Legendary Sword and Unlocking the 4th Mine in HM DS/Cute DS

I am writing this post simply because of the sheer volume of emails that I continue to receive with respect both to the Legendary Sword and the 4th Mine in HM DS and Cute DS.

Although the two games are very similar in most respects apart from the choice of potential spouses, there are a few small differences and one of these is the requirement for taking the Legendary Sword from the 255th floor of the 2nd Mine.

In the original HM DS (aka the 'boy version'), your character in theory needed to have the necessary experience to be able to upgrade ALL tools to mystrile level in order to be able to take the Legendary Sword from the mine, but experience was all that mattered. If only one tool actually had been upgraded to Mystrile, that was sufficient. (Some players have reported that even with other tools BELOW Mystrile level of experience, they were able to take the sword. This will vary from one version of the game to another. Remember that the European version of the game is quite different from the North American Natsume version.)

In HM Cute DS (aka the 'girl version'), your character actually must upgrade ALL tools to Mystrile in order to meet the requirement for being worthy to take the Legendary Sword from the 255th Floor of the 2nd Mine. Having the necessary experience is not sufficient.

In some circumstances, players in both games have gone to the 255th Floor of the Mine believing that all their tools had been upgraded to mystrile when in fact, this was not the case. The Fishing Rod IS one of the tools in both games and if the player fails to gain sufficient experience to upgrade it to Mystrile, the Legendary Sword will remain on the lowest floor of the mine.

Although all of this information is included in my General Guide for HM DS and HM Cute DS, I probably should include one final point about the Legendary Sword here.

Although the Legendary Sword can be used rather effectively as a weapon against the Dark Creatures in any Mine, that is not its primary use in either game. It is the ONLY item that can be used to destroy the two large boulders that bar access to the Super Field Cave behind the waterfall. It is not only access to the Super Field that is achieved when you destroy the two Boulders but a shortcut that is created as well. The shortcut can be quite useful on occasion.

Despite the instructions that are included in my Guides, players often attempt to bash away with the Legendary Sword, failing in every attempt to destroy the Boulders as they mistakenly assume that the Legendary Sword, used as a tool in the Mines in combat, should be used likewise as a tool against the Boulders.

This is where Harvest Moon has been a little tricky, making the use of the Legendary Sword in this particular situation one of the 'secrets' in these two games. You do NOT use the Legendary Sword as a tool to destroy the Boulders. Instead, its use is magical in nature and is initiated by standing in front of one of the two Boulders, then pressing the 'A' or action button. This will initiate an actual 'Magical' Event that will destroy the Boulder.

Note that each Boulder requires a separate Event. You therefore need to go to the other Boulder, then press the 'A' Button again.

Keira is a pivotal character both in HM DS and HM Cute DS. Where the 'Magical Girls' are concerned, the player in HM Cute DS can experience all of their 'heart events' even though they are not 'eligible' for marriage in Cute. In fact, where Keira and Leia are concerned, their 'heart events' are 'plot events' and should be experienced.

If you wish to be able to complete your Items/Shipping List, you must bring Leia to yellow heart level as you will not be able to catch a Bottled Message until you do. In fact, this is another reason to upgrade your Fishing Rod to mystrile as you will not be able to catch the Bottled Message with any lesser Fishing Rod.

There is a minor difference with respect to the two games in terms of the Fishing Rod and the Bottled Message. In the original HM DS, you only could use a fishing rod of a level HIGHER than Mystrile if you CHARGED IT ONLY TO MYSTRILE LEVEL. If you gave a Blessed or Mythic Rod the full charge, you could not catch the Bottled Message with it!

In HM Cute DS, you can use either a Mystrile Fishing Rod or any Fishing Rod of higher level to catch the Bottled Message without being required to reduce the charge of any higher Level Fishing Rod.

Take the Bottled Message to Daryl's house in order to experience her 4th and final Heart Event BOTH in the original HM DS and Cute DS. It is the 'Yellow Heart Event' that allows Leia to return to the sea and makes it possible for her to visit the beach once each week if you encourage her to do so at the end of the Event.

Incidentally, there is one small difference between the two games in terms of 'triggering' the 4th Heart Event. In the original HM DS, you had to equip the Bottled Message before you visited Daryl's house. In Cute, the Bottled Message simply needs to be in your Rucksack.

