Excellent
My only complaint is that it isn't coming out in English. This game has all the best elements of Harvest Moon. A combination of Island of Happiness meets Boy and Girl and DS Cute. There are a lot of similar elements and characters from Island of Happiness with some new locations and some improvements on game play. You can use the D pad as well as the stylus too, an improvement over I of Happiness if you like that option.

This game is quite easy to figure out if you have no ability to read Japanese and are not new to Harvest Moon. Even in the shops, it's easy to figure out what is what and not make too many mistakes.

The game stays true to the essence of the original harvest moon but makes several improvements so the controls are easy and intuitive and there are enough surprises to keep any harvest moon fan happy.

Best So Far
I have been obsessed with the Harvest Moon series for quite some time, and this is by far my favorite of all I have played.

It has a healthy challenge to the game, money doesn't just roll in, and there is always something to do. The world is large and full, and the characters are fun and cute. My only problem with the game is that the pets are virtually useless, and raising their heart levels is tedious to the extreme.

I am, of course, reviewing the Japanese version of this game. The Japanese in this game is very simple, and many things are easy to figure out from context. You should be able to play without any Japanese knowledge at all if you are patient with a bit of trial and error.