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• General/
• Animal Parade/
• Loactions|World Mechanics|Weather

_________________________________________________________________________ | / / | / Locations / | / / |/_________________________________________________________________________/ | | There are lots of ways you could mentally divide up the game world. The | game divides it into four districts, though they don't quite encompass | everything. | |\__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Farmlands \ | \ | The Farmlands is the home to your farm, and... well, little else. Yes, you | get your own entire district, mostly because the load times for your | animals and such are going to increase the time enough. | | There's nothing else really notable in The Farmlands; it actually feels a | little barren. There are two other areas with tillable soil that you can | buy from the Mayor once you have enough money, but that's about it. | |\________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Harmonica Town District \ | \ | To the West of your farm and The Farmlands is Harmonica Town District. The | town is the hub for local activity, and the logical center of commerce for | the game world. The majority of the game's shops are in Harmonica Town, | although they're mostly the less important towns: it houses Brass Bar, | Sonata Tailoring, Fishery, Simon's Studio, Choral Clinic, Town Hall and | Ocarina Inn, while stores like the Blacksmith's, Carpenter's, Ranch and | Farm are elsewhere. | | You'll find that almost half the villagers live in this area, so you'll be | frequenting here a lot. Interestingly, rather than shops having their own | individual days off, every town in a single district closes on the same | day. In Harmonica Town, it's Sunday. | | Harmonica Town also connects to the Celesta Church area, which is where | most events will take place. The Fishery also grants access to another area | after you progress a bit in the plotline: Toucan Island. | |\______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Toucan Island \ | \ | Toucan Island won't be available until a bit later in the game, but it fits | logically in here. Toucan Island is an island off the coast of Harmonica | Town, only accessible by boat. It's the home of an inn and two characters, | Sue and Samson. Ocarina Inn mirrors the inn in Harmonica Town: it sells | dishes and has rooms and beds that for whatever reason you're never allowed | to rent. | | Toucan Island is also the only place you can get certain items (like | Bananas, Coconuts and Pineapples) and provides some unique fish. | Unfortunately, trips to the island are no longer free: they cost a whopping | 400G! But fortunately you won't need to make frequent trips unless you want | to befriend Sue and Samson for some reason. | | And if you're trying to wrap your head around the fact that Toucan Island | was in Tree of Tranquility and looked pretty much the same, but yet all the | villagers from Tree of Tranquility now live in Harmonica Town with no | reference to having moved... yeah, you're not alone. We'll file that away | alongside "your child moved to a different island where every single person | looks exactly like the people on their original island". | |\____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Garmon Mine District \ | \ | On the North side of The Farmlands is the Garmon Mine District. Here you'll | find some more significant shops: the Carpenter's, where you can get home | extensions and barn/coop upgrades; the Blacksmith's, where you can upgrade | your tools; and the General Store, where you can buy other useful things. | The shops in this district close on Thursdays. | | In case it wasn't perfectly obvious, Garmon Mine District is also where you | can access -- brace yourself -- Garmon Mine. Initially you'll only be able | to access one part of the mine, but you'll unlock the other one later. | | Garmon Mine District ends up being pretty crucial, as most of the | exceedingly plot-relevant areas are accessible through here. Eventually | you'll need to come here to descend and ascend Garmon Mine various times. | You'll also find the Goddess's Pond down a path by the Carpenter's Shop | here. | |\____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Flute Fields \ | \ | To the East of your farm and The Farmlands is Flute Fields. This is | probably the most significant other district in terms of your main tasks: | it houses Horn Ranch, where you'll buy your animals and all their | necessities, and Marimba Farm, where you'll buy seeds and other farming | stuff. | | Flute Fields is also the home to some of the villagers' houses who don't | live in rooms attached to their workplace (mostly the eligible bachelors). | | This district also has a few other relevant characteristics: mainly the | horse racing track (accessible any time, still not a festival) and the | windmill, which will be used for processing certain ingredients. | | Flute Fields also houses the entrance to Fugue Forest. Fugue Forest is | something new for the Harvest Moon series: it's actually a custom-generated | environment that changes every time you