Tree of Tranquility
Okay, I had gotten my hands on Tree of Tranquility for the Wii. This is my impression as of Spring 25, Year 1.
Gameplay:
The controls are a bit hard to deal with, but easily learned and mastered. There are 2 modes of controls, you can either use the nunchuk, or the classic controller. The classic controller is easier to play with, because we are more familiar with it. But without the nunchuk, you cannot play any mini games that you encounter throught the game. So even though I liked the classic controller better, I still used the nunchuck to take advantage of 100% of the gameplay.
Graphics:
The graphics are not very pleasant, but I got used to them after a while.
Story:
Storyline is AWSOME!!! You are in charge of finding a way to rescue the Harvest Goddess, and you are sent on an epic and mysterious quest to do it.
Farming:
Farming us pretty easy, and somewhat more enjoyable than the previous title Island of Happiness. However, you may have trouble positioning the character in the right spot, and you’ll missthe crops when you water them every once in a while. Once again, you’ll get used to this.
The farming gets easier when you level your tool skill up. What I find interesting and really great about ToT is that tool skill level, and tool quality are separated. The tool skill determines how well you perform the chores. And the tool quality determines how much stamina is consumed every time you use that tool.
What I found aggravating is the way you spread the seeds on the ground. In traditional Harvest Moon games, you throw the seeds in a 3×3 formation. Other Harvest Moon games make you spread the seeds one at a time. This game decides to change the rules again, and make you spread the seeds in a 6×1 formation. They did not mention this in the tutorial, so I ended up wasting my free bag of seeds.
Animals:
This game allows you to have a collection of animals to raise. In the chicken coop, you are allowed to have Chickens, Ducks, and Silkworms. As far as how much sense raising silkworms in the same place as chickens and ducks is anyone’s guess.
The barn holds cows and sheep and horses like most Harvest Moon games. But now the barn also holds Goats and Ostraches (typo?). I am not sure if the giant bird makes any sense to add into the Harvest Moon world, but whatever. The next game will be worse.
*Note* I do not have a barn or coop yet, but I did read up on this stuff in the strategy guide.
Pets:
You can now tame one of 16 different animals as pets. 3 variety of cats, 4 dogs (2 small, and 2 large), a monkey, a turtle, a weasel, a rabbit, a baby boar, a panda(?), a squirrel, a penguin(??), a raccoon, or a baby bear(WTF???). The choices are silly, but kinda cool in a way. I’m planning to get either a monkey or a turtle.
Mining:
This part of the game is HARD!!! You cannot save in the mines, so you’ll often feel fristrated by it. I have only reached level 10, but it’s an interesting sight down there.
Fishing:
No different than Magical Melody.
Cooking:
I haven’t tried cooking really. All I do is catch fish, and roast it on a campfire, just like in Magical Melody. The different is that there are only specific places at the beach you are allowed to start a fire. I haven’t collected any utensils yet.
Upgrading your farm:
Money is hard to make in the game at first. But the upgrades to your farm are rather inexpensive. There is little grinding you have to do in order to upgrade your buildings.
Clothing and furniture:
Similar to Magical Melody, you can buy furniture for your home. Yo can decorate your home to your own unique tastes.
But what I like is the fact that you can change your clothing to become completely unique. Usink refined silk, you can craft many different types of clothing to fit your mood. I heard that the other characters in the game changes clothing as the seasons chance, but I haven’t seen that yet.
Festivals:
There are a LOT of festivals in this game. I have only seen few of them, but so far I like them.
Marriage:
So far, I have met only 4 potential brides. Maya, Selena, Kathy, and Anissa. These are my impressions for each:
Maya – Before I started playing this game, I thought for certain that i would not like her. But Maya seems to grow on me for some reason. She seems rather cute and funny in a way. She’s also relatively easy to marry because she is a glutton for food. Anything that I can get/make/buy that is cooked, she likes. I already have her on 2 hears, and did the first event.
Selena – I thought that Selena was going to be my first pick before I started playing the game. But she’s a real B****!!! When you first meet her, she makes you buy her a flower, then every time you talk to her afterwards, she tells you, “Stop wasting my time!” God, I hate her!
