Although it is a good idea to attend all Festivals, there are Festivals that
are Romantic in nature. The first of these is the Spring Thanksgiving on 14
Spring. Players familiar with FoMT and MFoMT will recall the Spring and Winter
Thanksgiving Festivals from those games. Unfortunately, giving a girl the
appropriate gift in Harvest Moon DS is not as simple! In FoMT/MFoMT, a bar of
chocolate would suffice, even though the traditional gift was Cookies. In HM
DS, any gift apart from Cookies simply will not be recognised on that day as a
Spring Thanksgiving offering.
For those who are unfamiliar with Harvest Moon Thanksgiving Festivals, a brief
explanation may be in order. They are the HM equivalent, not of 'Thanksgiving'
but of St. Valentine's Day. The main difference is that the Festival is
gender-specific in Harvest Moon, divided into two separate days, one for the
girls and one for the boys. On the occasion of the Spring Thanksgiving
Festival, on 14 Spring, boys are expected to give Cookies to any girls they
like. On the occasion of the Winter Thanksgiving Festival, it is the turn of
the girls to give boys Chocolate Cake.
Spring Thanksgiving Festival
In your first Spring, you will not have a Kitchen and thus be unable to give
any Spring Thanksgiving gifts. By your second year, however, you should be
able to make and give Cookies to every eligible girl in the game. Here is the
recipe:
Cookies: Egg, Flour and Butter baked in an Oven.
Butter: Milk churned in a Mixer
You can give Cookies to any one you like, but it is only the eligible girls who
will recognise it as a Thanksgiving gift and only the eligible girls will gain
1000 AP if you present them with Cookies on this day. Even Karen from Mineral
Town, who ordinarily loathes sweets, will accept Cookies graciously on the
occasion of the Spring Thanksgiving. There is no increase in FP, by the way,
only the 1000 AP increase.
Incidentally, there is no jealousy between girls in Harvest Moon. You will not
lose points with one girl by courting another. You can raise every girl's
heart level to deepest red and suffer no ill consequences.
Here are the responses of the eligible girls:
Celia: Oh, a thank you gift? Thank you. But you didn't need to do that...
Flora: Thank you. You didn't need to go to the trouble of a return gift. But
I'm happy.
Lumina: Thank you very much. I didn't think I'd receive a return gift, so I'm
very happy!
Muffy; Hee hee. I'm happy. But you didn't have to go out of your way.
Nami: Thanks... You really didn't need to. I don't mean it in a bad way.
Leia: Oh!! A Thanksgiving present? Thank you.
Witch Princess: A Cookie? Oh, thanksgiving? Thank you. You'll get a thank
you gift.
Harvest Goddess: Oh my, it's Freyr, isn't it? I'm glad you came. I will
receive your offering. Thank you. Hmm? These are Cookies. Oh, it's Spring
Thanksgiving. Thank you. Perhaps I'll give presents, too.
Popuri: Wow, thank you. But is it alright? I didn't give you anything at the
Winter Thanksgiving.'
Even after you are married, you can continue to give Cookies as a Spring
Thanksgiving gift to the girls in the Valley. Their responses, if they are
married as well, follow:
Celia: Th... thank you. I'll eat it and make sure Marlin doesn't see it. If he
sees it, he'll complain.
Karen: What... it's alright? At Winter Thanksgiving, I didn't give you
anything... Thank you. I'll savour every bite.
Nami: 'Ha ha ha ha ha. Thanks. I'll eat it later.
Flora outside the Sprite Tree at 1.00 p.m, for Cookies: What? I'm a married
woman. But, I accept it with gratitude.
Muffy at the Goddess Pond; Oh, Cookies. Thank you. I need to get some from my
husband, Griffin.
Lumina: Thank you very much. I'm happy you do things like this after we're married.
