Harvest Moon: Magical Melody
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Harvest Moon: Magical Melody (Bokujou Monogatari: Shiawase no Uta) (Song of Happiness) is a game for the Nintendo GameCube by developer Marvelous Interactive. It was distributed in the United States by Natsume, long-time producer of Harvest Moon games, on March 28, 2006.
A feature in the game is the rival system. The player and the rival will compete to save the Harvest Goddess, win prizes in festivals, and ship the most items daily. In the English version of Magical Melody, players will also be able to marry their rival (whose name is always Jamie, and who is always the opposite gender of the player).
Gameplay
In Magical Melody players have two main goals.
Firstly, the player needs to woo and eventually marry one of the townspeople. Players have the option of either a male or female character, and each gender has a choice of eleven characters to marry (including the rival, Jamie). Jamie is always the opposite gender of the player's character, allowing all players to marry her or him regardless of the player's character's gender.
Secondly, players are enlisted by the Harvest Sprites to awaken the Harvest Goddess, who has turned herself to stone due to being ignored by the townspeople. To do this, players must gather musical notes by achieving various goals, allowing the player to create the titular magical melody.
The game also includes several minigames where up to four players can test their skills.
Marriage
To get married, the player first needs the third house extension, the double bed, and between 8 and 10 hearts with the player's intended spouse. (Hearts are the symbols shown in the game menu that signify how much affection or friendship each character has for the player.) Once the player has all of these requirements, the mayor of the town, Theodore, will disclose that the sacred blue feather lies at the top of Mt. Moon. The player must then climb the mountain and retrieve it, and use it to propose to his or her loved one to be married the next day.
Other characters may fall in love with potential partners if the main character does not woo them. Though the characters and partners will never get married, it will be implied that they are in love.
Pregnancy and Baby
About twenty days after marriage, the female will wake up very sick. The player and the player's spouse will end up in Alex's clinic, where he will inform them that the female is pregnant. Both of them will then be sent home, and the player can carry on with their normal day.
If the player's character is male, the only changes in gameplay are some of the female's sayings. However, if the player's character is female, her stamina will drop more quickly throughout the course of the pregnancy.
About 60 days later, the female will again wake up very sick. The player and their spouse will again visit Alex's clinic. Martha, the midwife, will tell the male to wait in the hallway until the baby is born. The male will be pacing around the hallway, and after a few moments a baby's cry will be heard. The male will rush over to the bed where the female is lying down, holding the new baby. The player will then be asked to name the baby, which remains genderless. Woody will arrive and give the player a crib for the baby. The player, the player's spouse, and the baby will be sent home and can continue with the day.
At first, the baby is very small and cannot do anything. As it gets older it will start crawling. A year after it is born, the player will awaken to find his or her spouse in a panic about a missed checkup for the child. The family will visit the Clinic, where the baby will take its first step.
Land
In this game, the "world" is the player's farmland. There are four different types of property: the player's, the townfolks', Jamie's, and public land. By pressing the ‘Z’ button, the land is automatically color coded. Blue represents player-owned land, yellow is a townsperson's land, Jamie's land is red, and free land is green. The player must choose where to live at the beginning of the game. There are three plots to choose from, each with advantages and disadvantages: Village Center, Riverside, and Oceanside. The town-based ranch is rather small, but it is close to the main village buildings and is fertile enough to raise fine crops. The land near the river is of average size for raising animals and has fertile soil for crops. The seaside property is very large and suitable for raising animals, but is the farthest from the town and infertile.
It is possible to purchase additional land from Woody. When the game first starts, the only available plots are the two that weren't originally chosen by the player. More opportunities to buy land are unlocked as the player's relationship with Mayor Theodore increases, and once the mayor reaches three hearts, all of the town's public land will be purchasable at the Workshop.
House
The player's house interior is now "customizable," meaning that it is possible to buy new furniture, put things in storage, and move things around. Like the previous Harvest Moon titles, the player can upgrade his or her house and buy extensions that make the house larger. This requires lumber, which can be bought from the workshop or chopped individually. Chopped wood is added to the player's stockpile when he or she chops branches, which may be found on the ground or cut from trees and stumps. The second and third house upgrades are only slightly larger than their previous states, but Level 4 and 5 houses have two floors. A second or even a third house may be built when the player has obtained enough land and money. In addition, all house upgrades allow the player to purchase more types of furniture for his or her house. Players can arrange their furniture however they choose, as in Animal Crossing, but there is no rating system.
