Machinarium - Review (PC and Mobile game)

It was love at first sight. From the moment I first saw ‘Machinarium’ sitting in the list of recommended games I knew it was to be mine. For a price so meager it was almost an insult I downloaded an exceptionally tiny game of around 200MB and proceeded to be astounded by a puzzle game that was bursting with personality, story and beautifully hand drawn artwork. 

Developer: Amanita Design
Genre: Adventure, puzzle, point and click
Release date: 16th October 2009 
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, OS X, iPad 2, Windows Phone
PEGI: 7+ (some violence)

'Machinarium' is a point and click puzzle game where you take control of a small, unassuming robot in a robotic society that’s victim to a gang of antisocial thugs. What pulls this game aside from the competition is most certainly its art style, just look at those screenshots, it’s a beautiful game that perfectly portrays a crumbling, rusting city and citizens living on the brink of existence. There’s so much detail and so many little touches to the environments and animations that you can only truly appreciate it by playing it yourself as the screenshots alone don’t do it justice. Your nameless, noiseless robot protagonist is quite obviously a character who’s lived under the thumb of others his entire life and in the first ten minutes you see him discarded in a rubbish tip, turned away by the authorities and then plummet into a grotesque sewer system. His somewhat bullied ‘childhood’ is hinted at in the same primary communication that all other characters utilize; soft, inoffensive thought bubbles that either reflect on past events or communicate what they want from you. Even without words it’s easy to empathize with your humble robot character as he totters about, helping others and trying to do some good in a corrupt and rundown city where crime is king and the mechanical officials are about as helpful as a robot bathhouse. 

Yet it’s not just its unending charm that’s there to impress, graphical style and personality can only carry you so far after all, ‘Machinarium’ thankfully manages to bring in a solid compilation of puzzles, smooth and thoughtful storyline additions and overall a fair bit of bang for your buck. The game’s by no means long but there will be times you’ll be held up trying to advance as the puzzles usually require some thought and not everything is immediately obvious. Whilst the puzzles generally rely on some good old item combination then using items in the world environment there’s a decent spattering of originality in the form of its unique ‘stretching and shortening’ feature of your robot friend.

In a traditional ‘Bender’ fashion you can lengthen your robots legs to the point where he can access previously out of reach areas or shorten him to a hobbling, squashed up little robot that can do all sorts of things in this new, skirting board level territory. It’s different and its interesting and what strangely appealed to me is the influence of retro gaming that makes its appearance in old, disused arcade machines and the in-game walkthrough that can only be accessed by playing through increasingly difficult levels of a spaceship game. I liked this allusion to how everything is old and past its time and I also liked the option to use a walkthrough in-game but by earning it through a rather difficult mini-game that didn’t feel out of place at all in the overall scheme of things.

With ‘Machinarium’ there’s just this feel that everything slots together and everything’s very well thought out and crafted from tiny animations like the slurping up of a coil of string when you pick some up to the slow, measured teetering movements when you’re tall. Everything you do has a special animation that will make you squeal with excitement, well maybe not squeal, I do get a little overexcited with indie games, but you get my point, it’s cool stuff. The game is incredibly cheap for what you get and quite honestly I can’t think of a game quite like this one from its design to the way it plays out it’s most definitely an experience and one I applaud for both its squeal-inducing ability and its confidence at portraying a silent hero in a rusted world. All in all, I loved it, even if I am five years late to the party. 

The Good:

• Very well animated, lots of attention to detail
• Beautiful, hand drawn graphics that constantly impress
• Interesting areas to explore
• Full of personality
• The lack of dialogue surprisingly pleasant
• Pretty decent storyline with room for a sequel
• Challenging puzzles that will keep you guessing
• Extremely atmospheric

The Bad: 

• A little slow in places
• Some puzzles are extremely difficult

The Score: 9/10 

Final thoughts: "I genuinely struggled during this game as the puzzles are pretty damn hard, and frankly the walkthrough mini-game is no walk in the park either. Regardless, the game is well worth playing as its beautiful, full of personality and presenting quite a unique experience and premise."

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Harvest moon, A Wonderful Life, SE: Befriending villagers and receiving gifts

Certain villagers will give you gifts if you befriend them. You can find a list of who gives what further down below. You know if a villager is your friend because when you walk past them they will turn their head to look at you, practically snapping their own necks in the process. It’s a very obvious animation but only occurs when they’re moving. 

To befriend a villager you must give them enough gifts to get, what I will be calling, ‘friendship points’ for the sake of communication. Friendship points can be acquired in the traditional, ‘gift-giving’ method but also by giving villagers discounts at your store. This means that if you give them three discounts a day (the maximum number) and one gift a day then you’ve acquired four friendship points. This speeds up the process of making friends by a lot. 

These numbers are based on multiple playthroughs and it seems as though sometimes it takes a couple less or a couple more, not exact numbers. Chris, for example, was friends with me at 6 gifts in one game but at 10 gifts in another. I’ll average it out in cases like this.

Below are the numbers of gifts or discounts required until the villager will befriend you, numbers may vary as it may be that they like some gifts more than others. This list is not complete… yet.

Daryl: 7 
Patrick: 5 
Chris: 8 
Wally: 8 
Mukumuku: 7 (you can give up to 5 a day) 
Ruby: 6 
Tim: 5 
Vesta: 6 
Marlin: 24 
Galen: 7 
Nina: 4 
Takakura: 4 
Cody: 12 
Carter: 10 
Flora: 9 
Rock: 19 
Romana: 11 
Sebastian: 
Lumina: (1 heart at 9, 2 hearts at 13, 3 hearts at 17, 4 hearts at 21) 
Nami: (1 heart at 6, 2 hearts at 8, 3 hearts at 11, 4 hearts at 15)
Muffy: (1 heart at 3, 2 hearts at 5, 3 hearts at 7, 4 hearts at 8)
Celia: (1 heart at 2, 2 hearts at 4, 3 hearts at 6, 4 hearts at 9) 

What the villagers like to be given:

