Flora and the 'Lovely Maiden' Fighting Style

Anyone who is familiar with the interactions between Carter and Flora will realise quickly that she is rather a daunting individual, strong-willed and quite determined to have things her own way. She is very unlike an 'assistant' in many respects, behaving more like the one in charge in any given situation.

In fact, she evidently is an accomplished martial artist and in Cute, she will offer to teach your character some of her moves if you are at a high enough friendship level with her.

Your first glimpse of Flora's expertise, however, is in the 'stalking event' with Daryl at the Goddess Spring. In this event, Flora senses some one watching her. She lays a trap for Daryl who rather inexplicably (considering he has a beautiful mermaid in his bathtub) is besotted with her.

Waxing lyrical, he calls her 'My Angel', but she is unimpressed and lays a trap for him, then proceeds to beat him mercilessly, using her martial arts techniques.

It is only in the event where she acts as your Sensei, however, that you become aware of the full measure of her abilities. If you accept her offer to teach you her art, she will work with you quite exhaustively, not allowing you to stop your training until you fully have mastered the technique of the 'Lovely Maiden'.

Incidentally, an 11 year old Harvest Moon fan named Natalie wrote a diverting tale about Flora's encounter with Daryl in the 'boy' version of Harvest Moon DS. That story will be found on my webpage devoted to Harvest Moon fan fiction: 'We Love Harvest Moon'.

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.

When two Eccentrics Meet: Murrey and the Gourmet

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Two classical eccentrics meet and exchange more than pleasantries in Harvest Moon Cute. An event between Murrey and the Gourmet will occur when you exit the Sprite Company Tree, provided Murrey is at 200 FP. It is highly entertaining, albeit brief.

At 10.00 a.m. I exited the Sprite Company Tree to experience an event between Murrey and the Gourmet.

Murrey and the Gourmet were standing in front of the Goddess Pond facing one another.

Gourmet: What the heck is that food?
Murrey: (!) Murrey's meal.
Gourmet: (...) No, I'm asking what the name of that food is.
Murrey (with cross hurt): Like I said, Murrey's meal!
Gourmet: (...) What a ridiculous sounding name...
Then: But, what is this tempting smell...? Please. Will you let me eat some?
Murrey (with cross hurt): Never. It's Murrey's meal.
Gourmet: Please. I'm begging you.
Murrey: (...) Just a bite.
Gourmet: T-Thank you very much.
He grabs it and devours it.
Gourmet: G O O D
Gourmet: This food was definitely tasty. I'll try making it at home.
He saunters off.
Murrey:(?) What a strange person.

When two food fanatics collide... It was very sweet of Murrey to allow the Gourmet to take a bite of his food and now apparent, given the Gourmet's great girth, that he has a psychological problem where food is concerned. To deprive a homeless man of his food, after all, is almost outrageous. When one looks at the size of the Gourmet's mouth, moreover, one has to suspect that a single bite would encompass an entire meal!

I believe that Murrey's succulent meal had to be made from all the gifts I had given him recently to boost his FP quickly to 200 points!

This event existed in the original Japanese boy version of Harvest Moon DS.

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.

When Worlds Collide... and Nami lies!

The 100 FP event between Cliff and Nami has been included both in the original Harvest Moon DS game and in the new Cute 'girl' version of the game. I personally was outraged by this event when I first experienced it in the original game.

It occurs on a rainy Saturday afternoon after 1.00 p.m. in the lobby of the Inner Inn. Both Nami and Cliff must be at 100 FP. In Cute, I employed a very expensive strategy to raise Cliff to 100 FP while he still was at black heart level in my first Spring. I simply fed him chocolate at a value of 1 FP per gift after the initial chocolate increased his FP by +3. This is not a strategy I recommend to other players. I did it because I like to experience events as early as possible for my Events Guides. There is no particular advantage in experiencing the event early. It does not increase any one's AP or FP.

In any case, the event in both versions of the game basically is the same. Nami tells Cliff that SHE was the one who rescued him in the square in Mineral Town on that snowy day when he fell unconscious to the ground. What a bare-faced lie!!! After all, it was ME who rescued him both in Friends of Mineral Town (as a boy) and in More Friends of Mineral Town (as a girl).

