INNOCENT LIFE: A FUTURISTIC HARVEST MOON (PSP)
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Publisher: Rising Star Games.
Developer: ArtePiazza. Released: May 2007. Genre: Business/RPG. Posted 18th June 2012. By Tom Clare © 2012 |
Back in those reassuring, pre-Farmville days when you could still with some surety label farming games as ‘a bit niche’, Harvest Moon ruled the roost. Since first appearing on the SNES, the series has charmed players with its quirky but effective mix of social simulation/RPG elements and good ol’ fashioned farm labour, leading to some of the most moreish time-sinks ever to grace the gaming world.
Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon is something of a nadir for the series however. Whilst retaining the basic framework that made its predecessors so absorbing, there is in reality little more than the shell of a Harvest Moon here in what feels a very watered-down experience. Lacking any real meat to either the social or business elements, there aren’t enough diversions in and around the day-to-day running of the farm, and as a consequence, it quickly becomes a chore.
This time around you assume the role of a sort of android child, created by one Dr. Hope and able in time to develop human characteristics such as love, humour, intelligence and, presumably after playing this game, acute boredom. Like all perfectly rational, sane inventors, Dr. Hope takes the entirely logical first step of sending his miracle creation to live in the relative isolation of an old temple that just happens to have a highly farmable, flat roof!
Disappointingly, the futuristic angle the title implies is rarely apparent. There’s a crummy yellow robot that helps with the farm, but very little else distinguishes itself and much of it will seem very familiar to series veterans. The sporadic use of sleek metal décor in item storage units and the fancy kitchen area make for an odd contrast with the cold stone look of the ruins, bringing to mind the abode of a ‘not as rich as they thought they were’ yuppie rock star, halfway through renovating for that all-important appearance on Cribs. Er, in other words, a bit sparse and half-finished.
Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon is something of a nadir for the series however. Whilst retaining the basic framework that made its predecessors so absorbing, there is in reality little more than the shell of a Harvest Moon here in what feels a very watered-down experience. Lacking any real meat to either the social or business elements, there aren’t enough diversions in and around the day-to-day running of the farm, and as a consequence, it quickly becomes a chore.
This time around you assume the role of a sort of android child, created by one Dr. Hope and able in time to develop human characteristics such as love, humour, intelligence and, presumably after playing this game, acute boredom. Like all perfectly rational, sane inventors, Dr. Hope takes the entirely logical first step of sending his miracle creation to live in the relative isolation of an old temple that just happens to have a highly farmable, flat roof!
Disappointingly, the futuristic angle the title implies is rarely apparent. There’s a crummy yellow robot that helps with the farm, but very little else distinguishes itself and much of it will seem very familiar to series veterans. The sporadic use of sleek metal décor in item storage units and the fancy kitchen area make for an odd contrast with the cold stone look of the ruins, bringing to mind the abode of a ‘not as rich as they thought they were’ yuppie rock star, halfway through renovating for that all-important appearance on Cribs. Er, in other words, a bit sparse and half-finished.
As with all Harvest Moon’s, you buy seeds, plant and
grow crops, mingle with villagers and dabble in mining, fishing or exploration.
The mechanics of the process work fine and the island itself is a nice
environment; picking fruit and berries is an unexpected pleasure, whilst there
are some cool landmarks such as a lake, a volcano, a waterfall and a mushroom
forest to visit. Problems however quickly become evident in the scattergun
approach to location layouts. The temple home is far too spacious, particularly
where animals are kept, and it’s a pain trawling all over everywhere for the
sake of collecting five eggs or brushing a cow to make them a bit happier. The lengthy
trek from temple to town (four or five screens worth of legwork) is also a big
design flaw, leading to the menial, day-to-day tasks seeming long-winded in the
extreme.
The deal-breaker though is how completely devoid of life Heartflame Island’s community is. In previous games, days would deliver rich and unique experiences; shops would open and shut at specific times, people would go about their routines, talk about the changing seasons, form bonds, keep you updated on the steady stream of upcoming community events and so on. Innocent Life is the antithesis of this; cold, impersonal, regimented and one-dimensional. There’s no variety whatsoever, nearly every day the kids are having the same conversations at school, housewives likewise recycle the same gossip at the store, whilst an old farmer steadfastly advises you to keep farming in winter… A few days of this would have been forgivable, but the island remains virtually in limbo throughout the duration of the seasons with virtually no changes in the dialogue.