In the original HM DS, Leia is one of the eligible girls and you can continue to woo her after she returns to her mother by meeting her on the beach each week.

Keira is important to the plot in both games as well. If you do not meet Keira by experiencing her 1st Heart Event on the 255th floor of the 3rd Mine either in HM DS or in HM Cute DS, you will not be able to unlock the 4th Mine.


Remember that, once you have married, you no longer can experience ANY Heart Events in any Harvest Moon game. You therefore need to trigger Keira's 1st Heart Event by visiting the 255th Floor of the 3rd Mine AND defeating all the Dark Creatures on that floor (without cheating!!!) before you marry any one in either game.

When the barrier crumbles, enter the small chamber beyond to experience Keira's 1st Heart Event in both versions of the game. If you do not defeat all Dark Creatures on the 255th floor manually, the barrier will not crumble. In other words, turning your DS on and off to wipe the Dark Creatures off the floor will NOT work! If you fall through the floor and then reload your game to the 255th floor, that will not work either. I suggest that players save one file at the 254th floor as a back-up if they wish to make certain that they can visit Keira on the 255th floor.

One final point should be made here in view of the common error made by players with respect to the Mines in HM DS/Cute DS:

The 255th Floor is significant both with respect to the 2nd Mine and the 3rd Mine. In the 2nd Mine, the 255th Floor is the lowest floor of the Mine. You must defeat all Dark Creatures on that floor (again without cheating) in order to dissolve the barrier that leads to the chamber where the Legendary Sword awaits. Once you have 'cleared' the 2nd Mine by performing this action, you will be able to unlock the 3rd Mine by visiting the Excavation Site outside of 'working hours'. In other words, go to the Excavation Site either before 8.00 a.m. or after 8.00 p.m. to trigger the Event with Carter that will unlock the 3rd Mine. (A similar Event unlocks each of the Mines when all requirements are met. To unlock the 1st Mine, the only requirement is that you have your Hammer with you.)

The 255th Floor of the 2nd Mine may be the 'home' of the Legendary Sword but it is NOT Keira's home. She lives (or rather sleeps like the Sleeping Beauty of the fairy tale) on the 255th Floor of the 3rd Mine. Going to the 255th Floor of the 2nd Mine will not trigger any Heart Events! You need to go to the 255th Floor of the 3rd Mine in order to experience a proper introduction to Keira in her 1st Heart Event BOTH in the original HM DS and in HM Cute DS.

Experiencing Keira's 1st or Black Heart Event is only one of the requirements for unlocking the 4th and final Mine. As with each of the previous Mines, you need to visit the lowest floor of the 3rd Mine and 'clear' it of Dark Creatures before you can unlock the 4th Mine. There may be only one Dark Creature on the lowest floor of the 3rd Mine... as I am writing this post from memory alone, I cannot recall specifically if the Dark Sheep is the Creature you will meet on the lowest floor of the 3rd Mine but that detail is of no consequence. Simply do the job as before and, provided you have experienced Keira's Black Heart Event, you will be able to trigger the usual Event with Carter at the usual hours at the Excavation Site afterwards.

Finally, the 4th Mine is by far the deepest and largest Mine in the history of Harvest Moon. It does contain the Wonderfuls, however, and they appear on floors that end in 0. My Guide gives details as to the designated floors for each of the Wonderfuls.

Wonderfuls have little use in Harvest Moon games prior to Island of Happiness. In HM DS/Cute DS, you need to collect a full set if they are to be useful at all. When you have done so, the Harvest Goddess will appear to grant a wish.

In Island of Happiness, on the other hand, Wonderfuls are the items that will 'upgrade' your tools in every conceivable manner. They can be won at Festivals, obtained from the Harvest Goddess, purchased from Chen in Winter or obtained as prizes in wi-fi farming competitions.

One of the most wonderful aspects of Harvest Moon games is the way that items introduced in earlier games gradually make their uses known in later games. Players of FoMT and MFoMT will recall the four Suns that could be created in their own kitchen but which had no practical use.

It was only in HM DS/Cute DS that we discovered that the Suns could be used in our Basements as artificial sources of light for seasonal crops.

