Low-Bias Review [PREVIEW]----=

This is a review written very differently from a typical review. It usesa system that I developed along with a fellow netizen, one intended to givea clear picture of a game's features without having much personal opinionmussing things up. Ratings are not on a scale of good or bad, but simplyof how present (or absent) something is from the game.

Gameplay:

Repetition [------*---]

Much of the game involves doing the exact same farm work as the previousday. Festivals, story events, and other occasions break from this. Aswell, much of the gameplay that is repetitive is also entirely (or almostentirely) optional.

Depth [--------*-]

Many options exist on how you can play this game. There is no single waythat you must take the game on in order to win.

Learning Curve [-----*----]

The game has an in-game tutorial in the form of a TV channel, and thereare books in the game's libraries that explain how to do things, but forthe most part, you're left to figure the game out on your own. There isn'ta whole lot to figure out, fortunately.

Difficulty [-----*----]

While specific goals may occasionally be challenging, the overallchallenge of the game is very low.

Continuity [-----*----]

Minigames tend to be fairly difficult, while everything else is easier.

Interface [-------*--]

The interface is very functional, and easy to adapt to. Many helpdialogue boxes show up in menus, and tell you what specific buttons do insaid menus.

Graphics:

Suitability [---------*]

The environments and terrain all feel very much like they belong in thisgame, and give an appropriately backwater-village-like setting.

Quality [------*---]

While not the best graphics on the PS1, they're still fairly good quality.

Fluidity [--------*-]

There are occasional graphical glitches that are inherent to the PS1 (such

as objects "overlapping" each other), but otherwise, everything in the gameworks well with everything else, graphically speaking.

Sound and Music:

Instrumentation [-----*----]

Fairly standard for a PS1 game, HM:BTN sports semi-synthetic-soundinginstruments.

Tonal Quality [-------*--]

There's nothing really earsplitting, though some of the music does getannoying after it's been repeated five or six times in a row.

Balance [---*------]

Quite a bit of the music is only played during events. The majority ofthe time, you end up listening to either the current season's theme, or thevillage theme.

Suitability [---------*]

The music fits quite well for the game and its environments, as well asfor the events that it's used in.

Story:

Continuity [--------*-]

What little story the game has flows just fine.

Depth of Focus [*---------]

The game's story is more of backstory, and there's not much of that. Theprimary focus of the game is the gameplay, and writing your own story, asit were.

Clarity [---------*]

There's nothing really confusing at all about the story.

Translation [-------*--]

There are errors here and there, but for the most part, the translation issolid.