enter it. The most relevant part of | the forest, though, is that it houses one of the marriage candidates if | you're playing as a guy. There are also items to be found here, and it's | the best place to get lumber. | | _____ _________________________________________________________________________ | / / | / Other Places / | / / |/_________________________________________________________________________/ | | Aside from the places to buy various items, there are many other relevant | locations around the island. These are places where you'll run into | villagers, experience many events, and process important materials. | |\____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Hot Springs \ | \ | There are four Hot Springs around the game world. A Hot Spring lets you | substantially restore all your stamina once per day. Just go up to the Hot | Spring and press A -- you'll emerge with full stamina. | | The Hot Springs won't take care of drowsiness or illness, and each can only | be used once a day. Note also that time won't pass while you're in the Hot | Spring -- its impact is instant. | | The four Hot Springs are located: | - On your ranch, toward the northeast. You won't be able to use it right | away, but after you complete a little bit of the plot it'll be | available. | - At the top of Upper Garmon Mine. | - On the 20th floor of Lower Garmon Mine. | - On the 20th floor of the Watery Cave. | |\________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Windmill \ | \ | The Windmill is located right next door to Horn Ranch. It sits motionless | until you ring the Red Bell and get the wind blowing again. After that, it | can be used to process certain goods: Rock Salt into Salt, Spicy Peppers | into Curry Powder, Coffee Beans in Ground Coffee, and Sugarcane into Sugar. | | | |\__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Waterwheel \ | \ | The Waterwheel is located a bit down the river in Flute Fields. Like the | Windmill, it can be used to process certain goods: Wheat into Flour, | Buckwheat into Soba Flour, and Corn into Cornmeal. | | | |\______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | School \ | \ | The School is located in Harmonica Town, just past the Town Hall up the | stairs. It doesn't serve much purpose, but once the villagers start having | kids of their own, several events can take place here. | \____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________/ ____________________________________________________________________ | / / | / Hidden Areas & Shortcuts / | / / |/_________________________________________________________________________/ | | This section is likely to have some very minor spoilers, so you may want to | pass it over; I'm phrasing it specifically to avoid spoiling any plot | elements, though, so it should be safe. | | The unlockable areas listed below are loosely in the order that you'll find | them. | |\______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Goddess Spring \ | \ | The Goddess Spring is where you'll find the Goddess (no, really?). It's not | initially accessible, though. To access the Goddess Spring, you'll need to | complete the Fix the Bridge and Move the Animals events. | | Once you've completed that, you can access the Goddess Spring down | the path in Garmon Mine District. | |\__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Upper Garmon Mine \ | \ | The Upper Garmon Mine is accessed through the same outer entrance as the | Lower Garmon Mine that you have access to from the beginning. The entrance | to this mine is blocked until after you ring the Red Bell. | | Note that unlike the other mines, you ascend the Upper Garmon Mine -- so | you'll want to use the upwards staircases instead of the downward ones. | |\____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Fugue Forest \ | \ | At the beginning of the game, Fugue Forest is locked. You'll unlock it in | the course of ringing the Blue Bell, so unfortunately you won't really be | able to get in until then. Once it's open, you can only get inside when you | have the axe, similar to needing the hammer for the mines. | | Once those two things are taken care of, you'll be able to enter Fugue | Forest from Flute Fields. Like the mines, Fugue Forest is a sequence of | several randomly-generated screens. Instead of randomly-placed rocks, there | will be random trees, stumps and twigs, great for chopping for lumber. And | instead of randomly-placed stairs, there is a randomly-placed path on each | screen. | | After following the path through several screens, you'll find the Witch's | house. | |\____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Watery Cave \ | \ | The Watery Cave will automatically be unlocked if you move through the plot | line. It is the home of the Blue Bell. |\______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Mountain Peak \ | \ | At the peak of the mountain, the Harvest King awaits your arrival. If | you've never gotten then before, the only way to do it is to ascend all the | way up the Upper Garmon Mine. It's a long trip, so bring some healing items | and get an early start. | | After you've completed the plot, the