Shepherd’s Crossing 2
- In-depth farming simulation
- Full implementation of the DS touch screen for unique and intuitive controls
- Cooperate with the townsfolk, develop relationships, and even walk down the aisle
- Non-linear gameplay means you choose how you want to run your farm
Product Description
Guide’s Crossing 2 DS is a full featured and in-depth farming simulation and approach game. At its heart, the game is about the player living in a small town and communicating with the other villagers while raising domestic animals, harvesting crops, and building a farm. Aside from laying out fields and deciding where to herd the animals, players must also pay attention to the residency of their resources, arranging their life as they see fit. As a special feature unique to the DS, interaction with others is a major part of the game. One can even court, date and walk down the aisle. It’s just one goal in a game filled with things to do and people to meet. The game is perfectly animated in a Japanese anime stylishness. The open-finished gameplay styles mean the player can choose what they want to do whether it be breed animals, farm their fields, build relationships with the people around town or any combination of these activities as well as many others. The DS allows for unique touch screen controls that are implemented into most of the in-game activities. With so many different activities and open-finished stylishness simulation gameplay, there are hours and hours of entertainment available to players.
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I apologize in advance for constantly comparing this game and the Harvest Moon series. But, since farming simulations are limited, HM was the only other game I could use as an effective comparison.
Guide Crossing’s premise is pretty straightforward: You play as a young male or female character who has chose to go to a small village in the Alps. Your character, by the side of with a helpful duck named Brammie, has to start a flourishing farm and manage to survive in the sometimes pitiless country.
Pros of the Game:
- Fascinating take on farming. While Harvest Moon series focuses heavily on the everyday tasks of farming, Guide’s Crossing is more concerned about the end process of harvesting and storing. You don’t water plants in the game and you don’t take care of your animals daily – instead, you focus on things like: alternating crop patterns to maximize your seasonal harvest, storing crop / grain / grass, and killing (that’s right, you can kill your animals in this game) animals for food for both yourself and some of your pets.
- Attempt at realism. The game tries to add details to the farming process that makes it more realistic. For example, there are several stages to Buckwheat production. Instead of just watering the plant and harvesting it, you have to sickle the buckwheat, bundle it, wait for it to dry, and then place it in grain bags. LOTS of crops in the game require this multistep treatment.
- Decent amount of crop variety – eleven different types of crop altogether.
- Lots of animal variety and fascinating animal gameplay. As I have already mentioned, the treatment of animals in this game is much different than in the Harvest Moon series. You will have to butcher some of your domestic animals in the game – not only to help feed yourself, but to help take care of your guard animals. In the game, you also have to take into consideration the sex of animals in this game, particularly in regards to poultry and egg production.
- Nice graphics. While the character gifs aren’t particularly detailed, the social class and animal / crop renders are pretty nice. Not super fancy for a DS game, but not hideous by any means.
- Challenging gameplay. The gameplay can be challenging if you don’t strategize your time on the farm effectively.
- You can play as either a boy or girl.
- There are 5 potential brides / grooms.
- You are your own butcher / carpenter / cook. Your character is pretty independent. In the game, you can built certain tools for your farm (like a bee box or hay stand), you can also butcher your own animals (not graphically) , and you can cook for yourself and your neighbors.
Cons of the Game:
- Time is not on a timer system. Instead, time is controlled by how much you do in a day. For example, chopping four trees down could constitute a whole day’s work. This can be frustrating because it severely micromanages your actions. At the same time, some players might consider this feature part of the challenge.
- Limited villager interaction. This is the largest issue I had with the game. Even though you can walk down the aisle someone in Guide’s Crossing, you really don’t have that much to do with the villagers. The town in Guide’s Crossing is similar to the town in Harvest Moon 2 for GBC, which means that most of the time you can’t in fact go and visit anyone. You are pretty much limited to your own farm, the general store, or the registry office. Sometimes you can trigger events that let you go and see a villager and other times you can cook meals, which will let you visit with a particular villager (of the game’s choosing). But, the interaction with other characters in the game is sorely lacking, especially since a marriage system is an aspect of this game.
- Stretches of not anything. There can be a lot of ‘down time’ in this game. Plus, most crops and animals take a LONG time to reach maturity – about thirty days (or an entire season). This means that you might have a hectic 10 days of harvesting and then not anything to do for the next 20 days, which can get dull.
- Limited sandbox. This issue is addressed above. I reflect if the game had more places you could in fact go, the boredom factor might not have been as huge a deal.
By and large, I reflect this a very fascinating and enjoyable game. While it does have its faults, I appreciated the attempt at (sorta) realistic farming goals. I thought the game offered hours of addicting, entertaining, and challenging gameplay.
But, just as final caveat: if you delight in the Harvest Moon series more for the marriage system and villager interaction than the actual farming, this game might disappoint you.
Rating: 4 / 5