Town
The town of Flower Bud Village, where the game is set, is found in between the hills and the sea, bordered on the west by a lake. When the game begins, the town is fairly small, but new shops and characters will arrive in town after certain criteria are met, such as participating in a festival or shipping enough of a particular item. The hub of the town is centred around Flower Bud Square, where most festivals are held throughout the year. The shops in town sell everything the player will need to start a ranch, including animals, seeds, tools, and furniture. Houses, barns, and chicken coops are built on the player's property only by paying Woody to build them. Not every piece of property can fit every type of building, so purchasing additional property may be necessary to have them constructed.
Tools
Like in Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, tools can be upgraded if the player has enough experience using them. The player can either buy them new at the Junk Shop from Michael, which is rather pricey, or give the tool to Tai, the blacksmith, along with the appropriate ore. Tai takes several days to upgrade a tool. An upgraded tool either affects a larger area (such as the watering can) or lowers the amount of swings required to complete a task (for example, the axe). All tools are kept in a toolbox at the player's house, but can be removed when needed and be kept in the character's rucksack along with other kinds of items. The first rucksack holds 5 items, but it can be upgraded so that it can ultimately hold 15. The only tool in Magical Melody not found in any other Harvest Moon game is the bonfire set, which starts a fire that can be used to cook fish and some vegetables.
Mining
Mining is done either in Moonlight Cave behind Jamie's ranch, which is open all year, or in the Lake Cave, accessible only when Sunny Lake freezes in the winter. The hammer is used to smash rocks and minerals to collect ores and gems, and the hoe is used to dig for clay and medicinal pontana roots. The caves are riddled with cracks, which when stepped on for a few seconds will drop the player down, or sometimes send the player up, a random number of levels. The deeper in the cave the player goes, the more valuable the gems and ore will be. Sometimes when smashing rocks, the player releases trapped gases into the air, which, depending on the type of gas released, may have positive or negative effects. On the hundredth sublevel of Moonlight Cave, the deepest floor, Tim (if he is in town at the time) will be waiting to give the player a Power Berry. On the hundredth sublevel of the Lake Cave is the Underground Lake, where a legendary "King" fish can be found. You can find diamonds on floor 50-floor 99.
Crops and trees
Crops and trees can be grown anywhere on the soil. There are three types of soil: dry, moist, and wet (dry being the lightest and wet being the darkest). The wet soil is the most fertile, but the player can buy fertilizer to improve the quality of soil. This is accomplished by shipping 10 limestones, found in the first few levels of Moonlight Cave. In addition, crops can be grown on unowned land, but if a villager moves in on that plot of land the crops will be removed to make room. Each crop may be planted during only a certain season and needs to be watered. Trees can be planted in any season except winter, but fruit trees (all trees but mora and evergreen) only bear fruits in their respective season. In the spring, breadfruit, cabbage, turnips, potatoes, and strawberries may be planted, and very berries can be foraged. Moondrop flowers can also be planted or foraged in spring. In summer, players can plant corn, tomatoes, onions, and cocoa, and orange trees bear fruit. The summer flower is the Pink Cat, which can be grown from seeds or collected from the mountains. In fall, eggplants, bell peppers, carrots, yams, spinach, and pumpkins can be planted, and apples, chestnuts, and grapes fall from trees. Blue mist flowers, the rarest kind of flower in the game, can be foraged in the fall, but no seeds are available. Grass can be planted in any of these three seasons, and no crops can be planted in winter.
Musical Notes
There are a total of 100 musical notes in the game, awarded for performing various tasks and for different criteria being met. These goals are as varied as befriending townsfolk and wild animals, shipping a substantial amount of a particular crop or product, locating hidden items, and even staying awake all night. Finding 50 musical notes is required to awaken the Harvest Goddess from her stoney slumber.
Extensions
Extensions are bought at the Workshop from Woody, Kurt, and Joe. There are 5 levels of houses, and when the player upgrades his or her house, new color and texture can be determined. Other available constructions at the Workshop include a barn, a chicken coop, a well or watering hole for filling watering cans, and a windmill for grinding corn into bird feed. However, there are no extensions available beyond the fifth.