Between the convoluted mines and the lengthy distances between useful landmarks, it seems to encourage a hermit lifestyle. The one highlight of the week is Dr. Hope’s Sunday diagnostic, where he (very) occasionally gives you a task or tells of an upcoming festival/community event. These are mere scraps however as the year’s happenings can virtually be counted on one hand, whilst the characters are given such forgettable dialogue that the rather aimless get-togethers are barely worth getting out of bed for anyway.
The deal-breaker though is how completely devoid of life Heartflame Island’s community is. In previous games, days would deliver rich and unique experiences; shops would open and shut at specific times, people would go about their routines, talk about the changing seasons, form bonds, keep you updated on the steady stream of upcoming community events and so on. Innocent Life is the antithesis of this; cold, impersonal, regimented and one-dimensional. There’s no variety whatsoever, nearly every day the kids are having the same conversations at school, housewives likewise recycle the same gossip at the store, whilst an old farmer steadfastly advises you to keep farming in winter… A few days of this would have been forgivable, but the island remains virtually in limbo throughout the duration of the seasons with virtually no changes in the dialogue.
Between the convoluted mines and the lengthy distances between useful landmarks, it seems to encourage a hermit lifestyle. The one highlight of the week is Dr. Hope’s Sunday diagnostic, where he (very) occasionally gives you a task or tells of an upcoming festival/community event. These are mere scraps however as the year’s happenings can virtually be counted on one hand, whilst the characters are given such forgettable dialogue that the rather aimless get-togethers are barely worth getting out of bed for anyway.
Growing crops is as addictive
as ever and remains a satisfying process, even if the business element is very
soft as there’s little in the way of outgoings. Seasons feel overly long at 35
days each and, much as I imagine Macaulay Culkin felt when he turned twenty,
you’ll be sitting on a heap of cash but with nothing interesting left to do. It’s
been simplified too much across all areas; you can cook, but not from
ingredients you’ve grown. You can find interesting artefacts, but rarely get to
give gifts to villagers. You can keep animals, but they don’t really require
much nurturing or looking after. Villagers don’t develop or age, you can’t form
relationships, marry or generally evolve as you could in other Harvest Moon’s.
The game tailors progression around the idea of intermittently opening up new areas of the island after collecting coloured stones from the various mines and then setting them in the temple/farm. These can be unlocking within a couple of days of being given the opportunity, but as it makes the assumption that most players would take forever to grasp such concepts, there are big yawning gaps as you wait for things to progress, mean it feels like you’re in constant limbo.
Innocent Life’s presentation is uniformly middling; locations look acceptable and it’s nice to observe the changing of the seasons evident in the small details, though the villagers could have looked a lot better. There are some nice, RPG-themed tunes accompanying the farming though perhaps in hindsight, a little more variety wouldn’t have hurt considering the duration of time you’ll spend in particular locations.
It lacks challenge, the story and sentiment is ham-fisted and the interminable waits for new objectives makes farm life feel utterly tedious. It’s okay if you’re looking for a relaxing means of passing some time, but there’s little reward for a lot of toil. It doesn't add anything to the formula and interest levels will likely have reached zero by the end of the first winter, by which point all but the most die-hard of fans will surely have reached the limits of their patience, and abandoned the farm for pastures new.
The game tailors progression around the idea of intermittently opening up new areas of the island after collecting coloured stones from the various mines and then setting them in the temple/farm. These can be unlocking within a couple of days of being given the opportunity, but as it makes the assumption that most players would take forever to grasp such concepts, there are big yawning gaps as you wait for things to progress, mean it feels like you’re in constant limbo.
Innocent Life’s presentation is uniformly middling; locations look acceptable and it’s nice to observe the changing of the seasons evident in the small details, though the villagers could have looked a lot better. There are some nice, RPG-themed tunes accompanying the farming though perhaps in hindsight, a little more variety wouldn’t have hurt considering the duration of time you’ll spend in particular locations.
It lacks challenge, the story and sentiment is ham-fisted and the interminable waits for new objectives makes farm life feel utterly tedious. It’s okay if you’re looking for a relaxing means of passing some time, but there’s little reward for a lot of toil. It doesn't add anything to the formula and interest levels will likely have reached zero by the end of the first winter, by which point all but the most die-hard of fans will surely have reached the limits of their patience, and abandoned the farm for pastures new.
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VERDICT
Visual: 5/10
Audio: 6/10 Gameplay: 4/10 Longevity: 5/10 OVERALL: 5/10 |