Romana: Flowers, milk, gold coins, clay statues and oranges 
Cody: Flowers, eggs, ores and bones 
Flora: Fish, milk, clay statues, curry, cheese, fossils 
Carter: Fish, milk, cheese, watermelons 
Vesta: Flowers, milk, ores, curry and earth soup 
Marlin: Eggs, milk, home cooking, S-ranked crops 
Ruby: Flowers, milk, tomatoes, cheese and grapes 
Tim: Eggs, milk, goat’s milk and coins 
Patrick: Flowers, cheese, eggs, fish, silver coins, yam soup 
Daryl: Fish, eggs, fossils and coins 
Hugh: Coins and milk 
Wally: Eggs, milk, coins, cheese 
Chris: Flowers, milk, apples and fruit juice 
Galen: Mugworts and fish 
Nina: Flowers and milk 
Griffin: Fish, 
Takakura: Home cooking, s-grade milk, s-grade crops 
Mukumuku: Flowers  
Samantha: Flowers, milk, sashimi 
Grant: Milk, goat milk, eggs, golden eggs, sashimi
Kate: Flowers, melons 
Celia: Flowers, eggs, vegetables 
Muffy: Flowers and ores 
Nami: Trickblue flowers, clay statues, fossils and curry 
Lumina: Flowers, golden wool, strawberry cake 
Rock: Toyflowers, mist moon flowers, coins, butter, cheese, fodder. 
Sebastian: Milk, fossils, eggs, cheese

Best times to give people gifts:

Often, your neighbours will go into a state where, no matter how much they would usually love the gift you're trying to give them, they will always reject it. If they reject a gift and you keep trying to give it to them you'll be unable to give them a gift even when they've finished the rejecting behaviour. This will lock you out until the next day so it's best to not attempt giving a gift unless you know they will accept it. To make it easier to recognize I’ll list what the villagers will be doing in their individual 'gift rejecting' states.

Times when villagers will not accept gifts:

Cody: When his arms are folded or he's working on his studio
Romana: When she is sat in her armchair or listening to Lumina play piano 
Lumina: When she is playing the piano 
Celia: When she is tending to the farm outside 
Daryl: When his hands are behind his back, usually in his lab  
Hugh: When stretching or 'working out' 
Rock: When laying under a hut at the beach 
Marlin: When his hands are in his pockets and his head is down 
Muffy: When working at the bar 
Gustafa: When playing the guitar 
Carter: When doing his morning exercises or examining the ground in the dig site 
Flora: When she is examining the ground in the dig site 
Ruby: When she is Standing with hands in front of her in her kitchen 
Kassey and Patrick: When making fireworks in their house

Most villagers work to some kind of schedule but it can be fairly unpredictable. A lot of people like to go out walking, especially once it starts to get dark and this is often a good time to give people gifts. It's a good time because when somebody is walking they are guaranteed to not be performing any 'gift rejecting' behaviours. Some villagers will not go for walks when it is raining, unless it starts when they are already outside. Galen and Nina go for daily walks but they're more likely to be at home if it's been raining all day. Some people don't mind the rain, if it's been raining for more than one day sometimes people will just grim and bare it. Like I say, fairly unpredictable schedules. 
 

 

Best times to give villagers gifts:

Daryl: When he’s walking past your farm, around 5:30pm
Rock: Walking back from the spring to the inn, 6pm
Nami: When she wakes up, 9am in her room, walking around outside
Romana: When she’s walking outside her mansion, 3 – 5pm
Lumina: Walking outside of mansion, 2 – 6pm, in her room between 8 – 9am or 12pm -
Sebastian: In Lumina’s room at 9am
Chris: Walking to or from work,8am outside your farm,
Wally: Going out for a jog, 8am – 9am, up and down the main road
Hugh: Inside his house
Galen and Nina: When they’re out walking past your farm, 4pm
Carter and Flora: Any time in the dig site, as long as they’re not looking at the ground
Muffy: When she leaves work to walk to the Inner Inn, around 4 – 5pm.
Ruby: In Nami’s room, 9am – 10am or when she's standing outside the inn
Tim: When he's standing outside the inn, usually 6pm – 7pm, varies Patrick: On his way to the Blue Bar, 7:30 – 8pm or when standing outside his house 4pm – 4:30pm
Kassey: Stands outside his house, 4pm, 8pm – 8:30pm
Cody: When he’s outside his studio at 6pm Mukumuku: In winter on the path to the spring,

What you can receive from villagers:

When you are friends with villagers (when they turn their head to look at you when you walk past) you will be able to receive unique items from them. Not every villager has something to give you though that doesn't mean their friendship is useless; making friends with particular people will influence what career your child is interested in later on. Once you are friends with someone you can't not be friends with them anymore, so maybe check out what each person means in terms of your child's career before you choose to be friends with them.

Cat – Romana 
 
In the second chapter Romana will give you a cat if you are friends with her. The cat is a black cat and this is the only colour you can receive. If you've befriended Romana you may be familiar with her cats in the mansion foyer in which case, your cat will operate in much the same way. To trigger the cat-giving event you will need to be friends with Romana and wait until Fall of the second chapter. Even if you miss this event in the second chapter you will still be able to get it in the third chapter. You should try and exit your house just after 7am in the morning, you don't need to wake up after your wife, it's triggered when you attempt to leave the house. If necessary, go in and out the house a few times. Try doing this every day of Fall, although if you get it earlier such as Spring of Summer then let me know.

Watering can W – Romana

Romana has another gift for you; the weird watering can. This watering can has the ability to increase the speed at which trees grow. Trees don't require watering so this watering can isn't about making the moisture last longer but rather it means the tree will grow faster. The Watering can has only one square of water in it so you'll be refilling it a lot.

To trigger the event you must have the great field (meaning you need to be at least partway through chapter 2) and it may be a requirement that you actually use the field. You'll need to be friends with Romana and you should enter her bedroom when she is already in there; the best times to do this is early on, around 6am onwards. Her bedroom is the room beneath the staircase.

Music sheet – Romana

Another gift from Romana. Befriend her, talk to her during Chapter 3 when she’s somewhere in the mansion. You’ll get the music sheet when you talk to her which, when you show it to your child, will boost their interest in music.

Strange sickle – Cody

Befriend Cody and enter his house when he’s in there.