Kathy – Not much to comment on. We met, but I cannot talk to her at all because she lives at the Brownie ranch, which is blocked off by a large boulder. I need to have my hammer skill to Level 3 before I can break it. According to the guide, the stone will be cleared out on it’s own in time for the ranch festival, so I am not worried about it. I can tell that this girl is a free minded person that always speaks her mind.
Anissa – Similar to Maya, I thought I was not going to like this girl. I have grown to like her, but not as much as Maya. She is kinda cute, but she reminds me too much of Celia. Too plain, and not very exciting.
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Gameplay:
Depending on how you use the buttons and the controller, farming can be easier. Because it’s tough for you to position your character in the right place, they allow you to use the Z button in order to aim at the target. If my character is not standing near the crop/weed/rock/wood that I intend to use on, I can cancel the Z button, andmove my character to it’s proper location. This makes farming easier because I don’t waste stamina on failed item uses.
In short, the game is especially programmed for convenience.
Story:
Like Innocent Life, you are asked to accomplish a certain amount of tasks before you complete the main story of the game. Each time you meet the requirement, you get a “Story Item”, and an area typically gets unlocked.
UNLIKE Innocent Life, you do not have a time limit to complete these tasks. You can take your time, and enjoy the game at your leisure and pace. This makes the story more enjoyable.
Animals:
I now have a coop with a chicken and a chick. Taking care of them is EXACTLY like in Magical Melody. This is pretty cool, because this is the only thing I actually enjoyed about Magical Melody. It’s great that they are pulling some better elements from popular titles, and adding them to this game.
However, they did make one mistake. You can pick up chickens, but you cannot carry them. I think you need to push them around to move them out of your way. The chickens will get in the way of your work all the time, especially if you have many of them.
I don’t have a cow yet, but I am having a barn built. The pasture is free of charge, and the grass will grow as soon as you build your first coop or barn. And what’s great is that the pasture will not take up the space of your crops.
Mining:
What makes mining hard is that you need a high quality hammer (Silver or Gold) in order to mine effectively. And even if you do, you will rarely find any good metals or gems. Most of the time, you will get metal ores (Iron ore, Copper ore, Silver ore, or gold ore), and they will contain scrap metal once refines at high probability. Only if you find a sparkling ore are you nearly guaranteed a good metal to work with.
Similar to metals, you can go to the mines to collect Wonderful Stones. Please note that Wonderful Stones do not do what they did in Island of Happiness. Wonderful stones are only unrefined versions of gems, and you must refine them to get rubies, moon stones, and other gems based on the color of the stone. Also, the chance of getting a good gem is pretty low. The best way to get a good gem is to find a sparkling Wonderful Stone.
Another problem is the size of the Rucksack. You can only carry a max of 10 items in your sack in the beginning of the game. That includes items you find, and your tools combined. Because the capacity of your rucksack sucks, you cannot carry any junk ores with you because you run out of room quickly. Once you have a larger rucksack, you can carry more ores and wonderfuls.
Once you unlock the second mine, you can have better chances of getting a sparkly ore or Wonderful Stone.
Fishing:
I noticed something that is different from Magical Melody. Fishing consumes a LOT of stamina. The bigger the fish you catch, the more stamina you consume to reel it in. If you try to reel in a shark with a normal rod, you are guaranteed to pass out before you reel in that fish. In order to fish effectively, you must upgrade the rod. This kinda blows because fishing is required for many things, including marrying some girls, and completing the main story of the game.
Cooking:
Same as Magical Melody. You collect utensils, and the cooking menu is exactly the same. However, the more you cook, the better chances you can get Shining Dishes. Shining Dishes are the favorites of some of the guys and girls we want to marry.
(Example: Shining Sashimi)
Another difference is the fact that you can make perfumes in your kitchen. Many girls love perfumes, so if your a guy, you have a good reason to plant flowers in your farm. I remember the Perfumes first being used in Harvest Moon: SNES.
Your House:
Similar to Magical Melody, your house is 100% customizable. You can chance the color, furniture, and look of your house. Like in Magical Melody, you are also allowed to have more than one house if you buy more land.
Clothing:
I am in Summer, but I have yet to see any changes in the villager’s clothing.
