In my first game of Princess Debut, I lost Luciano after the Founding Day Dance when his father commanded his presence at the World Dance Competition. One laughs at oneself a little for allowing a character in a game to inspire intense emotions but I really was very disappointed by that turn of events. I tried to be philosophical about it and even saw it ultimately as an opportunity to explore all my alternatives at the 11th hour.
In my second game, I decided that I would experience partnership both with Klaus and Kiefer before finally taking a different approach with Luciano in my third file. As I played through the file that, in theory, was allocated to partnership with Kiefer, however, I suddenly reversed my plan, refusing to save my progress after a certain point in order to arrive as soon as possible at the 29th Day without any partner.
The longest part of this evening was the 28th day when, at maximum stamina and maximum Level 20 Skill, I was forced to practice dances again and again and again... before finally being allowed to put myuself to bed. Needless to say, I had to experience a final visit from poor Vince, who once more begged me to tie the blue string on my finger.
When I heard a knock at the door on the morning of the 29th day, I almost was afraid to hope, even though I had no reason to believe it would not be Luciano. A part of me remembered Liam's visit in the 1st game when, on the 29th Day, Luciano failed to return. I steeled myself for possible disappointment, but then, as I had hoped and dreamed, Luciano appeared before me.
What extraordinary power good fiction has, whether it is in the form of a novel, a game or a film! I confess to a few real tears of joy at that moment. The fact of the matter is that it was a far more exciting and satisfying conclusion than it would have been in the 1st game for a number of reasons.
The first reason, not surprisingly was the fact that his value to me had increased when I was cheated of a happy ending with him in my first game. As I began the 2nd game, I was very conscious of the risk of losing Luciano again, despite an avowed intent to experience partnerships with Klaus and Kiefer.
Beyond this, however, was the knowledge that Luciano had kept the promise he made on the 20th Day to me. Better by far this ending than the situation in my first game, where I had to beg him again and again to stay against the command of his King on Foundation Day (and was told that it would be impossible.) I felt ignoble and weak BEGGING him to stay! It was tantamount to asking him to behave without honour.
In my 2nd game, although I had asked him to become my partner on the 19th Day, he had not accepted, knowing he planned to leave the next day. When he announced his intention of competing in the World Dance Contest, I told him I would wait for him and I did. He promised for his part that I would be 'the first to know' the results, giving me hope for the future. To have that hope realised was very thrilling indeed.
It never ceases to impress me how games such as these capture the emotions with the imagination and incite different responses in different players. I know there are players who would be equally thrilled by the happy endings with Cesar, Kiefer, Klaus, Liam and Vince. I myself was touched by each to some extent but there is something special about Luciano, even though I deprecate the instinct in me that responds to a 'difficult challenge'. Luciano is not straightforward in his love or his life, unlike some one like Klaus, who wears his heart on his sleeve. All the Princes in Princess Debut have sterling qualities and unique charms but I would be surprised if any player responds equally to each.
In any case, here is the 'Happy Ending' with Prince Luciano, at long last. The 2nd Ending is not included here as it would have made the piece too long. It is one of the least satisfying of the 2nd Endings in any case, as there is no personal connection really between your character and Luciano's counterpart in the her original world. The only personal touch is her declaration to her friend Lucas that he should feel free to get lost as often as he pleases.
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Showing posts with label Prince Luciano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prince Luciano. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2009
The 'Wild Card' in Princess Debut
In any Harvest Moon game that has a Courtship and Marriage option, there usually is one Eligible Girl or Bachelor whose courtship is more difficult or complex than the others. For example, in Harvest Moon Cute DS, that bachelor is Skye, whose initial encounter is a 'secret' that must be uncovered before you will meet him regularly in the Valley. In 'Island of Happiness', many of the Eligible Girls/Bachelors must be unlocked, making it the most complex and challenging of all Harvest Moon games perhaps where Courtship and Mariage are concerned.
Princess Debut, although it does not include farming, which is the backbone of any Harvest Moon game, resembles Harvest Moon in its Courtship aspect. There is one bachelor in the person of Kiefer whom you will not be able to meet until you have completed the game once, making him essentially a 'secret' option. Courtship of Kiefer once you have met him, however, is fairly straightforward. It is Luciano, a bachelor who is available almost from the start of your first game who represents the true challenge in Princess Debut.
It is not difficult to persuade him to become your partner. You can do this as early as the 6th day AFTER the first Dance Competition. The challenge arises long afterwards, as Luciano will leave to participate in a World Dance Competition. In some circumstances, he will leave of his own volition. In others, he will receive a letter from his King, commanding him to participate in the Competition. If you have made him your Partner prior to his departure, you will be left without a partner either on the 19th or 20th day of your sojourn in the Flower Kingdom.
