Hometown Story - Nintendo 3DS

ok first thing that must be said.This is not a harvest moon game.I've heard some bad things about this game so I was skeptical about purchasing it myself but I think alot was expected of this game since it's in the "harvest moon" family. It was expected to have farming, and it does not.I was a little bummed out by this too but the game does a wonderful job of being fun while not being what I expected. I honestly kinda wondered if I was having fun (cause I've never liked any kind of shop simulation game like diner dash) But i looked up and realized I had been playing this game for 5 hours at that point. It's definitely worth playing. The art is adorable, the plot is interesting (but confusing at times) and this game is just all around really fun

Harvest Moon but your a shop like Moonlighter, what I really like was the consumer aspect, my original copy broke when I was young, but I rebought it for nostalgia

I came into Hometown Story hoping to find a hidden gem from the makers of Harvest Moon. What I found is a game that is KIND of like Harvest Moon, but is lacking overall.In Hometown Story, you take on the role of shopkeeper. It is your job to set up the shop. You will acquire items to sell (mostly through other merchants / shopkeepers.) You set a price for each item. You can use the default prices if you want. You will decorate your store as you acquire different stands and wallpapers. Generic and notable NPCs will visit your shop looking for something to buy.You must open the store when you wake up at 6:00 AM. The store automatically closes at 12 midnight. There are no days off. You could spend the entire game watching your store. But, standing behind the register is boring. Instead, the game strongly encourages you to multitask. Open the shop. Leave your shop unattended and run through town. Paying customers will wait for you to return.The town is huge and mostly empty, but if you know the correct spawn points, you can find some items for the shop. You may also find some notable characters to befriend. The longer you play, the more notable characters will arrive. The more notable characters arrive, the more fleshed out the town becomes. Your character may even marry one of them someday.Unfortunately, that's ALL the gameplay in this game. There is no fishing, no farming, no mining... there's not even "gift giving" (in the Harvest Moon sense.) In fact, you can't access the inventory screen outside of the store. Instead, all items exist to be bought, sold, or to trigger cut scenes. Most cut scenes play by either selling key items at the shop, or by having the correct key items at the right place, at the right time.Overall, if you're looking for a new take on the "Harvest Moon" like experience, then this game kind of has that. Cut scenes will play and you can befriend the characters that arrive in town. However, the mechanics make this feel like making friends in a new chat room while simultaneously cooking dinner in real life. If you're like me, then the pressure to watch the store makes befriending townsfolk feel empty and hollow.Overall, I think Hometown Story is an okay game. I sunk about 20 or so hours into it. But it's lacking in content. If you're looking for a Harvest Moon like experience, there are probably better options than this game.