Marriage:
OMG, it’s super easy! I am in Summer 25, first year, and I have Maya at 8 hearts already. In other words, if I meet the other requirements, I can already get married! However, the real challenge is getting the other conditions.
Twin bed – Pretty expensive, but affordable after some time.
The Request – In most cases, this is the hardest requirement to complete. Each girl asks you to so something different. Maya asks me to catch an Eel, but I need a high quality rod, and high fishing level to catch one.
Blue feather – This one is easy. But I cannot get one until Maya’s request is done.
Getting married is easy because:
1) Talking to the girl every day will get her heart levels at a steady pace.
2) If you’re generous enough to give her gifts every day, the rate that she gains heart levels is 3 times or more (Depending on gift).
3) Completing romantic festivals and dates gives you half a heart each. So once you get three heart levels, the heart levels will go up like crazy.
I also forgot to mention that finding the guy/girl on your own will be insanely difficult. However, the game has provided you with a tool to make locating your guy/girlfriend insanely easy. You can access the menu, and “Track” any character you wish. Once tracked, that person’s location will be revealed to you at all times until you decide to turn it off. This makes finding anyone too easy.
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Clothing:
The characters finally changed their clothing to suit the seasons of Fall and Winter. Your own characters change clothing as well.
Main Characters:
The main characters have several Default names each. Each time you start a new file, you can choose the first default name (Kevin or Angela), or select “Default” to scroll between four other default names. If you do not like any of the default names, you can chose any name you wish.
Crops:
Fall has arrived, but my Summer crops have not died yet. They still continue to bear fruit in the middle of Fall. I have no idea how long the crops will live until, I’ll have to get back to everyone on that.
Bad weather:
In past Harvest Moon games, hurricanes only occur in Summer. In this game, they can occur in any season other than Winter. The difference is that you CAN leave your house during a hurricane. This will give you a chance to care for your animals, but you will still have a chance to lose some crops after the hurricane is over.
On the bright side, Hurricanes bring in treasures into the beaches to sell. These treasures includes seaweed (Used to make Miso Soup), common/fancy shells (Selling), and white/black pearls (Jewlery). Sometimes, you may actually want hurricanes to hit to collect the stuff they bring in. The number of crops they damage are small, so you won’t feel a big hit on your profits. So far, the most the Hurricanes have damaged is 3 crops at a time.
Birthdays:
You cannot choose what day your birthday is, but you can choose what season, and a rough estimate on where it’s going to be. I chose my birthday to be in the beginning of Fall, which means a day will be chosen at random between Fall 1 – Fall 10. Thus, my birthday fell on Fall 8.
Marriage candidates:
I have met Renee already. They try to make her into the “Elli” of this game, but they fail.
I have yet to meet Candace, Luna, or Phoebe yet, and I’m already married. So if you plan to marry these characters, or Chase, Calvin, or Julius, you’ll need to play deep into the game to unlock them.
Marriage:
For my birthday, Maya accepted my blue feather, and on Fall 14, we got married. This version of the wedding seems to be the most realistic of all the Harvest Moon games. After your girlfriend/boyfriend accepts your blue feather, you are automatically taken to City Hall to register your engagement, and pick a date. You can choose to marry as soon as possible, or at a later date. I chose as soon as possible, so I was wed on the 14th, 6 days after we got engaged.
During the engagement, the whole village will hear about it, and congratulate you. On your wedding day, you and the bride/groom will automatcally go to the church, and have your wedding. I am pretty glad that they have wedding dresses and white tuxedoes for the wedding. After the wedding, the villagers will wish you luck on your marriage. Unlike Island of Happiness, the game does not end here.
The engagement and the wedding are very cute as the characters show a lot of affection. After he/she accepts the feather, you share a kiss, and another one after making your vows. As soon as I can, I’ll need to make a video of it, and post it.
Story:
Progressing through the story is a lot tougher than it looks. After you collect the first 2 main items, you are asked to start collecting rainbows. Collecting them brings new villagers into the island, and open up more areas of the game. As the game gets bigger, you may want to have a horse or an ostrich to move around faster.
What makes the story difficult is the items that you are required to collect. Some of the items requested are only specific to a season, or you can only buy at a specific festival or flea market. Other items require luck, or high level cooking/tool skill to obtain. Regardless on how well you play you will be playing for at least 2 in game years in order to complete the storyline. Luckily, there is a lot to do so that you won’t get bored.
