"Innocent Life" is set in the near future, and stars an artificial life form called, interestingly enough, "Life." He has been created by a scientist named Dr. Hope in order to calm the angered spirits of Heartflame Island. These inhabitants of the heart-shaped island are at odds with the human population for bringing technology too far and are threatening to destroy civilization with a volcanic eruption. Apparently, they are okay with robot technology that comes in the SHAPE of a human, though, so Dr. Hope aims to appease them by having his AI Pinocchio restore the ruins of the island.
At the same time, Life is trying to become truly human, but must first learn the value of life...by nurturing life. In the process he will work to improve upon his human attributes of humor, creativity, cooking, intelligence, love, and challenge. Your guess as to what "challenge" entails is as good as mine. Life's traits improve when he eats, sleeps, works the farm, etc., bringing him ever closer to becoming a real boy.
The premise sounds very promising, but in actuality, the game falters at every step. First of all, this is one of the slowest-paced games I've ever encountered, treating gamers to a tutorial-laden quasi-state of control for a full hour at the game's outset. For that entire time, the player's actions are restricted to clicking through dialog boxes and walking a maximum of two rooms before encountering the next block of drawn-out text. Additionally, there are long sequences describing how to equip and swing a hoe, plant seeds, and pour a watering can. These CANNOT be skipped or hurried along in any way. It would be VERY easy to put this game down in the early goings. I personally fought an intense internal battle to A) stay awake and B) keep the PSP running long enough to reach the actual gameplay. The experience was brutal.
When the player finally does take full control, there isn't really all that much to do. Life ends up being sent to bed around midday, simply in order to advance time and avoid boredom. The first time it rained in my game, I was told that I didn't have to water my crops. I instantly asked myself the question "What CAN I do?" At that point watering crops was my only option, so sleep cam around 10 AM. After a few weeks, even the primary tasks involved in maintaining a typical Harvest Moon farm are taken away, automated by a robot presented to him by Dr. Hope. The only action that remains for the player is to harvest and ship the plants once they are fully grown. Even the livestock are tended with some degree of automaticity, on top of the fact that the farm's capacity is limited to five animals per species.
With nothing to occupy the time, players are free to explore the surrounding areas in search of various wild plants, tool upgrades, and magic jewels. These jewels are of particular interest because they unlock new areas on Heartflame Island as well as opening up more farmable land. When it comes down to farming, each square is hoed and sowed individually, then watered each day - until your robot takes over, of course. Players run around with the PSP's analog stick and walk with the directional pad. The d-pad is useful for aligning Life precisely with each square of soil, but the game generally seems to handle that fairly well.
Basically, farming consists of shipping crops to buy more seeds - which grow more crops, and so on. Cash flows like water, so the rewards for playing eventually become non-existent. Other than more seeds to make more money, there isn't much else to buy. Tool upgrades are found for free via exploration, and there are no upgrades available to improve farm structures or living quarters. The piles of money one makes in "Innocent Life" are somewhat meaningless.
The game is very story-driven compared to other "Harvest Moon" installments, where the player drives the story. Additionally, the entire narrative only spans a single year - not the normal 30-odd years "Harvest Moon" veterans are used to. Each Sunday, when Life goes to visit Dr. Hope, the state of the plot is advanced, revealing more of the story on Heartflame Island. Mostly all of the conversations that occur throughout the week are trivial. Social interaction as a whole is only a shadow of what could be found in previous "Harvest Moon" games. There are fewer festivals and events for Life to attend, and the characters that populate the town are about as interesting as slugs. More importantly, there is no courtship/flirting, no marriage, and no family life. Playing as a robot has given Natsume the opportunity to remove one of the biggest aspects of the "Harvest Moon" series. I guess robots aren't that good at mingling, anyway.
"Innocent Life" is not bad to look at. Although the water lacks detail and the trees sometimes look flat, there is a good deal of variety in the environments, and the art style does carry a certain aesthetic appeal. When the camera drops low in the areas outside of the farm, the background vistas can be quite attractive, and the perspective creates a fresh and inviting look. The music is not bad, but I wish there was more of it. The same handful of background songs accompany the action, throughout. If there was just more of a variety, then the pleasant guitars, violins, chimes, and other instruments could make an even better impression. As it stands now, the soundtrack quickly becomes repetitive.
If "the future" means a setting relatively identical to the present, with automated tasks and a few stylized items, along with the removal of any meaningful social interaction and culinary appreciation, then "Innocent Life" has hit the nail right on the head. As I played, I managed to piece together a short bill of truths about the game. I found that there is no reason to keep the main character awake, because there is nothing for him to do; there is no reason to socialize, because the non-player characters are boring and useless; there is no reason to buy items, because they can all be found; there is no reason to tend the farm, because an automatic robot helper takes care of that job; there is no reason to make money, because there is nothing to buy; and ultimately, there is no reason to play "Innocent Life" at all" = "UA-891678-1";
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Origin: modern-wiccan.blogspot.com
