Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
Developer(s)	Marvelous Interactive Inc.
Publisher(s)	Natsume Co., Ltd
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. It was released in November of 2003.

The game follows along the same lines as the rest of the Harvest Moon series in which the player takes on the role of a farmer whose only goal in the game is to make a profit from the farm. This includes producing crops and raising livestock. The player can also marry one of the five women in the town or the Harvest Goddess. The setting of the story (Mineral Town) was also in another Harvest Moon game: Harvest Moon: Back to Nature. Friends of Mineral Town is, in many ways, an enhanced GBA port of that game.

Story

When the hero, known generically simply as "Jack," is a young boy living in the city, his parents come up with the idea to take him to see the country, believing it will be good for him. During their trip, Jack becomes lost, and in the process he finds himself on the farm of an old man, located in Mineral Town. The old man helps him contact his parents, and in the end offers to let him stay for a few days, being that he has no children of his own. Jack's parents agree, and Jack stays on the farm for a while.

After he leaves he continues to write letters to the old man, but one day, when he has grown up, the letters from his old friend stop. Concerned for the farmer's well-being, he travels back to Mineral Town, only to find an empty, run-down farm. It is discovered that the old man is dead, and Thomas, the mayor of Mineral Town, informs Jack that in his will, the old man left the farm to him. Jack, the player, then makes it his mission to restore the farm to its former glory.

Gameplay

Initially there is very little on the farm, save some old tools. The player must begin by clearing the large field on the farm of weeds, tree stumps, twigs, and rocks varying in size. From there they must plant a variety of crops to earn money to buy other needed things, such as livestock, to help them run a successful farm.

The social aspect of FoMT, as in other Harvest Moon games, is a very large part of the game. There are many villagers to befriend, and in doing so the player may unlock certain items and events that otherwise would be inaccessible. There are six eligible bachelorettes to choose from, including the Harvest Goddess. Once married, it is possible to have a son.

Farming

Livestock/animals

There are five different animals the player may take care of, these often provide a source of income and are taken care of in a manner unique to each type of animal.

Cows:

Cows may be purchased as calves from Barley's Farm, and are sent to the barn. Before you upgrade it, the barn may hold eight cows and/or sheep. After you upgrade it, 16 cows and/or sheep may be held in it. Cows are cared for by feeding them, brushing them, talking to them and letting them outside to graze on sunny days. When you first purchase your cow it will be too young to milk, but after a week it will be old enough to milk with the milker. The happier your cow is the higher the level of their milk, with the highest level being 'X Milk', which has a small chance of being produced by a 'P Milk' producing cow. Cows may also give birth if the player impregnates them with a 'Cow Miracle Potion'. If you leave it outside and there is no grass to graze on it will be unhappy, as will be if left in the rain or snow.

• Cow Festival: The player may enter their cow in the Cow Festival. The 'best' cow is the winner, and if the player's cow wins it will receive a crown next to its name, which allows the cow to give 'Gold' and then 'P' milk. 'P Milk' can only be produced when a cow has spent a certain number of hours outdoors. Cows with high heart levels have a better chance of winning, as with sheep.

Chicken:

Chickens are the cheapest animal the character may purchase, and may be bought from the Poultry Farm. To care for them the player must pick them up, give them medicine when they're sick and feed them 'Chicken Feed'. Before the player upgrades their chicken coop they may have four chickens, after they upgrade it they may have eight. Chickens produce an egg every day. The better care you take of a chicken the better eggs it may lay, with the last level egg being the 'X Egg', which has a small chance of being produced by a 'P Egg' laying chicken. Players can purchase more chickens, but if an egg is placed in the incubator, a Chick will be born after three days. The chick does not need food until it is grown up. This will save money and feed.If the player leaves chickens outside they collect their own food and don't need to be fed, but if they are left out unprotected past 8:00 pm then they may be attacked by wild dogs if they are not enclosed by a fence made of stones or lumber.

• Chicken Festival: The player may enter their chicken in the Chicken Festival, which allows them to play a mini-game in which the goal is to scare the opponents chicken off the edge of a platform. If a chicken wins this they get a crown next to their name, which allows the chicken to lay 'Gold' then 'P Eggs'. 'P Eggs' can only be produced if the chicken has spent a certain amount of time outdoors.

Sheep:

Sheep may be purchased fully grown from Barley's Farm, and go to the barn. Before you upgrade it, the barn may hold eight cows and/or sheep. After you upgrade it 16 cows and/or sheep may be held in it. Sheep are cared for by feeding them, brushing them, talking to them and letting them outside to graze on sunny days. Sheep grow wool and may be shaved to sell their wool for money. It takes time for their wool to grow back. The happier a sheep is the higher the level of their wool, with the highest level being 'P Wool'.

• Sheep Festival: The player may enter their sheep in the Sheep Festival. The 'best' sheep is the winner, and if the player's sheep wins it will receive a crown next to its name, enabling it to produce Golden Wool.

