Glitches Ruin Games

I've been playing titles in the Harvest Moon series for years now. The quality of the titles definitely vary, but one thing has been for sure: they have always been technically sound games for the most part. Sure, like any game, you'd spot a small glitch here and a minor bug there, but it was nothing that could ruin the entire experience...

...until Harvest Moon DS was released, however.

Harvest Moon DS, game play and design wise, is actually a very enjoyable entry in the series. It's not a masterpiece by any means, but I'm sure I'd still get a few hundred hours of enjoyment out of it, which is a good thing in my book.

The major problem is, the lack of adequate play testing from the developers has really shown in this product. Glitches abound in Harvest Moon DS - enough, in fact, to ruin the game as a whole.

Not only will you find tons of little glitches, you will find crucial ones as well: bugs that corrupt your actual game save. Even if you've been treating the cartridge with care and have been saving without shutting the power off, your game save will eventually become corrupted for no apparent reason.

After wasting a few months of play time in Harvest Moon DS I decided enough was enough. I speedily drove to the nearest Gamestop and pawned off my copy. I lost a bit of money, but it's definitely superior having $7 in your pocket than an unplayable release.

Even if a game itself is top-notch, glitches can completely ruin it. Despite the fact that game prises are actually rising there seems to be no end to this mess. So the moral of the story is... developers, test yer damn products!

Related article: Poor Play Testing + A Rushed Product = A Broken Game