King will create a shortcut in Garmon | Mine District to the mountain peak, making it easier to visit him, give him | gifts and court him as a possible spouse. | |\______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Toucan Island \ | \ | Toucan Island is the only place outside the main island you'll go. After | ringing the Blue Bell, you'll be able to buy a ferry ticket from Ozzie at | the Fishery for 400G. | | Take the ferry ticket to Pascal when he's standing by his boat at the dock. | Give him the ticket and he'll ferry you to Toucan Island and back. | |\__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Mine Cart Shortcut \ | \ | Getting around the game world can be tough. The Circus animals provide | shortcuts to Flute Fields, Fugue Forest and Harmonica Town, but none of | them really come close to the Garmon Mine District. So what are you going | to do? | | There's a shortcut from Harmonica Town to Garmon Mine District: an old, | broken mine cart. At first, it sits unmoving in Garmon Mine District; but, | if you complete the Bo's Lunch event, you can get it moving again. | | Once you've completed the event, you can approach the mine cart in either | Garmon Mine District or Harmonica Town and instantly transport to the other | area. | | _________________________________________________________________________ | / / | / World Mechanics / | / / |/_________________________________________________________________________/ | | This section explains some of the basic mechanics of the game world, at a | very high level. The games of the Harvest Moon series mimic an actual town | and actual life, so many common ideas have an in-game equivalent. Time | flows, day turns into night, the weather changes, and you have to find a | way to pass the time. | |\________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Weather \ | \ | Weather plays a significant role in the game. At a basic level, it'll | change the routines of the villagers: they'll avoid hanging out outside, or | even going out altogether, if the weather's bad. During certain weather, | you'll find that you don't need to water your crops, or you need to keep | your animals inside and be careful how much you work. | | There are seven different weather patterns in the game, with Winter's | weather differing from the other seasons pretty significantly. | | Wind plays a key role in the game; and while it's technically weather, I'm | listing its impact under the Milling section. | | _ _ _ | Sunny | | Appears as... a bright, sunny, clear day. | Happens in... all seasons. | Plants... need to be watered by hand. | Animals... can be allowed outside to graze (even in winter). | Wind... is pretty randomly determined. | Villagers... will go about their normal routines. | You... can go about your work as normal. | | _ _ _ _ | Cloudy | | Appears as... a cloudy, gray, overcast day. | Happens in... all seasons. | Plants... need to be watered by hand. | Animals... can be allowed outside to graze (even in winter). | Wind... is pretty randomly determined. | Villagers... will go about their normal routines. | You... can go about your work as normal. | | _ _ _ | Rainy | | Appears as... rain, with wet ground, muted music and rain sounds. | Happens in... Spring, Summer and Fall (and rarely Winter 1). | Plants... do not need to be watered. | Animals... should be kept inside to avoid illness and anger. | Wind... is pretty randomly determined, but tends to be a bit | stronger. | Villagers... will adjust their routines to avoid hanging out outside much. | You... can work outside (chopping, hammering, tilling, fishing), but | should make sure not to run too low on stamina (after the | first "I'm getting tired" animation) to avoid getting sick. | | _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Thunderstorms | | Appears as... rain, with wet ground, muted music, rain and thunder sounds. | Happens in... Spring, Summer and Fall. | Plants... do not need to be watered. | Animals... should be kept inside to avoid illness and anger. | Wind... is usually very strong. | Villagers... will adjust their routines to avoid hanging out outside. | You... can work outside (chopping, hammering, tilling, fishing), but | should make sure not to run too low on stamina (after the | first "I'm getting tired" animation) to avoid getting sick. | | _ _ _ | Snowy | | Appears as... snowfall (on the already-snowy ground). | Happens in... Winter. | Plants... need to be watered by hand. | Animals... should be kept inside. | Wind... is pretty randomly determined. | Villagers... will adjust their routines to avoid hanging out outside. | You... can work outside (chopping, hammering, tilling, fishing), but | should make sure not to run too low on stamina (after the | first "I'm getting tired" animation) to avoid getting sick. | | _ _ _ _ | Typhoon | | Appears as... extremely heavy rainfall, lightning. | Happens in... Summer/Fall (and may last multiple days). | Plants... don't need to be watered, but some will be damaged. | Animals... MUST be kept inside to avoid illness or worse. | Wind... is always very strong. | Villagers... will avoid going outside at all costs (although