Strange hoe – Tim

You definitely need to have the great field for this event and also be friends with Tim. Enter Tim and Ruby’s room on the ground floor of the Inner Inn when he is in there, it doesn’t matter if Ruby is also in there. You’re best off triggering this in the morning, around 7am.

Necklace – Flora

You receive the necklace from Flora sometime in Chapter 3. The primary purpose of the necklace is for it to be given to your child as a means of dramatically increasing their interest in the scholar career. You’ll need to be friends with Flora to get the necklace and talk to her in the tent during Chapter 3.

Alarm clock – Grant

You don't need to be friends with Grant, a new resident, to receive the alarm clock. As soon as chapter 2 starts, before you do anything else, go as quickly as you can to Grant's house and enter it. He'll automatically give you the alarm clock which means you can set which time you wake up at every morning. This is useful if you like burning the candle at both ends.

Weird hoe – Vesta

You need to have the strange hoe and also be friends with Vesta to receive the weird hoe. When only Vesta is inside the storage house enter it, around 10:30am should be good, the cutscene will then trigger.

The weird hoe tills soil in a chequerboard pattern of 3 x 3. It is much lighter to use than even the ‘light’ tools and is a very efficient tool to use, especially if you already use that pattern to plant your crops.

Fishing pole – Galen 
 
I know, you've already got a fishing rod, but this one is better. For starts, it's a pole, not a rod. Not only that but it's in a sporty black and white colour. Ok so the real improvement is that it's also a lot lighter meaning you can use it without your energy depleting so much. You can get the fishing pole in Chapter 2 after you befriended Galen in Chapter 1. I recommend befriending him in Chapter 1 as you can just bombard him with mugworts whereas, in Chapter 2, it's significantly harder to make friends with him. It's quite a tough scene to trigger but you should try going into his house very early in the morning, around 6am. He'll be living in a new location for Chapter 2; next to where the sea meets with the river on the side where Vesta's farm is.

Wool clippers – Wally
 
Befriend Wally and enter his house whilst he’s inside to get the wool clippers. They’re no better or worse than the other ways of shearing your sheep.

Medal – Wally

You can get the medal from Wally by befriending him and talking to him in Chapter 3. The medal boosts your child’s interest in athletics if you give it to them.

Painting – Cody

You can obtain this piece of artwork by befriending Cody and talking to him during Chapter 3. The painting will boost your child’s interest in art if you show it to them.

Weird Sickle – Dr. Hardy

Befriend Dr. Hardy who moves into the valley during Chapter 2. Enter his house whilst he’s in there and you’ll obtain the weird sickle, bear in mind that befriending Dr Hardy will stop you from being friends with Daryl.

Ruby’s spice – Ruby

To receive this gift you’ll need to befriend Ruby. You can obtain the spice during any chapter and to do so you’ll need to enter the kitchen at the Inner Inn whilst Ruby is in there. I got this cutscene at 8am in Fall. Ruby will say she’s heard you’ve been trying out some cooking and ask you if that’s correct; say yes and she’ll be pleased and offer you a jar of her special spice. This spice can be combined with other ingredients for particular recipes like curry and will never run out.

Seed maker – Daryl

You must not have spoken to Takakura about the seed maker otherwise it will only be available from the ledger in the storage house. To trigger this event you must be friends with Daryl and enter his house sometime after 1pm, when he’s woken up. You don’t have to trigger any of his previous cutscenes to get the seed maker. Daryl will be frustrated and shouting ‘why!?’ a lot because it seems someone’s stolen his idea. To prove that he was the first person to create the seed maker he will install it in your tool shed for you.

Tumtum – Gustafa
Befriend Gustafa and enter his yurt whilst he’s in there, you’ll need to be in Chapter 3 to get the Tumtum. Talk to him and you’ll obtain the Tumtum which will boost your child’s interest in music if you show it to them.

Patrick – Fireworks

Befriend Patrick and talk to him in his house during Chapter 3. He will give you the Fireworks which will boost your child’s interest in art if you show it to them.

Griffin – Record: Marine jazz

Befriend Griffin then go into his room in the Blue Bar when he's there alone. Talk to him and he'll give you his record. You can get this record during the afternoon, around 2pm.

Rock – Record: Flowerbud Fall

Befriend Rock, something which I found extremely difficult, and talk to him around noon in his bedroom. This is the room opposite what used to be Nami’s room; right side door. He will give you the record after you talk to him.

When Rock starts to like you he’ll ask about writing a book for his fashion ideas, say ‘Maybe so’ to make him like you faster. It will probably take you quite a long time until you can get this record so get in there early with him and give him plenty of Toy flowers.

Marlin – Record: Butterfly

Befriend Marlin (S milk works well) and talk to him on a Van day whilst he’s hanging around by the waterfall, sometime around noon. He’ll give you this record when you talk to him.

Kassey or Patrick – Record: 64 memories 
 
You’ll need to beat either Kassey or Patrick at least 10 times at that territory capture game I mentioned earlier. They will still give you the record even if you beat Kassey 5 times and then Patrick 5 times.

Chris – Record: The bride
Befriend Chris and talk to her whether she is walking outside or in her house

Kate – Record: Winter HM

Befriend Kate then go into her room sometime in the morning when she’s in there and awake, around 6am. She’ll give you the record after you talk to her.

Carter – Record: Summer memories

Befriend Carter and talk to him on the 3rd or 8th day of the month when he’s at the beach.

Makumuku: Record: Joy of fall

Befriend Mukumuku and talk to him. When he says something with music notes, that's the phrase he says when he gives you a record. For some reason you can get another record from him every single day of winter, they’re worth over 400G so it’s an easy way to earn an extra bit of cash.

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Haunting Ground - Review (PlayStation 2 game)

A young girl finds herself trapped inside a castle with no memory of how she got there. The twisted and monstrous inhabitants of the castle chase and attack Fiona as she tries to find the way out, solving puzzles and hiding all along the way. Joined only by a white German Shepard called Hewie the two must team up and escape Belli Castle in what turns out to be a very well written, surprisingly artistic survival horror game where puzzle solving and hiding is prioritized over violence.