It is apparent, not only from my own experience but from the experience of a number of other players as well, that Luciano's possible return on the 29th Day of the game is a rare occurrence that requires a specific set of circumstances that most players fail to create.
There are Princes who provide you with many opportunities to ask for or accept a partnership with them. Liam, Vince and Cesar are readily available at many different points in the game.
There are others, such as Klaus and Kiefer whose Affection may increase to 100% fairly early but whose Events rarely offer any opportunity for partnership. In fact, I believe there may be only one opportunity to become Klaus' partner. I have not explored options with Kiefer sufficiently to discover if there are more than two opportunities to make him your partner but I believe that your first oppportunity can occur as early as the 20th Day provided you go to the Dance Hall then to practice by yourself. I was not able to trigger this event on the 19th, which makes me think that the 20th is the earliest opportunity. The second occurs when he comes to your room to introduce you to Foxtrot Forest. The default opportunity for this is the 23rd Day, actually entitled 'Secret Lesson' but as I obtained the first event at the Dance Hall days earlier, I obtained the second event days earlier as well.
In fact, it appears that, after the initial visit to Foxtrot Forest, you will have the option to practice there with Kiefer every day. If you dance only once with him on any given day, you won't be given an opportunity on that day to ask him to be your partner. If you continue to practice, however, you will be given another opportunity to ask him, encouraged by Kip. To avoid asking the partnership question, simply choose the option to continue dancing with him instead.
This being the case, it is only with respect to Klaus that you are given no more than ONE opportunity to become his partner. (There was a psychological aspect to the endless pursuit of Klaus by the two other Princesses that caused me to look less favourably upon him in my first game than I otherwise would. It is not his fault, after all, that he is being stalked by the two girls. In fact, partnership with Klaus is very romantic in its way, especially in view of the fact that he has been searching for your counterpart since childhood. I did feel a little guilty accepting his love, knowing that I was not the REAL Princess. Her own warning at the start of the game with respect to the Emerald Necklace makes it clear that he never forgot him either!)
Luciano actually is a Prince whose events offer quite a few opportunities to become his partner before his departure. The challenge with respect to Luciano is not to make him your partner but rather to ensure his return on the 29th Day. Sad to say, 100% Affection and excellent dance scores appear to have nothing whatsoever to do with his decision. The real opportunity to set him up as your Partner for the actual Ball occurs on the 19th Day. You must ask him to become your Partner after you dance with him at the Practice Hall. He will not accept but then will ask you to meet him the next morning, as he needs to explain something to you.
When you meet him on the 20th Day, he will take you for a walk at Rumba Beach. Here, he will explain that he intends to participate in the World Dance Competition. I am not certain if your responses actually matter at this point. No matter what you respond, you will tell him that you will wait for him, eliciting a promise from him that you will be 'the first to know' what occurs at the World Dance Competition.
Oddly enough, you can experience this Event even if you have a partner if, during the Event at the Practice Hall on the 19th Day, you ask him to be your partner. Any other response at that point will result in an announcement there and then that he is returning to his Kingdom to enter the World Dance Competition and a rather terse statement that he was glad to have one chance to dance with you before his departure.
I therefore am inclined to believe that it is the Event on the 19th Day and the response you make THEN that is critical to his return. This leads me to suspect that you indeed cannot make Luciano your partner before the World Dance Competition as, if he is your partner, you will not experience the Event on the 19th at the Practice Hall. Instead, you will dance with him on Foundation Day and after winning the competition, he will receive the command from his King to return to his own Kingdom to enter the World Dance Competition.
There may be one other situation that allows you to be his partner before he leaves that yet will allow him to return at the 11th hour. I will reserve final judgement on this until I manage to experience it.
I actually have completed most of a Walkthrough for Princess Debut at this point, having initially decided NOT to cover this game in a guide. There are enough variations in the game to merit a little Walkthrough and in fact, the difficulties with respect to Luciano would be sufficient to make me believe that a Walkthrough will help other players!
At present, I am going through the game with Klaus and Kiefer as my partners and in the third file, working through the game after the 20th without a partner to experience Luciano's return. Even with Klaus as my partner, I experienced the Event with Luciano at the beach when I rather shockingly asked Luciano impulsively to become my partner on the 19th. As in the file where I remained single, Luciano then promised at the beach that I would be the first to know the results of the World Dance Competition. I will be interested to see if anything further occurs in this file with respect to Luciano... I doubt it will make any difference to my relationship with Klaus as he appears to be oblivious of the event. In fact, I experienced a very amusing Event with him at the Beach later that day involving the two awful Princesses who have been stalking him since the start of the game.