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Animals:
I now have 6 full grown chickens, a cow, and a silkworm. Because I’ve always hated bugs, silkworms are not my favorite animals in the game. However, I believe they are nessesary to complete the game, so I plan to have only one. You can have a max of 6 if I am not mistaken.
Once you have a lot of animals, you find out that you may not have enough time to work with all of them. I only have 8 animals total, and by the time I’m done, it’s alreadt 1-3o’ clock in the afternoon. Time passes inside barns and coops, so this can be a problem. One piece of advice I can give you is to not have more than 12 animals in total. If you have a level 3 coop, and a level 3 barn, and max out the animsla, there will be no possible way to care for all of them. Strangely, barn animals are much easier to care for than coop animals.
Because time passes inside the barn and coop, you tend to rush yourself, especially if you have other things to do in the day. Because I rushed, i forget to feed some of the animals, and they become upset the next day. But I have found a neat trick to avoid animals getting upset.After feeding the animals by hand, fill all of the feeding bins. This serves asa back-up, in case you forget to feed an animal. The feed does not dissapear overnight, it will remain in the bin until the animal consumes it.
Glitch?
I have noticed that you can put ANYTHING in the tool box (Even non-tools). I was able to put food, gems, trash, and other items in the tool box. I havea refrigerator, but I can only put food in there. I am not sure if this is normal, but because the tool box has enough slots to store items, you may not need other storage furniture, unless you’re a packrat.
After mariage:
What makes this game special, is that your spouce is not just your husband/wife. He/She becomes your partner in the game. That’s right, I said it! The spouce doesn’t actually help you in the farm directly, but he/she makes you a boxed lunch every day. This concept was borrowed from Rune Factory where your wife makes you something to eat every day. But none of the wives actually make you anything that restores enough stamina to be useful.
In Tree of Tranquility, the spouce goes out and works. I am not sure about the husbands, but when Maya is not working, she goes to the farm to pick up food that she uses to make the boxed lunches. What makes the boxed lunches useful is the fact that they restore a LOT of stamina. The spouces make a random type of lunch ranging from decent (Lowest Quality) to shining (Highest Quality). The decent food restores about half my stamina bar, while shining restores almost all of my stamina.
As you collect boxed lunches, you can use them to complete jobs that were once impossible to do because of the drain in your stamina. Example:
Cutting down one tree with a normal tool will drain almost all of your stamina. If you are married, and you have 6 decent boxed lunches, you can now cut down 4 trees instead of one. If you manage to get into the hot springs in time, you can cut down an extra tree.
With this in mind, your spouce’s lunches help you accomplish more in the day, and it doesn’t cost you a thing. Your spouce works in his/her old job to pay for the boxed lunches, and you have a reliable way to restore stamina. This is highly useful when fishing or mining, which are tasks that drain the most stamina over time.
Storyline:
I took a peek at the guide to see how far along am I in the story. I thought that I might be almost done with the game. I was dead wrong. This storyline is not only hard to accomplish, it’s also LONG. The strategy guide has 18 pages in the storybook section which makes this storyline long, difficult, and epic.
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Crops:
The Summer crops finally died. However, they did not die from the change of seasons. During Winter, a snowstorm hit and killed the Summer crops. The Fall and Winter crops were left unharmed strangely. I read in the guide that there is a way to avoid a snowstorm, but it requires some work and effort on your part. I would just rather let the crops die, and plant new crops in it’s place.
Glitch!:
I watched my marriage with Maya a second time, just for the heck of it. But I noticed something odd. Chihaya (Chase) actually attended the wedding!!! Problem is that he did not move into the island yet, nor is there a way that he can get into the island (The ferry service to Waffle island is disabled until I complete the second rainbow, which explains why didn’t the other 3 brides and grooms haven’t arrived yet). So how did he attend the wedding if he is not in the island??
After marriage:
I found another way your spouce is helpful to you. During the thanksgiving festival, your spouse is supposed to give you a dish that they like, plus a flower. However, Maya gave me pancakes and ostannaise (no flower). This is highly useful because ostannaise is one of the ingredients for the third rainbow. Because Maya gave me that ingredient, I don’t have to spend 13,500g on an ostrich, wait 28 days for it to grow, and spend more money on a mayonnaise maker to get it.
