The Popuri Dilemma for a farmer in Mineral Town

Whether you are playing Harvest Moon Boy & Girl or Friends of Mineral Town, you will have a dilemma in your first year where Popuri is concerned. My own strategy always is to raise the heart levels of ALL eligible girls and bachelors as quickly as possible. There certainly are tangible rewards for doing this in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, as the Blue Heart Events for a couple of the girls can increase your income rather substantially in your first Summer.

On the other hand, I like to experience as many of the Rival Heart Events as possible as well, especially for the girls I do not intend to marry. Where the other girls are concerned, this is not a problem. Both Heart and Rival Heart Events have a natural progression. Where Popuri is concerned, however, a player can run into difficulties in the first year.

If you raise Popuri's heart level daily with the gift of a Toyflower in the Spring, you should experience her Blue Heart Event at the beginning of your first Summer. In the course of this event, she will give you an Egg and ask you to hatch it.

Actually, I stopped giving her gifts in the middle of Spring, suspecting that her heart level would become far too high to experience the rival heart events in Summer if I continued to raise her heart level... even so, the damage was done, as you will see.

In HMBG, you can experience the 3rd Heart Event when the girl still is at purple heart level. She needs only to be close to the Blue Heart Level to trigger the event. Unfortunately, the 2nd Rival Heart Event no longer can be experienced if you have reached THAT level...

On 2 Summer, Popuri came to my house at 6.00 a.m. to deliver her egg to me, asking that I hatch it. She almost was at Blue heart level at that point. This is Part I of her 3rd or Blue Heart Event in HMBG.

3 Summer is Popuri's Birthday. In my first game, I gave her Toyflower on her Birthday for a boost in her heart level. When the chick hatched, I named it Popuri. When she returned to my farm at 6.00 a.m. on 6 Summer, her heart advanced to full Blue Heart level when she realised I had named the chick after her.

This was all well and good for my romance with Popuri but as the days progressed, I found myself unable to experience Popuri's 2nd Rival heart Event with Kai. I had experienced the 1st Rival heart event outside the Poultry Farm at the start of Summer, but although I suspected the 2nd Rival Heart Event would occur at the Beach, I could not trigger it at any time of the day or any day of the week, including Sunday!

I then concluded that HMBG was like FOMT in this respect: if the girl's heart level is TOO HIGH, you no longer will be able to trigger a rival heart event.

I backtracked to 3 Summer with a heavy heart and gave Popuri a Stone instead of a Pinkcat flower on her birthday. 'Yuck!' she exclaimed, 'I don't want this.' Well, obviously not, but I wanted to force it upon her for the sake of her romance with Kai. (The horrid acts we are forced to perform for the sake of a happy ending!!!)
Even when I named my chick Glitz instead of Popuri, avoiding the extra boost to her heart level in Part II of her Blue Heart Event, I had to force Stones upon her daily until finally, on 10 Summer, I was able to trigger her 2nd Rival Heart Event at the Beach at 11.10 a.m.

This was NOT an ideal progression. What I should have done was to have NOT raised her heart level so high in the Spring. (If only one had a Love Bangle in this game!)
Unfortunately, you cannot trigger the 2nd Rival Heart Event on 2 Spring, as you have to experience them in order and the 1st Rival Heart Event cannot be triggered early enough in the day to allow it... (The 2nd Heart Event cannot be triggered after 1.00 p.m.)

Even so, I could have saved many Toyflowers, and simply raised her heart to the minimum Purple level before her birthday on 3 Summer. It would have been better to have experienced the 2nd Rival heart event BEFORE I triggered the Blue Heart Event.

In monetary terms, however, it is better to obtain Popuri's egg as early as possible, so perhaps my strategy is the best, for all the heartache of having to give her items she hated repeatedly. On 10 Summer, I have experienced three of Popuri's Heart Events and two of her Rival Heart Events... and the egg she gave me should be an adult chicken tomorrow, I believe.

On 10 Summer, I have experienced three of the Heart Events and the first two Rival Heart Event for all the other eligible girls as well, with the exception of Karen's Blue Heart Event. Karen's 3rd Heart Event can be experienced only in Spring, I believe, and it is impossible to raise her heart level high enough in the first Spring. I will experience it at the start of my second year, I expect.

Ann's 3rd or Blue Heart Event is another profitable one for the player. Provided that you have her at high Purple level, as soon as you have three adult chickens who lay eggs, she will come to your farm to request that you bring her 3 eggs daily before 5.00 p.m., beginning on the next day.

