After a few delays, Harvest Moon: Twin Villages (Bokujou Monogatari: Futago no Mura) was finally released in Japan on July 9, 2010. This means that now we know exactly how the new game, which pressures players into picking one of two rival villages to live in, works. We also learn that the village rivalry isn’t too serious…

Good news for farming fans, another Harvest Moon DS game is in the pipeline. Never mind that North America still hasn’t gotten Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands or Harvest Moon: Welcome to the Wind Bazaar (Bokujou Monogatari: Youkoso Kaze no Bazaar e), that can’t keep us from getting excited about Harvest Moon: Twin Villages (Bokujou Monogatari: Futago no Mura). The biggest news about this entry is that there are two distinct villages in the game, Bluebell and Konohana, each with their own specialty. Depending on where your character lives, he/she will focus on either raising animals in Bluebell or raising crops in Konohana.

Like all Harvest Moon games, Harvest Moon: Twin Villages begins with a young entrepreneur who decides that the farm life is the perfect life. All his/her life, the character has wanted a little farm at the foot of the mountain to call his/her own. The thing is, there are two villages there: Bluebell and Konohana. And both mayors want this new farmer to join their village. So, you get to choose based on what aspect of the game you like better.

Famitsu has some preliminary screenshots which look very nice…