Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
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Developer(s)	Marvelous Interactive Inc.
Publisher(s)	Natsume
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance
Release	April 18 2003 November 17 2003 March 26 2004
Genre(s)	Simulation/Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single player

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (Bokujou Monogatari: Mineral Town no Nakama Tachi in Japan) is a video game for the Game Boy Advance developed by Marvelous Interactive Inc. and published in the U.S. by Natsume that was released in November, 2003.

The main character is Jack (or any other name chosen by the player), who as a young child on vacation with his parents in Mineral Town, wandered off to a farm where an old man kindly helped him reunite with his parents and offered them a place to stay. Since then, he and the old man have been writing letters to each other. Suddenly, the letters stopped coming from him, so he goes to see if the old man is well. When he arrives, he finds the farm looks rather shabby. The Mayor of Mineral Town informs him that the old man passed away six months ago, and left the farm to him in his will. From this point on, his goal is to make the farm successful again, start a family, and overall, make the old man proud.

On the farm the player grows various crops and raises animals, such as cows, sheep, chickens, and horses. The mountains and Mineral Beach offers another way to get money by foraging for items to ship that changes seasonally. (For example, in spring, the player can collect bamboo shoots, while in summer and autumn, they don't grow at all.)

The player also has the option of marrying one of six prospective wives who reside in Mineral Town: Popuri, Ann, Elli, Karen, Mary, or the Harvest Goddess. The game essentially has no ending, as the player can keep running his farm for any amount of years. Assuming he treats his wife right, he will be able to have a single child, always a boy.

It is worth noting that Mineral Town takes place in the same location as the Playstation title Harvest Moon: Back to Nature. Those who have played Back To Nature will notice strong similarities in the characters, the character personalities, and the layout of the town.

Unlike past Gameboy versions of Harvest Moon (and even Harvest Moon: Back To Nature), Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town does not feature the ability to trade livestock with other FoMT game cartridges.

Also unlike past Gameboy versions of Harvest Moon, the player cannot choose the gender of the main character when starting a new game; instead, a different game called Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town was released on July 26, 2005, where a female character is available for play.

Connecting

The game offers connectivity with the Nintendo GameCube game Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. To connect with the Gamecube game, the player must throw an offering (can be a flower or a harvested vegetable) into the Harvest Goddess's pool in FOMT. When connected, entries will be added to the library with details about the characters in A Wonderful Life. Also, certain characters will talk about the characters in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Van will come to the town and will sell a record player and records, as well as minerals from the mine. If the player connects enough, he will obtain the seaside cottage, the ultimate reward for connecting.

Animals

The Animals of the game are: Cows, Sheep, Chickens and a horse. The player begins the game with a dog.

Cows:
- Can enter the Cow Festival
- Gives milk for shipment and cheese making

• 1-4 hearts = Small Milk

• 5-7 hearts = Medium Milk

• 8-10 hearts = Large Milk

• 8-10 hearts w. Crown = Gold Milk

• 8-10 hearts w. Crown and had 600 hrs. of grazing = P Milk (Platinum Milk)

Note: A rare variety of milk called X Milk appears on very rare occasions from a cow that usually gives P Milk.

2nd Note: A crown refers to an animal that has won the festival designated for that animal (Sheep winning the Sheep festival, and so on).

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Chicken:
- Can enter the Chicken Festival
- Gives eggs for shipment and mayonnaise making

• 1-4 hearts = Low Quality Egg

• 5-7 hearts = Good Quality Egg

• 8-10 hearts = High Quality Egg

• 8-10 hearts w. Crown = Golden Egg

• 8-10 hearts w. Crown and had 600 hrs. of grazing = P Egg (Platinum Egg)

Note: A rare variety of egg called X egg is laid on very rare occasions by a chicken that usually lays P Eggs. An egg called Spa-Boiled Egg can be made by dropping an egg in the Hot Springs.

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Sheep:
- Can enter the Sheep Festival
- Gives wool for shipment and yarn making

• 1-4 hearts = Small Wool

• 5-7 hearts = Medium Wool

• 8-10 hearts = Large Wool

• 8-10 hearts w. Crown = Gold Wool

• 8-10 hearts w. Crown and had 600 hrs. of grazing = P Wool (Platinum Wool)

Note: A rare variety of wool called X Wool appears on very rare occasions from a sheep that usually gives P Wool.