Developer: Capcom

Genre: Survival Horror

Release date: May 10th 2005 (Japan & PAL: April 2005)

Platforms: PlayStation 2

ESRB: M - Mature

So, the story of ‘Haunting Ground’ follows a young woman called Fiona who is taking a trip with her parents when all of a sudden they have a mysterious car crash. Fiona wakes up in a castle with no memory of how she got there or what happened to her parents and, as the story goes on, Fiona must uncover why she is at this castle and how it is connected to her. Whilst the castle is home to several inhabitants it’s safe to say that they most definitely have ulterior motives than what they may be saying as to why she is there. As Fiona searches for answers she eventually comes across a white German Shepard called Hewie who is being abused by another tenant of the castle and, after rescuing him, Hewie teams up with Fiona in order to repay her for her kindness and to escape the castle with her. Hewie is really the key to surviving the ‘Haunting Ground’ as not only is he an offensive character where he may bite and defend Fiona against the enemies but he’s essential to solving many of the puzzles in the game. 

Fiona herself is completely helpless and is able to do very little other than some fairly weak kicking that does very little to deter enemies, she’s unable to knock them down and generally she cannot damage them in the slightest. Since Fiona is helpless you must rely on other tactics in order to survive your stay in Belli castle and what this results in is a great deal of hide and seek as the creatures of the castle, known as pursuers, will doggedly hunt Fiona down and attempt to kill her. Due to this you must guide Fiona to hide constantly whether that’s under a table or inside of a closet the castle is littered with hiding spots that you need to take advantage of. Sometimes it’s better to simply run away whilst Hewie distracts your opponents but either way the pursuers cannot be killed so tackling them head on is extremely ineffective. Truly, the most that can happen is that they get knocked down and, even then, they’ll just get straight back up again so you’re better off running and hiding. 

The game contains chase scenes and these happen quite frequently, every few minutes or so but within this narrow time slot where you and Hewie are left alone you’ll be required to solve puzzles in order to advance deeper into the castle before they show up again. The puzzles are extremely varied and sometimes rather deadly, an example of this is that at one point Hewie was required to stand on a switch whilst Fiona navigated through an open gate, having to avoid a section of floor that would kill her should she stand on it, before deactivating a lever on the other side of the gate to let Hewie through. A completely different puzzle required you to clear a huge swarm of butterflies out of the way of a door by luring them with flowers whilst another involved pushing blocks around into a certain configuration. The constantly original puzzles means that you’re constantly being challenged to think through things in new ways so there’s very little room to become bored, tired or disillusioned with the castle as everything is interesting and new whether that’s the puzzles or the rooms that you venture through. The locations themselves, I should mention, are brilliantly designed with so many interesting places that you’ll be led through whether that’s a room of mirrors, vast libraries, overgrown gardens or the ever creepy merry-go-round room. This is a game that makes you want to explore more yet punishes you for venturing out of your hiding spot with constant harassment from some very disturbing enemies. Luckily, the game does feature boss battles and you’ll be given the opportunity to kill a pursuer, there are four of them, once and for all. 

Graphically the game is fairly interesting and very well detailed for its time. Something I particularly like is what happens to the screen when Fiona descends into a full scale anxiety attack. Fiona is actually unable to stay close to the pursuers, even if they are not attacking her, as if she does she will start to panic. The more Fiona panics the more obscured your vision will become as the screen turns black and white with a grainy effect that reduces how much you can see. Once Fiona hits the peak of panic she will start running of her own accord leaving you to guide her safely until she calms down as, if she happens to fall, she will be left totally vulnerable to a pursuer, and that’s never a good thing. Fiona doesn’t actually have any sort of life bar or hitpoints and you’re left to rely on how Fiona appears to be fairing than any concrete bar or numbers and whilst this feature is now more readily available in many games this was, at the time, quite an unusual element. As Fiona takes more damage you have to look out for things like her movement slowing and whether she’s clutching her side or slumping over. The game is pretty realistic in terms of how many damage Fiona will take from different offensive weapons or attacks so, for instance, if Fiona is attacked with a sharp shard of glass she will immediately be in a state of critical damage. It’s things like this which really add to the overall immersion of the game and which support that feeling of helplessness and weakness because, after all, you’re just a scared, trapped girl with no weapons, super powers or training. Fiona is no Lara Croft and so, whilst it may be annoying to some that she’s so fragile, that’s exactly how she should be. 

Fiona’s fragility means that Hewie is so much more valuable to you and what is done incredibly well is the bond that is formed between girl and dog and you do see their relationship strengthen as the game goes on. In times when Hewie may sometimes be roaming another part of the castle and not by your side there’s a tendency to feel significantly more afraid as your one and only defence is no longer there and, in this sense, Hewie does not feel like a gimmick or a burden on the player. Even though Hewie can die due to his limited hitpoints he’s a fairly hardy character and is so useful in terms of gameplay that you will fight tooth and nail to keep him alive as you would yourself. During periods of down-time the interactions you can have with him help establish a stronger relationship as you can give different commands to him. Fiona is able to praise, scold and instruct Hewie to search for hidden items in the ground and whilst scolding may sound a little harsh what it actually serves to do is to strengthen the relationship between Fiona and Hewie as, when Hewie’s being disobedient, scolding him sets him on the right path again and means he is less likely to disobey again. If Hewie is handled correctly then towards the end of the game there will be no instances in which he will disobey Fiona, so strong the bond that has formed between them. 

It should be mentioned that this game does have altenative endings, four in fact, and these range from the extremely ‘bad’ ending which is an entirely separate conclusion to three others which are slightly tweaked versions of one another. There’s a fair bit of re-playability factor in these alternative endings but what is also very nice to have is the amount of unlockable content in the game whether that’s costumes, additional cutscenes, art gallerys and awards for achievements such as beating the game within a certain amount of time. With all this in mind, and the fairly solid length of between 10 to 15 hours, it’s safe to say you get a fair bit of bang for your buck with this early 2000s game. The game is very well written with high quality voice acting, creepy and well detailed environments and a non-offensive musical score that didn’t really wow me but which provided a perfectly suitable backdrop to a very good game. Whilst some may criticize its similarity to the ‘Clock Tower’ series that doesn’t mar the fact that the ‘Haunting Ground’ delivers an enjoyable, albeit rather stressful, experience.