Fireworks Festival
The second Romantic Festival is the Fireworks Festival on 24 Summer. Between
6.00 p.m. and 9.00 p.m., the two twins, Kassey and Patrick, will preside over a
Fireworks Show at the Beach. Go to the Beach and you will find every girl
there. If you have connected your GBA FoMT or MFoMT to your DS game, you will
find all the girls from Mineral Town there as well. If a girl is at green
heart level or higher, she will invite you to watch the fireworks with her.
You have the option to Accept or Decline. Each girl at the appropriate heart
level will ask you until you accept an invitation. If no girl is at a high
enough heart level, you can enjoy the show with the crowd, sandwiched between
the two twins.
Winter Thanksgiving Festival
The third Romantic Festival in Harvest Moon DS is the Winter Thanksgiving,
which occurs on 14 Winter. As previously stated, this is the day when girls
give Chocolate Cake to the boys they like. You need to leave your house at
specific times in order to receive the gifts and you will receive visits only
from girls whose heart levels are at Purple or higher. The schedule is as follows:
Lumina: visits from 6.00 a.m. to 7.00 a.m.
Celia: visits from 8.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m.
Flora: visits from 10.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.
Muffy: visits from 12.00 noon to 1.00 p.m.
Nami: visits from 2.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m.
The 'magical girls' will not bring gifts on this occasion. If the girl's heart
level is Orange or Red, she will bring Chocolate Cake. If it is lower than
that, she will bring a piece of chocolate.
If you are married, your spouse will smuggle a piece of Chocolate Cake into
your rucksack in the middle of the night. This occurs in FoMT and MFoMT as well.
Starry Night Festival
Finally, there is the Starry Night Festival on 24 Winter. The Festival is
celebrated at 6.00 p.m. and when it involves an ordinary girl, occurs at the
house of the girl with whom you have agreed to spend the Festival. In Celia's
case, it occurs at Vesta's house. In Flora's case, it occurs in the Tent. If
you agree to spend the evening with Lumina, you will go to the Villa. Muffy
will invite you to the Blue Bar and Nami will invite you to the Inner Inn. Any
of the magical girls will spend the Starry Night Festival with you if you set
up the engagement with any of them prior to the event. If you accept a
magical girl's invitation, she will come to your house at 6.00 p.m. The text
of each Starry Night Event is given in a section below. It is not as truly
Romantic an occasion as it is in FoMT or MFoMT. In particular, in MFoMT, the
bachelor will give you a Ring! In this game, you will find your rival present
at the event, and it is more of a family occasion than a romantic one. Even
so, it is an opportunity to become more intimate with the girl of your dreams
and her family.
XXII. Special Events
As in all Harvest Moon games, there are many special events that occur at
specific locations at certain times or days with specific individuals. In many
cases, the event will occur only when you have fulfilled certain requirements.
In this game, most special events require a specific Friendship Level on the
part of the individuals involved in the event. That level either will be 100
FP or 200 FP. Weather can play a part in triggering an event. Other events
are seasonal. Where an event involves an individual who is present in the
Valley only in a specific season, you can experience the event only in that
season. For example, events that involve Kai must be experienced in Summer and
all events that involve Mukumuku must be experienced in Winter.
Unlike FoMT or MFoMT, some events that are not heart events or rival heart
events actually appear to be randomly programmed into the game once all
requirements are met. In other words, even when you have met the requirements
and are at the right place at the right time, the event may not occur. Do not
despair. Be patient and you will experience the event at some point.
Some events are vital in terms of making any progress in the game. Others
simply enrich your Harvest Moon experience. The events given below are some of
those that 'unlock' specific objects or goals.
Rescuing the Harvest Goddess
The rescue of the Harvest Goddess is one of the primary goals in this game. If
you do not rescue her, you will be unable to marry. The requirement for her
rescue is that you rescue 60 Sprites. When you have rescued the 60th Sprite,
the Harvest Goddess will appear and tell you to meet her at the Spring. From
that point onward, you can meet her at the Goddess Pond by throwing an offering
into the pond. Her favourite offering is Strawberries.
If you give her gifts on a regular basis, you will be able to play the Counting
Game with her from time to time. The reward, if you win, is a random number of
(random) seeds, but she will give you NOTHING if you have a tool in your tool slot!