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Horse:
- Can be ridden after 1 year
- Used as a mobile shipping box after 1 year

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Dog:
- Can enter the Beach Festival
- Can be used to scare away wild dogs

Girls

The following are the girls the character may marry and start a family with.

Karen

Karen is an outgoing girl who loves to hang around the bar or beach at night. She loves bamboo shoots, Ruby and Amethyst (can be found in the Winter Mine), Pizza, and wine (she is portrayed as an alcoholic), but hates grasses and sweets (except for chocolate on thanksgiving). She works in the Supermarket during the daytime. Her parents are Sasha and Jeff. Karen is a horrible cook and one of her dishes knocks the main character out in one of her Heart Events. Karen will marry Rick if the player does not. Her birthday is Fall 15th or Fall 23 if you choose the main character's birthday to be Fall 15. If the player purchases things from her store, it will increase her heart level. To get into the back room of the store, either she or her parents must be befriended by the player. Karen has many locations, every different day of the week.

Mary

Mary is a shy girl who owns a library. She likes Relaxation Teas and grasses which she uses for her studies. She loves to read books and is interested in plants like her father. Mary can usually be found at her library from 10-4 except on Mondays, when she helps her parents out by the mountain lake. Her parents are Anna and Basil. If the player does not marry her, Gray will. Her birthday is Winter 20th. Her affection for the player increases if he goes to the upper floor of the library and reads books. she likes herbs and milk.

Elli

Elli is a motherly girl who works at the hospital. She loves perfume, skin lotion, dresses, Moon Dumplings, Milk, and any type of flowers. Most of the time she's at the hospital selling medicine. She has a little brother named Stu and her grandmother, Ellen. Since her parents died a while ago and her grandmother can't walk, she has taken on responsiblity of Stu. However, she usually worries about doing a good job. Her co-worker, the Doctor, will marry Elli if the player does not. Her birthday is Spring 16th. Her affection for the character increases slightly when he visits the Doctor for a check-up. Elli is shown to dislike bugs in an event featuring her and her brother. She doesnt like Autumn flowers very much.To go up stairs you must befriend Elli or Doctor

Popuri

Popuri is a feminine girl with pink hair who works at the poultry farm. She loves eggs, weeds (glitch makes it work), and sweets. She likes the player's puppy, but is afraid of it when it grows up. Popuri is usually at the poultry farm or the church. Her father is Rod, who left to find a cure for his wife's illness and didn't return. Rod's wife, Lillia, is Popuri's mother, and is feeling sick and lonely. Her brother is Rick. Kai, who is often seen at the beach during summer, will marry her if the player does not. If Popuri marries Kai, she will only appear during the summer with him. Her birthday is Summer 3rd. (Or Summer 10)

Ann

Ann is a girl who works at the inn. She loves egg dishes, crops, and chocolate. She is usually at the inn. Ann's mother is dead, so she lives with her father Doug alone. The player's rival for Ann is Cliff. Her birthday is Summer 17th. It has been said that in order to marry Ann, Cliff must leave the town. This is not true but getting him to leave the town does guarantee that she won't marry him. To get Cliff to leave, the player can do the following: In the Fall, Manna and Duke will ask the character to help them pick grapes. If the player says yes, Manna and Duke will ask him to bring a friend. The player has one day to ask someone to help him, but the only person who can be asked is Cliff. If the player does not ask Cliff to help him, Cliff will leave town and Ann will be free. Also, Ann loves the player's dog so if he carries the dog and speaks to Ann, she will be pleased, unlike many other girls in the game.

Harvest Goddess

The Harvest Goddess lives at the waterfall, near the Spring Mine. She's an extra and secret character who can be married. But to do this, the main character must catch all legendary fish, dig to level 255 in both mines, ship at least 1 of every shippable item, have all mythic tools, then ask Carter to let the player marry her during confessionals. Unlike the other girls, heart meter is invisible, so the player has to throw in the blue feather and see what her resposnse is. She does not live in the character's house once they are married, she only shows up for the events like the baby and marriage. Luckily, there's no rival for winning her.