Horse:

After the player introduces themselves to Barley, he will eventually come and give the player a horse to take care of. If the player takes good care of the horse after a year, and accumulates four hearts, Barley will let them keep it, otherwise he will take it away for a year before giving the player another chance. You must raise it to at least four hearts, but if you don't you'll get it back with no hearts. The horse will be given to the player as a baby and in this stage all that can be done to take care of it is to brush it, leave it outside on sunny days, and talk to it every day. After one year it will mature and the player will be able to ride it around the farm, and during the horse races.

• Horse Race: After their horse matures the player may enter it into the horse race. If the horse wins it will get a crown next to its name, and also a Power Berry, which increases the player's stamina. Players may also place bets on the race.If the horse that you placed bet win, you will receive medals and you can exchange it with Thomas,the mayor at Rose square before or after everyone go home. You can change power berry with 999 medal that you received.

Dog:

The dog will not become sick. You have to wait for two months(spring,summer) during the first year before it become a dog from a puppy. Then, you can buy a frisbee(5000G) from Won at Zack's house and also a ball(100G) to play with your dog.

Tools

The player will start off with an axe, hammer, watering can, sickle, and hoe. The fishing rod (which allows the player to catch fish in lakes, rivers, and the ocean) can also be obtained through an event in the game. After the player gains experience with the tools, he can take them to the black smith with the appropriate metal and have it upgraded, though to upgrade at some levels special tasks and items are required. For example,copper are needed for upgrading the first stage of tool,silver for second,gold for third,and mystrille for forth.{you can obtain these in spring mine}. The watering can, sickle, and hoe are used to prepare land and maintain crops. The hammer, and hoe may also be used to mine ore and precious jewels. The axe may be used to chop branches and clear stumps, allowing you to acquire lumber, used to upgrade your house, barn, chicken coop, and to build fences and other things.

Cooking

After upgrading their house the player may purchase a kitchen from the TV shopping network. They may then purchase various cooking utensils including a pot, whisk, knife, frying pan etc. In total there are 8 kinds of utensils which may be used for cooking, but sometimes you might fail in cooking and turned out to be some burnt food. Unlike many previous Harvest Moon games recipes in FoMT can actually be made. There are three sources of recipes.

Characters

Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town features many characters. They live either in Mineral Town, or the immediately surrounding area. All of them may be befriended by giving them gifts, and talking to them often. There is often a reward for becoming friends with someone like a gift, access to an area of their 'home', or helping you on the farm.

Bachelorettes

The player has the option of marrying one of six prospective wives who reside in Mineral Town. First, the player must woo her (which involves giving her gifts she likes, attending festivals with her, and visiting her often), then propose using a blue feather [which costs 1,000]. The following is a list of the characters in the game who are eligible for marriage.

Karen

Karen is a young girl who has brown hair with blond streaks and loves to hang around the bar or beach at night. She works in the Supermarket during the daytime. At night she can often be found at the bar/inn. She is portrayed as a person who likes to have the occasional drink. Her parents are Sasha and Jeff. Karen is a horrible cook: one of her dishes knocks out the main character in one of her Heart Events. If the player does not marry Karen, she will marry Rick. However, this is only possible if Popuri is married to either you or Kai. Her birthday is Fall 15th (or Fall 23, if the main character's birthday is Fall 15). She hates chocolate and loves wine, French fries, pizza, popcorn and bamboo shoots.

Mary

Mary is a shy girl who owns a library. The library is open every day except Mondays, when she hikes in the mountains with her family and goes shopping with her mother, Anna. 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. She is also trying to pen some books of her own, but is often too shy to show anyone. Her father is a botanist named Basil. If the player does not marry her, Gray will. Her birthday is Winter 20th. She also likes red grass (poisonous), apples , chocolate, honey, diamonds, and other jewlery.

Elli

Elli is a motherly girl who works at the clinic. Most of the time she's at work selling medicine. She has a little brother named Stu and her grandmother is Ellen. Since her parents died and her grandmother can't walk, she has taken on the responsibility of raising Stu. However, she usually worries about not doing a good job raising him. Elli is shown to dislike bugs, which often puts her at ends with her brother Stu, who loves to show her the bugs he finds. Her co-worker, the Doctor, will marry Elli if the player does not. Her birthday is Spring 16th. She likes Relaxing Tea from Harvest Godesses show or harvest Sprites Tea Party and Toy flowers. If you want to please her you have to wait untill Stu shows her a bug he says she might like. When he hides behind you and says, "You understand me right?" You agree with Elli and say "No". If you don't agree with Elli she will get mad at you and Stu will be happy.

Popuri

Popuri is a feminine girl with pink hair who works at the poultry farm. She likes the player's puppy, but is afraid of it when it is a grown up dog. 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, who is overprotective of her and disapproving of her relationship with kai who is often seen at the beach during summer, and will marry her if kai does not. If Popuri marries you, she will only appear during the summer with you. Her birthday is Summer 3rd, (Or Summer 10 if the player chooses Summer 3rd as their birthday). Since her family works in the chicken business, she likes to receive any type of eggs or foods like Omelet Rice (foods in which eggs are a big part of the dish).