Festivals:
I have to say that I am VERY impressed with the festivals. These festivals are the best I’ve experienced since Harvest Moon: 64 (I am not kidding, I really mean it!). My favorite festival is the New Years festival. It left me with a feeling of awe through the entire event. It’s even better after you get married. My second most favorite festival was the fireworks display. Even for a digitally animated display, they still were awsome!
Since I completed a full year, there will probably be nothing else I can review for a while. I still have a lot of the storyline to cover, and I still haven’t met Pheobe, Candace, Luna, Calvin, Chase, and Julius. It’s been 1.5 seasons since me and Maya has gottem married, so Maya may be getting pregnant soon. As far as there being any requirements, I have no clue.
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The game continues to be fun and entertaining, because there is always something to do. I have already unlocked 4 out of the 5 rainbows, My kid is already standing, I have 8 trees producing fruit, I own 3/4 plots of land, and I have a Level 5 house with the max amount of furniture it can hold.
At first, I thought that keeping animals outside would yield no benefits. I was so wrong! Bringing animals in and out of the barn works the same way as Harvest Moon: AWL series. All you have to do is ring a bell, and the amimals move themselves. What’s even better is that the chickens move outside as well! This makes animal care very easy and convenient, and playing the game is less of a chore.
As I progress through the story, things get a bit more challenging, and surprises are in every corner. I really liked the part with the mother bear, that came out as a surprise.
I also learned a few things about the mines, but it’s still rediculously hard to get ores from it. But once I got my hammer to Gold quality, I rarely have to eat whilke I’m in there. The rare ores are seriously hard to get though.
Many of the villagers have also returned to the island. Candace, Luna, and Pheobe are now in the island. Chase, Calvin, and Julius have also arrived as well. I’m especially glad that Taylor has arrived, because he’s the only way I can get Flax seeds to make Flax Yarn. Without them, upgrading your rucksack becomes a nightmare come true. Gray has just arrived as well.
I’ll make another review after Spring 1, year 4, or I complete the game, whatever comes first
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Gameplay:
With so many convenient additions to the Harvest Moon series, playing the game is very entertaining. It makes the difficulty of the game a lot more fun, and well worth the extra challenge.
Story:
This is probably the best and most well written Harvest Moon story to date. The storyline is long, and takes about 2-4 years (Maybe even longer for some people) to complete. But unlike some past games (Yes, I’m talking about you Island of Happiness), everything makes sense, and there is absolutely no complaints about the story.
One little problem I have is the claim that you can play as your child after the game is over. I find this highly untrue, even though they try to make it seem as if they tried to do that. When the second game starts, the default name of the character is not the name of your child (You can change the name to your child’s name, but it seems unusual how you’re supposed to play as your son or daughter, but the game doesn’t appoint your child’s name as the default name. And why give the option to change it? If you didn’t like the name, then why name the kid in the first place?)
Weather:
I like spring because it rarely rains. (Which is kinda odd, Spring is supposed to be the rainy season.)
I do like Summer, but not as much as Spring. (Summer rarely rains, but there is a higher chance of stoms and hurricanes.
I hate Fall! (High chance of rain, storms, and hurricanes.)
Winter is not a pleasant month. (Good chance of snow or snowstorms. The snow will not water your crops, so it makes double work for you because you cannot bring the animals out, and you have to water the crops anyway.)
Farming:
Farming crops is a lotof fun, simple, and very profitable. Just like all classic Harvest Moons.
Ranching:
The addition of the 2 new animals is very interesting. But I didn’t like the silkworms too much (I guess it’s because I have a hate for bugs and worms). They adopted the AWL style of moving animals in and out with only a push of the button. This makes ranching very enjoyable, and no grinding involved.
My only issue is the Ostrich. Unlike the Horse where you can call it from any ridable place in the island, the Ostrich must be mounted manually. This makes the Ostrich not a very good investment, especially with the cost of buying the giant bird, and low profit.
Pets are cool, but they take too much effort to tame a wild animal as a pet. I decided not to get a pet in the end.
