Only Three Heart Events in Boy version of Boy & Girl

Ultimately, the only way truly to know something is by personal experience. After I experienced the Blue Heart Event of the eligible girls in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, I raised them to yellow heart level and then waited in vain to experience another Heart Event... Gradually, their heart levels climbed higher. When Ann reached orange heart level, I decided to test a theory. I purchased the Blue Feather from the Supermarket, raised her heart level to deepest red, then proposed to her. (I had no intention of saving the result, by the way. I still need to experience the Starry Night Festival with each girl.) Ann rose faster to red heart level probably because of the extra events she has, such as her Birthday Party Event, rather than any personal preference on my part.

In any event, she responded to my proposal with the words: Really? Are you sure you want a girl like me? You won't regret it later? ...I... I'm happy... but...

What was that 'but...'? Whatever it signified, she had taken the Blue Feather and, a week later, our wedding took place at the Church. In time-honoured Harvest Moon fashion, then, Ann asked me to choose a nickname and our married life would have commenced, except that I reloaded my game back to the eve of the Starry Night Festival, single once again.

No need now to waste any more time hitting all the likely spots for a fourth Heart Event for any of the girls. I do believe, however, that there are four rival heart events and, when I decide if I wish to marry any girl and which one I intend to choose, I can lower the heart levels of the others to experience the two remaining rival heart events and marriage of the other couples in this game.

Incidentally, in HM Boy & Girl, you can raise either any eligible girl or bachelor a full heart level or more in a single day provided you have sufficient 'Most Favourite Items' to squander in this pursuit. Unlike HMDS and HM Cute DS, where only the first gift will raise AP, in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, every item given in a single day will have an effect, although subsequent gifts have less value than the first item given. Now that I know there is no fourth heart event, I can propose to all the eligible girls, apart from Karen, successfully before the end of the first year if I wish. The only reason one cannot marry Karen in the first year is because her Third Heart Event cannot be experienced before Spring of the 2nd year. (Perhaps I should see if I can marry her without ever experiencing that event...) It therefore very much IS possible to marry a girl in HM Boy & Girl before the end of the first year.

Bizarre Supernatural Warnings from little May

Winter appears to be the time of inexplicable happenings and glitches in Harvest Moon and Harvest Moon Boy & Girl is not exempt.

When I entered Ann's bedroom early one snowy morning only to be suddenly confronted by May in the middle of my dialogue with Ann, I was slightly puzzled, but then assumed it was nothing more than one of those occasional Harvest Moon glitches. Then, however, I went to Ellen's house on a Saturday afternoon and in the midst of my conversation with Thomas, May suddenly appeared once again, this time to beg me to be friendly to my horse. In her appearance in Ann's bedroom, she repeatedly protested: 'But he's a good pony...'

Two-thirds of the first Winter season has passed. Barley is due to visit my farm in Spring to assess my treatment of the colt he entrusted to my care. I have not been neglecting the colt, and have brushed it every day.

Even so, these bizarre visitations by May are beginning to trouble me. Is this a supernatural attempt to remind me of the danger of not caring for the colt?

A third, unrelated but equally bizarre incident is evidence that these anomalies are nothing more than glitches.

When I visited Basil this morning, instead of speaking to me as usual, he simply uttered a single word: Dummy.

After this piece of rudeness, he returned to his usual dialogue. I left the house and returned a moment later, only to be obliged to deal with the slur once again: Dummy.

I am posting this only as a curiosity. These glitches have no effect on gameplay. Despite May's ghostly presence in Ann's bedroom, I was able to give Ann a Spa egg without trouble. Despite being called a 'Dummy' twice, Basil's level of friendship remained constant. May's peculiar interference at Ellen's house had no real effect on any one in the room.

Nonetheless, there is a very small part of me that would like to believe that May really did insinuate herself into these scenes because of her great concern for the little pony.

NOTE: The photographs are irrefutable proof that these incidents DID occur. I wonder if any other players have experienced them... The fact that they occur at odd times and places probably are why the errors were not caught by testers before the game was released. Few 'casual' players visit Ann's bedroom in the early morning in Winter. Few 'casual' players speak to Thomas when he visits Ellen on Saturday afternoons. I will test these conversations again in Spring, but I believe the errors may be limited to the Winter season as I have spoken to Thomas at Ellen's house in other seasons and did not experience May's interruption!

Winter Thanksgiving in HM Boy & Girl

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The Thanksgiving Festivals in most Harvest Moon games are based on gender. There are two Thanksgiving Festivals each year. At the Spring Thanksgiving, boys give gifts to girls. At the Winter Thanksgiving, it is the girls who give gifts to boys.

In Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, as a boy at the Winter Thanksgiving, I would receive either chocolate or chocolate cake from every girl at blue heart level or higher. Chocolate is given only at Blue heart level. For Green heart level or higher, you will obtain Chocolate Cake.

The difficulty here is the fact that the Supermarket does not sell chocolate in this game. If you wish to complete your Cookbook, you need at least two pieces of chocolate. A married man no longer receives Thanksgiving gifts from any one but his wife and if you do not keep your wife at the highest red heart level, she will not become pregnant. Once you have a child, I expect you could decrease her level to the point where she would slip chocolate into your rucksack on the Winter Thanksgiving instead of Cake but that is long in the future in my game... In order to obtain chocolate NOW, I needed to bring at least two girls back down to Blue Heart level before they visited me on 14 Winter.

Thanksgiving visits adhere to a strict schedule in every game and knowing when a girl or bachelor is scheduled to visit is critical. If you are not on the farm at the right time, you will miss the visit and the gift.

The schedule of the visits of all the eligible girls in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl is as follows:

6.00 a.m. Popuri
8.00 a.m. Ann
10.00 a.m. Elli
1.00 p.m. Karen
3.00 p.m. Mary

If, therefore, you wish to receive gifts from ALL the girls and have them all at a high enough heart level to be able to expect to do so, you basically have to hover round your farm most of the day. This is the case in most Harvest Moon games. In fact, in HM DS and HM Cute DS, you actually have to exit your farmhouse each time at the right hour to experience the event. In Boy & Girl, you merely have to be standing in your field when the individual arrives.

Of all the girls, it is Mary's visit that is the most amusing. She either does not realise that it is the Winter Thanksgiving or pretends not to realise... she tells you that the Supermarket had a sale on chocolate and chocolate cake so she decided to buy some and to share it with you. She then remarks that it all must have been sold by now, to prevent you from having any remote hope that these items now will be available from the Supermarket... As she speaks, she suddenly realises that it is the Winter Thanksgiving or pretends to realise it. I suspect that she is pretending. Mary can be rather shy, so she may be too embarrassed to present her gift in a straightforward manner. After all, it is the equivalent of a Valentine.

Elli's presentation is rather amusing as well. I like Elli but when as her parting remark, she advised me to brush my teeth afterwards to prevent cavities, I realised once again how well she and the Doctor are suited to one another, far better a match than I ever could be for her.

Karen's parting remark to the effect that she will be expecting a return gift on the occasion of the Spring Thanksgiving is very characteristic of her forthright nature.
For all her undeniable femininity, she is a very dominant woman and this distinguishes her from some one like Muffy, equally feminine and flirtatious but rather incapable of getting what she wants in life.

As you can see, each girl has her own distinct personality and her own way of presenting a gift to a boy she likes. It is one of the reasons I like to experience all possible events in any Harvest Moon games.

Players often ask me which girl or bachelor is the 'best'. Interacting with some one always is the best way to find out what sort of person he/she is. You do this in Harvest Moon by experiencing events and by talking to the individual as often as possible. To me, the voyage of discovery is part of the fun of playing Harvest Moon. I would not want any one to tell me which girl or bachelor I should marry any more than in real life!

Poor Popuri: Playing with Heart Levels in Harvest Moon

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In Harvest Moon Boy & Girl as well as Harvest Moon DS and Harvest Moon Cute DS, the gift that you receive at the Thanksgiving Festival depends on the precise heart level that the giver has for you. If the heart level is too low, you will not receive a gift at all. At blue heart level, you will receive a piece of chocolate. At green heart or higher, you will receive a piece of chocolate cake.