The Good: 

• Plenty of disturbing imagery keeps the horror alive
• Controlling both Hewie and Fiona is a nice, additional dimension
• The way in which you treat Hewie having an effect on the endings of the game is very interesting
• Lots of unlockable features and alternative endings adds in essential additional content
•  Character design is superb
• Intelligently build locations that are varied and interesting
• Challenging puzzles that are never too alike
• Perfect atmosphere 
• Well written, rather adult, storyline that keeps you guessing

The Bad: 

• The AI could be better in places
• The audio isn't particularly stunning 
• Fiona's helplessness can border on annoying at times

The Score: 8/10

Final thoughts: "This is horror done right with plenty of helplessness and survival elements. Whilst the game has some pretty intense and disturbing sexual imagery in the game that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it only adds to the repulsive situation that Fiona is trying to escape from.

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Harvest Moon, A Wonderful Life: SE: Marriage, Dating and The Girls

In Harvest Moon, A Wonderful Life Special Edition there are four girls to marry; Celia, Muffy, Nami and Lumina and it’s an essential part of the game to pick one of them. If you haven’t married by the end of Year 1 then it’s game over for you. If you feel like you’re under pressure, then good, because you are. If you haven’t proposed to any of the girls by the end of the 10th day of Winter then the one who likes you the most will ask you. If you reject whomever comes to your door then you’ll leave the valley and be sent back to the main menu. There is no way out of it. 

Each girl has a diary and this is the way you check how they feel about you. Each girl starts out with one green heart, meaning they don’t like you. As you give them gifts and talk to them then that one heart will turn into a red heart, after that, it will gradually go up to a maximum of four red hearts meaning they will marry you if you ask. To gain more hearts you must continue to give them gifts, it won’t happen by itself, usually. Muffy and Celia may love you up to two hearts just for your continued existence. They can be fickle creatures though. Sometimes by proposing, then rejecting, one of the girls then it may make some of the other girls like you more. I wouldn’t advocate this approach though, you’ll just end up making people hate you and it’s not an efficient means of making a girl fall in love with you. Just like in real life.

To have a girl fall in love with you you should talk to them and give them the gifts they like. There are around five or six love cutscenes fo each girl and within these cutscenes you need to pick the right responses. You trigger cutscenes dependent on how much they girl likes you, although some can be random. You won’t actually be able to propose until you have the blue feather which you’ll be given on the first day of Summer. 

So, who are the girls, what do they like and how do you get the cutscenes? 

The Girls:

So we have four girls in this game: 

Nami: 28 years old, bright red hair, light blue eyes. She wears a pair of tan shorts and a blue vest top, she looks slightly boyish and stays at the Inner Inn. She can be found wandering all over the place. She wakes up at 9am and leaves her room at around 9:30am. Her diary is in her room on her desk.

Likes: Trick blue flowers, clay statues, fossils and curry

Muffy: 32 years old, long blonde hair, blue eyes. She wears a red dress and a red hairband. Muffy lives and works in the Blue Bar and can be found there most days. She will leave around 4pm for a quick walk to the Inner Inn before going back around 5:30pm for the evening shift. Muffy’s diary is in the flower arrangement at the back of the bar.

Likes: Flowers, moon ores,

Celia: 26 years old, long brown hair, dark brown eyes. She wears a dark green dress. Celia is a hired hand at Vesta’s farm who is also her aunt. Celia wakes up at 6am in the morning and can be found in Vesta’s house on the ground floor where she spends most of the day. Her diary can be found up the ladder in that house, beneath her bed.

Likes: Flowers, eggs, vegetables

Lumina: 18 years old, honey coloured hair tied back with a yellow hairband. Lumina wears a white top and blue trousers and has a very slight frame. Lumina lives with her grandmother, Romana, in the large Villa at the top of the hill. When she’s not playing the piano she can be found in her bedroom upstairs, outside in the garden or walking down the hill and at the base of the hill. Her diary is at the back of her room, upstairs in the mansion. 

Likes: Flowers, golden wool, strawberry cake 

Nami:

A travelling girl considered to be the most intelligent out of all of the girls, she’s a little quiet and very down to earth. She’s apparently hard to impress, but not really, she just likes specific things. Nami often has little observations about the world and the seasons, she prefers the winter. Nami is a law unto herself and her schedule is very unpredictable, she wanders around the place a lot and won’t be found staying at home all day. 

If you don’t marry Nami she will leave the valley at the end of chapter one. If you really like her and are sad to hear this then no worries, there’s a cutscene that means she’ll come back and resume her place in the Valley. You’ll hardly notice her missing.

If you marry Nami she’ll come live with you at the farm and will be generally disinterested in what you do. She’ll stubbornly maintain her original outfit, unlike every other bride, but will maintain a balance of being inside and outside the house. She’ll often stand in the pasture standing out with her arms held out, looking up at the sky.

Schedule: Wakes up at 9am, leaves room at 10am. She will then hang out around the back of the inn before wandering the valley. She may end up visiting the bar in the evening and will go to bed whenever she feels like it. This can range from 11pm to 2am.

Note: If you speak to her repeatedly until she has nothing new to say, you will gain favour. I had 1 red heart, nothing to give her, spoke to her a lot in her room, checked her diary again and it had gone up to 2 hearts.

Nami cutscene 1: 
 
You'll trigger this at 1 red heart. Leave your house around 12pm to find that Nami is mooching around your farm, looking at all your stuff. You’ll automatically go and talk to her and she’ll tell you to get back to work. If you like Nami and want her to like you back, tell her she can do whatever she wants. With this new freedom Nami will stay a little longer at your farm to explore it further. She’ll then leave in good spirits.

Nami cutscene 2:

You need 2 hearts for this one, though it can trigger at 1 heart. Go into the Blue Bar at between 7pm – 8pm provided Nami is in the bar and not elsewhere. Nami will ask you what it is you want and you should ask her whether you can sit next to her. She’ll let you, the next conversation option will let you pick between talking about her or talking about yourself. Talk about her, she’ll be a little defensive but tell you some stuff. For the next option you have the choice between saying “hmmm” or nodding, you should turn and nod and Nami will go over all shy and embarrassed before escaping from the bar. You turn to leave, but it seems as though Nami has forgotten to pay her tab, as Muffy helpfully points out, you should pay for it which is 256g. Muffy will coo about how generous you are and you get to leave feeling like such a nice guy, though 256g poorer. 