Mining:
Probably the hardest thing to do in the game. Mining is required to get metals used for tool upgrades, find wonderfuls and metals as gifts, and some items in the mines are used as ingredients for rainbows. It sucks, but you’ll have to grin and bear it.
I found this rare item in the bottom of the Gelato mines, but I have no idea what does it do. It sells for a lot of money, but not even the strategy guide knows it’s practical use.
Tools:
Tools are way better to upgrade and use than before. Unlike past games where you need to leave the tools with the blacksmith for a certain number of days before you can use it, the Blacksmith in this game works on the tools instantly. Plus, you don’t have to use the blacksmith at all. You level your tool skill up by using them, not upgrading. Upgrading only lowers the stamina consumption of the tool (And in the Hammer and Axe’s case, it makes them stronger, so you take less hits to chop down trees, and break stones).
Fishing:
This is tough, but very fun to do. It takes up a LOT of stamina, but easily remidied by upgrading your rod. If you have a spouce, he/she gives you lunches which restores a great amount of stamina.
Cooking:
Not really nessesary unless you want to marry certain candidates. I find no purpose to collect all the recipes. Some recipes are used in rainbow recipes, so you will have to do a little cooking regardless.
Farm upgrades:
Inexpensive. You’ll have no problem upgrading anything. What I find cool is that you can change the look of your house to fit your personality.
Clothing and furniture:
This is a LOT of fun. You can make your marmer look really cool, or really silly with clothing and accessories. My favorite hats are the bunny ears, and the cowboy hat.
The other islanders will also change clothing twice a year. They dress bright and light during the Spring and Summer seasons. They then dress heavier in the Fall and Winter seasons. Sue and Samson are exceptions to this rule.
Furniture comes in a LOT of colors and styles. Many of them are even useful in everyday life, like the telephone and the television. I love the way you can customize the inside of the house in any way you want.
Festivals are fun to participate in. Unlike past games, you can come and leave any festival whenever you please. However, the festivals do get boring after year 2, because once you’ve seen them, they are hardly different from year to year.
Marriage:
Marriage is not nessesary, but very beneficial.
To get married is extremely easy, talk to the person you like every day to gain steady hearts. Give gifts to gain more hearts at a faster rate. Dates and festivals makes this eaven easier. You can get married as soon as Fall or late Summer year 1.
Once you’re married, your spouce will make you lunches that restores a great amount of stamina. Once you’ve eaten enough powerberries, and upgraded your tools, they will no longer be nessesary in any way. They make good gifts, and you can ship them for a boost in income. I find it cute when my wife says that she loves me. The girls/guys are very affectionate and loyal.
After a while, You or your wife will have a baby. Once the baby reaches one year old, it will help you with farming chores. I find taking the kid out for a walk just plain adorable. It will follow you around the island all the way until 4:00pm. (I kinda think it’s messed up that the kid is classed as a pet.)
Glitches:
There are a few glitches that I spotted. None of them are harmful though.
The first glitch I noticed is the fact that you can put ANYTHING in the tool box. Yet, you cannot put perishables in the cabinet, and you cannot put tools and non perishables in the refrigerator. Tool box is supposed to be for tools/seeds/fertilizer only.
The next glitch is the fact that Villagers are present when they shouldn’t. Chase attended my wedding, but he did not move into the island yet. Calvin met up with me at the Goddess pond, but the road to Gelato mountan was still blocked. (I am the only person who can access the mountain, because the people who can pass over rainbows is those who have rainbow tokens. Calvin does not have one.)
The villagers sometimes have odd dialogue. Example: Coleen (Maya’s mother) always thinks that Maya still lives with her. However, Maya lives with me. There are tons of examples of strange dialogue in the game.
Probably the oddest glitch is the times when strange characters appear in the dialogue. When you press the menu, you will sometimes see funny characters like #$%& rather than words. Also on my child’s first birthday, my wife asked what day did I think it was. One of the option was %_D’s birthday. My child is named Mia, not %_D!
Overall, I give the game a 9.5 out of 10. The game is nearly perfect, but they need to fix the minor bugs, and rethink the whole “Playing as your child” business. But even so, this is probably one of the best Harvest Moon games ever made.