In Harvest Moon DS and Cute DS, you need not bother to try to obtain the lower level of gift, as chocolate is sold at the Supermarket. It is more fun to have every one at deepest red heart level by the time of the Thanksgiving Festival. As a girl, you will have to wait until the Spring of the 2nd year to receive these visits but as a boy, your first opportunity is the Winter Thanksgiving in the first year.

In Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, heart levels climbed steadily upwards even though I was not being particularly diligent in Winter, as I still needed to experience the Green Rival Heart Event for all of the girls and this cannot be triggered in the first year, as far as my own evidence shows. I did believe I could trigger the 4th and final heart event for the girls but so far, even though I have two of them at Yellow Heart level and almost at orange, I have not been able to trigger the final heart event in the first year. I am beginning to wonder if these events must be triggered in the second year or if they are season-specific and cannot be triggered in Winter in the case of Elli, Mary and Ann.

At any rate, I had Elli, Mary and Ann at yellow heart and Karen and Popuri at green heart as the Winter Thanksgiving day arrived. I then received Chocolate Cake from all five girls. This was not good, because I needed chocolate to complete my cookbook.

I therefore was obliged to replay the events after visiting both Karen and Popuri with a rucksack filled with rubbish I had caught with my Fishing Pole and giving it to them... When their heart levels were reduced to Blue, I stopped the torture and waited for the gifts...

At Blue Heart, thankfully, I received chocolate instead of chocolate cake. Now I can raise the heart levels of those poor girls again...

One really NEEDS at least two pieces of chocolate in order to complete all Recipes in the Cookbook. That is why I had to obtain the chocolate at any cost. If I allow these girls to marry my rivals, I no longer will receive Thanksgiving Day gifts from them. If I marry, I no longer will receive gifts from any one apart from my spouse. I therefore decided that my first year was the best option for this exercise.

I now have two pieces of chocolate in my Refrigerator and can make my own Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Cookies, thus adding those recipes to my Cookbook. Poor Popuri and Karen must be wondering about my erratic behaviour, blowing alternately hot and cold towards them!

The photographs show Karen at two different heart levels on the occasion of the Winter Thanksgiving in the first year. On the first occasion, I did nothing to change her level and at green heart level, she brought me a piece of Chocolate Cake, the same gift I received from the other girls this year.

On the second occasion, I rushed to the Supermarket and plied her with rubbish until her heart level decreased to blue. When she arrived at the farm later, she gave me a piece of chocolate instead of the chocolate cake I would have received had I kept her level at green.

Perhaps the title of this should be 'Poor Karen and Popuri', as the photographs I have included here show Karen at two different heart levels, but where Popuri is concerned, this is the SECOND time I have lowered her heart level only to raise it again later...

Recipes vary from Game to Game: Take Care!

I have written Cookbook Recipe Guides for almost every Harvest Moon game I have played. Many basic recipes are the same essentially from game to game but there are those that differ and when they do, mistakes can be costly.

There are differences in the Utensils that are available from game to game. Although recipes tend to be easier in Harvest Moon DS and Cute DS, I for one miss the Seasoning Set from Mineral Town games. Seasonings often are optional but once in awhile, can be critical to the success of a cooking venture.

For example, Ketchup in HM DS and HM Cute DS is made in a Mixer with a Tomato and an Onion. In Boy & Girl, you MUST use seasonings or it will be a Food Fiasco. The actual utensil used to make Mayonnaise in Boy & Girl is different from that used in HM DS and Cute DS. A Whisk is used in Boy & Girl, where a Mixer is used in HM DS and Cute DS. Recipes in FoMT and MFoMT are virtually identical to those in Boy & Girl, though, so if you have been playing either of those recently, and go on to play Boy & Girl, you will not be in any danger of becoming confused.

As a matter of fact, the special Recipes that are given to you by various villagers are given in the same words in many instances. I am waiting now to see if Anna holds a Baking Class in Boy & Girl on Saturday mornings. So far, although Manna delivered her set speech about Anna's expertise in baking, there have been no actual classes. It is early days, though...

Incidentally, if you are not fastidious by nature, you can eat your Food Fiasco for a little boost in energy. A gift of a Food Fiasco is useful if you wish to lower heart levels as well.

As in many Harvest Moon games, the actual gift that you receive at the Thanksgiving Festival will depend on heart level. If you wish to obtain all possible gifts, you need to have the eligible girls at different heart levels. As a boy, at the lowest level, you will obtain chocolate, ironically more rare an item in HM Boy & Girl than Chocolate Cake.

New General Guide for PSP Harvest Moon Boy and Girl

If you look at the right side of this page, you will see that I have written some preliminary guides for Harvest Moon Boy & Girl. It is not really the way I would have liked to have covered these games, as I feel that I am forced to do everything in some haste... Nonetheless, I hope they will be helpful to players. I will continue to add to them as well as updating every guide.

In terms of HM Cute DS, I now have completed a Recipe Cookbook Guide (as well as my own Recipe list in the game itself), have completed the Calendar guides for the first and second year, and have written most of my General Guide and Courtship and Marriage Guide for that game. IGN will not publish these until the game officially is released on 25 March.

Natsume will send me 'Island of Happiness' later this month. That is very exciting, but there is a part of me that perceives it as a sort of consolation prize for losing my 'Cute' game! Nevertheless, I knew I would lose it ultimately when I first began my journey with Skye... Life is transient in any world, I suppose. The wonderful thing about Harvest Moon is that one always can begin a new life... Like other Harvest Mooon fans, I plan to do that on my own cartridge of HM Cute DS after 25 March.

The Beauty of the Fish Pond

It is only in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl that I truly have begun to appreciate the beauty of the Fish Pond. Although you have a Fish Pond in Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town, it really is not particularly significant in terms of gameplay. There is an error in fact in one of those two games that causes the Pond to hand you small fish instead of large fish and vice versa... There is no option to buy Fish Food at the Supermarket, however, and there are better ways to make money (such as fishing during festivals and exploiting the Horse Races to fill your basket with brooches).

You have a Pond in Harvest Moon DS and Harvest Moon Cute DS but it is an upgrade and the reason why you need to order it is not for fish but, as in 'A Wonderful Life' and 'Another Wonderful Life', so as to entice ducks to the farm. In HM DS and Cute DS, you actually must purchase the ducks from Popuri but she will not offer them until the Pond is built. Another reason for the Pond in HM DS is to persuade Leia to marry you... if you do not have a Pond, she will not have an appropriate place to live on your farm. Apparently, as a potential spouse, she sets her sights higher than the bathtub in which she is content to spend her days in Daryl's Basement... YOUR bathroom simply won't do!

Of course, if you had been able to persuade Leia to live in your Bathroom, you never would SEE her again, as all activities that occur in that mysterious chamber (and the Toilet) are hidden from players. Personally, I am glad that we do not have to view our characters on the toilet. In the Sims, for example, far too much time is spent in the latrine, with options to read a paper, play video games and many more. Mercifully, Harvest Moon does not subject its players to this sort of invasion of privacy...

The subject of this article is NOT the Bathroom but the Fish Pond. If you place two Large Fish in the Fish Pond and ply them with Fish Food daily, they may spawn others. Small and Medium Fish placed in the Pond will grow into Large Fish.

Now THIS is a Fish Pond that actually has some uses... Oddly enough, the first two fish I caught in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl were Large Fish. Despite my abject poverty at the beginning of Spring, I tossed them into the Fish Pond and began to feed them.
Sad to say, I ultimately sold them in order to be able to afford a larger rucksack and then was cross with myself for doing so... Meanwhile, I had caught a few small fish and one or two medium fish. The total number of fish in my Fish Pond at the end of Spring was 9, none of whom were Large Fish, sadly.

Two days ago, the total remained 9... Today, I saw that the total had jumped to 16. Going to the Pond, I removed a Fish and saw that it was Large. As I had no large fish in the pond after selling my 2 initial large Fish, some of the others must have grown to full size!

This sort of small detail delights me, even if it is not worth much in financial terms. Again, it makes all the hard work and effort worthwhile...

