As with the original Rune Factory, you do not have to raise heart levels much in order to be told what a character likes to receive as a gift. Even in the first week of Spring, characters were confiding their likes and even their dislikes:
Yue will give you a bag of Daikon Seeds when you complete her quest for Honey. In case you do not get the point, she will continue to tell you afterwards:
Yue: I couldn’t ever turn down a good DAIKON RADISH. I don’t care how many I’ve eaten.
With the sly humour I am beginning to expect from RF2, Tanya will refer to her love of edged blades obliquely when she confesses one of her favourite foods:
Tanya: I like any fruit, but my favourite is APPLE. I like both eating APPLE and peeling it.
Barrett: I like fish… SALMON, for example. That’s all you need to know.
Herman: (with music) I can never have enough TOMATO JUICE after breakfast. Whenver I get my hands on some TOMATO JUICE, I can’t hold back.
Gordon: I really like a good PUMPKIN. But I always eat too much of it! Ba ha hah ha!
Ceci: Do you know what my favourite thing in the world is? It's DIAMONDS. And RUBIES. Oh yeah, and EMERALDS. Oh yeah, I can’t forget SAPPHIRES. Plus AMETHYST. I like that, too.
Alicia shares Ceci's love of diamonds.
Alicia: I really like a nice DIAMOND. What do you like, Frey?
Max appears to focus on war trophies. He has given me 'tips' on three different war trophies that he likes, calling it 'background knowledge' each time.
Max: For some reason, I’ve beens strangely captivated by PROOF OF WARRIOR since I was young. Well, just a little background knowledge you should remember.
Max: FLUFFY SCARF is so enchanting the way it’s so fluffy. I just love this. Well, just a little background knowledge you should remember.
As a total non sequitor, he made a comment one day to the effect that:
Max: I don’t like PLATINUM at all.
Byron: I must admit, I do love a good EGGPLANT. I just can’t stop eating them.
Egan: I really like WHITE CABBAGES. They’re very healthy.
Ray: I like PINK MELON.
Douglas: I like SKIPJACK, kid. Don’t forget that, now.
Natalie: My favourite things are PUMPKIN PUDDING and TOMATO. Do you like them, Frey?
True to form, you have to pry information loose from Dorothy, who is almost pathologically shy. (One is reminded a little of Candace in ToT.)
Dorothy: Is something wrong?
Me: Oh, no, but… What’s your favourite thing to eat, Dorothy?
Dorothy: Oh, um… I like… I like fish… and, um… I really like… CHAR.
Incidentally, for the record, I absolutely LOVE this game. I have to stress, however, that I was not tired of playing Island of Happiness and fully intend to return to it when time permits. Everything about Rune Factory 2 embodies my own fantasies in terms of the landscapes, the graphics, the beauty in the depiction of the characters... and as some one who loves fencing in real life, how could I not respond to a game that allows me to farm AND wield a blade in combat?
The spiritual premise both of Rune Factory and Rune Factory 2 that allows you to use a weapon to TAME a creature rather than killing it makes it superior to other 'combat' games. It is true to the essential philosophy of Harvest Moon which insists that one must live in harmony with the land and all living creatures if possible.
Note: With respect to the text in screenshots, I'm afraid I can't do much better. It does not translate well in this build, as it is not a 'bold' font. It is perfectly legible on the DS but not as easy to read here. As I have added the actual text to my post in every case, it shouldn't matter.
