A life gone with Cute...

Well, my old Cute games no longer exist and the cartridge is wending its way across the land. I feverishly worked to experience as many events as possible before I lost all the rewards of my efforts and in fact, experienced all but one of the Mineral Town bachelor events before I overwrote the data with a new game. I did that simply because I could not resist the temptation to keep playing the game and the cartridge HAD to be returned.

In any event, I now have experienced all but Cliff's 4th Heart Event. All others have been added to my Courtship and Marriage Guide for Cute. It was more difficult for me to raise Cliff's heart level as quickly as the other bachelors, simply because Finest Curry is his Most Favourite Item. At first, when I had time to spare, all the Finest Curry I made went to my beloved Skye. In the last desperate days, I no longer had time even to make the stuff. I sold all but a handful of my animals and raced through the days. I was only a week away from Cliff's 4th Heart Event but the cartridge HAD to go.

I do have my own Cute cartridge now, though, and that one is mine and mine alone. Despite my exhaustion, I 'christened' it by beginning a new game. Having enjoyed the palatial doubly expanded house for a couple of years in my old Cute game, it is rather sobering to be returned to the tiny hut that one calls 'home' at the start of the game.

Compared to Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, though, life at the beginning of HM DS and Cute DS is a breeze. After all, when one can dig up infinite amounts of jewelry that ships for 2000G and can be sold to Van for 3250G, what financial worries can there be?

I rather miss the old Ranch Bonus Trick and the Billion Gold Fishing Bonus but they almost made the game TOO easy. I will not complain. I am about to meet Skye again for the first time. These events never grow old when they involve a character one likes or loves immensely.

Incidentally, I am going to devote a post to Trent's 4th Heart Event in Cute. It is surprisingly romantic!

Rick's 4th Heart Event is rather sweet as well, although he makes dreadful faces... I always thought Trent was very cute, even if his conversation was too fixated upon health issues. In the final heart event, he becomes VERY human though.

I still feel rather cheated by Grey's 4th Heart Event in Cute. They really could have made it a little more romantic I think. I really should not complain. It is the same writers no doubt who gave us the inestimable Skye...

N.B. You now will find three Guides for Cute on the right side of this page under the heading for Harvest Moon Cute DS. I will continue to update and in fact, intend to add more guides to the list as time permits.

Harvest Moon Gender Discrimination

There are those who claim Harvest Moon discriminates against women by not allowing the woman to continue her game after marriage in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl. I do not think it was a deliberate form of discrimination but probably based on a smaller allotment of time to the creation of the Girl version.

The Girl version is rather strange in many respects. Many of the Heart Events of the eligible girls in the Boy version have been retained in the Girl version for no apparent reason. It is almost as though the individuals who were responsible for making the decisions in the Girl version were not familiar with courtship rules in Harvest Moon. Furthermore, some of the events are backwards. One experiences Elli's Third Heart Event BEFORE one experiences her Second Heart Event when playing as a girl in HM B & G. It is as though they simply decided to include X number of events from the Boy version irrespective of the significance of those events...

I find it maddening that romance in HM Boy and Girl, both when playing as a Boy and when playing as a Girl is based on the individual with the current highest heart level. Perhaps it makes sense but I don't like it. I always tend to use Romantic festivals as a means by which to raise the heart level of the girl or bachelor who has the LOWEST affection for me at that point in time. In Boy & Girl, the game decides the individual with whom you will be allowed to spend the festival.

There is a point where gender discrimination does occur, however, and that is the Fireworks Festival. If you play as a boy and have all eligible girls at a decent level, you can invite any of them to join you to watch the show. It is YOUR choice for once. If you play as a girl, however, the game intervenes and controls your life. Only the bachelor with the highest heart level will give you the option of watching the event with him. I had both Grey and Cliff almost at orange heart level, but Cliff's heart level was slightly higher and thus, he was the one who asked. The first time I played the event, I thought it would be the same as the Boy version and refused Cliff, thinking I then would be asked by Grey, but refusing Cliff forced me to watch the event alone at the end of the pier...

It is curious that Cliff's heart level has mounted steadily, even though I stopped giving him items some time ago, realising that I could not experience any more Heart Events until he had the Winery job. I have given Grey gifts each day and yet, his heart level is slightly lower than that of Cliff.

It will be interesting to see if Cliff is at red heart level even before I have any opportunity to offer him the Winery job. I almost would be willing to wager that it will be, even if I never give him another gift.