Likewise, the Wonderfuls that only served as a trigger for the grant of a single wish in HM DS/Cute DS are essential to tool use in Island of Happiness.

Exotic animals are not items but where, in former Harvest Moon games, they existed only to enrich the landscape and provide topics for conversation among characters, it is only in Tree of Tranquility that the player actually CAN tame them and have them as pets. All the false rumours about the animals in 'A Wonderful Life/Another Wonderful Life' became reality in ToT. Harvest Moon fans who yearned to domesticate the large Turtle who won a race against Nina finally can do so in ToT!

All Characters Events in Cute

I spent almost the entire morning today transferring the text of all Characters events from my own Cute game journals to my Characters Guide for Cute. The expanded guide should be uploaded by IGN shortly. I dislike the term 'random events' as events in Harvest Moon seldom are random in nature. Almost every event will depend on a variety of requirements which, once met, will allow the event to trigger. I therefore prefer to refer to these events as Character Events.

In Harvest Moon DS and Harvest Moon Cute DS, almost all Character Events are based on Friendship level or FP. There are events that will trigger when a character reaches 100 FP, 200 FP and 250 or 255 FP respectively. These events often have weather and seasonal requirements as well but once all requirements are met, the event WILL trigger.

Some events, like Galen's Fishing Rod Event, Flora's 250FP event and Nina's Stocking Event actually unlock new options. Others simply provide background information on the characters in the game. All events provide points towards your characters' Farming Degree.

The text of all Heart and Rival Heart Events is given in my Courtship and Marriage Guide for Cute and I therefore did not duplicate this information in the Characters Guide. The Characters Guide includes the text of all Events that are neither Heart nor Rival Heart Events.

I did not have sufficient time to cross-reference my 1st Year Events Calendar Guide to add information as to precise date and time of each event to the text section of the Characters Guide. For the date, time and location of any Event included in the Characters Guide, refer to the Calendar section of the 1st Year Events Calendar Guide.

Obtain your Horse on 3 Spring in HM DS and Cute DS

I have added a brief Walkthrough for the first week of the game to my 1st Year Events Calendar Guide for HM Cute DS but the updated version of the guide may not have been published yet by IGN. I believe I should add one to my 1st Year Events Guide for the original Boy version of HM DS as well. It offers many useful tips to make the game easier for players.

One of these is a way to obtain a horse on the very second day of the game. You need to spend a little time in the Excavation Site digging for jewelry, but you should do that anyway!

On Monday, 2 Spring, the day on which the game begins, the Supermarket will be open but you will have only 500G which should be spent on seeds. Never mind that. Van will come to the Valley on the 3rd to open his stall on the 2nd floor of the Inn. There you can sell jewelry from the Excavation site for up to 3250G each.

Do not forget to buy at least one item from Karen's Supermarket each day it is open for the first 10 days in order to rescue the Sprite who runs the Shopping Network.

When Tuesday arrives, you can obtain the horse from Takakura by shipping 1000 items. This is easily done as follows:

Buy Bird Feed from Popuri and dump it in the shipping container. You can carry 99 portions of Bird Seed in every empty slot in your rucksack. Even though you will have only 18 slots in the small rucksack, it will not take long to ship whatever amount of Bird Feed is required to bring your total to 1000. As soon as you throw the 1000th item in the bin, you will rescue a Sprite. Go into your house then and when you exit, Takakura will be at your door with a Horse.

It's as simple as that. Even after investing in the Bird Feed, you should have more than enough money to order the first Bird Barn from Gotz.

The horse is not really that useful once you have a teleport stone but until Sunday, 8 Spring when the Casino is unlocked, the horse will make your life MUCH easier!

Unlike some of the other Harvest Moon games (FoMT/MFoMT and Harvest Moon Boy & Girl come to mind), the horse can be ridden anywhere outdoors on the map. Riding the horse will cut your transportation time in half until you have the very useful teleport stone.

Grey's 4th Heart Event rather disappointing in Cute

Those of us who probably would choose Grey as a husband if Skye did not exist may be disappointed by his fourth and final Heart Event in Cute. Grey's events tend to focus on tools and his exacting grandfather Saibara, but after experiencing Kai's heart-stopping Yellow Heart Event in Cute, I had hoped for something equally inspiring in Grey's final Heart Event.