Thomas' Request
On 2 Winter each year, Thomas will come to the door of your farmhouse with a
request. Having become involved in a wager with the mayor of a neighbouring
village, he needs an item that only you can supply. There are no negative
consequences if you do not have the item or refuse to give it to him, but you
will obtain a piece of Golden Lumber from Thomas if you give him the item he
needs.
Having made the request at 6.00 a.m., he will return at 5.00 p.m. on the same
day. Give him the item as he stands next to the Shipping Container to obtain
your Golden Lumber. Incidentally, the first time that you do this, your action
will rescue a Harvest Sprite.
Tip: Save your game BEFORE you leave the house on the morning of 2 Winter. If
you do not have the item that Thomas needs, simply reload your game and try
again. The item is random and can be anything from Black Grass to a Bracelet,
a Golden Egg or even Golden Lumber.
The same event occurs in FoMT and MFoMT except that, in Mineral Town, Zack
rather than Thomas is in charge of shipping. In those games, Thomas therefore
must make a special trip back to the farmhouse at 7.00 p.m. to fetch the item
he needs.
The Yule Stocking
As in FoMT and MFoMT, 25 Winter is the Starry Festival Day, the Harvest Moon
equivalent of the Yule Festival. If you wish to receive a visit and gift from
Santa, you must have a Yule Stocking. As in FoMT and MFoMT, this stocking
cannot be purchased anywhere. It is a gift from one of the eldest inhabitants
of the village. In FoMT and MFoMT, it is Ellen who must knit the stocking for
you. In this game, it is Nina.
In order to persuade Nina to knit a stocking for you, you must raise her
Friendship level to 200 FP. Having done that, you must give her a ball of yarn
on any day in Winter to experience the Stocking Event. In FoMT and MFoMT, it
takes Ellen all day to knit your stocking 'with lightning speed' and the event
will end at 6.00 p.m. at your farmhouse. In this game, Nina manages to knit it
in no time at all!
You then will find the stocking hanging from its hook on the wall of your
farmhouse where it will hang forevermore.
Incidentally, those players who are familiar with A Wonderful Life or Another
Wonderful Life will be aware of the fact that Nina does die in this game. In
fact, her tombstone is situated next to the house on the little hill even at
the beginning of the game. It therefore is a good idea to befriend her as
quickly as possible to obtain the stocking BEFORE she dies! She only dies
after you have a child. The game then advances by three years. When you begin
to play again, your child will be a toddler and Nina will have died in the
interim.
Even if she does die before she has been able to give the stocking to you, all
is not lost. If you befriend Galen and raise his friendship level to 200 FP
after Nina is dead, you will experience a little event with him wherein he will
tell you that he found a stocking that Nina had made for you but which she
never had an opportunity to give to you. He then will give you the stocking
himself.
Starry Night Festival
The Starry Night Festival occurs on 24 Winter but in order to experience it,
you must speak to a girl with a heart level above blue on the previous day. On
23 Winter, the first girl to whom you speak with Blue heart or above will
invite you to spend the Starry Night Festival with her. You will have the
option to accept or to decline the invitation. If you wish to spend the
Festival with a different girl, simply decline and speak to the girl with whom
you wish to spend the Starry Night. After accepting her invitation, you must
be at the designated location on 24 Winter at 6.00 p.m. or later. You can
arrive as late as 11.50 p.m. but after midnight, you no longer will be able to
experience the event. In the case of the ordinary eligible Valley girls, you
will spend the Starry Night Festival at their homes.
Mineral Town girls will not spend the Starry Night Festival with you, nor will
the Harvest Goddess. The other magical girls will spend it with you at your
house. You need to go home after 6.00 p.m. but before midnight, and then
attempt to leave your house in order to trigger the event.