Holidays do not deprive you of the opportunity to experience Part II of the event. In my game, the following day was the day of the Chicken Festival, when the Inn is locked. I therefore made my first delivery on 8 Summer and was rewarded accordingly. In fact, on 10 Summer, I have been paid for my third delivery of eggs to the Inn. Ann pays a far higher price than the shipping value of the eggs, which would be only 150G. Ann is willing to pay 450G for the same three eggs.

Ordinarily, I pop the eggs into the Hot Spring to transform them into Spa Eggs before I ship them as that increases their value by 30G. (A Spa Egg ships for 80G.)
It is more fun to deliver them to Ann, as one experiences a little event each time one makes the delivery.

I personally believe that the friendship and courtship aspects of the game should be advanced as quickly as the farming aspects. You have three years to make the farm successful in HMBG. How you choose to spend your time, money and resources is your choice, of course. Instead of giving Ann spa eggs each day in Spring, I could have shipped them and have made more money for myself. Instead of spending time visiting girls each day, I could have concentrated on crops, mining and chopping more wood.

To me, however, Harvest Moon really is more about people than financial success. I could have made more money faster perhaps if I had ignored the people for the most part, but I would not have experienced as many events as quickly. It is the events that motivate me in Harvest Moon, especially during the difficult first season.

Carter's 3rd Heart Event: Trouble Ahead for THAT Couple!

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In terms of matchmaking for other couples, it is not difficult to see the attraction between Marlin and Celia, Rock and Lumina, Griffin and Muffy or Gustafa and Nami. If you do not intervene to court the bachelor or girl yourself, the romance between your rival and his/her intended spouse follows a fairly smooth path on the whole.

Where Carter and Flora are concerned, however, it is a very different matter. Even in the original HM DS, it was apparent that domestic contentment was far from assured. Carter's 3rd Heart Event demonstrates the problems they will face if they ultimately marry. Flora definitely is the strongest. most aggressive girl in the Valley...

In this event, Flora announces her plan to make 'Curry Rice' for lunch. Carter never has been silent with respect to his responses to Flora's cooking and he detests Curry Rice. Flora, of course, loves it. She is determined to force it down his throat at any cost, to train him to like it, if need be, it seems. She states quite categorically that Curry Rice is the what she intends to prepare and repeats her declaration with obvious relish.

Carter, in desperation, creates an imaginary 'date' with you for lunch and asks you to confirm his fabrication. If you do, he will be extremely grateful and you will lunch with him at the Inner Inn. Afterwards, Carter will confess that Flora makes food that he 'simply cannot stomach' although he will add that he is thankful she is willing to cook for him. He ruins his brief display of gratitude, however, by offering YOU Flora's job! Fortunately, you are not required to respond here. Your character automatically will shake her head regretfully...

One imagines now that any future marriage between Flora and Carter will be fraught with domestic conflict as she continues to try to assert herself and he attempts to avoid her iron will.

If, however, you fail to back up his story, Flora will not hesitate to castigate her Professor in no uncertain terms. Beyond that, she will tell you that you too are his victim and command you to display equal rage!

Easygoing Kai... It's just my way of saying 'Hi'

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With all the excitement over Skye, I almost forgot that Kai had his own special brand of nonchalant charm. In his first Heart Event, he will tell you that he tends to pat you often on the back but, not to worry, he isn't flirting! It is nothing more than his way of sayiing 'Hi'.

When he first greets you and you confess that you have come for his food, he will exclaimed that he is 'so stoked!'

Perhaps the time period in which this game is set is so far in the future that very old expressions such as 'stoked' once more have become the very last word in slang. Kai, for all his youthful appearance, seems to be steeped in the culture of the decade of the 1960s. One would expect these expressions to trip from the tongue of Gustafa, but although Gustafa LOOKS the part, his conversation is less colloquial.

As Kai only frequents the Valley in the summer, if you wish to court him, you must work feverishly to increase his levels as much as possible in the course of that season. To make matters more difficult, his Most Favourite Item is the Pineapple, a fruit that takes 21 days to mature. That means that your most powerful weapon in the gift arsenal will not be available before 21 Summer. Fortunately, he is very easygoing for the most part where gifts are concerned, and you can find a multitude of fairly inexpensive items that will boost his AP by 300 points and his FP by 9 until you reach the fourth week of Summer.

Speaking of Gustafa, his 3rd Heart Event alas is rather dull even if slightly poetic. Your character isn't allowed to get a word in edgewise as he takes her on his own personal tour of the Valley at night. He does not even include you in his experience: 'Aren't the stars reflecting off the water beautiful? It's like a small universe is right there in front of me.' Me, me, me... although he does thank you for listening to him at the end of the evening when he leaves you at his door.

