I used to love Harvest Moon, but I gotta say, they're not making it incredibly tempting to buy another installment. Is this going to be enough to convince the fans out there to buy another Harvest Moon game?

I hopped off the Harvest Moon train a while ago, the last one I played was A Wonderful Life. I love Harvest Moon, but that series is similar to Pokemon games where it is just more of the same. Eventually, you get tired of it. However, since the announcement of Pokemon Black and White, my Pokemon itch has somewhat returned, so maybe one of these days so will that Harvest Moon itch.

Ever played Rune Factory before? It's pretty Harvest Moon with meshed with dungeon crawler mechanics. It's not a massive change to the usual Harvest Moon formula but I personally found it to a little refreshing.

" I hopped off the Harvest Moon train a while ago, the last one I played was A Wonderful Life. I love Harvest Moon, but that series is similar to Pokemon games where it is just more of the same. Eventually, you get tired of it. However, since the announcement of Pokemon Black and White, my Pokemon itch has somewhat returned, so maybe one of these days so will that Harvest Moon itch. "

" Ever played Rune Factory before? It's pretty Harvest Moon with meshed with dungeon crawler mechanics. It's not a massive change to the usual Harvest Moon formula but I personally found it to a little refreshing. "

Just gave it a go and it felt like the most uninspired Harvest Moon game yet. Now i was far from fond of the previous DS games with their hideous "art style" that robs the game of any character and the changed farming mechanics but at least there there was a clear goal and a sense of progression with the islands that you unlocked. I haven't played to much of this one so far but i'm not tempted at all to keep on playing it. To its credit there are some changes in the movement which makes farming a lot easier and the run + double jump (yes double jumping in harvest moon) make going from one spot to another really fast.  
 
That said i'll probably grant it another hour or two and then put it away waiting for Rune Factory 3 and hopefully HM Twin Villages which is already out in Japan will raise the bar for the main series.