you can). | You... can work outside (chopping, hammering, tilling, fishing), but | should make sure not to run too low on stamina (after the | first "I'm getting tired" animation) to avoid getting sick. | | _ _ _ _ _ | Blizzard | | Appears as... extremely heavy snowfall and strong winds. | Happens in... Winter (and may last multiple days). | Plants... need to be watered by hand. | Animals... MUST be kept inside to avoid illness or worse. | Wind... is always very strong. | Villagers... will adjust their routines to avoid hanging out outside. | You... can work outside (chopping, hammering, tilling, fishing), but | should make sure not to run too low on stamina (after the | first "I'm getting tired" animation) to avoid getting sick. | |\____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Flow of Time \ | \ | Unlike other games, time actually flows in Harvest Moon. Time doesn't just | randomly freeze like in other RPGs: real time is game time. Every second of | real time is roughly one minute of game time -- one minute per hour, and | about 20 minutes per day, if you were just standing around outside. | | That pace is slowed even further by the fact that time now stops inside | every building as it used to, instead of just your house. Time also stops | or pauses when you use tools, talk to villagers, whistle for animals, and | various other minor tasks. You should have no trouble having enough time to | do everything you need to do. It's a pretty time-consuming game. | | You'll wake up every morning at 6AM, no matter when you went to bed. If you | don't get much sleep, you won't fully recover all your lost stamina, but | it's not hard to recover all of it. | | Time influences nearly the entire game. Depending on what time of day it | is, you'll find certain villagers in certain places, certain shops will be | open and closed, the fish you can catch will change, and the visual and | audio appearance of the screen will be much different. | | Days form themselves into weeks and months: in Animal Parade, there are | four 28-day months titled after the seasons. If you're following along, | that's around 40 hours per game year. | | The day of the week impacts shop closings and, thus, character schedules. | More importantly, though, there are certain festivals and other events that | happen only on certain dates, like Theodore's Circus which comes to town on | the 22nd of every month. Villagers have birthdays within this calendar as | well, and will be even happier if you give them a gift on their birthday. | | At the top level, the months impact mostly what you can grow in the given | season, as well as other minor elements like the outfits the villagers | choose to wear. They also influence weather patterns, with some months | rainier than others and snow only apparent in winter. | |\____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | Game Routine \ | \ | As you progress through the game, you'll find that a lot of your game time | is spent doing the same simple things every day, like watering the plants | and taking care of your animals. You'll also find that there are certain | tasks that you only complete once in a while, like buying more feed, | visiting a festival or buying new seeds. It's very similar to a real life | -- you have a "normal" routine, and you have things that interrupt it. | | The key to success in Harvest Moon is in that daily routine. You want to | somehow strike a balance between the various aspects of game play. You'll | obviously need to take care of certain chores every day; the important | thing is what you choose to do with the rest of the time. Remember to spend | some time socializing, some time making extra money, and some time pursuing | the plot. A lot of times people say that they get through a good portion of | the game and have completely neglected something: that's because unlike | most games, Harvest Moon isn't about doing big things once. It's about | doing small things several times. | | The other element of this is that if you do the same things on a regular | basis, you'll find that you do them quicker, and they feel like a natural | part of your routine. If you're keen on marrying a certain person, then | work visiting them at the optimal time into your daily schedule. Maybe that | means heading right to see them before they leave for work. Maybe that | means visiting them at work, or on their way home. The point is, figure out | what you want -- money, friendship, home extensions, plot success, etc. -- | and work the small steps to get toward it into your daily routine. | | With that said, the other great part about Harvest Moon is you can play | however you want. If you don't care about the plot, that's fine -- be aware | that certain characters and areas are opened by moving through the plot, | but if you don't care about that stuff, then forget it. If you're not too | keen on making friends and getting married, that's fine. If you don't care | about having a ton of money, then relax a bit. It's all about what you make | it. The game's what you make it, so let's make it rock. | \____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________/