Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon - PSP Hidden Gem

8/1/2019

Blog post by Gemma @ Juicy Game Reviews / TheGebs24

Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon on PSP

The PlayStation Portable or rather PSP was launched in Japan in 2004 and later to the rest of the world in 2005. The PSP slid in to a market that was dominated by Nintendo on the handheld front. What with the success of the Game Boy since the late 80’s and at the time the Nintendo DS; the PSP really had a lot of work to do in order to solidify itself within the gaming world.

Now I’m not here to ramble on about the tech specs of the PSP as I would much rather discuss the PSP from a cultural influence rather than a technical one. It seemed to be a instant hit. What with compatibility with the PS2 and PS3 (already highly loved and valued consoles) the PSP was and still is loved by thousands of gamers. With a beautiful library of games from series like GTA, Metal Gear Solid and more; the PSP was forever becoming a classic handheld console.

Today gamers still boast the PSP’s credibility in the home-brew world of emulation. Whilst this is not what I would use my PSP for; I can respect the usability and popularity of such a feature. Here we are today in 2019 talking about the PSP but this time we are taking a look at a possible Hidden Gem game by the name of innocent life a futuristic harvest moon.

Before we dive in to Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon I want to ask: Have you payed Stardew Valley? If not then allow me to give you a brief overview. Stardew Valley is a farm simulation RPG. It is down to us to harvest and farm our own resources in order to build, grow and prosper. The game takes the form of a top down 16bit inspired style. It’s charming, it’s addictive and it’s captivating. Innocent Life for me is reminiscent of the Stardew Valley. Now, yes, Stardew Valley was released much later that Innocent Life but I feel we must draw the similarities.

Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon takes place in 2022 in the colourful and aesthetic world of Heartflame Island. Known as Harvest Moon: Innocent Life. The game follows a robot boy who was created by Hope Grain. The game starts from the completion of the Robot Boys development. From there the game unfolds with tutorials which are based around learning to farm, interact and move around the world.

What makes Innocent Life so special? Not only is it rarely talked about; Innocent Life is full of charm. Its relaxing to play and feels charming throughout. If you can battle the, at times, long tutorial discussions I think you should really try and grab yourself a copy of Innocent Life.

Innocent Life requires a full watering can at all times!

Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon takes place in 2022 in the colourful and aesthetic world of Heartflame Island. Known as Harvest Moon: Innocent Life. The game follows a robot boy who was created by Hope Grain. The game starts from the completion of the Robot Boys development. From there the game unfolds with tutorials which are based around learning to farm, interact and move around the world.

What makes Innocent Life so special? Not only is it rarely talked about; Innocent Life is full of charm. Its relaxing to play and feels charming throughout. If you can battle the, at times, long tutorial discussions I think you should really try and grab yourself a copy of Innocent Life.

Don’t be put off by the slower pace of gameplay. Arguably Stardew Valley was slow at times. Innocent Life will move forward if you give it time. As with Stardew Valley it’s a top down perspective that still looks fantastic in 2019. The world is easy to navigate, menus can be accessed by pressing L and R respectively so form the get-go you won’t have any trouble jumping in.

Now in terms of gameplay challenges, like I said earlier the tutorial is monotonous. And in the nature of transparency you may feel bored at times as if there is nothing to do. But personally I found this to be the case in Stardew Valley and I still got totally sucked in to that. Anyway, in Innocent Life seasons come and go, we must do our best to keep animals alive and generally keep things moving which is what you would expect from a farm sim kind of game.

So whoever you are, whether you’re a Stardew Valley nut or a Harvest Moon Uber fan I think you will love Innocent Life. In terms of the PSP long may it live and here’s to hoping that more hidden Gem games are talked about right here.

Blog post by Gemma @ Juicy Game Reviews / TheGebs24