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Harvest Moon: Save The Homeland (牧場物語3 ハートに火をつけて, Bokujō Monogatari 3: Hāto ni Hi o Tsukete, lit. Ranch Story 3: Ignite the Fire in the Heart), is a farming simulator game developed by Victor Interactive Software and published by Natsume for the Playstation 2.
It is the first title of the Harvest Moon series to appear on Playstation 2 and one of the few Harvest Moon games to be cancelled in all PAL Regions. It was re-released for download on the PlayStation Network (PS3) ten years from its 2001 release date.
Story
The story starts with the player reading a letter from his father asking him to take care of his grandfather's farm. Upon arrival, he encounters the Harvest Sprites, who are busily discussing ways on how to prevent the village from becoming a theme park. Since he is able to see them, they request for his help. Upon acceptance, the Harvest Goddess will arrive and introduce herself. After a series of questions to evaluate the player's nature, she will then convince the player to take it upon himself to save the village, and advise him to befriend the villagers.
The game ends when the player is successful in making the valley in to a resort and the amusement park isn't constructed.
Gameplay
Save the Homeland is similar in many aspects to other Harvest Moon titles, however there are also many differences. Most notable is the fact that you have a time limit. You have one year (until the end of Winter) to save the village through one of nine different ways. Befriending certain villagers will begin a storyline that will eventually lead to the salvation of the village. Though several storylines can be followed through at once, the first one completed will result in ending the game.
After the village is saved and after the credits roll, the player is prompted to save a game file which will mark the completion of one storyline. Upon reloading, the player will begin once more from Spring 2, with his relationships with the villagers reset, allowing him to do another storyline. The player will get to keep his animals, crops and items, but upgraded tools are reset.
Four animals can be raised in this game, namely the dog, horse, cow and chicken. Unlike most other Harvest Moon titles, Save the Homeland is particularly sensitive to the welfare of animals. In the event of an animal's death, a dramatic cutscene will occur and force the player to refrain from working on that day in order to reflect on himself. The death of an animal will impact your relationship with some villagers, though most of them will console you should you talk to them the following day.
There is no marriage in Save the Homeland. However, there are several ladies around the village that can be romanced as part of storylines associated with them. Upon completion of a particular storyline, a final romantic event will occur with the girl after the credits roll.
Characters
- Harvest Sprites (Nic, Nak and Flak)
Animal List
The following is a list of animals you can own in Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland with a short description of each.
- Dog
The dog is one way this Harvest Moon is different from the rest. Unlike the other Harvest Moons, you don't automatically own a dog. You have to befriend a dog in the village by leaving food in the dog food dish in your front yard.
There are two different types of dogs, the usual 'Harvest Moon Dog' with floppy ears and a Husky-looking dog. The HM dog has a red bandana on his neck and the new one has a blue bandana. The one with the red is easier to befriend than the one with the blue. Once you have befriended the dog, you can pick it up and it will give you the option to keep it and if you pick yes, you will be able to name it, and if you pick no, you will just put it down.
The dog has little use at first. The player can only feed it and pick him up to show to villagers. To keep the dog from getting sick, you have to carry it inside your house when it is expected to rain the next day, however you will not need to do this once you pay Woody to build you a dog house.
The dog is very useful once its affection is high enough as it can be trained with the flute. A trained dog can follow you around, jump over fences, or even herd cows in to the barn and even out of it. A friendly dog responds more often to flute commands and runs faster, and will be able to keep up with you as you run (with the exception of you riding your horse around town.)
- Horse
When Bob is befriended by the player, he will come one morning to the farm bringing a horse. He will task you with taking care of the horse in preparation for an upcoming race.
Ar first, the horse will refuse to let you ride. After a while however, a scene will occur one morning where the horse will let you ride him. He will only trot slowly however, making it impractical to use him to get around town. Taking care of the horse is key to raising his affection and making him faster. Leaving him out on sunny days and just riding him around the pasture for a while will help greatly. It won't be long before you're able to ride your horse as fast as the wind!
- Cow
Cows can be bought from Bob and you can raise up to 5 of them. Like in other Harvest Moon titles, cows produce milk. The player can get more cows either by buying more from Bob or impregnating an adult cow with a Cow Miracle Potion.
Cows can be left outside to feed on grass in the pasture. When kept inside the barn, cows must be fed with fodder obtained from cutting grass with the sickle. The more you take care of your cows, the quality of their milk will change, even having a chance to become Golden Milk.
- Chicken
Chickens can be bought from Bob and you'll only be allowed to raise 6.. You can either spend 500G for your first chicken or you can spend 50G to buy an egg from Ronald's and place it in the incubator. You'll have to wait for it to hatch and grow into a chicken for it to produce eggs, but from that point on, you can sell the eggs or place them into the incubator to raise more livestock.
Like every other HM game, chicken produce eggs and they can be used for cooking or given as gifts. Chickens must be fed everyday by placing chicken feed in their respective feed trays unless they are left outside. Chickens will produce Golden Eggs if their affection is high enough.
Power Berries
- Main article: Power Berries (STH)
There are several power berries to collect throughout the game to increase the player's stamina.
Endings
There are 9 different endings you can get in this game. After you get each ending, a scene will be shown and the credits will appear. After this ends, you be back to Spring 2nd and start over your relationship with villagers (your farm and assests will remain the same.) Each endings require different people to befriend, some even requiring two..
- The Azure Swallowtail
- Tale of the Blue Bird
- The Cake Contest
- The Endangered Weasel
- A Fish Story
- The Goddess Dress
- Horse Race
- Treasure Hunt 1
- Treasure Hunt 2
Trivia
- Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley was believed to be the sequel of Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland. It was released in Japan late 2009, and early 2010 in America. The storyline is essentially the same. In order to save the homeland you must complete at least 3 event paths. It must be in the same category, Nature Preserve or Tourist Spot. Almost all of the villagers have their assigned event path for you to complete. All in all, there are 16 event paths available. Also the only way to marry a girl, is to complete the story line.
- This game and Harvest Moon 64 are one of the few games to get a digital rerelease in Europe.