Popuri's name comes from the word potpourri ( pronounced as poh-puu-ri) which is the name of a home decorative item made of dried, naturally fragrant flowers and leaves. A glitch in the game's program also makes her like weeds. but if you give her a lot in just one day her heart will go backward(e.g. if it is purple it will turn to black.)

Ann

Ann is the tomboyish girl that works in her father's inn. She has a bit of an eating problem and gets a few stomach aches. She is always looking for something to eat. Ann also enjoys cleaning as much as she does cooking, and takes care of all the cleaning at the inn, because her father doesn't enjoy it. She can almost always be found working at the inn, but likes to go to the goddess spring if the weather isn't poor; she loves being outside. If the player doesn't marry her and has asked Cliff to help harvest the grapes at the winery, then Ann will marry Cliff. Ann also loves chocolates, spa-boiled eggs, and curry rice. She likes practically all fruits and crops but dislikes precious and/or expensive gifts, especially diamonds. Her birthday is Summer 17 (or Summer 22 if Summer 17 is the player's birthday).

Harvest Goddess

The Harvest Goddess lives at the waterfall, near the Spring Mine. She's a secret character who may be married in the player's fifth year. Before the player may do this they must do several challenging tasks. Unlike the other girls, she has an invisible heart, so the player has to propose to her (by using the blue feather where you would normally drop an offering to her) and see what her response is. She does not live in the character's house once they are married; she only appears for the events like the baby and marriage. Unlike the other girls, there is no rival for her hand in marriage. To raise her heart level, give her blue flowers, pink flowers, and toy flowers. Sometimes she will grant you wishes and more if you do this. Her favorite gifts are strawberries and pineapples. Some of the tasks you need to complete before she is eligible for marriage are catching every species of fish, walking 10,000 steps with your pedometer, and reaching level 255 in the mines.

Rivals

This game also features five rivals, one for every girl except the Harvest Goddess. These young men will go on to marry their counter-part if the player does not stop them.

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. He seems to like the player character. Rick's parents 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, Saibara. 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. He will marry Mary if the main character doesn't. Gray loves baked corn, branches, curry rice and ores from the mines. His birthday is Winter 6.

Doctor

The Doctor works at the hospital. He is a busy and workaholic of a man, but he is kind. His birthday is Fall 19. Once he is befriended, he will mention his name is Tim. He will diagnose the character for 10G during business hours. Tim has many different medicines that the player can buy. The doctor has no family in the town. He will marry Elli if the main character doesn't. He likes warm cow milk and any type of grass.

Kai

Kai is a carefree and somewhat cocky 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 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 and somewhat depressed young man who becomes friendlier after being befriended by the main 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 whose path can be influenced by the player. In Fall, Duke will ask the player for help picking grapes, and also gives the player the option of inviting a friend. Cliff is the only character to accept the invitation. If Cliff does not participate in the grape-picking, he will leave Mineral Town forever at the end of the year; if he does, he will permanently stay. Cliff will marry Ann if the player does not.

Connecting to other games

A Wonderful Life

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 (virtually any throwable item) 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. If the player connects enough, he will obtain the seaside cottage, the ultimate reward for connecting.

Unlike past Game Boy 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.

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 Wednesday and stays on the second floor of the inn. He sells a Record Player, and ore from the mine.
• Luu (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.

Harvest Moon DS

Those who have the Harvest Moon DS can link their game from Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town or Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town. Doing so unlocks extra content unavailable to those who don't have both games.
Unlockables

• Girls and their rivals from this game will appear on the DS version, and you can marry them.
• Extra songs are available from this game to listen on your Harvest Moon DS game.
• If you linked with A Wonderful Life, a stone mentioning the former farmer's name is also there. (note that even if you connect with MFoMt, the player will be regarded as a male, or a king)
• (Japanese version only): Newspapers depicting your exploits in Mineral Town would appear such as reaching the bottom of the mine, regardless of whether you actually achieved them.

Trivia

• If the player places golden lumber in their field, villagers will come every morning to insult the player, and call them "Moneybags".
• There are many instances of when characters speak in languages other than English, such as Zack and Gray speaking Japanese, or Carter speaking German.
• There are several spelling mistakes, such as the sofa in the hospital being called a 'Sopha', Flour being called 'Flower' a message when checking a certain stone in the forest (if your hammer isn't the right level to smash it), which says "You hammer is level 5 (regardless of its real level), but it can't crush this sone", Barley calling Cow feed 'chicken feed', and if you talk to Manna as she's going to the town centre, she'll say "Hi [insert name here]! How are you dong?".

External links

• Natsume's FoMT webpage
• Template:GameFAQs
• Ranch Story - Friends of Mineral Town - Harvest Moon content, community, and more!
• Ushi no Tane x 4- The best Harvest Moon Resource