Since I find myself jumping so far forward in this series after my last stint in Harvest Moon, I'm going to try my best not to compare this to my experience with 'Back to Nature', and try and just see at as its own game. Which would be hard both ways, because this oddly feels like a culmination of a lot of great DS games. Animal Crossing: Wild World had seemed to placed its loving touch on this game, and I also got hints of the Dragon Quests and Zeldas of this era, too, but it might just be that the DS had such a more realized aesthetic than we give it credit for. This has the same mix of 3D models and sprite work that has made me tingle in all of my favorite games on this handheld, so this installment was at least easy on the eyes. Or, maybe these influences are more circular than I think because I haven't seen every step in this series. But, of course, most of these cutesy simulation games and RPGs have their overlapping sensibilities.

I heard about 'Grand Bazaar' while browsing the different installments of this series, most of which I haven't even seen screenshots of, and found this one's premise to be pretty nice. The whole gimme that you are part of a farmer's market and have to sell what you produce at a weekly event instead of just shipping your goods straight from your farm is a nice little twist. It offers a really interesting twist on the gameplay loop shifting from being daily to being weekly, and at the peaks of this game I found myself closing up shop and thinking, "Let me just play through the next bazaar day..." It also entices players to get into other ventures. Don't just grow produce for that season, go fishing, or make tea, and cook dishes. You can sell all of these things at your farmstand and the more you put into it, the more money you'll make.

There's this really cute gimmick where you there are three windmills in the town that all make a different range of items. You unlock them in a staggered pace so you're not overwhelmed with the plethora of possibilities. It is really funny, though, to look at the recipe list the game gives you and see the daunting scope of just how much you can produce in this game. Progression feels slow and fast at the same time and I always felt like I was doing something wrong. Especially when I spend a lot of my money on seeds and animals and then when the game asks me for 30,000 dollars to upgrade any of my meager fields or storages, I really feel like I'm missing something.

The gameplay loop did start to wear off, then, even before I'd finished my first year. I just wasn't vibing with the whole thing as much as I was with 'Back to Nature', and it most definitely didn't help that the town feels so much less lively, as well. I did not really mesh with any of the characters and there's not a whole lot to explore, at all. It feels very empty, and the townsfolk that are supposed to be suitors or friends feel either hollow or like copies of characters from other games. Definitely needed to borrow from Animal Crossing when spicing up the townsfolks' dialog. Which stinks because the big kicker for these games is getting married and getting to know these people!

The last thing I'll say is one of the biggest punches this game throws right off the bat is that YOUR CHARACTER CAN DOUBLE JUMP!!! for some reason! It's an insanely fun way to navigate the town, lol, and all I could think about was how this might be used to speed run this game...