The Amazing 'Golden Potato' in HoLV

This post will not offer any real tips for gameplay, but is a reflection on the entire basis of Harvest Moon. In Hero of Leaf Valley, there are a number of ways to save the Valley from development into an Amusement Park. The primary method involves successful accumulation of 50,000G in income, but even this method has different results depending on your actions in the first two years. The other two methods are either to transform the Valley into a Nature Preserve or a Tourist Attraction.

Players of the old 'Save the Homeland' game for the Playstation will recall the 'Sacred Land' Quest. I played 'Save the Homeland' myself long ago, but only now realised how much all Harvest Moon games are intertwined. For the 'Fruit of Fortune', grown from the 'Golden Potato Seeds' is none other than the humble Yam or Sweet Potato, one of the great 'money crops' or 'cash crops' in any Harvest Moon game.

It is entirely fitting that the 'Treasure' of Leaf Valley should be the Sweet Potato/Yam rather than any form of currency, jewels or precious metals. Incidentally, 'unlocking' Yams in the form of the Golden Potatoes of HoLV (not to be confused with the gold Mineral Potatoes) is an example of the value of experiencing all possible Events to complete all possible Story Quests in HoLV rather than doing the bare minimum required to save the land.

I have written about Dia's personal odyssey in HoLV before. It is a very touching tale of a rather fragile, sheltered girl who learns to appreciate the honest toil of a farmer and to interact personally with the soil. Although your friendship is a key element in her personal growth, her own recognition of the vastness of the universe and the extraordinary details in Nature, coupled with her love of reading and knowledge ultimately make her one of the most well-rounded Characters in HoLV.

This is not the case at the start of the game, however. In early Spring, she is shy and abrupt almost to the point of rudeness. Her dialogues, like the conversations of many individuals in reality whose painful shyness denies them ordinary social graces, could be mistaken for arrogance.

Dia's metamorphosis is somewhat similar to that of Mary Lennox's spiritual awakening in Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic, 'The Secret Garden'. Mary represents an archetype common among expatriate 19th century European colonialists, growing up in India and accustomed to the care of submissive servants rather than the attention and love of her own parents. She is sent 'home' to England where, initially bad-tempered and spoiled, her increasing interaction with wild animals and the earth itself transform her spiritually and physically. There is more than a little proselytising in this work by the author who, like many of her contemporaries, embraced the axiom of 'mens sana in corpore sano' in a reaction against elements that believed civilisation was designed to rise above Nature. The series of Harvest Moon likewise embraces a philosophy to the effect that Nature has the power to teach and heal, bringing us back from a rather unwholesome 'hothouse' technological lifestyle.

Dia is not the only Character whose attitudes develop and improve with regular social interactions. Members of the Funland crew, including their 'hot' CEO Alice, are changed by your encounters and friendship with them.

Farming as a form of heroism is a fascinating basis for a series of games. When one reflects upon the culture of the samurai as an integral part of Japanese culture and the historical conflicts between the warrior class and the farmers, Harvest Moon becomes even more interesting in philosophical terms. Farmers often were viewed as inferior and cowardly by the warrior class, not only in Japan but in any civilisation with a defined warrior culture. Kurosawa's epic classic, 'The Seven Samurai' depicts this conflict beautifully but at the same time shows the fallacy in traditional Samurai arrogant assumptions about the 'peasants'. Like the Samurai of Japan, the warrior class in the Arab world in the form of the bedouin of the desert believed that their superiority at arms gave them the right to raid the villages. A conflict always existed between the 'settled' groups who tilled the soil and the bedouin tribes.

Although Rune Factory allows your Character to be both farmer and warrior, it conforms to traditional Harvest Moon philosophy in that farming is NOT perceived as an inferior occupation. In fact, your Character, although a warrior in the past, ultimately derives honour from his accomplishments as a successful farmer rather than achieving glory through force of arms. Other warrior Characters such as Kross in Rune Factory Frontier embrace the farmer's life as a means of purification and spiritual advancement.

Surprising Responses in Island of Happiness

There are Subsidiary Farming Characters in Island of Happiness who profess to harbour an obsession with a specific Crop. In Rachel's case, the crop is the Turnip.
In Amy's case, it is the Yam.

For those who imagine that Harvest Moon games ever could be anything but subtle and complex, these two characters provide evidence to the contrary. Even veterans of Harvest Moon games need to be on their guard at all times with respect to characters. Never assume anything...