Animals
All wild animals love getting food and attention - much like the townsfolk. When a player befriends a wild animal to six hearts (aside from the dolphin, the mole, and the frog) for the first time, that animal will pay him or her a visit at his or her house. When the dolphin is befriended to at least one heart, it will allow players to ride on its back to an island abundant with rare fish found nowhere else. The animals that are able to be befriended are the cuckoo, the duck, the monkey, the rabbit, the raccoon, the sparrow, the squirrel, the weasel, and the cat. A mole also exists in this game, but it serves as an obstacle to farmers and will remove tilling from soil. To prevent this, the mole can be whacked with the hammer, axe, or hoe. A frog can also be seen on rainy days, but there is no gauge for its heart level.
None of these animals can be kept as pets. The only two that can are the dog and the pig. The dog is given to the player by Ellen at the beginning of the game. The pig is a gift from Gourmet once a barn is purchased, although it cannot be kept in the barn.
Barn animals include cows, sheep, and horses. There are also chickens (they live in a chicken coop.) Cows can be milked and entered in yearly Cow Festivals. Sheep can be shorn for wool and can participate in Sheep Festivals once a year. Horses can be ridden once befriended and used to compete in the semi-annual Horse Races. Chickens can be raised in chicken coops and entered in annual Chicken Festivals.
Seasons
As with most Harvest Moon games, Magical Melody has four seasons. Each season has its own holidays and character birthdays, and lasts 30 days. The crops that can be grown and the items that may be foraged change for each season. Residency and appearance of the village may also change with the seasons.
Whenever a season ends, all crops still growing will immediately die and new crops may be planted. The only exception is winter, in which nothing can be planted. (Trees can still grow, but cannot be planted.)
Special events also take place in different seasons. In spring, fishing is good, rain is abundant, and many herbs are available. In summer, typhoons can occur randomly, and crops may be damaged. In fall, players can dig up truffles and find rare "blue mist" flowers in the mountains. In winter, Sunny Lake will freeze over, causing the Lake Cave to become accessible. Also in winter, there may be snow, preventing players from letting their animals roam outside. Most of the animals in the village hibernate for the winter and are not be seen again until spring. One villager, Basil, will leave for the winter. Much of the cultivated land will be destroyed and some stakes in fences will become aged and rotten.
Rare Items
There are several rare items in the game, fish and food. There are four types of fish in the game that are referred to as the Kings. The fish considered Kings are the Squid Prince from the island ocean, the Jamasquid from the Underground Lake, the Huchen from Sunny Lake, and, strangely, the Right Boot, caught in Moondrop River.
The rare food item is called the truffle, a type of rare mushroom that can be dug up with the hoe around Mora trees during the fall season. The pet pig can also help the player find truffles.
There are rare berries hidden in the game called Power Berries that raise the player's stamina meter.
Courtable Characters
Harvest Moon: Magical Melody has by far the largest number of potential spouses, as all of the previous console Harvest Moon games only had five (and in two cases, three). There are ten potential spouses for each gender, plus Jamie.
- Ann, not to be mistaken with the later Harvest Moon series characters with the same name, was first seen in Harvest Moon for the SNES. Her personality in Magical Melody is very similar to the original Ann, as she is somewhat of a tomboy and interested in inventions and machinery.
- Alex is the village doctor and owner of the Clinic. Players will see Alex if they overexert themselves and collapse, or during certain plot events such as pregnancy. Alex looks and acts much like the doctor for Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town.
- Basil is a traveling botanist. During spring, summer, and fall he may be found around the village, but in winter the lack of greenery causes him to leave until the 1st day of spring.
- Blue is a ranch hand in the employ of Hank, and Ellen's cousin. He is an expert on animals and gives the player much advice about raising them. Blue resembles Gray for Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town, mainly in looks and personality.
- Bob is another ranch hand at the Blue Sky Ranch, though he is not related to the others at the ranch. He is Tim's brother and Tai's grandson. He is especially interested in raising and racing horses, although his grandfather, the blacksmith, would like him to take over the family business. Bob looks like Zach for Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town, though Zach isn't a marrige candidate.
- Carl originally starts out as a waiter at the Moonlight Café, aspiring to own and manage his own café. Later on in the game, this dream becomes a reality.
