of wine, and even brew your own beer
* The art style and sound effects are adorable and/or annoying (depending on your taste)
* Time doesn't stop when you're inside a building or even when you open your inventory menu!
* Characters walk from place to place. They don't teleport.
* There are five marriage candidates for each gender. Have a son or a daughter after marriage.
* "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In" is the opening song
* You can train your cats and dogs to herd your chickens and livestock
* Press A to jump. Press A again to double-jump!
* Collect bugs and frogs. Give them to people you don't like
* Visit other people's town over Nintendo WFC

Who will receive the blue feather?

Sherry

The mayor's daughter

Freya

She works in a nearby city. I don't know her actual job.

Daisy

The maid at the hotel

Antoinette

Aspiring fashion designer

Emiko

I haven't met this character yet

Ivan

A teacher in a nearby city

Dirk

Ivan's shota brother. How old is this guy?

Lloyd

A fellow bazaar shop owner. Sells ore and gems.

Angelo

An artist.

Amir

I haven't met this character yet

I'm about a week into the game and in the middle of a festival that spans several days. My first impression is that it's really relaxed compared to previous Harvest Moon games, especially Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands. I really like the bazaar feature and the artstyle is cute but not the best I've ever seen. I think the game will improve when I expand my shop and unlock some more things to do.

It seems like a great Harvest Moon starter game and an overall solid entry to the series but probably not absolutely essential.

Pata

[Mist]Yay turnips![/Mist]

Anyways darn I haven't finished Rune Factory 2. Don't tempt meeeeeeee

AshtonDragon

I'd consider this game if I wasn't still addicted to Rune Factory Frontier.

But this game has double jumps!

Taya

AshtonDragon wrote: »

I'd consider this game if I wasn't still addicted to Rune Factory Frontier.

But this game has double jumps!

That's no excuse because I'm also playing Rune Factory Frontier. Giving Mist an emery flower and a turnip every day is working great. Hopefully she'll fall in love with me before the autumn date.

In Grand Bazaar I'm in the flower festival. I gave a flower to Lloyd in the morning but it didn't count towards the festival because it started at noon. I don't think I'll win the festival this year....

Xenogears of Bore

RFF is so crazy.

Boxcutter3005

I had to restart :P. I didnt realize there was a kitchen in my house until Winter year 1. Heads up everyone theres a kitchen in your house from the get go.

Taya

Felix tells you about your kitchen. And I don't see why you should restart...

I'm not going to hurry to upgrade my bazaar or get married. I think I'll relax and play through this one slowly.

I hear you get the best fishing pole in year 4. o_O

Boxcutter3005

Oh, year 4 for the best fishing pole, hmmm, maybe I'll hold on to the save for now. Do you know if friend points go down if you don't talk to people like in Sunshine islands? Sometimes I go into zone out mode and do a routine to get through the days.

Taya

Boxcutter3005 wrote: »

Oh, year 4 for the best fishing pole, hmmm, maybe I'll hold on to the save for now. Do you know if friend points go down if you don't talk to people like in Sunshine islands? Sometimes I go into zone out mode and do a routine to get through the days.

I don't know for sure but I'm going to be hopeful and assume you don't need to talk to everyone every day like in Sunshine Islands. I assume this because people accept gifts right away instead of having to talk to them for several days in a row. That means the relationship system is a little different than SI.

Pata

Grand Bazaar feels like it's more difficult to make money.

Taya

It kinda is, but there aren't any money sinks late in the game so there's no hurry to make money. I think this game is meant to go slow. Don't be pressured by Felix to make the weekly goal.

I'm on Summer 7th and the most money I've made in a bazaar is 11 000 G. Usually I make around 8000.

I have three chickens and I managed to buy the sickle, hammer, and axe. I can't afford to buy more radish seeds until next bazaar.