I admire players who choose to marry Gustafa because obviously they are not as superficial as I am. When you see him with this expression on his face, it has to be for his heart and not his looks that a woman chooses to marry him. Or perhaps it is the yurt... I confess I find the idea of living in a yurt intensely appealing and I do love his collection of exotic instruments. He's a decent chap but even with yurt and instruments included, he never will be my first choice.

Marlin's Blue Heart Event: Echoes of 'Cheers'

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Marlin's Blue Heart Event occurs at the Blue Bar on Monday evening, the night when you always can find him there. Although he does not work outdoors in the rain, he WILL walk to the Blue Bar when it is pouring, so you can experience the event either on a sunny or rainy day.

The event is rather interesting in its exploration of Marlin's personality. When you enter, Marlin, usually tongue-tied, will offer to buy a drink for 'this lovely lady'. Griffin asks Marlin if he would like another at that point and Marlin states that he thinks he has had enough. When you have glugged your free drink down in your usual graceless Harvest Moon fashion, you will be given the following choice:

I want more.
Marlin should have one.

Now, in the real world, I would have thought that the second option would be more polite than the first. You would be reluctant simply to ask for more drinks on Marlin's 'tab', would you not? In Harvest Moon, however, it is a trick question in a way. What would you imagine would occur if you choose: 'Marlin should have one?'

Well, in fact, Marlin's heart level will drop instantly to purple. He will be upset that you even MENTIONED the possibility of offering him a drink! He will march out of the pub and Griffin will be left to explain to you: 'Now, Freya. Weren't you listening to the man? Marlin said he didn't want to drink any more. No use trying to force him.'

If, however, you simply choose to demand MORE like Oliver Twist, Marlin will tell Griffin to give you as many as you wish. You will glug down THREE drinks in quick succession. Now you will experience (vicariously, as your character will be snoring at the bar counter) one of the more amusing scenes involving Marlin.

Marlin, ordinarily the least loquacious of individuals, will proceed to make statement after statement about the Blue Bar, heaping praise on his favourite 'local'. He will compare the Blue Bar to the bars he frequented when he lived in the city. Is Marlin the health nut actually an alcoholic??? Japan evidently has not succumbed to the negative political climate in the U.S. against regular consumption of alcoholic beverages. Many Harvest Moon games extol the social virtues of the 'local' and there usually is more than one character who drinks to excess. Karen, for example, is a renowned lush and can drink almost any man under the table. If you could have done the same, you would have earned the respect and admiration of the Valley, but in this event, you show every one that you can't hold your drink!

As you snore on, Marlin actually comes out with the old marketing phrase from 'Cheers': 'It's a place where everybody knows your name.'

Griffin thanks Marlin for his kindness but remarks that Marlin's long-windedness has put you to sleep! It couldn't have been the booze obviously!!! In fact, Griffin rather naively states: 'She must have been worn out', then asks if Marlin can carry you home.

Marlin accepts the task without any hesitation. In fact, he remarks to himself that his burden is not the least bit heavy although the journey is rather long...

Another interesting point about this event is the alternate ending if you upset Marlin with your attempt to persuade him to join you in another drink. After he leaves, Griffin will be forced to carry you home instead. He will moan: 'Oof. My back. I'm gettin' too old for this.' It is rather ironic that Marlin, who is supposedly fragile in health, has more strength than Griffin. As both bachelors are at Blue Heart level in my game, I would have thought their enthusiasm for carrying an unconscious Freya would have been equal...

Sympathy for Griffin

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I now am crushed by the weight of my guilt for having made ANY comment about Griffin's advanced age in an earlier post about the eligible bachelors in Harvest Moon Cute for the DS.

I am experiencing all the 3rd or Blue Heart Events now and in fact, Griffin's Blue Heart Event deals with his age and his perception of himself as a 'worn-out old bachelor'. When I experienced the event, my heart went out to him, even though he is not my first nor even second choice for a spouse, despite his sterling character.

I do try to raise every bachelor's heart level to yellow at least to experience all four heart events for each, even if I have no intention of marrying them. At the same time, before I save the event, I experience both the 'positive' and 'negative' endings for my guide.

In Griffin's 3rd Heart Event, you are pressed by Ruby into stating whether or not you think Griffin is too old for you. She places herself in the position of a matchmaker. To Griffin's credit, he suffers at the thought of YOUR embarrassment at being put on the spot. If you declare that he is too old, obviously his heart level will drop. If you declare: 'Why wouldn't I like you?', Griffin will deflect the conversation as quickly as he can. Although he evidently likes you, he is a very self-effacing man.

I shan't mind proposing to him in a future game as much as I had thought I would. He is such a decent, sensitive guy...

I have included a photograph here of the most extraordinary expletive I have encountered so far in Harvest Moon. It is used by Ruby at the start of the event: 'Oh dagnabbit!'