Nami rather cleverly declares that she left immediately after taking Cliff to the clinic because the doctor would have asked all sorts of 'annoying questions' if she had stayed, thereby explaining (albeit falsely) why no one saw her at the scene. Why on earth would Nami say 'such a terrible lie', to borrow Prissy's words in 'Gone with the Wind'. Is it for the glory? Is it because she has secret aspirations to win Cliff's heart, despite her official preference for Gustafa? Why, o why? After all, as Nami declares at the end of the event when she realises that I overheard the entire conversation: 'It's not like me to help people'. Well, I didn't think it was like her to lie either!

Marlin's Delicate Condition

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With the new bachelor Heart Events in 'Cute', one gains more insight into the characters and history of these individuals.

In Griffin's 2nd Heart Event, one finds him at the clinic with glass in his foot, having broken some bottles. You have a chance to call him a 'Klutz' if you are disposed to be mean-spirited. Even if you display concern instead, he will refer to himself as a Klutz ultimately in the course of the event.

In Marlin's 2nd Heart Event, you discover that he has been seriously ill in the past and therefore cannot be allowed to work in the rain... This despite the fact that you may meet him on a rainy evening on his way to the Blue Bar for a drink!

Some of the faces that Marlin makes as his emotions change are priceless. It would be difficult to marry a man who makes faces like this... in like fashion, some of Rick's expressions in More Friends of Mineral Town made it almost impossible for me to consider him as a spouse.

I have included some photographs from the event that occurs if you make the wrong choice of response. In this situation, you have the choice of telling him that Celia simply is concerned about him or to suggest that he cheer up. Telling him that Celia is concerned is the WRONG choice if you do not want his heart level to drop to black again. He will become enraged and tell you that he wants no one's pity. He then will declare that a man should be strong and that he is ashamed of his weak condition.

There is an odd moment when Celia muses aloud that she should not ask your character for help. Surely if you heard that, you would leap into the breach and OFFER your help but you are given no opportunity to do so. I suppose it is a way to manipulate the event to expose Marlin's impotence in the situation.

N.B. I wish I could take better photographs of the DS screens.

The pleasures and dangers of Courtship in HM Cute

The main difference between the original Harvest Moon DS game and the new Harvest Moon Cute is the addition of the bachelors' Heart Events as one might have expected. To my delight, as I had mentioned in a previous post, some of the original Japanese non-romantic events eliminated from the original English edition of the 'boy version' of Harvest Moon DS have been restored to Cute as well. In the first fortnight of Spring, I was able to experience three events between Hugh and Kate that had been eliminated from the English 'boy' version of the game but had existed in the Japanese original. Unfortunately, I have discovered so far that one event included in the 'boy' game has been omitted from Cute: the event between Cody and Grey, wherein they discuss creativity and art. I am fairly certain now that the event cannot be triggered in Cute. I raised both Cody's and Grey's friendship to 100FP, although the original 'boy' game had no FP requirements for the event, and I still could not experience it. Pity, but it is a minor event, and one can experience it in the 'boy' game...

Grey's event with Cody is not the subject of this post, however. I wanted to share a rather amusing example of Rock's personality in his new 2nd Heart Event. It occurs in the Lobby of the Inner Inn on a rainy morning. Rock's ceiling has sprung a leak and Ruby has gone off to find assistance in the form of Gotz. (In my game, Gotz actually could be found on my farm working on a new storage barn for my Stone material, but Ruby did not ask me about that... One assumes that the event presupposes a trip to Mineral Town by Ruby.)

In any case, Nami is left to take charge of the desk, as Rock is nowhere to be found. In this event, Rock breezily enters to ask cheekily if any one has cooked him a meal, completely unrepentant when he discovers that Nami has been obliged to assume command in Ruby's absence.

You are forced to choose sides here between Nami and Rock. If you support Nami's complaint, you will gain 10 FP with her but Rock's heart level instantly will be reduced to black again. If you side with Rock, you will lose 10 FP with Nami, but Rock's heart level will remain purple and indeed, increase by 3000 AP as is always the case when you respond correctly in the course of any one's Heart Event.

Just call me... Phantom Skye

Natsume is a company that considers the desires both of male and female players and make different versions of Harvest Moon games for each. The original English version of Harvest Moon DS was the 'boy version'. In that game, your male character had a choice of 5 ordinary 'Valley' girls, 5 Mineral Town girls and 4 magical or 'special' girls to court. Quite a generous selection!

When I discovered that the girl version of the game, otherwise known as 'Harvest Moon Cute' had only one 'special' bachelor, I initially felt that our gender had been cheated.