Finally, I'd like to make a comment about any attempt to write a guide for any complex game before the game has been played exhaustively for a year or two. The very first Guide I ever wrote was written for 'Friends of Mineral Town' long after the game actually was released. I had played the game numerous times, making errors and then correcting them in subsequent games.
As I began to write Guides for other games, the time span between the game's release and the publication of the guide grew ever shorter until, with some games, I actually was given an opportunity to play the games BEFORE their official release in order to be able to make a guide available on the internet to players at the time of its release.
I do the best I can to cover the game adequately as quickly as possible but it still takes time and much experience with a game to discover all the little variables that can affect results. Although I moved on to 'Rune Factory 2' after writing guides for 'Island of Happiness' late in 2008, my guides for 'Island of Happiness' are NOT completed. Natsume blessed us with a veritable cornucopia of Harvest Moon games last year, not to mention 'Princess Debut'...
Very often, I will receive emails from players making reference to a statement in a guide that has not be updated or corrected because I haven't had the time to do it. In other cases, players actually DO send me new information but for the most part, I am frustrated by the inability to edit and update my guides as quickly as I would like.
In other words, even when I do complete an initial Walkthrough for Princess Debut, I shan't expect it to represent the totality of possibilities with respect to the game.
Princess Debut, although it does not include farming, which is the backbone of any Harvest Moon game, resembles Harvest Moon in its Courtship aspect. There is one bachelor in the person of Kiefer whom you will not be able to meet until you have completed the game once, making him essentially a 'secret' option. Courtship of Kiefer once you have met him, however, is fairly straightforward. It is Luciano, a bachelor who is available almost from the start of your first game who represents the true challenge in Princess Debut.
It is not difficult to persuade him to become your partner. You can do this as early as the 6th day AFTER the first Dance Competition. The challenge arises long afterwards, as Luciano will leave to participate in a World Dance Competition. In some circumstances, he will leave of his own volition. In others, he will receive a letter from his King, commanding him to participate in the Competition. If you have made him your Partner prior to his departure, you will be left without a partner either on the 19th or 20th day of your sojourn in the Flower Kingdom.
It is apparent, not only from my own experience but from the experience of a number of other players as well, that Luciano's possible return on the 29th Day of the game is a rare occurrence that requires a specific set of circumstances that most players fail to create.
There are Princes who provide you with many opportunities to ask for or accept a partnership with them. Liam, Vince and Cesar are readily available at many different points in the game.
There are others, such as Klaus and Kiefer whose Affection may increase to 100% fairly early but whose Events rarely offer any opportunity for partnership. In fact, I believe there may be only one opportunity to become Klaus' partner. I have not explored options with Kiefer sufficiently to discover if there are more than two opportunities to make him your partner but I believe that your first oppportunity can occur as early as the 20th Day provided you go to the Dance Hall then to practice by yourself. I was not able to trigger this event on the 19th, which makes me think that the 20th is the earliest opportunity. The second occurs when he comes to your room to introduce you to Foxtrot Forest. The default opportunity for this is the 23rd Day, actually entitled 'Secret Lesson' but as I obtained the first event at the Dance Hall days earlier, I obtained the second event days earlier as well.
In fact, it appears that, after the initial visit to Foxtrot Forest, you will have the option to practice there with Kiefer every day. If you dance only once with him on any given day, you won't be given an opportunity on that day to ask him to be your partner. If you continue to practice, however, you will be given another opportunity to ask him, encouraged by Kip. To avoid asking the partnership question, simply choose the option to continue dancing with him instead.
This being the case, it is only with respect to Klaus that you are given no more than ONE opportunity to become his partner. (There was a psychological aspect to the endless pursuit of Klaus by the two other Princesses that caused me to look less favourably upon him in my first game than I otherwise would. It is not his fault, after all, that he is being stalked by the two girls. In fact, partnership with Klaus is very romantic in its way, especially in view of the fact that he has been searching for your counterpart since childhood. I did feel a little guilty accepting his love, knowing that I was not the REAL Princess. Her own warning at the start of the game with respect to the Emerald Necklace makes it clear that he never forgot him either!)