Alas... I still am very fond of Grey and will choose him as the father of my child sooner or later (but Skye comes FIRST), but I would have wished for something more from Grey to dream about until then... He does blush rather charmingly and he does admit that you have given him strength to face the trials ahead, but... Well, I would have liked another gift made with his own hands, as in MFoMT and Boy & Girl.

I was thinking about the nature of commitment in Harvest Moon in my own games. When writing a guide, experiencing all Heart Events and even my proposals and marriage are not much of a commitment. It is only when I decide to live my life with some one and create a family that a true commitment is made. After all, one must be married for a fair amount of time in order to have a child with some one. I am not about to do that without saving the game, month after month...

I am looking forward to my first truly committed Harvest Moon Cute DS game with Skye. The cartridge on which I played for the guide had to be returned and the data wiped... Now on my own cartridge, I will be able to live a REAL life. (But not until I play Island of Happiness on a temporary cartridge that ultimately must be returned as well... There is great excitement in being able to play a game before it is released, but one makes sacrifices as well.)

Griffin's Marriage Proposal Event

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Here are some photographs from my Marriage Proposal to Griffin. His declaration that 'getting marriage at this age is a little embarrassing' was a little off-putting, frankly! My real reason for not going through with the engagement, however, is to allow Muffy to marry him.

Tips on Cooking in HM DS and HM Cute DS

This information will be included in my new General Guide for Cute as well as my Cooking Guide but meanwhile, I have created a little tip section for players of either game.

If you are the sort of player who, like me, tries to unlock or acquire every item as soon as possible in the game, you will find that the earliest date when you can have a Kitchen is Monday, 14 Summer. When your kitchen is delivered, you will be fairly limited in the dishes you will be able to prepare, not having any implements yet.

Here is a list of the Recipes you CAN make without any implements with notes about the characters who like them. It is valid both for the original Harvest Moon DS and for the upcoming Harvest Moon Cute.

Your First Recipes:

Your First Recipes in Harvest Moon Cute will be 'No Tool' Recipes. Those that you will be able to make in the first half of Summer are as follows:

Mayonnaise:
Egg (S), Oil

Salad:
Cucumber and/or
Tomato and/or
Cabbage
N.B. In HM Cute, using more than one of these is simply a waste of ingredients. It will not change the SR or the FR. You could use a Carrot as well, but you won't have that until Autumn and by then, you should have all Cooking Implements and a wealth of recipes. Lumina, Karen, Rock, Cody and Vesta like Salad but the real advantage of making it is as a gift for Wally. It is the first gift you can obtain that will raise his FP by +9.

Sandwich:
Bread
Tomato and/or
Cucumber
N.B. In HM Cute, using more than one of these 'fillings' is simply a waste of ingredients and will not affect SR or FR. You can use a Boiled Egg as well, but you won't have a Pot at this point. Cliff loves sandwich and it is one of the first items that will raise his AP by +500 and FP by +9.

Fruit Sandwich:
Bread
Strawberry and/or
Peach
N.B. In HM Cute, using more than one 'filling' will not improve SR or FR. Later in Summer, you can make a Fruit Sandwich with a Pineapple and next year, with any Fruit, but at the moment, only Strawberries and Peach will be available.

Pickled Turnip
Turnip
N.B. This is one of the easiest recipes in any Harvest Moon game and is a dish that pleases most senior citizens. Of the bachelors, Gustafa alone loves it but it is one of the first items that will raise his AP by +500 and his FP by +9. Of other young people, Nami and Karen alone like Pickled Turnips. It is one of the first items that will raise Takakura's FP by +9.

Pickled Cucumber
Cucumber
N.B. Another easy recipe. The same individuals who love Pickled Turnip on the whole will love Pickled Cucumber. It is one of the first items that will raise Gustafa's AP by 500 and FP by 9 and one of the first to raise Takakura's FP by 9.

Bamboo Rice
Bamboo Shoot
Riceball
N.B. An easy dish but a few people actively dislike it, so be careful.