For example, with respect to Raquel and Amy, one might be led to believe that a gift of the Crop for which they profess a great obsession would be met 'with music' or at least some measure of joy. On the contrary, a gift of a Turip to Raquel or Yam to Amy is NOT advised.

In Raquel's Introduction, she will tell you:
Raquel: This place is fantabulous! It’s peachy-keen! IT’S THE BEE’S KNEES! Oh… umm… pardon me. I get a little overexcited sometimes. I’m Raquel. I work on a farm out by a city, but I’m on vacation! And vacations are DYNAMITE! You know what else is great? TURNIPS! Turnips are terrific! THEY’RE OFF THE HOOK! Oh… sorry. *ahem* Anyway, it’s super-awesome to meet you.

Then: Turnips are a Spring crop. Isn’t that AWESOME?!

Give her a Turnip of any Rank or Quality and she will tell you: This is… For the first time ever, I’m just not very excited…

In Amy's Introduction:

Amy: Hi! I’m Amy. I came here to see how you’ve been shipping such great fruit lately.
My real passion is yams, though. I’m OBSESSED with them. Is that weird?

Then: Yams grow fast, and can be harvested many times. They don’t sell for a lot, though.'

Give her a Yam of ANY Rank and Quality and she will respond: Hey, this is terrible…

In the circumstances, even a common Branch or Stone would make a better gift. For a Branch, Raquel will wax enthusiastic: 'This is KEEN! It's ACES! IT ROCKS THE HOUSE DOWN! Thank you.' For a Stone, Amy will respond (with music): Are you sure? Thanks a lot!

Incidentally, in none of these cases is the response a special reply designated solely for the 'special' item. It is the character's negative response to ANY item she dislikes.

I had given the Turnip to Raquel and Yam to Amy as an experiment, to see if either would elicit some extraordinary response or bit of secret, useful information... I was taken aback to discover that in both cases, the character detested the item.

As far as Subsidiary Characters are concerned, I had thought initially that shipping the item on a regular basis that brought them to the Island in the first place might suffice to keep them there, but this is not the case. What is most vital is to speak to every individual on a regular basis. Ignore Subsidiary Characters and they will leave in droves... They do return after a full season passes, so the damage is not irreparable, but every aspect of Island of Happiness definitely is more demanding perhaps than any other Harvest Moon game.

One could compare the Subsidiary Characters to the Sprites in HM DS/Cute DS to some extent. After all, there were methods by which each Sprite could be 'rescued'; in Island of Happiness, this could be compared to the requirement that needs to be met in order to bring a Subsidiary Character to the Island. Harvest Sprites once rescued would not disappear again, however. Furthermore, one could go to the Sprite Company Tree to leave gifts for almost every Sprite in his post box in order to increase friendship levels.

In Island of Happiness, although it is possible to find many of the Subsidiary Characters at one of the two Inns either in the morning or at night, this is not always the case. There are characters who appear only in a sometimes quite remote location for only a few hours each day... Finding a new arrival can be a sort of Treasure Hunt in that respect.

Nor can you 'rest on your laurels' in Island of Happiness. For a start, every seasonal Crop Festival features a different Crop. You need to grow an 'A' Rank crop of the specified variety if you wish to win the Contest. Unless you grow all Crops in your Greenhouse, you always will be threatened by the vagaries of the weather. In the year when 'the Strawberry' had been chosen for the Spring Crop Festival, I lost ALL the Strawberries I had been growing in my Field because of extreme weather conditions. Although the Strawberry is one Crop that requires only 'Normal' Light, it does insist upon 'Less' Sunlight... One really cannot control the weather effectively in Island of Happiness as it is determined six days in advance.

In future, I shall advise all players that do not own a Mythic Stone Refrigerator yet to grow the Crop that has been chosen for the Seasonal Crop Festival in the Greenhouse if they wish to guarantee that they will be able to produce an 'A' Rank of that Crop. 'B' Rank Crops will not win any Crop Festival Contest. Even though I had Strawberries in my Fridge that had been harvested as 'A' Crops earlier that Spring, they had deteriorated to 'B' Rank. The plots of Strawberries in my field were destroyed by an excess of Water or Sunlight only a few days before the Festival. New strawberry plants did not ripen in time for the Contest.

Success in farming requires a very fine balance in Island of Happiness. You can leave a Crop in the ground to grow further and gain potentially in terms of Rank but you have to make certain that it is not overloaded either with Sunlight or with Water! You can store Crops for future use at a Contest but if you do not have a Mythic Refrigerator, you must hope that their Rank does not deteriorate before they are needed.