• Walking 1000 steps, then 10,000 steps, then 100,000 and then 1,000,000 steps... will increase her heart level
• Her birthday is Spring 8

Rivals

This game also features 5 rivals, one for every girl except the Harvest Goddess.

Rick

Rick is the overprotective brother of Popuri. A blonde-haired guy who wears glasses, and works at the poultry farm. He despises Kai whom his sister has fallen for. Rick's parent's are Lillia, who is sick, and Rod, who left a long time ago to search for a cure for Lillia. Rick resents Rod for leaving Lillia for such a long time. Rick likes to drink, but not nearly as much as his best friend, Karen. Rick likes chicken feed, honey and fish. He will marry Karen if the main character doesn't.

Gray

Gray is an anti-social boy who is an apprentice blacksmith under his grandfather. Although he works there, he must sleep at the local inn every night. Gray also spends much of his time at the library. Ever since he met Mary, he's had more appreciation for books. Gray's grandfather is Saibara, the blacksmith, whom the player goes to upgrade tools. Gray likes any type of ore, except junk ore. He will marry Mary if the main character doesn't. Gray also likes honey and blue grass. To befriend Gray cheaply, the player can give him lumber from the woodshed. Gray also likes perfume, chocolate and cucumbers.

Doctor

The Doctor works at the hospital. Once he is befriended, he will mention his name is Tim. He will diagnose the character for 10G during business hours. Tim has many medicines that the player can buy. The doctor has no family in the town. He loves any type of grass. He will marry Elli if the main character doesn't.

Kai

Kai is a boy who wears a purple bandana on his head and only appears during the summer, although there is an event that could cause Kai not to come back to Mineral Town. He is friendly to everyone but Rick, who does not seem to like Kai. Kai likes fish and hates ore. Kai has no family in the town. He will marry Popuri if he's still around during the summers and the main character doesn't. Once he does, Popuri will appear only during the summer along with Kai.

Cliff

Cliff is a shy boy who's nice once he is befriended by the character. For most of the first year he spends a majority of his time either at the inn or at church. Cliff is the only male character who's path can be influenced within the game, and this instance is during the fall of the first year. If he is asked by the player to help out at the winery, he will stay in Mineral Town. Otherwise, he will leave the game forever at the end of the year. Cliff has no family in the town. If the player does not marry Ann, the player can convince Cliff to stay in town, and Cliff will marry Ann.

Other characters

Anna
Anna is the mother of Mary, and wife of Basil. Simply a housewife, she is recognized by her poofy black hair and simple dress. Birthday: Fall 23

Basil
Husband of Anna, and father of Mary. He is a botanist that often writes about his studies in books found in the library. Birthday: Summer 11

Ellen
Grandmother of Stu and Elli. She is the oldest woman in the village, and is limited to her rocking chair due to a disease. She wears a white cap on her head and a blue dress. Birthday: Winter 13

Harvest Sprites
The Harvest Sprites will help at the farm after the character has risen their heart levels to at least 3. They like flour (buyable at the supermarket); it will increase their heart level quickly. It will be increased even more if it is gift wrapped. There are seven harvest sprites altogether, based on the Seven Dwarves of the Snow White story.

• Bold (the purple one) birthday: Spring 4
• Staid (the blue one) birthday: Spring 15
• Aqua (the blue-green one) birthday: Spring 26
• Timid (the green one) birthday: Summer 16
• Hoggy (the yellow one) birthday: Autumn 9
• Chef (the red one) birthday: Autumn 14
• Nappy (the orange one) birthday: Winter 22

They will invite the character to a tea party in the Spring. If he goes, he will receive relaxation tea leaves when he leaves (The leaves are shippable for 1000G. They will only have the tea party if they all like the character, and none are working that day.)

Saibara
Runs the blacksmith shop in town. He upgrades the player's various tools. He can be mean sometimes, but can occasionally have a nice moment. Birthday: Spring 11.