The Starry Night is considered a holiday so all doors will be locked on 24
Winter and any Sprite Teams you have hired will not work on that day. The one
door that will be unlocked (apart from your own) will be the house where you
have been invited to spend the Festival. As previously stated, in the case of
any of the 'magical girls',, the event will occur at your own farmhouse if you
exit your home between 6.00 p.m. and midnight.
Starry Day Yule Stocking:
25 Winter is the Starry Day. Provided you go to bed before midnight and have a
stocking hanging from the hook on your wall, you will experience a visit from
Thomas as Santa's agent and he will fill your stocking with a random gem. Save
your game as usual before you leap into bed. If you do not like the gift he
has brought, reload your game and keep trying until you obtain the gem you like
best!
Thomas: ..............Bang!! Ou ou ou... Sneaking into a person's house takes
some work... Good, the stockings are hanging. So which is this year's
present? It's dark. I can't see. Which is it? Was it this one?
.................... I'll make it this one.
N.B. For details on obtaining the Stocking, please see the section above
entitled 'The Yule Stocking', giving the requirements for experiencing the event.
Keira the Sleeping Beauty
Two of the 'Magical Girls' in this game will not be accessible to you until you
have met specific requirements. Keira the Sleeping Beauty is one of these. In
order to meet Keira, you must descend to the 255th floor of the 3rd Mine and
defeat all the Dark Creatures on that floor. The barrier in front of Keira's
chamber then will crumble and you will be able to enter her bedchamber.
Incidentally, if Keira requests 'Curry Rice' when you first encounter her in
her sleeping chamber, she will not be satisfied even by the 'best' recipe of
ordinary Curry Rice. Take 'Finest Curry' to her and she will pronounce herself
satisfied. After that, continue to visit her, giving her items that make her
'happy', until she specifically requests another item at purple heart level.
Golden Lumber is her 'Most Favourite' and you either can purchase it from Gotz
or obtain 1 piece each year on 2nd Winter from Thomas. All four Suns as well
as any Gem will make her happy, however, and raise her AP by 500 and her FP by 9.
The item she requests at Purple Heart Level may be a 'drink'. The Best Relax
Tea will satisfy her. After that, in her next Event, she will request a random
gem. Bring the gem she requests to satisfy her.
When you give an item to Keira and her heart is raised to the next level by it,
simply leave the chamber and return to it immediately to activate her next
heart event. Whenever you give the requested item that 'satisfies' her, the
level of her AP will be increased by 5000. It really is rather easy to raise
Keira's heart level. The energy involved in reaching the 255th floor of the
Third Mine day after day is the most difficult part of her courtship.
N.B. Keira's AP and FP are raised with every visit that you make, even if you
do not give her a gift. By visiting her, her AP increases by 200 points and
her FP increases by 5. This is not a huge increase, but it helps!
Leia the Mermaid
Leia the Mermaid is the other magical girl who will not be accessible to you at
the start of the game. The requirements for meeting her are not as arduous as
those for Keira. In order to meet Leia, you must raise Daryl's Friendship
level to 100 FP. After doing so, you will find the trapdoor leading to his
basement unlocked. Simply enter the basement in order to meet the lovely Mermaid.
The Mermaid will return to the sea when her mother needs her, but you will be
able to find her after that on the beach at midnight on Tuesdays.
If you can catch the Bottle at the beach and you have Leia at a high heart
level, you can experience her 4th heart event by taking the bottle to Daryl's
house. (A letter from her mother is in the bottle.) At the end of this event,
she will return to the sea, but you will have the opportunity to meet her
again. If you do not experience this event, she may return to the sea in your
second Autumn when she receives a letter from her mother.
N.B. You cannot 'catch' the bottle if you use a Cursed, Blessed or Mythic
Fishing rod FULLY CHARGED. You must use either a Mystrile Fishing Rod or a rod
of a higher upgrade charged only to Mystrile level. You can gauge the charge
of any tool by its effect on your character. When a tool is charged to
Mystrile, your character's face will turn red and you will see a little circle
over his face. Any higher charge will prevent you from catching the Message in
the Bottle!
