Harvest Moon DS/Regional Differences

This is a sub-page of Harvest Moon DS.

Note: The region-exclusive glitches can be found on the Bugs page.

To do: So much to cover. Do a list of random character events that appear in each version. Sandymaxy has made a complete list of them on their YouTube channel detailing which game they appear in or not. Find a way to rip the unlocalised Japanese text: Channel 7 of the Sprite Station had seven different shows for each of the week rather than just Rookie Detective Kanako. The DVDs actually have full scripts on them, while the International version does not. Ones that appear in the mailbox or Newspaper. Expand on the Game Boy Advance link further, and test to see if it works with the Korean version or not.

Sub-Page

Unlocalised Text Natsume was too lazy to localise these.

Main Differences

Developer/Publisher Logos

In the Japanese version, the Marvelous Interactive logo displays with the title screen music playing, but in the International versions, the music starts only after the logos are shown. This change doesn't apply to DS Cute.

North America	Europe	South Korea

The publishing company of the game varies between regions. In North America, it was published by Natsume while in Europe, it was published by Rising Star Games. In South Korea it was published by Daewon Game and IronNos instead.

International	South Korea

The Marvelous logo was updated with the one used in the international versions of DS Cute for the South Korean version of the game, as Marvelous Interactive was now known as Marvelous Entertainment.

In the international versions, a screen saying "Licensed by Nintendo" was added in.

Title Screen

Japan	North America	Europe	South Korea

The copyright date of the title screen got updated in each regional release. The characters at the bottom are more distanced from the player and the Harvest Sprites outside of the Japanese version, likely to make room for the "New Game" and "Load Game" graphics.

The logo in the Korean version is almost identical to the Japanese one, only missing the texture that was present in the original one.

Changes from the Japanese Version

Sprite Casino Lettering

Japan	International
File:HMDS Casino JPN.png	File:HMDS Casino INT.png

The Sprite Casino location had the "CASINO!" lettering removed in the international releases.

Japan/South Korea	International

The background conversation graphic also had this change, but it strangely still appears the first time that the location is unlocked. It's in the Korean version as well, used as the background conversation graphic, even though the "CASINO!" lettering isn't there.

Fade-to-Red

Japan/Europe/South Korea	North America
253px

At the beginning of the game, when Thomas greets the player and the mayor is attacked by the player's dog, the player has the choice of saving him. If you decline to rescue him, the screen fades to red before the credits start rolling. The red color was changed to white in the North American version, likely due to it looking gruesome, but, oddly, it was reverted back to red in the European and South Korean versions. Also in the North American version, the fade to white cuts off the scene early, preventing the last few characters from being displayed.

GBA Link changes

In the Japanese versions, by linking GameCube's A Wonderful Life to Friends of Mineral Town, then to Harvest Moon DS, a gravestone with the name of the protagonist from the GameCube game would appear near the Barney Circuis Grounds. In the US versions though, it requires only linking to Friends of Mineral Town, and the grave displays the name of the protagonist from that game.

In an American copy, it's still possible to display the name of the protagonist from A Wonderful life by following the Japanese version steps, but doing so could cause major glitches in that Harvest Moon DS save file.

The Japanese version also has an exclusive Achievement system. These are newspapers, sent to your mailbox, that are exchanged when linking with either version of Friends of Mineral Town. The Boy version's shares records for Mining, Fishing, and Rock Paper Scissors, while the Girl version shares records of Festival wins.

European Version Changes

To do: Comparison screenshots.

HUD Differences

The HUD on the top screen is somewhat different in the European version of the game. The names for the days of the week are now even shorter (ex. MON = MO) and are color-coded. These changes would later be carried into Cute.

Japan	North America	Europe	DS Cute (NA)

Font Differences

The ellipses were moved from the center to the bottom, as they are centered in the Japanese language.

Sprite Casino Minigame Changes

In the Japanese and North American versions, there are three tables in the Casino, each with a unique game: Poker, Black Jack, and a card-based memory game. In the European and South Korean versions, the Poker and Black Jack games were completely removed and their associated tables were replaced with the card-matching game. The text is even removed.

Since PEGI introduced a new age-rating descriptor for gambling around that time, it was likely done to remove gambling references. This would've automatically bumped the game's rating to 18+.

Minor Dialogue Changes

North America	Europe
Oh lost lamb... Welcome to "Church".	Oh lost lamb... Welcome to "Temple".

North America	Europe
Phone the church to remove.	Phone the temple to remove.

The Church, that can be called from the telephone at home, was renamed to the Temple in the European versions, as well as in the descriptions for the Cursed Tools. It was probably done to remove some religious references.

Friends of Mineral Town Link Removal

Infamously, the Game Boy Advance link was removed in European versions. This made a couple of things completely unobtainable without hacking, such as the Mineral Town characters appearing more frequently, with some as love interests, and the last five Records- Spring HM, Summer HM, Autumn HM, Winter HM and Last Dance- that would have been buyable from the Sprite Casino.

Strangely, either a USA or European copy of Friends From Mineral Town can be linked to a North American copy of the video game, but the Japanese copy needs to be linked to its own region.

Miscellaneous Changes

• The bookshelf at home, that would have supplied tutorials and hints for various game mechanics, cannot be interacted with. It likely was done to make translating into other languages easier, and maybe because Channel 8 has enough information to cover the tips that the bookshelf would have covered.
• Channels 3 and 4 of the Sprite Station cannot be normally accessed in the European version.