I have not had the best of luck with my Fruit Trees either. Every single Apple Tree I planted initially was wiped out in one of the many Typhoons or Snowstorms that my character was obliged to weather.

In other Harvest Moon games, although Typhoons and Snowstorms may occur, they are not that probable. The odds are fairly remote usually. In Island of Happiness, on the other hand, I have experienced both Typhoons and Snowstorms on four consecutive days! That can be brutal...

There is something to be said for a game that is as challenging as Island of Happiness, however. One can reach the fourth or fifth year of the game without having achieved every possible goal. As stated, I was unable to harvest the humble Apple in the first couple of years, although I had many Peaches and even Bananas!

One of my last farming experiments is an attempt to grow Fruit Trees in the Greenhouse. I have been able to grow all Grains in the Greenhouse, but I wonder if a Fruit Tree actually can be made to yield Fruit. When it is fully grown, I intend to set the appropriate Sun in the Greenhouse to see if it will begin to produce Fruit. The problem with a Fruit Tree with respect to Greenhouse production in Harvest Moon is that it requires a specific season to flower and the next season to produce Fruit. It will be interesting to discover if it can be induced to produce Fruit beneath the artificial 'Suns'.

Farming Planograms in Island of Happiness

Although I tend to resist the use of marketing lingo, there is a word and concept that may be critical to your success in farming in Island of Happiness. That word is 'planogram'.

I never heard of it until some one who worked in retail told me about it. A planogram is a map or drawing that displays the precise placement of every item sold in the shop. It is used primarily by sales reps to see how much space their rivals are being given as well as making certain that products they wish to feature are being given the most visible placement.

In Island of Happiness, I have come to the conclusion that a Farming Planogram may be essential to your success or failure with respect to Crops both in your Field and in your Greenhouse.

There are two considerations that rule Crop growth in IoH: Sunlight and Water. As discussed both in my Guides and on this site, there are Crops that actually need LESS water to survive. These Crops will die if you overwater them.

Furthermore, slow-growing crops will remain nothing more than seeds for weeks sometimes, a situation that may confuse you if you forget where you planted individual Crops.

You need to be familiar with the physical appearance of every Crop at every stage of growth. I have tried to post screenshots of the various Grains here to help players but it is not only Grains that require identification. A Crop like Yams is a Crop that can be overwatered easily and if that occurs, it will wither in the Field. Knowing where you have planted your Yams, therefore, becomes critical when you water your Crops.

My suggestion therefore is to divide both your Field and Greenhouse into halves or quarters, allocating one side or quarter to Crops that thrive on Water and a different side or quarter for those that require very little water. If you divide your Field and Greenhouse into quarters, you can make a further division between fast-growing Crops and slow-growing Crops. This would be far less labour-intensive than writing down the position of every single Crop you have planted and would work as well.

Unfortunately, in the early stages of farming, when I did not have sufficient Yellow Wonderfuls to smash all the rugged boulders in my Field (requiring 2 Yellow Wonderfuls in your Hammer), I simply sowed a new Crop whenever I harvested an old one, because space was limited and I wanted to reach the 100 shipping requirement for each Crop that unlocked new Crops. Doing this resulted in many fatalities, wasting both seeds and money. If you divide your Field in half from the start of the game, you will be more successful. Do the same with respect to your Greenhouse.

An easy and logical method of division would be to place all the Crops that require MORE water on the West side of your Field, closest to the River. Place the Crops that require LESS water on the East side of the Field, as far from the initial water source as possible. To use the same logic with respect to Crops in your Greenhouse, however, you would have to reverse the positions as the Water Spigot is on the East Side of the Greenhouse.

Whatever you do, be consistent in placement of Crops to avoid tragedy. It may be easiest to place all Crops that require more Water in the West, whether in the Field or the Greenhouse. W for Water, W for West... After all, no time passes in the Greenhouse. It is easy enough to reach the Water Spigot from either side of the Greenhouse and conformity in both Field and Greenhouse requires less thought.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than the sight of an empty plot that was sown with rare seeds obtained from an item from Manfred that has not been unlocked in your game! For example, even where Grains are concerned, they do not follow the same rules. Soybeans require MORE water, but other Grains require LESS. You will kill off your Wheat by overwatering it and delay the harvest of your Soybeans if you do not water them sufficiently. Avoid tragedy and heartbreak with a simple Farming Planogram.