Ann's Birthday in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl

I always suspected that the deck was stacked a little in favour of Ann in Friends of Mineral Town. In Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, I have similar suspicions. Some say that your childhood playmate will turn out to be whichever girl you marry, but I always believed it to be Ann, irrespective of your ultimate choice of spouse.

In any event, there are a few events that involve Ann that are worth experiencing in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl. One of these is her Birthday Party at the Inn.

I was a little tardy with this one, as I had become too accustomed to Harvest Moon DS and Harvest Moon Cute DS... in those games, you cannot access your postbox. In FoMT and MFoMT, many wonderful surprises would come via postal service, but it had been a long time since I played either of those games.

It therefore was 20 Summer before I ever looked at the postbox, idly wondering whether or not the option existed in HMBG... I was deluged with old post! First, there was the announcement from the Supermarket to the effect that the Large Rucksack now was being offered. As I had purchased it the first day it appeared on the shelf, that notice was irrelevant.

The next notice was from the Clinic, to the effect that Bodigizer XL now could be purchased. As I felt that the price of these medicines was too high, especially in view of the potency of the Hot Spring, that too was not important to me.

It was the third item of post, however, that made me extremely wroth with myself. This was an Invitation to Ann's Birthday Party at the Inn on 17 Summer. I had forgotten that her birthday was celebrated at the Inn in FoMT and MFoMT, and had played through her birthday in HMBG, merely giving her a Spa Egg at the Goddess Spring in the morning...

I realised I had to experience the event, even if I did not save the results afterwards... Unfortunately, being of a stubborn and obsessive disposition, I knew secretly that once I went back in time to experience it, I would continue with that path, losing the work I had done from 17 Summer through 20 Summer in other slots...

There was one more announcement, this one from Doug to the effect that the Inn would be open from 6.00 p.m. on 17 Summer. Now, this announcement is rather misleading. To me, it would imply that the party would be AFTER 6.00 p.m. but in fact, what it means is that you must go to the Inn at any time between 11.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. if you wish to experience the Birthday Party Event.

Having resigned myself to the idea of replaying three days of the game, I performed all my usual chores and then took a spa egg to the Supermarket to have it gift-wrapped. At noon or thereabouts, I went to the Inn to see what would occur. (I was uncertain at this point of the meaning of Doug's announcement.)

The event in fact triggered when I entered the Inn shortly after noon. My rival Cliff was there as well as Ann and Doug. Both cake and pie were displayed on the table. Ann and Doug both appeared to be delighted to see me and Cliff was his usual morose self, muttering sadly about his sister, harping on her resemblance to Ann.

When I gave Ann her gift-wrapped egg (very nicely wrapped, I must say!), she was thrilled, telling me with great courtesy that my mere presence was gift enough, but obviously pleased by my offering.

The only negative result of this event is that it ends only at 6.00 p.m., thereby depriving me of about half of my ordinary working day as well as the shipping deadline. No matter... Ann's heart was boosted to green by the event and I now may be able to persuade the Harvest Goddess to place her in the role of 'sweetheart' for the Hot Spring Event.

Hot Springs, Your Sweetheart, Monkeys and You

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Distant rumours of this event in older Harvest Moon games had reached me over the years, but not to the point where the event no longer was a surprise to me. In fact, it would be rather hilarious I think, even to a player familiar with it.

In many Harvest Moon games, the Harvest Goddess acts as a guardian and intercessor even in the realm of romance and courtship. In Harvest Moon DS and Harvest Moon Cute DS, after a certain number of offerings, the Harvest Goddess will offer to boost the heart level of the eligible grl or bachelor of your choice. The original 'boy' version offers far more options in this respect, which is VERY unfair! In the boy version of Harvest Moon DS, you can choose a name from three different lists comprised of the ordinary Valley girls, the Magical Valley girls and the Mineral Town girls. In Harvest Moon Cute DS, you only can choose from two lists, one containing the ordinary bachelors of the Valley and the other comprised of the Mineral Town boys... Skye is not included ANYWHERE!

It is not of HM DS or Cute that I wish to speak here, however, but of Harvest Moon PSP Boy & Girl. I had expected the event to be similar to the comparable event in Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town. In fact, it is far more creative and diverting.

In terms of EFFECTS, there is a very big difference in the games. In Harvest Moon DS and Cute DS, you can CHOOSE the individual whose heart level you would like the Harvest Goddess to boost. This allows you to follow any strategy you like. If, in fact, you are trying to raise the heart levels of every eligible girl or bachelor, you can name the one with the LOWEST Heart level and the Goddess will raise it.

The event occurs, in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, when you have given the Harvest Goddess a total of ten offerings of crops harvested from your own field. A total of 5 crop offerings will trigger an event in which she will give you a Red Power Berry. 10 crop offerings give you the opportunity to experience the Hot Spring event with the girl who likes you best...

In Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, you are not given ANY options, apart from telling the Harvest Goddess that you are not interested in romance at all. If you tell her that you do have a 'sweetheart', she will assume that it is the girl or bachelor with the HIGHEST current heart level and will raise it. I found this rather annoying, to be honest. I didn't need help with THAT target, but with the one with the lowest heart level. In fact, I did not save the event at all and will trigger it later in the game when I decide which girl I would like to join in the Hot Spring...

For that is the central action of the Event. After you leave the Harvest Goddess and descend the steps from the Hot Spring, you will meet the girl with the highest heart level at the bottom. She will express her intention of taking a dip in the Spa. You then may attempt to join her in the Spa if you wish.

When you leap into the Hot Spring, however, you will see only a monkey in the water!
Even if you stay half an hour or ALL DAY, you never will see the girl who announced her intention of using the Spa. It is only when you leave the Hot Spring that the girl will appear from behind the Spa building. She will ask you if you saw monkeys and then will confess that she in fact was there as well, beneath the water!

It is a rather bizarre little event. I wonder if it refers to a tale from Japanese folklore. I cannot imagine that the introduction of the monkey motif is entirely random. I will do some research on this...

The photographs show the event as experienced with Elli. In due course, I will try to experience it with all the eligible girls.

Rival Heart Events in Cute... all the reasons why I didn't want to marry these guys

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Experiencing the 2nd or Blue Rival Heart events in Cute in my 2nd year (after taking a break to play Harvest Moon Boy & Girl), in some cases reminds me of all the reasons I really DIDN'T want to marry these guys. In particular, Marlin and Gustafa in their 2nd Blue Rival Heart Events, display their more unsympathetic personality traits.

The events occur in the original Harvest Moon DS (boy version) game as the 2nd Rival Heart Events for Celia and Nami. These events cannot be experienced before the beginning of the 2nd year and they will not trigger if the eligible girl or bachelor respectively are at Green Heart level or higher.

In my game, I had to LOWER the bachelors' heart levels from deepest red to experience the events, as I had raised them originally in order to experience all proposal and marriage events (without saving the results). As I wished to receive Spring Thanksgiving Cookies from all the bachelors, I did not begin to lower their heart levels seriously until after 14 Spring. I then used the 'Secret Weapon of Hate' item on each to bring them down to Blue Heart Level.

I will be able to raise them easily back to Green Heart Level in order to experience next year's 3rd Rival Heart Event... (Sometimes, in my eagerness to wed Skye, I tend to forget that, if I wish to contrive the marriages of all other couples, I must wait at least until the third year to marry, in order to experience the 3rd Rival Heart Event and then raise bachelor heart levels another level so that I will be able to experience the 4th Rival Heart Event in the fourth year. Once you are married, both in the original HM DS and in Cute, you no longer can affect ANY ONE's heart levels. You only can affect FP or Friendship levels after marriage. This applies to Keira and her Heart Events in both games as well. You must experience her heart events BEFORE you marry if you wish to gain all rewards. There is some evidence to the effect that the 4th Mine cannot be unlocked AFTER marriage, so make certain to unlock all 4 mines before you propose to some one and marry.)

In Marlin's 2nd Rival Heart Event, he is outraged on Celia's behalf by some comments a customer made about the quality of Vesta's vegetables. Celia is not particularly bothered and is more concerned to maintain goodwill with every one. Marlin tends to display excess machismo in his desire to balance his fragility or 'weakness' in physical terms. In the course of the event, Celia essentially is reduced to BEGGING him not to confront the customer.