Barley
Runs the ranch. In Spring Year 1, he will give the player a horse. If the player does not care for this horse well, Barley will take the horse back for a year. His birthday is Spring 17.

May
Barley's granddaughter. Abandoned by her mother who never visits. Plays with Stu and visits church often. Birthday: Winter 26.

Lillia
Rod's wife and the mother of Rick and Popuri. She owns the poultry farm and seldom goes outside due to her illness. Her husband has been away for some time now looking for a flower to heal her. Birthday: Spring 19.

Kappa
Lives in the lake. He gives the player the blue power Berry, but he will only come out if 1 cucumber is thrown into the lake everyday for the next eleven days (including festivals), He can also be caught with a fishing rod that is level 2 or higher.

Zack
Lives on the beach with Won. He is the one who ships the crops that the farm produces, and other that may be found. He is the source of income for the player. Every day at 5:00 PM he comes to the farm to pick up the shipments. He was friends with Rod. He has feelings for Lillia, but he is so grateful to Rod that he doesn't do anything about it. Birthday: Summer 29.

Jeff
Lives and works at the supermarket. He is stressed out, and that stress often takes shape in the frequent stomach aches he gets whenever the weather takes a turn for the worse. Birthday: Winter 29.

Mayor
He is the mayor of the town and lives with Harris. He will often visit to tell the player of any important events that are being held in the town. He dislikes dogs.

Harris
Lives with the Mayor and works as a policeman patrolling the island. He is usually very friendly and warns the player about wild dogs. He is friends with Gotz and visits often.

Gotz
Lives in the woods in a cabin and is the town's woodcutter. He is quite grumpy to the player however he says he is grumpy to everyone. He receives visits from Harris a lot. He also will upgrade the player's house.

Gourmet
Only turns up on the cooking festival event and is the judge of the food tasting.

Carter
The priest of the town and can be found in the church or outside the church on most days. He likes to see Stu and May often and cooks for them.

Won
This character can be found in his shop on the beach. He sells special apples and a dog ball and frisbee. He is Chinese.

Duke
Can be found in the inn on occasions.

Doug
The father of Ann. He works in the inn.

Other characters:

A hiker.

AWL Characters
When Friends of Mineral Town is linked to the GameCube game, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, via a GCN/GBA Link Cable (sold separately from the two games), two more characters may come into the game:

• Van: A traveling salesman who comes every wednsday and stays on the second floor of the inn. He sells a Record Player, and ore.
• Lou (Ruby): A world renowned chef who comes to stay on the top floor of the inn every Sunday. She will teach some of her gourmet recipes, which cannot be found anywhere else.

Power Berries

Power Berries are berries that can be used to permanently increase the main character's stamina or fatigue points. There are 10 Power Berries and a special Blue Berry in the game. Their locations are...

• Randomly unearthed in the field with a hoe.

• The Harvest Goddess will give the player a Power Berry if she is given a gift in her pond for eleven days straight (even on festivals).

• A Power Berry is the prize for winning the horse race, but only the first time.

• Exchanging medals at the horse races.

• The prize for winning the Beach Day festival is a Power Berry, only the first time.

• One can be found in the back of the Winter Mine.

• A Power Berry can randomly be found in the nineteenth floor of the Winter Mine when the hoe is used on the ground.

• The Spring Mine contains a Power Berry, buried in the hundredth floor.

• With a level five Fishing Rod, a Power Berry can be fished up in the sea.

• The Shopping Network will sell a Power Berry.

A Blue Power Berry can also be found. If a cucumber is thrown into the lake for eleven days straight, a Kappa will come out of the water and give the player the berry as an incentive to leave him alone. This Berry increases the amount of fatigue the player can take. For example, walking in the rain and snow is less likely to make them sick.

Cursed, Blessed, and Mythic Tools

The cursed tools can be found in the Winter Mine after all the player's tools are at Mystrile level. Once the tools have been obtained, the player may upgrade them into their Blessed form, which is more powerful than any other version of the tools so far.

