Harvest Moon: Save The Homeland

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. A further re-release to the PlayStation 4 was done in 2017. This time, trophies were added for players to earn.

Plot
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

 * Toy


 * Harvest Goddess


 * Harvest Sprites (Nic, Nak and Flak)


 * Bob


 * Dia


 * Gina


 * Gwen


 * Joe


 * Katie


 * Kurt


 * Louis


 * Lyla


 * Martha


 * Parsley


 * Ronald


 * Tim


 * Wallace


 * Woody

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.
 * Harvest Moon: Save The Homeland is one of the few games to get a digital re-release in Europe, the other being Harvest Moon 64.
 * The characters in this game are reused in Harvest Moon: Magical Melody and they are marriage candidates as well.