Shepherd’s Crossing 2 is farm simulation game available on the Nintendo DS that has many similarities to the popular Harvest Moon series and challenges players to efficiently develop their own farm. Released in 2010 for the Nintendo DS the game also serves as a sequel to the PlayStation 2 Shepherd’s Crossing title that was English released in 2008 (originally developed in 2003).
At the heart of Shepherd’s Crossing 2 players will find a beautifully crafted anime themed graphic design that helps to bring the farming simulation to life and ensure players have a clear view of their farm status at any time. Like other titles in the genre you’ll find an array of environments, seasons and changing colour scheme of your farm that builds both a rewarding and visually pleasing farm experience.
While there is some story to follow along with and some love interests Shepherd’s Crossing 2 has a fairly open ended pathway for players to take and is particularly less restrictive than other games in the genre released around the same time. A key part of this is players being able to invest their time in preferred mechanics while ignoring others and still generally make speedy process through the game.
With that in mind the core loop of the game revolves around making crops, harvesting them for money and growing your available land to repeat the cycle again. Crops include the likes of beans, onion, eggplant, squash, carrots, garlic, potatoes, wheat, tomatoes, cabbage and many other food variants. With each having different needs to grow effectively, preferred seasons and other factors to consider it’s a constant decision point for players with each harvest.
Alongside these crops you’ll also be raising livestock and contributing to the small town community located near your farm home that allows you access to a general store, NPC conversations, goals and eventually love interests (bachelors and bachelorettes). Livestock is similarly as diverse as crops with rabbits, chickens, goat, sheep, cows and other unique livestock to raise for additional resources. Just like real life your limitation in Shepherd’s Crossing 2 is your time and resources with players thriving when they can efficiently allocate both to their goals across the game seasons and years.
While there is not a huge amount of story background players will quickly make their own story after they select their preferred gender and are thrown into the game world. Joined by your pet and a desire to move to a small village to farm for a living you’ll embark on potentially hundreds of hours of optimisation focused gameplay. With many dogs to progress through that include a terrier, corgi, husky and several others you’ll find the perfect farm companion for you.
Summary:
- Realistic farming simulation game that allows you to develop your farm, the nearby town community and romance NPCs.
- Lots of crop and animal variety allows you to optimise your farm output based on seasons and available resources.
- Play the game the way that you want as you manage your time effectively to achieve your own progression goals.
- A Nintendo DS sequel to the PlayStation 2 of the franchise.
- Play Shepherd’s Crossing 2 as either a boy or girl with their own roster of bachelors and bachelorettes to romance.
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Review Platform: DS