Nami cutscene 3:

3 red hearts for this one. Go into your house and back out again at some time in the morning, around 8am. If you don’t get it first time, keep trying. You’ll see Tim and Ruby at your doorstop and they’ll inform you that Nami is missing and they want your help. It seems as though Nami has left her rent money and left the valley. You haven’t seen her either so you’ll have the option of helping to look for her. Agree to do this. Later on, you still haven’t found her and, dejected, you’ll all go back to the inn. Suddenly, Nami wanders in on the scene asking Ruby what’s for dinner. Everybody is ecstatic, Nami is confused, they all go to lunch. Afterwards, Nami will talk to you in private.

Nami cutscene 4: 
 
4 hearts for this one! To trigger this scene go into the inn sometime in the evening when Nami is in there. If you’re struggling to get it, try following Nami about and follow her into the Inn when she goes in. Tim will tell Nami she had a phonecall from her father, Nami isn’t best pleased and will ask if she has any mail. She’ll have a letter which will prompt her to ask Tim if she can work at the inn, he’ll agree but she’ll change her mind on the spot. Nami will then ask you if she can work at the farm; agree, but she’ll change her mind again. Apparently this girl doesn’t know what she wants. Nami will then leave.

Nami cutscene 5:

This cutscene is a kind of proposal event. During the winter go into the inn in the evening and Tim will tell you Nami is sad. At that moment, Nami will come down the stairs and leave the inn, on the verge of tears. You’ll follow her and she’ll confide in you telling you that she’s run out of money and can’t continue staying with Ruby and Tim. You can offer that she comes and lives with you instead, Nami will be over the moon and will agree to live with you instead.

Proposal: 
 
Even after you have received that last proposal event you can propose to Nami officially with the blue feather to suggest marriage. You may as well, since you’re not exactly going to be roommates but rather, you’ll be parents sharing a bed. Doing parenting things together. Propose to Nami at 4 hearts, she may or may not know what the feather is depending on how many cutscenes you have done thus far, either way she’ll accept. Congrats. You won’t marry immediately, it will happen after the 10th day of Winter. 

Lumina:

In the Special Edition version of the game you now have Lumina, previously a child in the original version of the game, available for marriage. She’s now 18 years old but the character model is the same for the first year of the game. After you marry her she will look a lot more mature so don’t worry too much about it. She lives with her rich grandmother and their butler. She starts out sweet but very restricted by her grandmother but turns rather strict by the time you have a child together. Lumina plays a lot of piano, she doesn’t really want to but she’s a very musical person and this will influence your kid later on. 

If you marry Lumina she will wear a blue dress with a pink headband during Chapter 2: A Birth and will spend a lot of time in the house, though can sometimes be found wandering around outside the farm. She will don a yellow tartan dress and orange neckscarf for any subsequent chapters.

If you don't marry Lumina she will wear a sort of yellow tartan dress with and orange neckscarf. She will continue to live at home with her grandmother and Sebastian and will never marry.

Schedule: Lumina will exit her bedroom in the upstairs area of the mansion at around 9am, go downstairs and play the piano until about midday, then leave the mansion and either spend time in the courtyard or walk down to visit the firework makers. On Van days Lumina will visit Vans store and will spend a lot more time outside around the valley.

Lumina cutscene 1:

To trigger this cutscene you need 1 red heart. Enter the Villa when Lumina is playing on the piano, between 10am and 12pm, I triggered it at almost dead on 10am. Upon entering the villa you’ll find Lumina playing on the piano with Romana and Rock watching her, you’ll join them and watch as Romana compliment Lumina’s piano playing. Romana encourages Lumina to play more creatively before leaving. As Rock hovers about in the background you’ll approach Lumina and she’ll confess that she’s not enjoying playing the piano as much as she used to, she asks you what it means to ‘play more freely’. You can either respond with ‘just work harder’ or ‘juts have more fun’. Pick ‘just have more fun’ and Rock will leave as Lumina asks if she can talk to you, privately. Lumina will tell you about how she started playing the piano when she was very young and about the pressure she feels to play perfectly and how she was constantly compared to her mother, who also played piano. Lumina became overly worried about making mistakes and disappointing Romana as she tried to live up to her mother’s memory, Lumina realizes that Romana wouldn’t want that and wants her to enjoy it. After the chat, Lumina will feel much better and thanks you for listening to her.

Lumina cutscene 2:

Triggered at 2 hearts, walk into her room whilst she is in there alone. This can be triggered either in the morning between 8am and 9am or after she has finished playing the piano after 12pm. I triggered this at 12:45pm. Upon entering the room Lumina will be thrilled to see you and tell you she was looking through an art book given to her by Romana, she’ll ask you if you want to talk, reply with ‘with pleasure’ and she’ll talk about how much she likes paintings before telling you they give her a warm feeling, you can reply with, ‘what kind of paintings are they’ or ‘are they paintings of fires?’ you can reply with either answer and she’ll go into detail about the paintings. There will be another option between asking whether she wants an older sister or somebody to play the piano with, you can pick either option for this one also and she’ll tell you that you feel like a big brother to her. I presume that this feeling changes when you eventually marry the girl. At the end of the scene she’ll thank you for the conversation and show you out of the mansion, mentioning she’ll go play with some random ‘Liz’ and ‘Tanya’ type characters who I can only assume are the cats.

Lumina cutscene 3:

3 red hearts are needed to trigger this cutscene and, oddly, it focuses on Sebastian. Enter the villa foyer after 7pm to be greeted by a surprised Sebastian. He wants to show you about a new dinner he’s been preparing and wants to hear you opinion on how it tastes. As you go to the kitchen you’ll hear Romana and Lumina talking in the next room about something that sounds suspiciously like you. Before you can hear too much, Sebastian ushers you into the kitchen and scolds you for listening at their door. In the kitchen, you’ll be presented with a dish and the option to tell Sebastian, “Delicious! Or ‘It’s… terrible!”, tell Sebastian it’s delicious and he’ll be overjoyed. He’ll explain why he’s come up with the new dish and tell you that Lumina has become beautiful recently and will hint that she’s in love with somebody. He’ll reminisce about Romana and his unrequited love, finally Sebastian will thank you and you’ll leave the kitchen.