Okay, since most people who are playing this game have played Harvest Moon, understand this, this game is not Harvest Moon! Yes, the game is a go lucky game that gives you good vibes and lets you relax from the more popular mass killing games, but its also very different in its own ways!WARNING HAS SOME SPOILERS!To the people that don't really want too much description into the game, here's the low down of pros and cons for this game.PROS:Basically no tutorial, figure it all out on your own!Nicely customizable, from your character to how you'd like to run your store! (Other then the opening and closing times)Characters are interesting and intriguing, you can't figure them all out from the get go!Good variety of characters and many more will come and move into your town as you progress.Lots for you to do, from running the store, exploring, doing requests, and finding all the cutscenes!Feel good feeling stays with you the whole game, I often smile while watching the cut scenes!Graphics are nice, often described as "bubbly"CONS:Camera angle is a little weird when your explore the town, takes some getting use to.No log for containing all the information of the requests you receive. I recommend having a notebook near by.DIFFERENCES From Hometown Story and Harvest Moon.You don't give gifts to people.No live stock.No farming.No festivals.Wooing isn't easily done by buying them all their favorite things! (I actually have no clue how you woo in this game... Talk to them?)You control your day more so, rather then having a pile of tasks that need to be done in a certain order to achieve the best results.My ReviewI'm on game day 20, and I'm having a bit of fun. At first this game is a bit frustrating and confusing because it doesn't give you much of a tutorial. It pretty much shows you how to use your shop, setting out items and pricing them, but then its all up to you to learn the rest! Much different then the sometimes lengthy tutorials of past Harvest Moon games. So at first I was frantically running around, trying to explore the new map while going to my store and restocking my shelves in fear of running out and having angry customers. It took me a minute to figure out that I needed to visit the other local stores (you start out with a Mom and a daughter running a restaurant, and a local fisherman you can buy fish from) to stock up, and to use the seller that comes everyday at 2 to keep up my store supplies in order to satisfy the customers. However, you also need to not just stay cooped up in your store or else you'll miss out on potential cut scenes. But if you talk to your customers, often they'll tell you when your due for a break! Plus customers aren't bad about waiting in line, they'll wait for you to come back! You also get bonuses for selling multiple items at once, so LINES ARE GOOD!Once I got use to stocking up regularly and looking in certain areas for foraging, I started to relax more and have fun. The people are pretty quirky and fun, each having their own story that you want to figure out. So far I have had a pair of black smith twins move into the village (from who you can buy a shop extension), a mother and daughter farming pair (super awesome since I can now buy vegetables!) and then a cute Demon Hunter guy and his son. I really do like the people, as everyone has their own things! The major has a history with the talking scarecrow. The restaurant owner is horrible at making food (and yet her stuff sells well at my store...), the blacksmiths wish to find their mentor, and many more.Another thing I enjoy about this game is finding out which items are going to sell the best in my store. I ended up buying a sewing kit on impulse, and it actually sold rather well in my store, causing me to stock up on it! Other things that sell well are a bit of a given, people love to buy milk and eggs, the meals from the restaurant sell rather well too. But its nice having other things that aren't best sellers, like ore that the blacksmiths will usually buy, or occasional farming or kitchen tools that the villagers will buy every now and again. Simply because this way there is something for everyone and if someone goes into your store, they'll usually buy something!One thing I advise is to buy the special items that come around from the sales person that comes at 2. Usually in the description it'll say "gourmet spices that Rachel has been wanting" or "a toy for children, wonder if Harvey would like this?". I advise this because often that item wont pop up again for a long time! Also I just buy anything I think might sell, like chocolate or magazines after a girl told me she wanted to buy more clothes so I should stock up for her. This store really is all yours though, and its all for you to figure out and decide how you want to run it!The only things I'm not fond of with this game is camera angles and not having a log to contain information for your requests. I've gotten rather use to the weird camera angles when your running around, but I still can get rather confused and I look down at the second screen a lot which contains your map.I really do wish they had made a log with this game, because I have a really hard time remembering what all a person wanted, and when items can not pop up again for a long time, its frustrating to miss out on a item you needed, simply because you couldn't recall it at the time! I've started to use a pencil and paper for keeping track now.But this game is a rather nice change for me at least. I'm having a lot more fun after having bought the first store extension, because now I just load up my store, run around the town for two hours, come back to a huge line, sell my things, and then restock and repeat the process! Its a nice game to let you relax and get some good vibes from. If you like the Harvest Moon games, but found them becoming to easy with their repetitive themes like I was, then give this game a go! The only reason I rated this game a four star is because I often find myself going back to my store because I'm not sure how to spend my time around the town if I'm not restocking. This might've been helped if they had added something like contests or festivals like the Harvest Moon games sport, but I also like this game because ITS NOT Harvest Moon. Anyways, go ahead and try it!

New, as described. Works well. My daughter loves it!

Sorry but this game was boring but had good quality

I'm really disappointed in this game. I've played games in the franchise before and loved them but this one is horrible. its repetitive, boring and you don't really do much in the game at all. your character sleeps, walks around and stands in the shop to sell items which half the time you're standing in one place not doing anything. don't waste your money on this one folks.