I personally would not like this role...

In Gustafa's 2nd Rival Heart Event, he visits Nami as she stands at the shore of the ocean in the early afternoon. Bear in mind the fact that it is HE who visits her and that his own schedule 'requires' him to stand at the shore of Turtle Pond all afternoon meditating or drawing inspiration from the 'natural beauty' of the place.

He begins one of his usual self-centred rambling monologues about why he loves the Valley and always returns to it. He then solicits a question from Nami as to why he returns...

Here is the dialogue:

Gustafa: Even if I leave, I always end up coming back to Forget-Me-Not Valley. Do you know why?
Nami (obligingly): (?) Why?
Gustafa: Because I love this place. The air, the sea, and the people. That's why.
(This is such a general answer. It does not make any reference to Nami specifically as being a reason for his love of 'this place', nor it is particularly poetic or lyrical in nature.)
Nami (evidently NOT inspired by Gustafa's confession): Yeah.

At this point, Gustafa evidently realises he should bring Nami into the conversation a little more, so he asks her why she returns always to the Valley.

Gustafa: Nami, you've lived here a long time. What is it that keeps you here?
Nami: (...) I...

Gustafa has NO patience to wait for a proper response and now displays what I consider his indifference to any one apart from himself, except insofar as they act as 'inspiration' for his music.

Gustafa: Ah, I've gotta go. See you later.
Nami: Ah.....

Where on earth could he be going??? Only back to Turtle Pond to stand!!! He isn't the most handsome of men, but if he were sensitive and attentive, it would count for much. As it is, witnessing this event, I was reminded of all the reasons he would be my LAST choice of spouse in ANY world.

Contests in Harvest Moon inspire Excitement or Dread!

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Most Harvest Moon games include Contests and Games of various sorts. There are 'gambling games' such as Won's Apple Challenge and Won's Slot Machine game in More Friends of Mineral Town, and the Casino games in HM DS. These basically require an investment of time, but nothing more, as if you do not like the results, you can reload your game and try again... It is nothing more than a matter of luck.

Then there are the Contests... some, like the Cooking Contest, require knowledge of the game and how to fix a superior dish with the best ingredients. I personally enjoy these Contests. Animal Contests fall into one of two different categories, either requiring maximum heart level or actually requiring that one 'win' a physical contest. It is those that require one physically to win a contest that I sometimes dread...

In FoMT and MFoMT, I always will maintain that winning the Chicken Contest is a matter of luck. One can have maximum heart level with the Chicken, do everything RIGHT in terms of cheering on the bird and still LOSE one of the rounds... Yes, it is a particularly nasty business as one has to win THREE different battles in order to win the competition. In Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, it appears to be a little more within the player's power to win or lose than it was in FoMT and MFoMT. Even so, replaying the event is far more tiresome if you fail to win as you must replay the entire day. In FoMT and MFoMT, you could save your game at the point of entering the Square and then replay if your chicken did not win all three rounds.

Worse than the Chicken Contest, however, in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl is the Beach Contest on Opening Day. I expect that, if I wanted to replay the same day countless times, I possibly COULD win it in the first year, but frankly, two attempts was one too many for me. You do not have a chance to practice the technique, unless you replay the entire day again and again. The first year, you go into the ocean cold as it were, without sufficient energy levels (due to the fact that you would have only 3 Power Berries at the most at this point) and without any practice in the technique of alternating your swim stroke with your breathing. It is so humiliating. Every one else glides effortlessly to the finish line while your character keeps turning belly-up like a beached whale and then, finally manages to creep to the finish line where Rick waves his arms frantically. I expect it will be far easier in the 2nd year, when I have more Power Berries. It wasn't worth the effort of spending two REAL days replaying a single Harvest Moon day... I am stubborn by nature, but not quite THAT stubborn, particularly when it involves a Contest of this nature.

I did win the Chicken Festival in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl in my very first attempt, only to suffer the most crushiing blow AFTERWARDS. I had much experience with this Contest in one way, as I had played many games of Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town. The buttons may be different but the method is similar.
There IS an element of luck here, if your chicken is too close to the edge and simply moves without any encouragement on your part, but for the most part, if you cheer it at the right moments, and sit tight when it is in a dangerous spot, you can win all three rounds with a chicken with 8 hearts.

The crushing blow came when I completed the rest of the day and went to bed. I saved the game and awoke to a weather forecast of a terrible hurricane. I thought to myself: No way!!! Not on 8 Summer, when I finally had a decent number of crops in the ground...

Changing the weather, however, requires that you go back by a full day. I initially thought that going to bed before midnight potentially allowed a different forecast but, after experiencing the same forecast a multitude of times, I resigned myself to the awful prospect of replaying the Chicken Festival.

It was late at night and I was NOT enthusiastic. In one instance, I dropped my chicken when I spoke to Rick and he then simply assumed I was not going to participate! I left the chicken on the ground there and walked home to 'read' my diary in order to begin the day yet again... In another instance, I dropped the bird when I was trying to speak to Jeff and it got stuck between two people, under their feet literally. I could not pick up the chicken. Each time I tried, I spoke to the individuals instead... I had to wait for the chicken to wander away from the people so I could pick it up...

I did manage to win the Chicken Festival again finally, after a couple of losses in the THIRD round. At the end of the day, I saved my game before sleeping, praying for good weather... and this time obtained a good forecast, thank God!

Yes, controlling the weather may be cheating a little, but there is a point where I cannot face the loss of all my crops. After all, the weather forecast is random. Why should I be punished when I did not commit a crime? O.K. Life isn't fair, and Harvest Moon imitates Life, but...

If the game itself allows an exploitation or change in results, I will take advantage of that.

The sad thing about Golden Eggs in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl is that they are not worth any more than a plain white egg. Not one piece of gold more... It is only when you have the ability to make Mayonnaise from them that you will profit greatly. That day still is in the future for me...

The Popuri Dilemma for a farmer in Mineral Town

Whether you are playing Harvest Moon Boy & Girl or Friends of Mineral Town, you will have a dilemma in your first year where Popuri is concerned. My own strategy always is to raise the heart levels of ALL eligible girls and bachelors as quickly as possible. There certainly are tangible rewards for doing this in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, as the Blue Heart Events for a couple of the girls can increase your income rather substantially in your first Summer.

On the other hand, I like to experience as many of the Rival Heart Events as possible as well, especially for the girls I do not intend to marry. Where the other girls are concerned, this is not a problem. Both Heart and Rival Heart Events have a natural progression. Where Popuri is concerned, however, a player can run into difficulties in the first year.

If you raise Popuri's heart level daily with the gift of a Toyflower in the Spring, you should experience her Blue Heart Event at the beginning of your first Summer. In the course of this event, she will give you an Egg and ask you to hatch it.

Actually, I stopped giving her gifts in the middle of Spring, suspecting that her heart level would become far too high to experience the rival heart events in Summer if I continued to raise her heart level... even so, the damage was done, as you will see.

In HMBG, you can experience the 3rd Heart Event when the girl still is at purple heart level. She needs only to be close to the Blue Heart Level to trigger the event. Unfortunately, the 2nd Rival Heart Event no longer can be experienced if you have reached THAT level...

On 2 Summer, Popuri came to my house at 6.00 a.m. to deliver her egg to me, asking that I hatch it. She almost was at Blue heart level at that point. This is Part I of her 3rd or Blue Heart Event in HMBG.

3 Summer is Popuri's Birthday. In my first game, I gave her Toyflower on her Birthday for a boost in her heart level. When the chick hatched, I named it Popuri. When she returned to my farm at 6.00 a.m. on 6 Summer, her heart advanced to full Blue Heart level when she realised I had named the chick after her.

This was all well and good for my romance with Popuri but as the days progressed, I found myself unable to experience Popuri's 2nd Rival heart Event with Kai. I had experienced the 1st Rival heart event outside the Poultry Farm at the start of Summer, but although I suspected the 2nd Rival Heart Event would occur at the Beach, I could not trigger it at any time of the day or any day of the week, including Sunday!