Lumina cutscene 4:

At 4 red hearts you can access the final Lumina cutscene. Leave the mansion sometime after 7am to have Lumina stop you as you leave. She’ll invite you for a walk down to the ocean, you have the options to say ‘Sure…’ or, ‘Sorry, I’m busy…’ agree to go with her. You’ll go down to the beach together and talk, soon she’ll ask you about the first person you fell in love with. You can choose between ‘I haven’t fallen in love yet’ ‘I forget’ or ‘What about you?’ ask her about her first love by picking ‘what about you?’ and she’ll talk about a conversation between her and Romana. She’ll say she feels differently about you to other people before asking you that, if she had a big brother, would she feel the same. Reply with ‘I don’t think so’ and Lumina will realize that she’s fallen in love with you. At this point, Sebastian interrupts and Lumina will leave with a final invite for you to visit her at the mansion.

Proposal:

Celia: 

 
You’ve probably already met her; she lives at the neighbouring farm and is shy and childish. She talks to plants, which is a little odd, but sweet. She often comments on the surrounding nature of the valley and has a very appreciative, carefree attitude. Vesta often speaks for her but Celia does raise her voice against Marlin when necessary, so she’s not a complete pushover. Celia is often the obvious choice for a farmer’s wife because she knows everything there is about crops and trees. Don’t expect this to give you an advantage however because she won’t help with your farm, like all of the wives. She currently lives with her aunt, Vesta and Vesta’s younger brother, Marlin. There’s an odd thing going on here because Marlin and Celia are some kind of unofficial couple; so yeah, make of that what you will. 

If you don’t marry Celia she will continue to live with Vesta and Marlin and not much seems to come of Marlin’s infatuation with her. Celia gets a little stricter and sterner with him though. There’s a cutscene with Marlin concerning this change in her.

If you marry Celia she’ll adopt a red dress instead of the green one and will mostly stay inside the house. She will want your child to take over the farm. Celia will continue to wake up at 6am; the earliest of all the brides.

Schedule: Wakes up at 6am, leaves house at 9am. Sometimes Celia will walk to the shops, across the bridge, and on Van days she can often be found near Vans store or near the pond by the Harvest Sprites house.

Celia cutscene 1:

Celia’s first cutscene is a little odd. To trigger it you’ll need 1 or 2 red hearts and you should go into the house at Vesta’s farm then go back out again whilst Celia is outside. Celia will be out tending to the crops and you’ll walk over to her. She’ll tell you how much she loves working on the farm and ask you if you feel the time, tell her you do. Celia will then disclose that she thinks working in the field gives her extra strength, then she’ll laugh and ask if you if that sounds childish. You don’t have the chance to tell her it’s a little unusual because your character will automatically shake his head no.

Celia cutscene 2:

This cutscene can happen at any time between 2 to 4 hearts. When you leave your house sometime in the evening you’ll see Celia walking up to the Spring, she’ll call out and ask how everybody’s doing then continue on her way. You’ll automatically follow her and Celia invites you to spend some time with her, asking you not to move so as not to disturb the surrounding nature. You don’t want to annoy her so don’t move and wait for a minute. Celia will then ask you if you feel better now that you’ve relaxed a little. You should say that you do feel a little better and she’ll be pleased but go home anyway, leaving you standing there.

Celia cutscene 3:

Again, this cutscene can happen with either 2 or 3 hearts in the diary. Generally it seems as though Celia’s cutscenes are almost random. You can trigger this scene by trying to enter Vesta’s house when Celia is inside. Around about 10am works for me. Celia will exit the house before you have the chance to enter and will be startled to see you standing there. She’ll walk off and you’ll automatically follow her. Your first option is between ‘yep’ and asking her if she’s free right now. Ask her that and Marlin will come out the house and spy on your conversation. He’ll interrupt your plans for a date and will be rather unexpectedly angry.

Marlin will remind Celia that she’s supposed to be shopping today and Celia will apologize for forgetting. You should offer to go with her and Celia will be happy to hear that, Marlin will interrupt again saying you can’t go and imply that you’re a womanizing jerk. Celia will be, naturally, rather furious with him. At this point Vesta will come and join the party. Vesta will also want to know why Celia isn’t shopping and Marlin decides now is a good time to lay the blame on you. You can blame Marlin or apologize; apologize for delaying Celia and Celia will defend you then ask you to escort her partway to town. You do so, and she’ll apologize for Marlin’s behaviour and overall rudeness.

Celia cutscene 4:

3 hearts needed. Try to enter the house (not the produce room) in the morning when only Celia is inside. This worked for me at 8am just after Marlin had left and Vesta was already outside. Before you can enter Celia will leave the house and invite you to go with her on a walk. You can choose to go or not go, go with her and she’ll be super pleased. You’ll both go to the spring where Celia will appreciate nature for a bit before turning away, sad, you can tell her to cheer up or to confide in you. Ask her what’s wrong. Celia will reveal that Vesta wants her to have an arranged marriage but Celia doesn’t want to; she wants to marry for love. You can tell her to refuse the marriage or to try it out. You can actually pick either option; it doesn’t seem to make much difference.

Celia cutscene 5:

To trigger this one you need 4 red hearts in the diary and you must enter the house at the produce farm when Vesta, Marlin and Celia are all downstairs. This might be tricky to do but it triggered for me around 11:30am. Once you’ve got the event you’ll see Marlin shouting at Celia for meeting with the guy she’s supposed to be marrying without telling him. Vesta tells Marlin off, since it’s none of his business, and Marlin will continue demanding things of Celia. He wants to know whether she will marry him or not. Before Celia has a chance to answer, Vesta will answer for her; once again telling Marlin it’s none of his damn business. When they finally realize that you’re in the room you should pretend that you didn’t hear anything. Marlin will continue acting like a jerk and Vesta will explain what’s going on. Celia will hint that she likes you more than the man she is ‘engaged’ to.