Luciano actually is a Prince whose events offer quite a few opportunities to become his partner before his departure. The challenge with respect to Luciano is not to make him your partner but rather to ensure his return on the 29th Day. Sad to say, 100% Affection and excellent dance scores appear to have nothing whatsoever to do with his decision. The real opportunity to set him up as your Partner for the actual Ball occurs on the 19th Day. You must ask him to become your Partner after you dance with him at the Practice Hall. He will not accept but then will ask you to meet him the next morning, as he needs to explain something to you.
When you meet him on the 20th Day, he will take you for a walk at Rumba Beach. Here, he will explain that he intends to participate in the World Dance Competition. I am not certain if your responses actually matter at this point. No matter what you respond, you will tell him that you will wait for him, eliciting a promise from him that you will be 'the first to know' what occurs at the World Dance Competition.
Oddly enough, you can experience this Event even if you have a partner if, during the Event at the Practice Hall on the 19th Day, you ask him to be your partner. Any other response at that point will result in an announcement there and then that he is returning to his Kingdom to enter the World Dance Competition and a rather terse statement that he was glad to have one chance to dance with you before his departure.
I therefore am inclined to believe that it is the Event on the 19th Day and the response you make THEN that is critical to his return. This leads me to suspect that you indeed cannot make Luciano your partner before the World Dance Competition as, if he is your partner, you will not experience the Event on the 19th at the Practice Hall. Instead, you will dance with him on Foundation Day and after winning the competition, he will receive the command from his King to return to his own Kingdom to enter the World Dance Competition.
There may be one other situation that allows you to be his partner before he leaves that yet will allow him to return at the 11th hour. I will reserve final judgement on this until I manage to experience it.
I actually have completed most of a Walkthrough for Princess Debut at this point, having initially decided NOT to cover this game in a guide. There are enough variations in the game to merit a little Walkthrough and in fact, the difficulties with respect to Luciano would be sufficient to make me believe that a Walkthrough will help other players!
At present, I am going through the game with Klaus and Kiefer as my partners and in the third file, working through the game after the 20th without a partner to experience Luciano's return. Even with Klaus as my partner, I experienced the Event with Luciano at the beach when I rather shockingly asked Luciano impulsively to become my partner on the 19th. As in the file where I remained single, Luciano then promised at the beach that I would be the first to know the results of the World Dance Competition. I will be interested to see if anything further occurs in this file with respect to Luciano... I doubt it will make any difference to my relationship with Klaus as he appears to be oblivious of the event. In fact, I experienced a very amusing Event with him at the Beach later that day involving the two awful Princesses who have been stalking him since the start of the game.
Finally, I'd like to make a comment about any attempt to write a guide for any complex game before the game has been played exhaustively for a year or two. The very first Guide I ever wrote was written for 'Friends of Mineral Town' long after the game actually was released. I had played the game numerous times, making errors and then correcting them in subsequent games.
As I began to write Guides for other games, the time span between the game's release and the publication of the guide grew ever shorter until, with some games, I actually was given an opportunity to play the games BEFORE their official release in order to be able to make a guide available on the internet to players at the time of its release.
I do the best I can to cover the game adequately as quickly as possible but it still takes time and much experience with a game to discover all the little variables that can affect results. Although I moved on to 'Rune Factory 2' after writing guides for 'Island of Happiness' late in 2008, my guides for 'Island of Happiness' are NOT completed. Natsume blessed us with a veritable cornucopia of Harvest Moon games last year, not to mention 'Princess Debut'...
Very often, I will receive emails from players making reference to a statement in a guide that has not be updated or corrected because I haven't had the time to do it. In other cases, players actually DO send me new information but for the most part, I am frustrated by the inability to edit and update my guides as quickly as I would like.
In other words, even when I do complete an initial Walkthrough for Princess Debut, I shan't expect it to represent the totality of possibilities with respect to the game.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Romance and Mischief from Prince Vince in Princess Debut
Each of the Princes in Princess Debut has a distinct personality and each interacts different with your character. Of all the Princes whom you can meet in your first game, Vince is the youngest and the most naive in terms of romance. Like many boys in their early teens, his way of expressing an interest in a girl is to play pranks on her. Here are some early encounters with Vince:
My personal favourite is the encounter where he purchases your character a 'Mimic Cookie.' As you can see, choosing the Turtle or Rabbit ends the Event quickly. If, however, you choose the cat, Vince's behaviour is very sweet and he endeavours to please his feline companion until he is utterly 'exhausted' by the exercise.
In my current game, I took Prince Luciano as my partner. Much to my dismay, directly after we gave a dazzling dance performance on 'Founding Day', he received a message from the King of his own land ordering him to return. He could not refuse a royal command, apparently, however much I begged him to stay and I abruptly found myself partnerless!