I then concluded that HMBG was like FOMT in this respect: if the girl's heart level is TOO HIGH, you no longer will be able to trigger a rival heart event.

I backtracked to 3 Summer with a heavy heart and gave Popuri a Stone instead of a Pinkcat flower on her birthday. 'Yuck!' she exclaimed, 'I don't want this.' Well, obviously not, but I wanted to force it upon her for the sake of her romance with Kai. (The horrid acts we are forced to perform for the sake of a happy ending!!!)
Even when I named my chick Glitz instead of Popuri, avoiding the extra boost to her heart level in Part II of her Blue Heart Event, I had to force Stones upon her daily until finally, on 10 Summer, I was able to trigger her 2nd Rival Heart Event at the Beach at 11.10 a.m.

This was NOT an ideal progression. What I should have done was to have NOT raised her heart level so high in the Spring. (If only one had a Love Bangle in this game!)
Unfortunately, you cannot trigger the 2nd Rival Heart Event on 2 Spring, as you have to experience them in order and the 1st Rival Heart Event cannot be triggered early enough in the day to allow it... (The 2nd Heart Event cannot be triggered after 1.00 p.m.)

Even so, I could have saved many Toyflowers, and simply raised her heart to the minimum Purple level before her birthday on 3 Summer. It would have been better to have experienced the 2nd Rival heart event BEFORE I triggered the Blue Heart Event.

In monetary terms, however, it is better to obtain Popuri's egg as early as possible, so perhaps my strategy is the best, for all the heartache of having to give her items she hated repeatedly. On 10 Summer, I have experienced three of Popuri's Heart Events and two of her Rival Heart Events... and the egg she gave me should be an adult chicken tomorrow, I believe.

On 10 Summer, I have experienced three of the Heart Events and the first two Rival Heart Event for all the other eligible girls as well, with the exception of Karen's Blue Heart Event. Karen's 3rd Heart Event can be experienced only in Spring, I believe, and it is impossible to raise her heart level high enough in the first Spring. I will experience it at the start of my second year, I expect.

Ann's 3rd or Blue Heart Event is another profitable one for the player. Provided that you have her at high Purple level, as soon as you have three adult chickens who lay eggs, she will come to your farm to request that you bring her 3 eggs daily before 5.00 p.m., beginning on the next day.

Holidays do not deprive you of the opportunity to experience Part II of the event. In my game, the following day was the day of the Chicken Festival, when the Inn is locked. I therefore made my first delivery on 8 Summer and was rewarded accordingly. In fact, on 10 Summer, I have been paid for my third delivery of eggs to the Inn. Ann pays a far higher price than the shipping value of the eggs, which would be only 150G. Ann is willing to pay 450G for the same three eggs.

Ordinarily, I pop the eggs into the Hot Spring to transform them into Spa Eggs before I ship them as that increases their value by 30G. (A Spa Egg ships for 80G.)
It is more fun to deliver them to Ann, as one experiences a little event each time one makes the delivery.

I personally believe that the friendship and courtship aspects of the game should be advanced as quickly as the farming aspects. You have three years to make the farm successful in HMBG. How you choose to spend your time, money and resources is your choice, of course. Instead of giving Ann spa eggs each day in Spring, I could have shipped them and have made more money for myself. Instead of spending time visiting girls each day, I could have concentrated on crops, mining and chopping more wood.

To me, however, Harvest Moon really is more about people than financial success. I could have made more money faster perhaps if I had ignored the people for the most part, but I would not have experienced as many events as quickly. It is the events that motivate me in Harvest Moon, especially during the difficult first season.

'The Woodcutter and the King' and a Power Berry

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In experiencing Mary's Blue Heart Event, you have the opportunity to read the legend inspired by the real magical tree in the middle of the meadow to the right of the lake.

Mary will give you a book and ask you to read it 'between tasks'. At first, I did not know how to read the book... I tried to set it down on a table, thinking that I then would be able to press X to read it, but in vain.

In fact, the first time I experienced the event, I became frustrated in the end and returned the book to Mary unread. When she asked me to choose which character I liked best, I simply guessed, but chose the 'Woodcutter' thinking that this character would be more sympathetic to village folk...

I then replayed the entire day, partly in order to add the information about Mary's response to the incorrect answer to my guide and partly to test something that had occurred to me with respect to a possible way to 'read' the book.

In fact my supposition was correct. It was possible to read the book by pressing Triangle when the book was in the rucksack. The Triangle Button orders the game to 'Explain Item'. Pressing Triangle unlocked the entire story, which is rather long and quite charming.

Furthermore, it gives the entire tale of the magical tree in the Meadow and the fact that a 'rare nut' in the form of a Power Berry will be given if you take pity on the tree and do not chop it down.

Here is the tale of the 'Woodcutter and the King':

Text of Book:
'The Woodcutter and the King'
Once upon a time there was a woodcutter who lives in a small country. One day the woodcutter were called before the king. The king ordered the woodcutter to go and find a special nut that was said to prolong life.

'The woodcutter finally found the rare nut way on the top of a tall tree in the forest. But as he prepared to cut the tree down...

The woodcutter suddenly heard a voice.

It was the tall tree, asking 'please don't cut me down'.

The woodcutter felt pity for the tree and decided to let it stand...

To his surprise, the tall tree gave him the nut in thanks. The woodcutter had never seen a nut of that colour before, but he dutifully sent the nut to the king.

The king ordered the woodcutter to chop down the tree down and bring it to the castle. But the woodcutter refused...

In anger, the king threw the woodcutter in the dungeon and set off himself to cut down the tree. But none of the trees had any nuts, and the king lost his way and never came out.

The woodcutter was saved.'

End of Story.

I never would have had the opportunity to read this tale had I not played Harvest Moon Boy & Girl. It is little delights like these that make EVERY Harvest Moon game worth the trouble...

A very difficult life in HM Boy and Girl, but with rewards

Harvest Moon Log, Harvest Moon date: 3 Summer, Year 1. Earth time: Noon, 1 March 2008. I ask myself: 'Why bother with Harvest Moon Boy & Girl where the largest rucksack only gives me 8 slots and where at the beginning of Summer, I haven't been able to expand my house yet?'

Why indeed? There is a part of me that longs to spend my entire Harvest Moon life in the Forget-Me-Not Valley of HM DS/Cute DS, where each slot allows a stack of 99 items, where one can get rich on the first day of gameplay by digging in the Excavation Site, where my life at this point is rather easy and automatic...

Why did I have ANY interest in the PSP Harvest Moon Boy & Girl? My life is difficult there, far more so than in Friends of Mineral Town or More Friends of Mineral Town. The controls stick often, causing dreadful accidents where I throw away an item inadvertantly. Transportation is SLOW. In HM DS and HM Cute DS, one can buy a Teleport Stone in the second week of gameplay... Oh, for a Teleport Stone!!!

Having said all this, I still want to continue my life in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl. The graphics are wonderful, with vibrant colours and detail. Although it is very similar to FoMT/MFoMT in plot and even in terms of many events, there are new events to experience. In particular, the Blue Heart Events of the girls, hitherto the stuff of legend for me, now can be experienced firsthand.

When a game is difficult, moreover, the rewards are greatly appreciated once they are obtained. I have to say that I HATED the Swim Contest on Opening Day. I knew that I would. I did not win it. If I had been able to save my game immediately before I entered the Beach area (as one could do in FoMT and MFoMT), I would have replayed it again and again until I won it, but in the circumstances, where one must replay the entire day, I couldn't be bothered. I'll win it next year...

The most important motivation in continuing Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, though, may be the emotional attachment to characters. There is a real poignancy to some of the stories about characters in HMBG that does not exist in HM DS or HM Cute DS. These stories are included in FoMT and MFoMT, but I had forgotten how they tug at the heartstrings.

For example, there is the story of little May and her longing for her mother, Joanna. I just experienced the event where Barley asks me to help him find her, when she is missing... Finding her on the pier at last after 6.00 p.m., she told me: 'I hope Mom comes home soon... Then I can live with her and Grandpa, the three of us.' When I take her home to Barley, he asks her: 'Are you lonely living with me?'

