Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar

A finely crafted RPG-lite of the simple life, set against the backdrop of an idyllic rural world.

Small gripes aside, Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar is a strong showing for the farming franchise, with the addition of the eponymous market bringing a nice weekly structure to proceedings.

Lovely. [Oct 2010, p.65]

There's a good amount of game here for people drawn in by the concept. The gameplay mechanism of the bazaar is engaging and helps you keep going, although, a large amount of the game is a retread over previous versions.

Grand Bazaar is by far the best game in the series to hit the DS. The problem? It just doesn't do enough new.

Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar is a fantastic farming RPG that will please fans of the series. Spending countless hours performing mundane, repetitious, farming chores may not sound like much of a gaming experience, but if you have the time and patience this is one hell of an addicting, engrossing title.

Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar continues to experiment with the franchise, in part for the better. The addition of the market brings a new element to the series and the core farming entertains and addicts as ever, but what lets it down is the lack of town activity. Without an invigorating community environment, though, Grand Bazaar doesn't quite reach the heights that it should.

Grand Bazaar is a good episode of a saga always equal to itself. The introduction of the bazaar is an idea that worked well and the constant support offered will help beginners to learn the basic gameplay of Harvest Moon.

It's devloped in a cheap way, carelessely forgetting some important polishing. Some Farmville could actually be more fun than this.

Grand Bazaar isn't the best farming game out there, but it is wholly suitable for a younger audience or someone who just wants to play around on a portable farm for a few minutes at a time during their day.

Grand Bazaar is destined for those who play Harvest Moon for the first time. Many things work automatically, and the player will make money soon, especially thanks of the many options where are to earn it. But those seasoned Harvest Moon players may find the game dull and limited.

A few baby steps forwards for the granddaddy of farming sims, but not enough to deserve a new game or your time and money.

It's the best portable Harvest Moon in quite some time, and the multiplayer is a promising development, but we're still waiting for another Friends of Mineral Town.

Although it's the fifth Harvest Moon title for the DS system, not much has changed in Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar. [Sept 2010, p.89]

Harvest Moon enthusiasts might enjoy this unpolished gem for its sinfully cute graphics and marketplace feature, but, like that KFC commercial says, it's not for the faint of heart.