The player eventually receives the option to start the game over as their child. Once your kid gets to the stage where you can ask him to do chores/go for a walk, he will not grow up anymore beyond this point. There will be special events in the child's life such as "First Steps", "Talking", "Reaching Teenager", and "Growing Up." However, your child never grows up past the stage of being a kid. When the child becomes a toddler, the player may play with them. After the player is married, they will have a child. The player can choose when they want to get married. Marriage is optional, but if the player chooses to do so, they'll have to find a blue feather to propose. This is most easily done by going on dates, giving gifts or just talking to the person. To get married, the player must raise the chosen person's heart level to 8 hearts. However, players may only have a limited number of adopted pets on their farm at one time, so choices must be made wisely.Įach gender of main character has 8 marriage candidates available. This is done by getting a sufficient amount of hearts from them, and then choosing to adopt them. There are also pets the player can adopt, located at various places throughout the island. There are new animals such as ostriches that players may buy. This is where being able to do more with less effort has an advantage. Depending on how much skill the player has, working on their garden or livestock can take the better part of a day. This allows the player to till more plots of land with one hit, water multiple plots at once, cast to catch rarer fish, or strike a rock or tree with more strength while using less stamina. Using tools more often around the farm, mine, and rivers and oceans, causes the player to become more proficient with them. By growing various crops and herbs, tending to and befriending animals, forming friendships, and raising a family, the player can help save the island by bringing its tree back to life. The island has lost its connection with nature and its inhabitants do not know what to do. However, the sacred tree of the island has died, and the island's deity has vanished. Personally I feel like AP is the much better game overall, but I would highly HIGHLY recommend playing through at least the base story of ToT.The player has moved to an island town that was once enchanted. The only downside when it comes to marriage candidates is the unique models of Owen and Luna are replaced to make them fit in better with the rest of the cast (Luna I think looks better for it but I really miss Actually Gigantic Owen). Plus even the base game candidates get more events and better writing overall. You also have the additional bachelor(ettes) and a lot of people swear by the Wizard as their favorite. The pet system is an amazing addition and really adds a lot of character to the wild animals populating the world (and snek tricks are so CUTE). Having a child in AP is the most rewarding it's ever been in the entire franchise. AP eventually makes up for it with both its "any barn animal is rideable" and fast travel mechanic, but that's not until mid-lateish game.ĪP really shines in its post game and with the additional features. The map in ToT is also better designed imo since it's much tighter. Everything looks bright and happy despite the villagers complaining about how barren everything is. This is a pet peeve that I've brought up before many a time, but the world in AP never actually LOOKS like there's hardships going on in it. I felt the main plotline in Tree of Tranquility was better written and better paced than in Animal Parade. I do like AP better, but that's just my onion, lol. Overall, I'd say Tree of Tranquility is simpler, more fast-paced (and maybe a little harder?) than Animal Parade, but it's still a pretty solid Harvest Moon title. Ores from mining don't stack, but you can tell which ones can be refined for something good because they'll sparkle. It has a few things AP doesn't, like minigames at festivals and a gifting system that allows you to give multiple items to someone until they hit their heart points cap for the day. You also have to be really careful with your energy level, because hitting the point of exhaustion where you can no longer run can lose you most of a day. Time flows MUCH more quickly in ToT, and you have to get used to not being able to do everything you want to in the span of a single day. I think gameplay-wise, though, the biggest difference is the pace. The story is different, of course, and some of the characters' personalities differ slightly from the way they are in AP. A lot of the stuff in Tree of Tranquility feels like a simplified version of the stuff in Animal Parade, if you play AP first (like I did).