Both children in Mineral Town are rather lonely. Stu lives with his disabled grandmother, Ellen. She is very loving, but cannot leave the house (apart from one incident in FoMT/MFoMT, where she manages to get to Kai's restaurant for a meal). Elli, his sister, spends most of her time at the Clinic. Until you engineer a regular babysitting job for Carter that includes both children, they wander about aimlessly alone, wishing for a playmate.

The story of Aja is another rather poignant tale of loss and longing. She is the daughter of Duke and Manna who ran off to the city. The Winery in fact was named after her, but she has not been willing to return and does not communicate enough with her parents. Duke's heavy drinking apparently started after her departure... Manna's loneliness is based on her longing for her daughter's return. Harris, the local police constable, is in love with Aja, but it is an unrequited affair.

For characters like these and for the excitement that new heart events brings, I am determined to continue my lives in Harvest Moon PSP Boy and Girl. Unfortunately, I now must gird my loins for the ordeal of the Sumo Chicken Contest. I hated that Contest in FoMT/MFoMT, although by being able to save at the point of entering the Square, I could replay it until I won. It was possible in those games to win even with a Chicken with only a single heart... but one had to be persistent. Even chickens with maximum heart levels could behave idiotically, again and again... I daresay it will be the same in this game.

Power Berries in Spring in HM Boy and Girl

As in both Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town, Red Power Berries and a Mystic Berry exist in Harvest Moon Boy & Girl. The methods by which they are obtained are very similar, although not identical.

A few can be obtained very early in the game, before the middle of Spring, if one is determined. These are the Power Berries from the Magical Tree, the Harvest Goddess and from the Kappa. To gain the first, all one needs is an Axe and a fierce pretense that one intends to chop down the tree, despite the fact that a basic axe CANNOT fell a tree or even a stump in this game! The poor tree will beg for its life. If you stay your hand, you will gain a Power Berry.

The tree is situated in the wide meadow beyond the Lake where flowers proliferate. It is the place where you can find Basil and his family on Monday morning.

The second Power Berry and the Mystic Berry are obtained by the sacrifice of crops grown in your field. Any one who has dealt with the Kappa in Harvest Moon (or knows the old Japanese folklore) knows that he only responds to Cucumbers. In FoMT and MFoMT, you need quite a few Cucumbers in order to gain the Blue Power Berry. In HMB&G, you need only 3. Furthermore, you can offer them one after another on the same day. In this game, you will obtain a Mystic Berry. To me, it looked much like a Red Power Berry, but it does not show up in your Shipping Menu... As a matter of fact, I believe it is the equivalent of the Blue Power Berry in FoMT and MFoMT and that it strengthens you against Fatigue.

The Kappa, incidentally, lives in the Lake, as one may have guessed. You must throw your Cucumbers at a precise location or the offering will be ignored. You must stand on the shore SOUTH of the bridge at a place where the shoreline juts into the water. From that location, you will see two trees side by side in the northwest and a tree stump to the west of the trees. You must make the offerings after noon as well or he will not appear. (He is a late riser!) It is an amusing little series of events.

The first time, only the top of his head will appear above the water. The second time, he will emerge to the point where you can see his head. The third time, you will be able to see him in all his legendary glory... That was tongue in cheek. He actually is a very peculiar little chap, not glorious at all! (Amazingly, you can court and marry the Kappa in More Friends of Mineral Town.)

It is on this third occasion that he will give you the Mystic Berry as a sort of bribe not to bother him again.

To gain the Power Berry from the Harvest Goddess, you must offer 5 crops grown on your field at the Goddess Spring. Again, you can do this in a single day if you choose. She then will give you a Red Power Berry. Do this during daylight hours before 6.00 p.m.

The third Power Berry is found in the Spring Mine. You must dig for it with your Hoe. I found it on the 6th floor I believe, but its appearance is rather random. When you go to the Mine specifically to search for it, spend half an hour in the Hot Spring beforehand to restore any energy lost previously during the day.

Red Power Berries, as in FoMT and MFoMT, each give you a 10% boost to your Stamina.

N.B. In the early weeks of the game, you may wish to ship your Spring crops instead of using a total of eight of them to procure two magical Berries... It is up to you, of course. It may be helpful to have the extra strength provided by the Power Berries before the Opening Day contest at the Beach on 1 Summer.

Kai secretly visits Mineral Town in early Spring???

One of the joys of Harvest Moon is the way one can follow characters and the threads of a tale from game to game. Harvest Moon Boy & Girl may be very similar to 'Friends of Mineral Town' and 'More Friends of Mineral Town' in its characters, events and even much of its dialogue but there are some surprising differences and startling new events that delight the true Harvest Moon fan.

In the first week of gameplay, as a girl in HM Boy & Girl, I triggered an event with Cliff at the Church. Carter declared his intention to go to the Supermarket for supplies and asked me if I would watch the Church in his absence. Cliff, half-hidden in one of the pews, overheard and became extremely agitated at the thought of being left alone anywhere with a GIRL. He told Carter he would accompany him to the Supermarket. Both of them went out the door and I was left alone in the Church.

What possessed me to investigate the Confessional rather than simply walking out the door I never will know but I am very pleased that I did.

I was not terribly happy to be in the tiny dark room alone.

'Ugh, this is no fun...' I thought.

I had been there only a moment or two when Kai entered the Church.

Looking for Carter, he thought perhaps that the priest might be in the Confessional. Kai entered and began his own Confession!

I now had a choice either to tell him that I wasn't Carter or simply to go ahead and hear his confession. As dearly as I wished to hear his Confession, I knew that declaring myself was the right thing to do, so I told him that I wasn't Carter.

Outside the Confessional, he introduced himself. Carter and Cliff duly returned, putting an end to this intriguing encounter. Kai said he would look forward to renewing our acquaintance in Summer...

'The 7 Brothers That Live in the Forest'

The history of the group of Sprites in Mineral Town who later become the 'Legendary Harvest Sprites' of Harvest Moon DS and Harvest Moon Cute DS is to be found in a book in the library in Mineral Town in 'Harvest Moon Boy & Girl' for the PSP.

In my first Heart Event with Mary at the Library, I afterwards was able to explore the books in the shelves, both upstairs and downstairs. Among them was a seven-volume set entitled 'The 7 Brothers That Live in the Forest'. One by one, I read the books to the accompaniment of a lovely little song that appears to be reserved solely for this particular event. (In fact, I have noticed that HM Boy & Girl has many delightful little melodies, far more than I expected.

For the sake of those HM fans who may not have this particular game but who may be interested in the story of the 7 Harvest Sprites, I am including the text of all seven books here.
These books were not written by Basil... It looks like they were written a long time ago. They're titled 'The 7 Brothers in the Forest' volumes 1 through 7...

'The 7 Brothers That Live in the Forest - 1'

A long time ago, there were 7 little brothers who lived all apart from each other. The brothers were not very friendly with the villagers because they were small and the villagers seemed big and scary. Each brother had a different favourite colour and liked a different favourite thing, so they figured they would always live apart.

'The 7 Brothers in the Forest -2'

One day Chef, whose favourite colour is red and who likes to cook, realised he had a problem.
'I love to cook, but there's nobody to eat my delicious food...'

Hoggy, whose favourite colour is yellow and who loves to sleep, also had a problem.
'I love to sleep so much I don't want to get up and cook, but then I just get hungrier and hungrier.'

'The 7 Brothers in the Forest -3'

You can hear the sound. Hoo Hooooo, at night. Something sparks in the darkness.
'Ahhhh!' Shiver-shiver-shiver... Timid likes the colour green because it's easy for him to hide in the forest. But even then he's scared. You can hear the sound, Hoo Hooo, at night. Something sparks in the darkness.
'Hai, Yaaaa!
'Crumble-crumble-crumble...
Bold loves purple because he can hide in the shadows and use his battle cry 'Hai, Yaaa!' to defeat large enemies.

'The 7 Brothers in the Forest -4'
Stylish Aqua loves the colour light blue.
'Sigh... I'm running out of provisions fast. I like being stylish, but when I work I don't have the time...
'Ughhh... That's as much as I can do... Ahh!'
Staid is very serious and a hard worker. He likes the colour blue and everything he wears is blue, so he is easy to spot.