N.B. In contrast to Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, the Fireworks Festival in Cute is an opportunity to raise the heart levels of EVERY bachelor, even those who do not give you the option to watch the display with them. Only bachelors with green heart or higher will give you an option to invite them to watch the display but all Valley and all Mineral Town bachelors will be at the beach with the sad exception of Skye. Even where a bachelor is at blue heart level and does not allow you to invite him to watch the fireworks with him, if you speak to him, it will boost his AP by 2000 points. What this means is that, for the day of the Fireworks Festival, you can boost the AP of EVERY bachelor apart from Skye by 4000 points, 2000 points of that for speaking to him at the Fireworks Festival and 2000 points for changing your outfit. What is interesting here is that you will not raise any bachelor's AP higher by choosing to view the show with him. ALL bachelors to whom you speak will have an increase of 2000 AP the next day for your action in speaking to them.

The Boys from Mineral Town: Kai and Grey

Kai is very easy to please in Harvest Moon, so much so that even though you only can meet and court him in the Summer season, it is easier to raise his heart level to purple before the end of a fortnight than to raise the heart levels of Cliff, the Doctor or Rick. Grey is fairly easy, especially if you spend any time in the mines and can give him ores. I therefore found myself experiencing both Grey's and Kai's purple heart events almost simultaneously.

Although I have a fondness for Grey from my old More Friends of Mineral Town days, I have to admit that his 2nd heart event is fairly dull. Kai, on the other hand, offers you the surf and sun and more poetry than Gustafa ever did, oddly enough.

Events in HM DS Cute are a little more complex than they are in most other Harvest Moon games. Often there are three possible responses or even, in Kai's 2nd Heart Event, four. Giving the BEST response will raise the individual's heart level by 3000 AP. Giving the worst response will lower the individual's AP by 3000 points. Giving the 'middle of the road' response, neither right nor wrong, will maintain the existing AP, neither increasing nor decreasing it.

In Grey's 2nd Heart Event, your choices are simple. Either you let him look at your tools or you don't. Rather sad really that he wasn't given anything more romantic than a tool inspection for his heart event. If you allow him to look at your tools, his AP will increase by 3000 points. If you tell him it isn't necessary, he will interpret it as a serious blow to his self-esteem and confidence and his heart level will drop.

In Kai's 2nd Heart Event, on the other hand, you are called upon to declare your favourite season. If you choose Spring or Autumn, Kai will understand the attractions of each and wax rather poetic about them, even though his AP neither will increase nor decrease in those circumstances. If you choose Winter, however, he will be extremely disturbed and his heart level will drop. Choose Summer if you want him to be 'stoked'. (Every one knows Kai loves Summer, so it is not a tricky question at all.)

As you can see from the photographs of Grey's event, the best he is able to offer romantically is his charming manner of blushing and his eagerness to help you in any way he can.

'Keep your tools happy and they'll serve you well', is Grey's best line... He cannot compete with Kai on that level as Kai describes the cherry blossoms of Spring and the red leaves of Autumn in lyrical terms...

The World According to Rock

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According to Rock, 'work is overrated'. At 150 FP, you can experience an event with him if you enter his bedroom after 7.00 a.m. If you visit between 6.00 a.m. and 7.00a.m., the event will not occur.

In this event, Ruby chastises Rock for his laziness and Rock in timeless adolescent fashion, tells his mother: 'Jeez, Mom, quit bugging me!' He adds: 'I do lots of important stuff with my time. So what if I don't work? Working is totally overrated, anyway.' If you speak to him at the end of the event, he will declare that: 'Parents don't know anything about their own children.'

In the event, Ruby will refer to you as a model of hard work and determination. At least Rock does not appear to hold THAT against YOU.

Rock will declare that his morning has been ruined by the scene, and that he no longer will be able to relax properly.

I confess that I have a weakness for Rock. He is so unashamed of his indolence and his lifestyle and so easy-going towards life and other people. There are no hidden shadows in Rock's psyche. In his own words, he is as 'big and beautiful as the sea'. (He lost first place in my list of favourites to Skye and to Grey, however!)

Rock is one of the eligible bachelors in Another Wonderful Life but even in that game, you need not fear that marriage to him will produce a child in its father's image. There are some rather dramatic scenes involving Rock as a husband in AnWL. Rather than following his father's example, your son would become increasingly disgusted with Rock's laziness and ultimately would castigate him for his irresponsible attitudes. Unlike AnWL, your child in Harvest Moon Cute never will help you on the farm, no matter who the father may be.