A day after I received an advance copy of the game, I have to admit that the single 'special' bachelor is worth a handful of 'special' girls in terms of dramatic potential and allure.

The 'special' bachelor in 'Harvest Moon Cute' is a smooth-talking famous thief who has the reputation of warning his victims in advance, rather like a contemporary Japanese version of the old British 'gentleman' cat burglars and jewel thiefs beloved of cinema. Skye dresses like a pimp in a leopard-patterned jacket but his manner is calculated to sweep any girl off her feet. At first meeting, he won Lumina's heart and mine as well. I couldn't help it. The guy possesses a cheeky charm that is irresistable.

I have included some rather poor photographs of Skye in the event that is known in Harvest Moon games as the 'First Heart Event' or 'Black Heart Event'. No doubt the quality of the photographs could be improved greatly but I hope they will give players some idea of the delights in store for them when Harvest Moon Cute is released at the end of March.

Skye may be the most elusive bachelor in the game as he visits the Valley only at night and his tastes tend to be extravagant compared to other bachelors, as one might imagine. Moreover, you have no opportunity to socialise with him after the Heart Event occurs as you are sent straightway to bed to dream 'sweet dreams' of the charming thief.

Kai held the position of the charming vagabond character in former Harvest Moon games. I'm afraid he now must yield first place to Skye.

Your first meeting with Skye will be his first Heart Event, and it will occur between 10.00 p.m. and midnight as you walk up the staircase to enter Romana's garden at the Villa. The weather must be fine as Skye is the sort of chap who pampers himself and refuses to 'work' in bad weather conditions.

As you will be sent straight to bed after the event, I wished to complete all my farm tasks before I met the elusive cat burglar. I therefore entered the screen at the last possible moment at 11.50 p.m. to trigger the event.

Me: (?)
A stranger came out of the front door of the Villa. He then walked forward to stand next to me in front of the fountain.
Skye: (!) He he. Hello, beautiful. Walking alone at night?
Me: (?)
Skye: Hehe. I'm quite the ladies' man, and a prince of the stars.
Me: (!)
Lumina now came out of the Villa, and walked towards us.

Lumina: (!) Hey! Aren' t you that famous thief who warns his victims ahead of time?!
Skye and I both: (!)
Skye: Hehe. Sorry, but I'm a bit pressed for time. I'm about to jet out.

He began to walk towards the stairway to leave, but then turned back towards us:

Skye: Hehe. Call me Phantom Skye. I have a feeling we'll meet again. It's in the stars.
Me: (!)

Lumina then raced towards Skye to confront him.

Lumina: Wait right there!
Skye: Hehe. Hold up, beautiful. Don't let such raw anger steal away your beauty.

Lumina (!): What a smooth talker... Phantom Skye...

Lumina displayed a huge red heart and attempted to follow Skye as he departed.

Lumina: Phantom Skye! He... he got away from me!
Me: (...)

The event ended with Lumina at the gates and me in front of the fountain still.

Afterwards, I spoke to Lumina:
Lumina: Hehehe, that thief is cool!

As I exited from the stairway to the next screen, my parting thoughts were:
Me: I got to meet Phantom Skye today. What a pretty boy... Time for some sweet dreams...

I was sent straight to bed to dream of the elusive heartbreaker and only regained control of my character at 6.00 a.m. the next morning.

END of FIRST HEART EVENT

I have included the full text of this event as it is a good introduction to the character of Skye and shows his effect on the 'ladies', including Lumina.

Although Skye undoubtedly has potent charms, I was delighted to discover that a player can marry one of the lads from Mineral Town in Harvest Moon Cute without ending the game automatically with this act. In the original boy version, marriage to a Mineral Town girl meant that your character would move to Mineral Town. The game therefore ended summarily and you never were able to create a family in the Valley with a Mineral Town wife.

In Harvest Moon Cute, you can marry any of the eligible bachelors from Mineral Town and continue the game. I have to admit that, however powerful the allure of Skye may be, I was thrilled anew by the old Mineral Town 'heart event music' when I entered the Excavation Site and experienced the 1st heart event with my old husband from MFoMT Grey in a new incarnation.

It is amazing how 'real' memories of past Harvest Moon games can be and the depth and profundity of emotions they can evoke. In Harvest Moon games, there are musical themes for special events such as Heart and Rival Heart Events. The 'Heart Event theme' from More Friends of Mineral Town is my favourite. When that theme floated from the DS as I experienced Grey's 1st Heart Event in Harvest Moon Cute, I was swept away emotionally. What tender memories it engendered in me! What excitement and yearning!