'Staid, said Aqua, 'let's live together. It's got to be better than living alone.'
'Aqua', said Satiad, 'what brings you here, and with a story like that?'
'Well you see,' said Aqua, 'whisper...whisper... whisper...

'The 7 Brothers in the Forest - 5'

'Ha ha ha, so that's it,' said Staid. 'Sure, let's live together. But what's the point of everything being clean if you're still hungry?'
'Even when your stomach is fully, your heart remains hungry if things are not clean,' replied Aqua.
'OK, so you do the chores like the cleaning and the laundry.'
'So, all I have to do is eat?' asked Hoggy.
'Yes, all you have to do is eat. I enjoy watching you eat my food and being told it is delicious,' replied Chef.
'I don't understand, but that's fine by me.'
'Ha ha ha, what a mess you are,' laughed Bold.
'Oh, it's you Bold,' squeaked Timid.
'Who did you think I was?'
'I don't know, but I'm scared of everything in the forest.'
'Well then, you should stay with me. I 'm not afraid of anything.'
'OK, if that's what we do...'
'If we're going to live together...'
'We'll need a bigger house...'
'Let's leave the forest for a bit...'

'The 7 Brothers in the Forest -6'
So Chef and Hoggy, Staid & Aqua and Timid and Bold all decided to leave the forest for a while. The first one to find the house was Staid.
'Hey, I found a house that's just right for us.'
'Yes, it's a lot smaller than a human house, but it's just the right size for us.'
'But there's a light on inside.'
'Let's go in.'
'Hey, wait... Aqua'
... Crash!
'Oh...'

'The 7 Brothers in the Forest -7'
'Hello brother, long time no see.'
There in the house was the youngest brother, Nappy.
'Oh, it's you Nappy. You surprised me. How did you get this house?'
'The people of the village built it for me.'
'What?'
'I always thought there'd be a time when we would all live together, so I had them make 7 beds.'
'What made you think that?'
'Because look, all of you are here.'
'What?'
When Staid and Aqua turned around, they saw the rest of their brothers walking toward the house.

FINIS

Harvest Moon Boy & Girl for PSP

I suspected that if I inserted my copy of HM Boy & Girl into the PSP, I would not be able to take a 'quick look' at it but would become completely immersed in the game... Today, after receiving yet another email from a player asking if I had written a guide for the game, I recalled my old promise to Shaggy and my own desires, so often suppressed in the past couple of months, to play this game...

There are those who view games like this with disdain. Sometimes dismissed as 'port' games, it amazes me that individuals who never played the ORIGINAL would be in any position to judge a game reborn in a new guise.

The old 'Back to Nature' game for the PS1 often was judged to be one of the greatest Harvest Moon games ever made. In fact, there are those who consider it one of the greatest games in the world. When this game was reborn as Harvest Moon Boy & Girl for the PSP, I for one was thrilled. I never dreamed that almost half a year would pass before I had a chance to play it.

The original 'Back to Nature' was made both in a boy and in a girl version in Japan. The girl version never made it to the States. Obviously, Harvest Moon Boy & Girl, in allowing a player to choose to be either a male or a female, incorporates both the original boy and girl versions of 'Back to Nature' in a single game.

'Back to Nature' was the predecessor of 'Friends of Mineral Town'. Most of the characters are the same in both games and many of the events are the same. There are a few small differences in terms of Festivals, and other aspects of the game, including events, but for the most part, the games are similar enough to allow a player who is familiar with one to play the other without much trouble.

Nonetheless, despite the fact that I played both Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town many times, 'Harvest Moon Boy & Girl' is both new and fresh to me.

As I began the game, I was conscious of two different responses. On the one hand, I found myself delighted to walk familiar paths and meet old friends again... at the same time, it WAS new and I enjoyed the novelty of the game.

I decided to play as a girl, even though in the original girl version of 'Back to Nature', the game ends when you marry. I am not certain yet if that is true here as well, but I would like to experience the game both as a girl and as a boy in any case.

Within the first two days of gameplay, I had experienced many events and had acquired a dog and a horse. I had experienced events involving most of the bachelors, both 'heart' and 'rival' heart events according to FoMT/MFoMT definitions.

There is an aspect to some events in HM Boy & Girl that does not exist in FoMT/MFoMT or HM DS/HM Cute DS. You can enter a screen and realise that you have entered an event situation without losing control of your character. You then must find a character on the screen and initiate a conversation with him/her in order to allow the event to progress further. One way of knowing that you have entered at type of event situation is by making certain that the time always is displayed on the screen. When the time box disappears, inevitably this signifies an event is occurring.

The situation is complicated a little in B & G because there ARE events in the game that do take control of your character and where the time continues to be displayed in the right top corner of the screen! It is altogether fascinating, in fact, how many events of different kinds have been included in this game.

In other Harvest Moon games, events ordinarily proceed automatically and control over your character's physical actions is taken from you until the event has ended. This sort of event occurs in Boy & Girl as well.

Another element of B&G that was unexpected was the fact that I was able to pick up a wild animal I met in the forest and carry it all the way home! I found a charming little squirrel on the path near the Goddess Spring. I picked it up in my arms, carried it home and actually took it into my house... Whether or not it will be there when I return or once I have slept through the night is another matter. It will be interesting to see.

A new rather amusing event in this game is the first meeting with Won. In B&G, it actually is a series of little events, wherein Harris chases him from screen to screen and you encounter Won each time directly after you have spoken to Harris and sent him off to Won's previous location.

Ultimately, Harris and Won meet and after Harris fails to find anything suspicious in Won's bag, he offers to buy something from the peddler by way of apology. Won offers him... guess what??? One of his SUGDW Apples for 500G! Does that sound familiar?

The photograph shows my character holding a wild squirrel in her farmhouse.

Incidentally, I hope to have some preliminary guides published at IGN tomorrow afternoon for this game... Much of the information from FoMT and MFoMT can be used but I want to confirm everything in my own gameplay before I add it to the new guides.

Forgotten Marriage Vows...

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I almost forgot that I had neglected to go through the actual marriage ceremonies with both Griffin and Gustafa after I brought them to red heart in order to be able to record successful marriage proposals with each of the Valley bachelors. I had gone through the weddings with Carter, Marlin and Rock, but it is a rather time-consuming process and emotionally stressful as well. I put it on hold temporarily after doing three in a row, but then it slipped my mind that I never had experienced marital bliss either with Griffin or with Gustafa.

I had begun the process of lowering their heart levels in the 2nd Spring in order to be able to trigger the rival heart events before I remembered! Actually, lowering heart levels is a little more tricky in Cute than it is in the original HM DS, particularly if you still are trying to RAISE Mineral Town bachelor levels. If you recall, changing your outfit daily will raise every bachelor's AP by 2000 points. This is great when you are courting a bachelor but rather frustrating when you are trying to persuade him to go for your rival instead!

I had lowered both Gustafa's and Griffin's level to orange when I realised I still hadn't experienced weddings with either. I returned to Griffin, blue feather in hand and a gift that would bring him up again to red, only to discover he HAD returned to red heart level without any active encouragement from me. It was because I had changed my clothes, not for him but for the Mineral Town bachelors!
The same situation existed with respect to Gustafa when I visited him later. He had bounced right back up to red heart level overnight...

In any case, experiencing marriage with Griffin was very positive and quite touching. I am inclined to marry him for real someday... I have added the full wedding event to my Courtship Guide as well as his dialogue after marriage, but I will share the comment that touched me personally.

When you are married to Griffin and speak to him after noon, he will tell you: 'Once I started my family, it feels like I found my reason for living. That's what marriage does. No, it's probably because I married you.'

Even Skye could not have said anything sweeter... Nevertheless, I reloaded to my pre-marital state and went through the entire Gustafa proposal event again in order to experience marriage to him.

Having been pleasantly surprised by Griffin's romantic sensitivity, I began to hope that my negative prejudice against Gustafa was equally misplaced. I expected music to figure into the scene and indeed he broke into song both at the wedding and at the table after we found ourselves together at the farmhouse.

