May 5, 2009

Graham Markay Discusses Harvest Moon's Newest Puzzle Game, Frantic Farming
By Louis Bedigian

“This isn’t really a development shift, but more of a development expansion.”

Harvest Moon is known for producing insanely addictive simulation gameplay. But did you ever think you'd see the day when the franchise would be turned into a puzzler? That's just what happened with Puzzle de Harvest Moon, as well as the newest title, Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming, produced specifically for Nintendo DS.

"We are hoping to give players a new way to experience the Harvest Moon Universe by offering a hybrid of a Harvest Moon game and a puzzle game," said Graham Markay, Vice President of Operations and Project Manager for Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming. "We have always believed that a lot of the activities in the traditional Harvest Moon games, such as harvesting crops, would lend themselves well to a puzzle game. This isn’t really a development shift, but more of a development expansion."

Puzzle games don't usually have a story, but in Frantic Farming we learn that the crops are growing out of control. How deep does the story get (compared with other Harvest Moon titles), and are you able to opt-out of the story (or simply skip it) if you're only interested in the puzzle action?

Graham Markay: Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming uses the popular characters from Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness. It's a fairly lighthearted story, but it's one that allowed the writers to have a lot of fun exploring the characters and all of their friendships and rivalries. The story of the island's produce predicament is told from each character's perspective; you'll get to see what every character does in response to the crisis, and how they all work to solve it. Each character's story is satisfying in its own right, but you'll have to see it from every character's perspective to get the full story behind the crop crisis.

For those who just want to skip the story and dive right into the puzzle action, though, there are several other modes that offer a variety of puzzle challenges with no story to worry about.

Describe the gameplay. Judging by the screenshots, I'd say Frantic Farming could be something like Zoo Keeper and/or Tetris Attack/Planet Puzzle League. Am I right?

GM: Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming is actually quite unique. It isn't a "well-type" puzzle game; you don't have tiles dropping in on you from the top of the screen. Instead, crops sprout up all across the board, and you have to water them to make them grow. Once they grow, your Harvest Sprite will harvest them. Of course, chaining together crops of the same time will net you big points as well as big watering bonuses that will help you grow crops faster. So there are really three facets to the strategy: you have to plan out how best to grow your crops, how to harvest them for maximum points, and how to guide your Harvest Sprite as he harvests.

Can you perform chains or combos? If so, how do they work?

GM: Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming does offer chains as well as a number of other strategy possibilities. When you chain together crops of the same type, the Harvest Sprite will quickly harvest them all at once. Combos will net you big points, and bigger combos will help you grow crops faster. Combos will also quickly fill up your skill meter, which will allow you to use your character's unique special skill.

Since the action occurs on the bottom screen, touch screen controls seem very likely. But can fans of retro puzzle games also use the D-pad?

GM: The game can be played with the stylus or with the directional pad and buttons. Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming offers the flexibility to match any player’s style of play.

In the screens I notice that there are blocks with small sprouts, growing plants, and full-grown veggies. What is the significance of each type?

GM: There are four stages of crop growth: the sprout, the young leaf, the almost-grown crop and the fully-grown crop. Each time your Harvest Sprite picks a crop, he waters the surrounding crops. Each time a crop is watered, it advances to the next stage of growth. Your Harvest Sprite can only harvest fully-grown crops, so you have to pay attention not just to your harvesting, but also how you're helping your crops grow.

In one of the screens, there's also a small character standing up in the blocks, and there's a heart bubble over his head. What does this mean?

GM: Each playable character has their own special skill that has a unique effect on the playing field or Harvest Sprite. Some special skills might cause certain crops to become fully grown or change the type of crops in the field of play, while others might temporarily boost your Harvest Sprite's watering ability.

Are there any bonus blocks (ex: one that makes a certain color of blocks disappear) or penalty blocks (an opponent sends blocks to your screen that aren't easily removed)?

GM: Golden Crops have two functions. If you harvest one by itself (not as part of a chain), it will pick all crops of that type. If you harvest a Golden Crop as part of a chain, however, all of the crops that you water at the end of the chain will immediately become fully grown. Players will need to think carefully about which use of the Golden Crop will work best for them.

During a multiplayer or survival match, you can drop rocks on opponents' fields by harvesting crops. Rocks cover up crops, so they'll block a player from harvesting anything on that panel until they're removed. If all of a player's crops get covered in rocks, they'll be knocked out of the match. Rocks can be removed by watering them.

As far as the gameplay is concerned, what is the difference between the Story and Mission modes?

GM: Mission Mode is a bit different from the other modes in Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming. In Mission Mode, players are given a specific goal for each stage, and they're only allowed a certain number of moves to complete it. It's a brain-teasing puzzle challenge in which you'll need careful thought and planning rather than reflexes.

With up to three CPU opponents, I assume there is also a four-player multiplayer mode. Tell us about this and the multiplayer content.

GM: That is correct. Up to four people can play against each other locally. There are a variety of different modes they can play:

Survival – Each player competes against one another trying to outlast the competition. The goal is to knock your opponents out of the game by covering all of their crops in rocks. Of course, you'll have to keep defending your field against the rocks that your opponents drop on you.

Team Score – Players team up to to meet a certain score quota within the designated time limit.

Team Crops – Players team up with one another trying to meet a quota of certain types of crops within the designated time limit.

Will there be any single-card multiplayer features?

GM: Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming offers single-card multiplayer as well as multi-card multiplayer.

Thank you for your time.

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