A part of me laughs at myself for the incredible potency of my attachment to Harvest Moon but another part of me recognises the magic, bows to the power of the creators of these games and delights in their power to affect players. I am not alone in this. Other players have wept when they have lost their games due to some malfunction or some accidental overwrite of a file. Harvest Moon is more than a game. It is another reality.

As the game unfolds for me, I will be forced ultimately to make a decision. Will I return to the arms of Grey or will I follow a new path and marry the ultimate 'bad boy' of Harvest Moon?

Incidentally, there is a new twist to Harvest Moon in the Cute version. Although you cannot marry the special magical girls in the Valley, you can court them for a new relationship known as 'Best Friend'. I noticed immediately that one still could experience the Heart Events with the magical girls but what I did not realise initially was that it could lead to a socially recognised relationship! One actually can choose a female 'Best Friend' instead of a husband and offer the Blue Feather to HER. It is only the magical girls that can be courted in this fashion. Ordinary girls do not qualify. Moreover, it is an either/or situation. Having offered the Blue Feather to a magical girl, one no longer can marry a bachelor.

A magical girl, once she is a 'Best Friend' can give you a child as well. A child given in this fashion has an appearance that is randomly chosen in the same way that a child of a magical girl spouse in the original HM DS would have a randomly chosen appearance.

This is NOT to suggest that Harvest Moon is encouraging any sort of same gender marriages. The fact that Heart Events for magical girls are tied to special items and other events probably was the reason why it was decided to create the 'Best Friend' option. In any event, it is interesting to discover that one can have all the benefits of family life without marriage now in Harvest Moon. Despite this, I believe I am going to 'set my cap' either for Skye or for Grey in my first game...
In my view, there are far more attractive Mineral Town bachelors than Valley bachelors. Rock is handsome but rather feckless but Marlin, Gustafa, Griffin and Carter all appear to be of a different older generation than the girls in the game and they are NOT particularly handsome physically. The Mineral Town bachelors, on the other hand, all are of the same age as the girls and very cute with the possible exception of one whom I will not name because I know that EVERY bachelor has his own admirers among players. I even hesitate to say anything negative about the Valley bachelors... except that it really cannot be denied that, apart from Rock, they must be classified as 'older men'!

Harvest Moon Cute for DS

All other projects must be set aside now. A moment ago, I received an advance copy of 'Harvest Moon Cute' for the DS. This is the 'girl version' of Harvest Moon DS and it has been awaited eagerly since the original 'boy version' was produced. I will begin on it at once.

The sad part of this, as with an advance copy of any game made for the DS system, is that I cannot keep my game ultimately. It is not a retail cartridge and therefore belongs to Natsume. My life as a girl in Forget-Me-Not Valley will be wiped, along with the game itself and the cartridge will be used then for data in a different game entirely.

Most players of Harvest Moon games, including myself, become very attached to their Harvest Moon character and life. In fact, I recently received a series of emails from a player's mother. Her son lost everything in 'Innocent Life' because he failed to perform the actions necessary to avert the volcanic eruption and subsequent destruction of the island. 'Innocent Life' is one of the few Harvest Moon games, apart from 'Save the Homeland' with a time limitation for specific goals.
I personally prefer the games that do not impose dire consequences for 'failure' to perform specific actions in a specific time period. In any case, I could understand and empathise with the grief of the player who lost his cat, his dog and his robot when the volcano erupted. In fact, one of the reasons I write guide for games like 'Innocent Life' is to allow a player to enjoy the game fully without worrying about any negative consequences. By following the guide, the player can be assured of success. Some players revel in uncertainty and like to pit their wits against the game, but others would prefer simply to enjoy their lives in the world of Harvest Moon. There is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to approach the game, but I personally will do everything in my power in my own games to prevent catastrophes of any kind. My heart grieves when any animal dies in Harvest Moon. I always try to sell the animal before he/she exceeds his/her life expectancy in order to prevent that awful scene by the gravestone!

In any event, I am off to Forget-Me-Not Valley now to embark upon a new life as a girl farmer. Even though the data ultimately will be lost, I will endeavour to forget that sad future and enjoy my adventure to the fullest, creating a new guide as I do.