Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (Wii, 2008)

I admit, with other critics reviews, I was a bit weary about the new Harvest Moon title. But I must say that even though there are a few drawbacks, Harvest Moon has made a nice transition to the Wii...

POSITIVES:
+ HIGH REPLAY VALUE - As with all of the other HM titles, ToT will keep you busy from morning to night. You'll find yourself juggling a multitude of things from wooing a girl, to watering crops, tending to livestock, working part-time jobs, heading to the mine, etc. The setting is very large with lots of places to explore (and unlock). Hours upon hours of things to do.

+ CORE HM VALUES: All of the things that make a good Harvest Moon game are here. Finding and courting a mate, digging at the mine, cooking, building up a house, exploring, and even a story to keep things interesting. Avid Harvest Moon fans will NOT be dissapointed!

+ LOTS OF SHIPPING BOXES - Hardcore HM fans know that if you wanted something shipped, you need to bring it home and stuff it in the shipping box. Not anymore! There are nearly a dozen of these scattered throughout the land for you to use so you can keep that rucksack empty. AND, you can even take things out in case you changed your mind later on. A well-improved change.

+ WALK-THROUGH CROPS: FINALLY, you can reach all of your crops without having to cut one or two down to reach the center! The crops now allow you to walk through (around) them to get to those pesky middle ones! Another well-needed change!

+ FUN FESTIVALS: The previous Gamecube title had rather lackluster festivals. They've revamped them a bit and added a nice feature - you can enter the festival, leave, and return. Before, once you entered the festival, you were not able to return if you decided to leave. Like this feature!

NEGATIVES:

- LOADING TIME: Upon passing from scene to scene or indoors to outdoor, you'll find youself staring at a 'PLEASE WAIT...LOADING' screen a lot. The wait can be anywhere from 2 to 10 seconds (typically about 3-5 seconds), but it can be a bit annoying, especially if you accidently slip into one from one scene to another.

- SLOW START: One of the nice things about Harvest Moon is the freedom to do what you want. You'll find that as the story unfolds in the start of the game, you'll be limited on what you can do for the first few days. It'll take a good hour before you can truly get the freedom to do what you want.

- SMALL USE OF WII CONTROL: Sadly, there wouldn't be much difference in this game if you were to use the Classic Remote. The Wii remote does little to add to the expirence of farming. It'd be nice to have HM be a bit more interactive with the unlimited possiblities of the Wii remotes motion sensors.

- DAY A BIT SHORT: The island is very large, and there's lots to explore. The days seem short and I find myself only being able to do one or two things before I have to rush back home. Whatever happened to that 'RETURN HOME FOR THE DAY' option that HM: MM had?

OVERALL:
Everything that we want in an HM game is here and more. The core factors are at play with little change from previous HM releases.

Unfortunately, there are definitely some aspects overlooked like Wi-Fi playing and more Wii remote use. But, I'm sure those will be ideas on future releases.

Overall, you're looking at hours of entertainment with a few minor drawbacks. Diehard fans will fall in love all over again. Newbies will find a new addiction.