Part of me wants to remain unattached to see if he returns at the 11th hour to squire me to the Ball. Another part would be interested in exploring partnership with one of the other princes... Klaus perhaps?
My real favourite probably is Liam, but Luciano represented a bit of a challenge early in the game and that was what determined my choice.
My personal favourite is the encounter where he purchases your character a 'Mimic Cookie.' As you can see, choosing the Turtle or Rabbit ends the Event quickly. If, however, you choose the cat, Vince's behaviour is very sweet and he endeavours to please his feline companion until he is utterly 'exhausted' by the exercise.
In my current game, I took Prince Luciano as my partner. Much to my dismay, directly after we gave a dazzling dance performance on 'Founding Day', he received a message from the King of his own land ordering him to return. He could not refuse a royal command, apparently, however much I begged him to stay and I abruptly found myself partnerless!
Part of me wants to remain unattached to see if he returns at the 11th hour to squire me to the Ball. Another part would be interested in exploring partnership with one of the other princes... Klaus perhaps?
My real favourite probably is Liam, but Luciano represented a bit of a challenge early in the game and that was what determined my choice.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Making Prince Luciano your Partner in Princess Debut
I had not intended to make any videos of Princess Debut, but it really is quite endearing. There are three Princes who will be eager to become your partner almost from the very beginning of the game. Luciano is not one of them. If you wish to persuade Prince Luciano to become your partner, you must refuse to invite any one else, then participate in the first Dance Competition with a large Rabbit instead of a romantic Prince! The Rabbit, whose name is Tony, is your character's dance instructor.
Here is the series of events that involves Prince Luciano, giving an early option to make him your partner.
After making this video, an Anonymous player wrote a comment to the effect that, if you make Luciano your Partner before he leaves to participate in the World Dance Competition, he never will return and you will be left without any hope of dancing with him again.
As I am a stubborn individual and was appalled moreover by the prospect, I tried to disprove this assertion... Having played through every possible scenario, however, I still failed to elicit Luciano's return on the 29th day in my own game.
Now, another player has informed me that he/she did likewise, playing through the game FOUR times in every possible manner to see if there was any way to bring Luciano back if he had become your partner BEFORE his departure.
I therefore believe it may be necessary to caution players against any decision to make Luciano their partner BEFORE the 29th day... What this means in practical terms is not having ANY partner throughout most of the game as Luciano only returns to become your partner on the 29th day if you have remained partnerless throughout the game.
Later: The video showing the 'happily ever after' ending with Prince Luciano is included in a later post. In order to have Luciano as your Partner for the Ball, you must ask him only on the 19th Day when he goes with you to the Practice Hall for one dance. You must ask him to be your partner then, although he will refuse, knowing he plans to leave for the World Dance Competition. If you do ask him, however, he will invite you to meet him the next day.
On the 20th Day, meet Luciano and promise that you will wait for him. If you do not have a Partner and remain single throughout the period of his absence, he will return on the 29th Day to take you to the Amusement Park, where he will ask you to be his Partner.
Here is the series of events that involves Prince Luciano, giving an early option to make him your partner.
After making this video, an Anonymous player wrote a comment to the effect that, if you make Luciano your Partner before he leaves to participate in the World Dance Competition, he never will return and you will be left without any hope of dancing with him again.
As I am a stubborn individual and was appalled moreover by the prospect, I tried to disprove this assertion... Having played through every possible scenario, however, I still failed to elicit Luciano's return on the 29th day in my own game.
Now, another player has informed me that he/she did likewise, playing through the game FOUR times in every possible manner to see if there was any way to bring Luciano back if he had become your partner BEFORE his departure.
I therefore believe it may be necessary to caution players against any decision to make Luciano their partner BEFORE the 29th day... What this means in practical terms is not having ANY partner throughout most of the game as Luciano only returns to become your partner on the 29th day if you have remained partnerless throughout the game.
Later: The video showing the 'happily ever after' ending with Prince Luciano is included in a later post. In order to have Luciano as your Partner for the Ball, you must ask him only on the 19th Day when he goes with you to the Practice Hall for one dance. You must ask him to be your partner then, although he will refuse, knowing he plans to leave for the World Dance Competition. If you do ask him, however, he will invite you to meet him the next day.
On the 20th Day, meet Luciano and promise that you will wait for him. If you do not have a Partner and remain single throughout the period of his absence, he will return on the 29th Day to take you to the Amusement Park, where he will ask you to be his Partner.
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