Dignified Pauper

I dunno, I feel like I can't invest in this because I'm an ass and hate change. I was searching for sunshine island, but can't find a copy within 50 miles. i hear it's the best one since FoMT

Taya

Dignified Pauper wrote: »

I dunno, I feel like I can't invest in this because I'm an ass and hate change. I was searching for sunshine island, but can't find a copy within 50 miles. i hear it's the best one since FoMT

Sunshine Islands is hit or miss. Some people love it; some people hate it. Personally I think it's a good game with a ton of content and lots of stuff to spend your money on, but it's not as good as FoMT. It just doesn't have the character development, random events, and decent festivals that FoMT has. If you fear change, you may have a difficult time with Sunshine Islands because there is a sensitive sun/water system in place for crops (crops die if they get too much or too little sun or water).

Anyway, the best Harvest Moon since x is Animal Parade.

Xenogears of Bore

SI is just IoH with controls that don't make you want to kill yourself, right?

What about this Animal Parade game?

Taya

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

SI is just IoH with controls that don't make you want to kill yourself, right?

What about this Animal Parade game?

It's for Wii. I like it because it has great farming, lots to buy and lots to do, good characters, lots of events, decent festivals, good art style, lots of features, an actual story line, the best child system in any HM game, and easy to use controls.

I'm a big Animal Parade fan.

Xenogears of Bore

Interesting, what does it play like?

Is it in the MM>ToT sort of play style or is it something else?

Taya

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Interesting, what does it play like?

Is it in the MM>ToT sort of play style or is it something else?

Yes, it's very much the same as Tree as Tranquility. It's kind of like ToT 2.0.

blaze_zero

Shiiiiiiiit, this is out?

Hurgh, I tend to like console HM games better than portable ones, but this... this just looks awesome.

Tell me it's as awesome as it looks.

This could shoot to the top of my to buy list if so.

Aroduc

I really liked SI, but lost interest at around the end of year 2 when I had unlocked almost everything, had only two or three more sunstones left (mostly maker and fruit crap), and everything left was so absurdly expensive that it was just dumb. Oh yeah, and it takes your kid like, 2.5 years after marriage to grow up enough to give the last sunstone.

Also, the RNG drowned me in Green Wonderfuls, so I could grind the mine for basically free from the start of year 2. That made things a bit... yeah.

Xenogears of Bore

The thing that interests me the most in GB is the idea that you can have an HM game where you are not drowning in money.

blaze_zero

Really? That is kind of interesting.

Although, I usually have so much money because EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY MUST BE PRODUCTIVE.

Taya

I wouldn't say Grand Bazaar is the best ever but it's worth a buy. Unless you're really hardcore, it's difficult to get rich quick. The people at GameFAQs have a bunch of methods to win the bazaars and they get mad at me if I suggest taking it slowly. I've decided to not look at any guides for recipes and how to trigger the events.

I'm in fall now and I finally have enough money to fill my field with crops. And I bought my first cow.

Pata

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

The thing that interests me the most in GB is the idea that you can have an HM game where you are not drowning in money.

It feels a lot more like you're actually running a business.

blaze_zero

...might make a trip out to wal-mart soon... maybe they'll have it...

Xenogears of Bore

blaze_zero wrote: »

...might make a trip out to wal-mart soon... maybe they'll have it...

They seem to carry most HM games.

Taya

Be warned though: there isn't much to do in Spring Year 1. If you play past Spring the game picks up.

Magic Pink

If you play right you'll be drowning in cash. I had 15000 by my second bazaar and that's climbed every time. It's still a really great game tho.

I was loving RFF but the fucking runey system absolutely killed it for me. So annoying and time consuming.

Xenogears of Bore

So it's like the original HM game in that money just doesn't come to you, but if you do work at it (and nothing but it) you'll still be mega rich.

Magic Pink

No, if you just know what to get and how to cook you'll have plenty of cash. I have easily half the day where I don't actually have to do anything but I fish anyway because I'm greedy.

The weird thing comes in that you really only get money once a week, at the bazaar. There's no shipping bin. So I go six days at 410 gold and then suddenly 40000 OMG. But then you have to give up selling time at your bazaar to spend that money since the shops you REALLY want to shop at are only open during the bazaar.

