Category:Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness

Introduction
Farming fun returns to the Nintendo DS system! Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness takes you aboard a ship, sailing to some islands and leaving city life behind to start your life over. On your way there, a storm overwhelms the vessel, capsizing it and shipwrecking everyone on board! You awaken on an unknown, abandoned island at the sound of an old man's voice. You're among a few survivors of the wreckage that made their way to this island. Making lemonade out of lemons, the task of becoming the island's rancher falls on your hands; after all, that was what you had set out to become in the first place!

Features

 * Island of Happiness utilizes the DS system's stylus and touch screen for most of the game. Few buttons manage different controls (such as the d-pad and circular letter buttons).
 * No inheritance or already existing, free farms this time. Build your own farm from the ground up with the help of Carpenter Gannon!
 * An evolving island that grows in population as you develop it; rebuilding bridges, expanding areas, and unlocking home expansions will attract new visitors to the island!
 * A new cast of 6 bachelors and 6 bachelorettes, and 98 characters in total! (Not counting the boy or girl possible child.)
 * The ability to marry your rival farmer (Mark as Chelsea/Chelsea as Mark) returns in this title, for the first time since HMGB3.
 * Branching events based on chosen options returns to this game, a feature last seen in Save the Homeland. This only occurs during Heart Events, but allows you to see more personality of each individual marriage candidate!

Innovations to the series

 * Island of Happiness was the first game in the series to feature online network options. Using the telephone in your house, you could use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to show off your farm stats on a global ranking scoreboard. Weekly rankings earned hard-working farmers plenty of valuable rewards!
 * Voice chat via the Telephone (Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection) with up to three other farmers!
 * This was the first game to implement the Customization system for tools. (A similar system was reintroduced in the Story of Seasons titles, using gems and ore instead of Wonderfuls.)
 * Island of Happiness introduces the Weather System, in which crops are bound to different weather cycles for optimal growth. Too much water or too much sunlight can be detrimental to your crops, so take care!

Characters introduced in this game
Bachelors: Mark - Denny - Elliot - Pierre - Shea - Vaughn

Bachelorettes: Chelsea - Julia - Lanna - Natalie - Sabrina - Witch Princess

Island Villagers: Alisa - Charlie - Chen - Cliff - Eliza - Felicia - Gannon - Harvest Goddess - Karen - Mirabelle - Nathan - Popuri - Regis - Taro - (Doctor)Trent - Wada

Extra: 70 different background characters that arrive on Sunny Island after fulfilling unlock conditions.

Reception
Overall, the cast of Island of Happiness is well received. Major complaints come from the game's reliance on the touch screen and weather system.
 * Metacritic lists Island of Happiness as the #84 best DS game of 2008, giving the title an overall Metascore of 65 and a Userscore of 7.2.
 * Wazap (similar to Metacritic for Japan) gives Island of Happiness an 86.8 (avg. 5 star rating).

Trivia

 * The character designs for Island of Happiness are meant to be mirrors of the already existing Mineral Town/Flowerbud Village cast. (For example, Elliot is an alternate mirror of Rick.)
 * The protagonists have their respective alternates as well - Mark's alt is Claire, and Chelsea's is Sara. The protagonists' children are alts of Pete.
 * Igusa drew an Island of Happiness comic with Sara meeting and interacting with Chelsea as a cameo in the official guide NDS 牧場物語 キミと育つ島 公式ガイドブック, further pointing out their connection.
 * Island of Happiness takes place a few years after Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town.