Witch Princess Events
Whenever you fulfill any requirement for marriage to the Witch Princess, you
will receive a little gift of rubbish from her. You will see her face move
quickly across your screen with the little 'ching' that characterises a Farming
Degree point and she will make a speech and give you her gift. For example,
when I gave her a total of 100 gifts, she said: 'Watch out! Here I am! The
number of presents you gave me exceeds hundred! Congratulations! To
commemorate this event I think that I'll give you a present! The item would
have been of no use anyway. You probably would have thrown it away. See you
around!'
Other incidents that will be rewarded with her 'gift' are littering and
attempting to leave the Valley. In point of fact, you need not litter in order
to fulfil her littering requirement. Dropping an egg into the incubator will
count the same as dropping an item on the ground for the purpose of the Witch
Princess' requirement. This act, unlike true littering, will not decrease AP
or FP in other inhabitants of the Valley.
Sprite Dance Party
Whenever you rescue the 12th and final member of any labourer Sprite Team, you
have the opportunity to attend a special Harvest Sprites event at night. If it
is a sunny day, you need to exit your house after 10.00 p.m. to experience the
event. When you do, you will be accosted by two Sprites from the team who will
invite you to a special Dance Party in appreciation of your acts in rescuing
the entire team. They will transport you magically to a field where you will
dance all night with the Team. You will regain control of your actions at 6.00
a.m. the next morning.
If, however, it is raining or snowing on the day when you rescue the final
member of the Team, the party will not occur until the weather is fine again.
On the first sunny day, therefore, exit your farmhouse after 10.00 p.m. to
experience the invitation to the Dance Party.
The Hot Spring
Even if you do not intend to marry a certain girl, it is a good idea to
experience her heart events as it enriches the game as well as giving you
points towards your Farming Degree. In one case, however, it is vital to
experience a heart event if you wish to have access to a Hot Spring early in
this game before the birth of your child.
It is during Flora's 3rd Heart Event that the first Hot Spring is unlocked.
You therefore need to raise Flora's heart level to blue and experience her
first two heart events if you wish to gain access to a Hot Spring before you
have a child. If you do not experience Flora's heart event, the Hot Spring
will be unlocked AFTER you have a child.
There are two Hot Springs in the Valley. The second one is unlocked simply by
using the first 100 times.
Your Wedding:
As the Church is in Mineral Town, weddings in the Valley are celebrated on the
Beach. All inhabitants of the Valley attend. Even Van makes a special trip to
be at your nuptials. None of the citizens of Mineral Town attend, however.
Thomas officiates and the Harvest Goddess supervises the tolling of the bells.
After your wedding, the credits will roll. You then will resume the game as a
married man on the morning after your wedding.
Your wedding will occur precisely one week after your marriage proposal has
been accepted. The only exception to this is if the day falls upon a Festival,
in which case, your wedding will occur a day later.
Rival Weddings:
No rival can marry an eligible girl until the 4th year, as the 4th and final
Rival Heart Event cannot be experienced before the fourth year. After the
Fourth Rival Heart Event occurs, the couple will marry a week later. The groom
will arrive at your door on the day of the wedding to insist that you attend.
All rival weddings are held at the beach and the entire village will congregate
there to witness the happy occasion. A rival wedding will take an entire day
and you will not regain control of your character until the next morning.
If you experience the Fourth Rival Heart Event for two different girls on the
same day, their weddings will follow one another in quick succession.
The Circus is Coming to Town
Unlike A Wonderful Life and Another Wonderful Life, you need not marry or have
a child in this game. If you do not have a child, however, the circus will not
come to the Valley. It is only when you have a child that Barney and his
Circus will come to Forget-Me-Not Valley. There are other events in this game
that will occur only if you have a child.
Oddly enough, although the character who runs the Circus is named Barney, he
refers to himself in conversation as 'Burney' and to the circus as 'Burney's
Circus'. His wife and fellow performer, Mimi, does likewise. When they first
arrive in the Valley, they will tell you that the circus has been postponed
because all the other performers ran away. They need to find some one to help
out...