Harvest Moon: Light of Hope vs Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope has you landing in a near deserted village after a terrible monsoon, injured and lost you are thrust into a tough situation. But there is hope, you are healed and then able to start to rebuild and eventually repopulate the village. First you have to get the lighthouse fixed so no more ships have any accidents in the area. This begins a fun game that has a really cute anime style and blends a host of simulation aspects into a seamless package.Here you will need to build up a farm and crops to feed you and the other townsfolk, mutate your plants to make new ones and discover new recipes. Find a variety of items and then use them to make new buildings or improve the damaged ones. This game is really cute and it has a lot of really nice features that make it very fun to play.
Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands
Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands is a farm simulation/adventure game where you’ll not only need to maintain a farm and make sure that your surviving crew’s needs are being met; you’ll also need to set off on mini-expeditions to explore the many mysterious islands within the archipelago and to discover the secrets they hide. Maybe, if you’re lucky, you might end up finding a way off the island after all!The game is really easy to get into, mainly because the game is driven by its story-based quests so by completing these quests, you be able to unlock new areas and even new tools that will allow you access to different parts of the archipelago. However, you’re given complete freedom to explore any of the islands as you wish, though there are certain parts of the island that would be “roped off” until you’ve progressed far enough into the story and have unlocked the necessary tools.
Everything you do in this game requires energy - and yes, this includes walking – and it’s the main “currency” you’ll need to keep an eye on whenever you head out for a bout of exploring or just a resource-gathering run. Due to this energy system, the gameplay here can be quite strategic, forcing you to decide when you’d want to focus on exploring and when you’d want to spend some of the energy you have to gather some resources like fishing and chopping some trees.
Being a farm simulation game, Stranded Sails also has an allocated area within your base camp for you to grow some crops and feed your crew. You can even try your luck by fishing at the ocean, and then use those raw ingredients to whip up some delicious food to fuel your adventures.
So, overall, Stranded Sails is an oddly strategic farm sim/adventure game mainly because of its energy system, and as a result, the game isn’t as casual as some players would have liked. That said, the game has an interesting storyline going for it, and the gameplay, aside from the energy aspect, isn’t too shabby either. It’s definitely a game that fans of Harvest Moon or other similar games would love to play.