Xenogears of Bore

Now that's interesting.

Of course early HM games work like that during the first summer months.

Oh look I spent 12 days doing nothing but planting and watering. Maybe with some time to gift shit or pick a few herbs. So your sheet might be Zero, Zero, 200, 400, Zero.

Then harvest day finally rolls around and you have 65k.

Magic Pink

True. But this stays that way the whole way through the game unless you start dumping stuff at Raul's store, which you can, but for a far lower price then you'd get at the bazaar. But, then, you may not sell everything at the bazaar.

Plus, collecting is sort of fun what with all the fish and bugs to catch. That can fill up a heck of a lot of time and not net much money at all.

Taya

The runey system in RFF is annoying and time consuming in the beginning but it doesn't take long to get to a point where you barely have to think about them. Don't let runeys ruin an otherwise amazing game.

Xenogears of Bore

I know someone who did perfectly fine just by ignoring runeys.

It is a better version of RF1 and the best RF game to date.

Taya

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

I know someone who did perfectly fine just by ignoring runeys.

It is a better version of RF1 and the best RF game to date.

I wouldn't advise people to ignore them because they can mess up your crops if they go extinct, but they're not a huge deal to manage.

Back to Grand Bazaar, I like how they add new crops to each new game. GB has yellow peppers and cauiliflower.

Xenogears of Bore

Man I'm getting close to picking this one up, despite EO III coming out in less then two weeks.

Magic Pink

Taya wrote: »

The runey system in RFF is annoying and time consuming in the beginning but it doesn't take long to get to a point where you barely have to think about them. Don't let runeys ruin an otherwise amazing game.

This is 100% false. I'm three seasons in and I'm STILL taking full days just to vacuum up those god damned runeys. It's fucking game-breaking.

In GB, I like how there's almost always something you can cook up just using one ingrediant. Cooking is mandatory now for lotsa cash instead of a side thing you could or could not do.

Magic Pink

Taya wrote: »

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

I know someone who did perfectly fine just by ignoring runeys.

It is a better version of RF1 and the best RF game to date.

I wouldn't advise people to ignore them because they can mess up your crops if they go extinct, but they're not a huge deal to manage.

Back to Grand Bazaar, I like how they add new crops to each new game. GB has yellow peppers and cauiliflower.

Yeah, if he ignored runeys, then his crops would have stopped growing completely. So he's wrong or lying.

Taya

Magic Pink wrote: »

Taya wrote: »

The runey system in RFF is annoying and time consuming in the beginning but it doesn't take long to get to a point where you barely have to think about them. Don't let runeys ruin an otherwise amazing game.

This is 100% false. I'm three seasons in and I'm STILL taking full days just to vacuum up those god damned runeys. It's fucking game-breaking.

It helps if you know all about runeys in advanced like I did. I had all areas in prosperity by early summer year 1 except one which functioned as a grass runey factory. You definitely need to dedicate a few full days to the runeys early on but once areas are in prosperity, you only need to drop some grass into each area every week. If you wait until the runeys are endangered, it will be more difficult to get them under control.

blaze_zero

It was not at Wal-Mart.


Drat.

Taya

I have yet to meet the mayor's goal for the bazaar. I need to make 40,000G to get 3rd place and the most I can clear is 20,000G. It's early in the season though. Most of my crops haven't grown and my cows are too young to give milk.

That's okay. Year 2 will be my year to shine.

Magic Pink

Damn it, now you've got me playing RFF again.

GIVE ME THE VACUUM ALREADY YOU COCKS LET'S GET THIS CLUSTERFUCK STARTED

Damn this game is pretty. Like, the prettiest thing on the Wii ever.

Bazaar: You should be able to hit 40000 pretty easy. You have the fishing rod and tomaters right? Certain fish and pretty much all the summer crops can be cooked into better stuff on their own (assuming you bought the pot), 'ceptin for radishes which need milk.