Sushi
Riceball
Sashimi
N.B. This is a great recipe and one that many people will like. Sashimi is a 'No Tool' recipe as well. Among bachelors, both Griffin and Cliff LOVE Sushi. Most of the older characters love it as well, including Galen, Hardy and Sebastian.

Raisin Bread
Bread
Wild Grape
N.B. Marlin loves Raisin Bread, and it is slightly less expensive than the Wine you have had to give him each day to boost his affection. Other characters who love Raisin Bread are Mary and Ruby.

Sashimi
Fish (M) or Fish (L)
N.B. Please note that you cannot use a Small Fish to make Sashimi. Sashimi' is one of the first items, apart from the Lithograph, that really excites Carter. Before you have a Kitchen, you will be limited to gifts of riceball or wine that only raise his AP and FP by +300AP +3 FP but with Sashimi, you can raise it by +500 +9 daily. Griffin loves Sashimi but he will be just as excited by a raw small fish, so Sashimi will not represent anything better in terms of courting him. He is one of the easiest bachelors to please. All the elders love sashimi as well.

Kate, Murrey love sashimi but the real plus here is that Takakura loves it. He is a difficult character in terms of gifts at the start of the game. Until you catch Big Fish, you will not have ANY gift that he will welcome. The advantage of Sashimi over Big Fish is that it can be made using a medium fish.

Ice Cream:
Milk
Egg
Optional: any fruit
N.B. Hugh, Chris and Van love Ice Cream and Lumina likes it.

This is not a comprehensive 'No Tool' Cooking Guide but it is comprehensive in terms of the dishes you can make if you order the Kitchen at the earliest possible day in the Summer of your First Year.

Some of the first 'cooked dishes' you can make have higher energy values than any other items you have been able to obtain, apart from the Medicines you can buy from Van.

Here are the Energy Values for the Recipes given above:

Salad: +20 SR -5 FR
Sandwich: +40 SR -5 FR (bread and tomato)
Fruit Sandwich: +40 SR -5 FR (bread and peach, same for bread and strawberry)
Pickled Turnip: +20 SR -4 FR
Pickled Cucumber: +20 SR -7 FR
Raisin Bread: +30 SR -4 FR
Sushi: +40 SR -1 FR
Sashimi: +30 SR -3 FR
Bamboo Rice: +30 SR -1 FR
Ice Cream: +30 SR -20 FR

Ice Cream actually is the best of these Cooked Recipes, if you suffer both from lack of Stamina and high Fatigue. If you add fruit to the basic Ice Cream recipe of 1 Milk and 1 Egg, you will raise the SR value even higher.

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!

'If you can catch me... I'll tell you anything you want.'

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The 2nd Heart Event with Skye is as provocative as the first. Skye's events are a little more complex than most other Heart Events in Harvest Moon as most of them are in two separate parts. You basically are given a notice of his impending visit early in the day and then are required to return between 10.00 p.m. and midnight to experience the second and main part of the event.

The 2nd Heart Event occurs at the Blue Bar. Muffy and Griffin are induced to leave by the tempting odour of curry, oddly enough... Skye then enters and immediately works his charms on you.

'We meet again, my darling Freya,' he exclaims. 'Do you believe that fate has drawn us together?'

Respond in the affirmative and he will be pleased. Respond instead that 'I'm here to catch you,' and his heart will plummet to black level again.

Whatever response you give, he then will shoot you with his powerful 'CHICK-BEAM', a burst of white light that will paralyse you temporarily.

Interestingly enough, you then will have a couple of opportunities to restore his heart level to purple if you made the mistake of declaring that you were there only to catch him...

You will be able to choose between asking him questions about himself or remaining silent. Choose to ask questions and he will be delighted.

Finally, however, he will declare that it is best for him not to tell you too much as: 'if I simply tell you, it will take the mystique out of our relationship.' He then offers the ultimate challenge: 'If you can catch me, I'll tell you anytying you want.'

When he hears the voices of Muffy and Griffin in the distance, he excuses himself. Muffy and Griffin will return and Muffy definitely will be a little put out that she missed the thief! When she tells you that she is sorry that she 'just left you all alone', one has the feeling that much of her disappointment is due to the fact that she missed the thrill of being a target of Skye's CHICK-BEAM.