E3 2009: Harvest Moon Animal Paradise

With our visit to the Natsume booth, we had to check out the latest in the Harvest Moon franchise for the Wii. While there still is no Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version of Harvest Moon in the works, the latest for the Wii, Harvest Moon: Animal Paradise, looks to give fans even more of the cute and cuddly fun the series is known for.

During our demo time with one of the game Producers, we first were shown the new pet ownership system. Players can choose to have up to three pets from all sorts of different animals. Though the normal mix of dogs and cats are there--my personal favorites were the inclusion of snakes, bears, turtles, and even weasels. To make things even more fun, you can teach them a variety of tricks, via your training whistle, and enter into competitions with them.

Continuing the trend of cute gameplay, Harvest Moon Animal Paradise includes the ability to pull out your camera and snap a photo at any moment. Going a step further, you can setup the camera on a tripod, hit the timer button, and run into the picture. A feature missing from Natsume's Afrika is found here in Animal Paradise as you can post these pictures to your Wii Bulletin Board and even mail them to friends (if you already have exchanged Wii console codes).

As in past titles, players can choose to be male or female characters, and begin to farm. This time, after you get married, you can have up to two kids. (Will this be banned in China due to this?) The kids can even be put to work so they earn their keep.

Harvest Moon: Animal Paradise will bring the next exciting chapter of the franchise to the Nintendo Wii this fall. Fans of Harvest Moon will be giddy come this fall. Keep reading CVGames for the latest and stay tuned for our full review later this year.