He did say one thing that I found rather satisfying, simply because it was so apt. When he asked me to choose a nickname, I typed 'Muse', thinking that this would fit Gustafa well. In fact, he responded with great enthusiasm: 'Oh, that's good! From now on, I'll call you Muse!' Although I realise he would have given the same response even if I had chosen something awful or cruel like 'Rubbishmusic lover', a part of me felt he really did appreciate my gesture.

I do have to say though that Gustafa remains as egocentric after marriage as he was as a bachelor. He does not begin badly in the afternoon when he remarks that: 'The atmosphere influences music composing.'

My hopes rose a little there, thinking he would tell me that my presence created the greatest atmosphere and that I was his Muse indeed. But no! All he said was: 'The scenery here is best for composing music. This is great.'

This is one man I don't wish to marry in ANY of my games, sadly. Of all the bachelors, he is the only one that I find truly off-putting. It is not so much his appearance, although I do find him singularly unappealing. It is his personality, which reminds me of too many artists I have known personally. It is as though his humanity is funneled into his music and nothing is left for real interactions with other people. If I recall all his events, there have been moments when he said something flattering to Nami or to me, but on the whole, he is too self-centred for my taste.

Requiring myself to experience all these marriages without saving the results is more stressful and unpleasant than people may realise, chiefly because I have to get through a week of waiting before the wedding will occur. The first time, I waited until Popuri's Poultry Shop and Yodel's Farm opened to sell off all my animals and then simply slept through the remaining days until the wedding. Selling all my animals is time-consuming though, so the next time I simply slept through the days, ignoring the animals. THAT was truly horrid, as each morning, I would be forced to deal with a disappointed and rather irate Harvest Sprite who would inform me that Animals had become 'sick'. Ultimately I would be visited by Takakura and the funeral music would play as he lectured me about my neglect...

My underlying fear that I would save my game absentmindedly, depriving myself of a chance to marry Skye as well as shackling myself for life with some one like Gustafa was compounded by the fear of having to live with the results of killing off my animals by sleeping through the week...

Fortunately, my trial has ended, for the time being. I have reloaded back to my single state, with all weddings recorded fully in my Courtship and Marriage Guide.

I still have to go through the Mineral Town weddings, of course. So much for my hopes of marrying Skye this Spring! It probably will be Summer before I have all four heart events for each of the Mineral Town bachelors under my belt. At least I can get down to serious use of Weapons of Hate now though... and bring my rivals closer to marriage with the objects of their desire.

Mind you, it is rather sad to spend so much time, energy and so many good ingredients fixing dishes that individuals detest! It would be a lot less expensive and labour-intensive simply to make the rounds each morning with Bird Feed in hand. Every Valley bachelor HATES a gift of Bird seed, although it lowers AP only by 800 points rather than 5000. With the 2000 point bonus of changing clothing each night, though, a reduction of 800 points per day becomes rather meaningless... If I do NOT opt to change my clothing, however, it will take much longer to bring the Mineral Town bachelors to yellow heart. At least with the clothing change combined with a Most Favourite Item, I can raise a Mineral Town bachelor a full level now each time he visits the Valley...

More Sympathy for poor Rick

In all my excitement at having experienced the gift-giving ceremony of the Spring Thanksgiving event with each one of the Valley bachelors, I forgot that I could not marry Skye yet if I wished to complete all the Mineral Town heart events... My brief moment of elation now has been crushed by the weight of my duty to write a COMPLETE guide...

Just joking about that, because in fact, every event has some value and I love experiencing as many events as possible in any Harvest Moon game. I therefore put my feelings for Skye in storage and went on to experience life as a single girl, triggering Rick's 3rd Heart Event on a rainy Saturday...

Actually, I am very glad I did. One gets a sense that Rick is pushy and interfering, that he lacks a sufficient sense of moral support for his sister Popuri, that SHE in fact is the victim of his officious meddling for the most part... until one experiences Rick's Blue Heart Event in Cute.

In More Friends of Mineral Town, one realises that poor Rick is burdened by too much responsibility at too early an age. I believe it is in his fourth heart event there that he lets his hair down a little, figuratively speaking, and is able to enjoy a carefree evening with you at Doug's Inn. His enthusiasm and appreciation of your sense of humour there is quite touching...

Well, if you have not played More Friends of Mineral Town, you probably will find little to like in Rick's behaviour in Forget-Me-Not Valley until you experience his Third Heart Event. After all, most of his dialogue is filled with anger against Kai and his determination to supervise Popuri's behaviour at every turn.

The Blue Heart Event begins no differently. Ruby has expressed an intention of cooking an egg dish for Rick. It is interesting that the old adage of 'bringing coals to Newcastle' does not apply either to Popuri or Rick. Although they LIVE at a Poultry Farm, both of them love eggs and any dish made with eggs. Rick's Most Favourite is a Spa Egg and Popuri's Most Favourite dish is Omelet Rice.

Rick suggests that you join him for dinner and you greet his idea with pleasure. Ruby is delighted to accommodate an extra guest. She is in the process of beginning to prepare the meal when Popuri arrives on the scene.

Ruby tells Popuri that she is making her favourite dish for dinner without stipulating the dish. Those of us who have courted Popuri in the original HM DS know that it is Omelet Rice that is on the menu...

Popuri immediately offers to help cook the meal. Rick is very upset by this turn of events and proceeds to tell you that the dinner will be ruined by his sister's participation, that she will make many mistakes, correct none of them and ultimately serve a nightmare... so much for his hopes of enjoying one of Ruby's delights!

At this point, you may be rather disgusted with him for being such a killjoy and having such a low opinion of his sister. Wait, though...

Ruby will be impressed by Popuri's thoughtfulness in offering to help and will welcome her with open arms. As they prepare the meal, however, Popuri will prove Rick's fears to have been well-founded as she first adds too much spice, then vegetables that have not been cooked properly and finally refuses even to taste the dish before serving it, repeating again and again that everything is 'fine'...

When you eat your food, you will be poisoned by it, although you will not pass out, nor will you be rushed to Dr. Hardy for any antidote. It does not appear to have any lasting negative effects either on SR or FR... Even so, the poison icon will appear above your head...

You say nothing of this and Popuri is absolutely oblivious to the result of her carelessness. Furthermore, Ruby herself appears to think that all is well.

Outside the door of the kitchen, Rick will ask you if you have been affected badly by the food. When you attempt to reassure him, he correctly will assume that it is kindness alone that motivates you. He will thank you for being so considerate and thoughtful towards Popuri and confess that he cares greatly about his sister.

It is an event that truly offers a little window to Rick's soul...

You do have a choice during the event, after Rick's pronouncements of doom and gloom, to leave... If you choose this option, you will speed out of the room, sparing yourself a poisoning, but Rick's heart level will drop to purple again and he will be hurt and perplexed by your actions, despite the fact that he did everything in his power to warn you against Popuri's cooking!

My own question is: how could Ruby not have tasted the food herself and how could she have allowed it to be served if it actually had the power to poison a guest???
Never mind, though. The event serves its purpose which is to demonstrate that Rick, far from being the insensitive lout he appears sometimes, actually knows his sister better than we realise and is acting to protect her from her worst excesses...

There is another aspect to this event that deserves a quick mention. It emphasises the importance of Cooking in Harvest Moon. So many Harvest Moon games include very detailed and rich 'recipes' or cookbooks. Very often, the 'Most Favourite' Gift for an individual will be a cooked item. Many events focus on cooking or eating. There are many Festivals in Harvest Moon that are centred on food. The Cooking Contest in FoMT/MFoMT, Rune Factory and Harvest Moon DS/Cute DS is an example, but it is not the only Festival that focuses on food. There are Egg Festivals in other Harvest Moon games, including Magical Melody. An Innocent Life has a number of Festivals that require your character to provide specific crops or ingredients, and indeed, the Christmas Festival involves the preparation of a special Cake. In many Harvest Moon games, the Year End and New Year Festivals are your sole opportunity to acquire special ingredients needed to complete your Cookbook... You are not required to complete your Cookbook in Harvest Moon games but it is an enjoyable and sometimes challenging goal.