• The Cursed Fishing Rod is found on level 29. To uncurse it, it must be used 255 times.
• The Cursed Hoe is found on Level 39. To remove the curse, Carter from the church must uncurse it ten times.
• The Cursed Axe is found on level 49. It, too, must be used 255 times before it turns into the Blessed Axe.
• The Cursed Hammer must be equipped for ten days straight to remove the curse. It is found on floor 59.
• The Cursed Watering Can must also be uncursed by Carter ten times. It is on floor 69.
• The Cursed Sickle must also be equipped for ten days straight. It is on floor 79.

Mythic Tools

Once the player has all of the blessed tools, they may upgrade them to the last form, the Mythic form. To do this, the player must have:

• The Blessed Tool they want to upgrade.
• The Mythic Stone found on the 60^th floor of the Spring Mine after all tools are blessed.
• 50,000 G.

Once the player has these things, they can bring them to Saibara to perform the upgrade. To get the Mythic Tools, the player should go to the Spring Mine and Dig to level 60. They should get the Mythic Stone and bring it to Sabria along with the blessed tool they want to upgrade to Mythic Level. 50,000 G is paid to upgrade it.

Cooking

The diffence between Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral town and other games is that you can actually cook the recipes.

Utensils

• Frying Pan : 1200 G
• Knife : 1500 G
• Mixer : 1200 G
• Oven : 2500 G
• Pot : 1000 G
• Rolling Pin : 750 G
• Seasoning Set : 2500 G
• Whisk : 500 G

You order the utensils off the TV shopping channel that airs on Saturdays. You must see the ad and then go to the Inn to order the utensil. The phone call costs 10g.

Secrets

• On Friday the 13th, the Upcoming Event (News) Channel displays static.
• If the character watches TV at 4:44 PM, the player won't be able to turn the TV off for a while due to that fact that turning on the TV at 4:44AM is part of a Japanese superstition. (This will NOT work at 4:44AM)
• After midnight, the TV displays colored bars.
• The best way to make money is to grow and harvest Cucumbers, Cabbages, Pinapples, and Sweet Potatoes. These regrow after you harvested them, allowing you to harvest more than once.
• A good way to befriend the Harvest Sprites for free is to give them grass that is the same color as them.
• An even better way to befriend them is to buy flour from the store (50g) and give it to the sprites. It only takes a few of these to raise their heart levels.
• If the player uses the Codebreaker code for infinite money, people will call them Moneybags in-game.
• Another way to earn the name "Moneybags" is to leave golden lumber on the field. Townspeople will insult the character and call him "Moneybags".
• Give Carter gifts (normal mushrooms are the best) for about a month or until he is a good friend. He will allow entrance through the door on the right in the back of the church, where truffles and mushrooms grow, and white grass in winter.
• If you dig up a mole and quickly switch to the hammer, then hit the mole, a tally will appear on the records screen of how many moles have been hit.
• When placing golden lumber on the field, using the teleport stone to warp to a place other than the farm will not trigger the insults, but it will be triggered when your character enters and exits his farm.
• Popuri will accept weeds as a gift, and they actually increase her heart level.
• May, the little girl, will accept trash fished out of the water as a gift (except for Fish Bones). It even increases her friendship level.
• Talk to Zack twice when he comes to pick up the farm's shipped goods, right after he says he's picking up the shipment. He speaks in Japanese the second time you talk to him.
• Zack will swear and yell at you if you don't put shipments in the shipment box. In the USA release, he yells but does not swear.
• Become good friends with Ellen and give her wool (any size) in the winter. If you are good friends with her, she will knit you a sock for the sock festival.
• When you buy Blue Magic Blue Grass from Won and plant it, sometimes it will be red. These can be shipped, unlike the blue ones.
• In year 5, in Fall 10, After the sun has set, go to the top of mother's hill to trigger the Shooting star event. You can wish for things up there. The best is the double profit one. You have all the next day until 5:00 P.M. to ship as much as you can for double profit
• In the Japanese release, the referred "juices" were originally alcoholic beverages. This change to "juice" was an attempt to censor the use of alcohol, even though in other Harvest Moon games your character will become drunk after drinking too many of these "juices".

When you offer the winery job to Carter he will speak german

External links

• Natsume's webpage
• GameFAQs information page

See also

• Harvest Moon: Back to Nature
• Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life