Bokujou Monogatari: Tsunagaru Shin Tenchi

I have actually played the english version of this game, the thought of wanting to experience the game play in its original language made me made this purchase and no regrets!

I loved the previous game ANB and read a lot of reviews before getting this. I'm halfway through the first year and I find that as with most Bokujou Monogatari/ Harvest Moon games, there's always a little give and take where they improve some areas of the game (like the crop system) but take out or change other things you wish they didn't (the shipping box.

Pros:9X9 crop fields and being able to harvest a whole lot as opposed to one by one.
Swimming.
Character Customisation and Edit mode is back from ANB where you can work your way up to building a mansion and decorating your home and farm however you want.

I find the Bachelors and Bachelorettes to be a good set this time around.

2 difficulty modes (need to update system): "Shinmai" or seedling mode which is easier in that items are 30% cheaper and the shipping requirements are lower, and then "veteran" mode. You also use less energy in easy mode.

Better tool functions.
You can now own rabbits and goats in addition to all the others like sheep, alpaca, cows, Llama etc.
Interesting events.
Conquests and renting fields, safari zone and requests.
Easier to build the maker machines and make clothes than in ANB.
Shops are open even if it rains.

Less shops but compensated by a variety of traders selling some good items (you need to unlock them).

No need to hoard like crazy as in ANB.

Cons:
No shipping box, so the first month or so when you only have one trader will be pretty hard on cash. There can be up to 3 days with no trader, and crops stay fresh for only three days so you need to time your crop harvest with when the traders come as you get more money for fresh crops.

You build everything from scratch: most notably the kitchen, pitchfork and fridge which were otherwise given to you before.

Lack of items to farm in the mountain: It's mainly swimming as opposed to picking up stuff.

Slow: Yup it's a very slow start, nothing new though.

Milking cows takes a bit longer, and they move around while you do it so you have to follow them while milking until the meter fills up.

In edit mode, you can't move certain things like your house, bed and crop fields.

Last harvest moon game I played was friends of mineral town, and Story of Seasons(Bokujou Monogatari) is really awesome sequel.
I'm not professional at Japanese(I have N4), but I can read all conversations in game and understand them.

There are certain flaws in the system but it is still addictive. For one, you don't actually have a "shipment box" anymore, but can only peddle your goods to a merchant that comes a few days of the week (and the days aren't fixed) And stamina is really limited, unsure if there's a way to extend base stamina
But the easy harvesting of crops is a god-send. And the swimming/diving and bug catching ^v^ Harvest Moon fans, do give this game a try :)