- Dan is a slacker who wanders into town trying to find a way to make easy money. Ultimately he is hired as help at the Paradise Orchard. Dan looks a tad bit like Kai for Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town.
- Dia is a recluse who lives at the Sanatarium to recover from surgery. After the player befriends her, it is revealed that she is fully recovered but wishes to remain to avoid her constantly quarrelling parents.
- Ellen works at the Blue Sky Ranch, daughter of Hank and cousin of Blue. She is very interested in animals and desserts.
- Eve is Duke's niece and Terry's granddaughter. She works as a waitress at the Moonlight Café. If the player befriends her, she later reveals that her parents died in an accident, and that before growing to like Flower Bud Village her goal was to bring her hesitant grandfather back to the city.
- Gina is a nurse at the Clinic and the Sanitarium, and Dia's attendant. She has grown up with Dia and is like a sister to her.
- Gwen is Doug's niece and Woody's granddaughter. She works as a cook at the Perch Inn.
- Joe is an extremely friendly apprentice at Woody's workshop and brother to Kurt. Aside from socializing and working, his hobby is fishing.
- Katie is a waitress at Carl's Café Callaway. She is a fanatic about desserts, specifically cakes.
- Kurt is an antisocial worker at Woody's workshop and brother to Joe. When not at work, he tends to spend a great deal of time at the Sanitorium or Moonlight Cave.
- Louis is an extremely shy scientist who works with Ann on inventions and theories.
- Lyla is a cheerful socialite who owns the "Hearty ♥ Lyla," a gift shop.
- Maria is the village librarian and is extremely calm and courteous.
- Nina is the daughter of Liz and works at the Spring Farm. True to her occupation, she loves flowers and other plants.
- Ray is an expert fisherman, and a wanderer. He is somewhat socially awkward, especially around girls.
Other Characters
- Doug is the owner of the Perch Inn and is Duke's friend.
- Duke is Eve's Uncle and the owner of the Moonlight Cafe.
- Gourmet is a wonderful food judge who mainly is found at festivals and the Perch Inn. If you buy a barn and enter it, you'll find his pet pig, which he'll let you keep.
- Hank is Ellen's father and the boss of Blue and Bob. He sells all barn animals as well as barn animal-related products.
- Henry is a famous painter.
- Liz is Nina's mother and the owner of the Spring Farm.
- Martha is a midwife and Alex's assistant.
- Meryl is Ronald's granddaughter. Her parents died in an accident and she is very shy as a result.
- Micheal is Ann's father and the owner of the Junk Shop.
- Nami is the town weather girl who travels a lot. She mainly is in town around Summer. Unlike in A Wonderful Life, she is not eligible for marriage.
- Ronald is Meryl's grandfather and Dan's boss. He owns Paradaise Orchard.
- Saibara is the town clay sculpter. He can make various cooking pots for your character, if the character befriends him.
- Tai is the town's blacksmith and grandfather of Tim and Bob.
- Terry is Eve's grandfather and a fierce wildlife protector.
- Theodore is the town's mayor and Maria's father.
- Tim is Tai's grandson and Bob's brother. He usually explores the town mines to find things to sell so he can go on adventures when he's older.
- Woody is Gwen's grandfather and the town carpenter.
Trivia
- Five of the bachelorettes in town (Ann, Ellen, Eve, Maria, and Nina) are from the original Super NES Harvest Moon.
Sheep given to those who pre-ordered the game - The other five available girls (Gwen, Dia, Lyla, Katie, and Gina) are from the PlayStation 2 game, Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland. In their previous game, none of these girls could be wed.
- Nami, who was one of the three bachelorettes in Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, appears in Magical Melody, but is not an eligible bachelorette.
- Joe and Kurt are from Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland.
- Basil is from Harvest Moon 64, as well as Harvest Moon: Back to Nature.
- Many characters in this game are from Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland, a game that departed from some of the traditions of the series. In particular, many fans found it disappointing that the girls from Save the Homeland could not be married. The inclusion of these characters in a more traditional Harvest Moon game was thus a source of excitement for fans.
- Players who preordered this game received a plush sheep as a bonus.
References
External links
- Official Site — Official site for Harvest Moon.
- HM Farm - HM Farm: Guide to all Harvest Moon games