Celia cutscene 6

At 4 hearts you should exit your house to trigger the event. This seems to come at any time as I’ve read people getting it in the evening whereas I got it on the 1st day of Fall at 6:30am. You’ll see Takakura and Vesta at the door. They’re extremely worried because Celia cannot be found, Marlin will show up and say he can’t find her either. Vesta will look really down and depressed whilst you go to the spring, her favourite spot, to look for her but she’s not there either. You’ll spin around some, looking sad and eventually shake your head before returning home. Upon turning the corner you’ll see Celia standing there, talking to your dog. She’ll turn and see you standing on the other side of the field, you smile at each other then you go over. You’ll talk to her and find out she turned down all the previous arranged marriages. She’ll then quite bluntly confess her love for you. If you say that you love her too then it’s essentially an unofficial proposal. You can still propose with the blue feather afterwards though, if you’d like. You can also say “I’m sorry…” if you want to reject her.

Proposal cut scene: Offer Celia the blue feather when you have four hearts. Celia will tell you that her Mum got a blue feather from her Dad and that she doesn’t know anyone else who’s ever got one. She’ll tell you how happy she is and agree to marry you. 

Muffy

She’s the eldest out of the four girls and wants a serious, committed relationship due to having a lot of bad experiences in the past. She works at the bar with Griffin, their relationship is strictly surrogate father-daughter. She’s often considered to be easy or ‘loose’ but it seems a little unfair as she’s about as easy to wed as any of the girls, if not harder than Celia. Muffy is flirty, very girly and bubbly and doesn’t know much about farming or animals. She used to live and work in the city and is struggling to adapt to the slow country life of the Valley. 

 
If you marry her she’ll place an emphasis on how she wants her child to be intelligent, change her outfit into a blue one and in later chapters will continue to work at the bar. Despite her original reservations, once married, you’ll often find her walking about your farm and exploring the rooms and field. Muffy will sleep in later than the other brides; until 9am.

If you don’t marry her you’ll watch her live out her life lonely and alone, slowly going grey whilst staring out at the ocean. She will often confide in you about how she was cheated on/dumped etc and in the final chapter of the game, when she's grey, she'll reflect on how she wished she'd married and had children like you did. But don’t let that influence your decision.

Muffy cutscene 1:

Exit out of your house sometime after midday but before 5pm. Takakura will come up to talk to you about shipping items but will be interrupted by your dog barking at something, or someone. Turns out, Muffy has just met your dog. She’ll be backed up against the barn and you’ll run over to help her. After you explain to her why the dog was getting so defensive she’ll freak out a little, Takakura will look kind of irritated and unimpressed, and Muffy will begin to feel self-conscious. She’ll apologize for interrupting your discussion and you can tell her not to worry about it or that Takakura’s always angry. Tell her not to worry about it then ask her if she’s hurt. She’ll make some flimsy excuse as to why she’s come along then ask if next time you can show her around the farm, you’ll automatically agree. She’ll then leave with a “bye bye”.

Muffy cutscene 2:

Try and enter the bar sometime in the evening whilst Muffy is working inside, I trigged the event just before 8pm. Before you get a chance to enter Muffy will exit and be surprised to see you, she’ll then confess that she broke some plates that day. She’ll condemn herself for being a clutz then hint that she’s thinking about something important; you’ll get the choice to go inside with her or talk to her out here. Talk to her and she’ll feel better but go inside with you anyway without actually talking.

Muffy cutscene 3: 

After Muffy has 3 red hearts, or more, exit your house after midday, around 2/3pm. It can be triggered surprisingly late; I triggered it after 8pm when it was dark. You will see Muffy standing on the bridge, looking rather depressed. When you go over to her to see what's wrong she'll explain that she went to a friend's wedding recently but that it wasn't very fun as everybody wanted to know what she was up to these days. When Muffy told them she was a barmaid in Forget-Me-Not valley they found it funny, despite living in the city for so long she no longer feels like she belongs there. Muffy is upset because she feels like she doesn't  belong here in the valley either. When she asks for your opinion, tell her you think she does belong here and this will cheer her up as she vows he'll stay here until she's an old woman and get married and be happy.

Muffy cutscene 4:

To trigger this cutscene try to go to bed between 6pm and 8pm, after achieving 4 hearts, rather than the usual sleeping scene you'll be interrupted by a knock at the door. Upon answering it you'll find a very frightened Muffy and Takakura, who's not so frightened, Muffy will explain to you that she's being stalked by somebody. As she's so frightened she asks if she may stay the night at your house, agree to this and she'll join you inside your house. Inside you'll talk for a short while before there's another knock at the door which turns out to be Carter, Griffin and Kassey. They'll explain that the whole situation is one big misunderstanding and that it was actually Griffin who was following Muffy and not an actual stalker, once everything's calmed down Muffy goes back to the Blue Bar for the night, somewhat irritated at Griffin for scaring her.

Muffy cutscene 5:

This cutscene is also only available at 4 red hearts and is optional. Enter the Blue Bar between the hours of 12pm and 1pm, once inside Muffy will invite you to go into the back room of the bar with her. Go with her and Muffy will explain that she's been having a bad day today and doesn't really feel like working the rest of the day. You can choose between telling her you're going back into the bar or inviting her on a date; invite her out and she'll be thrilled. You'll go out for a date together and, upon returning, Muffy will thank you for taking her out and tell you that she had a lot of fun and hopes you'll invite her out again soon. 

Proposal: 

Depending on whether you've seen the date cutscene or not you will get a slightly different proposal scene. If you did then Muffy will not ask any questions upon being given the blue feather as she already knows how much you like her whereas if you did not take her out on the date she will ask you if the blue feather is for her. After telling Muffy that the feather is for her she will, presuming she accepted your proposal, take you to the back room of the bar for some privacy. Once there she will tell you how happy she is that you proposed even though she doesn't understand why you would want to be with her, despite this, she's incredibly glad about it. After you leave Muffy will look to the blue feather with intense joy, unable to believe that she's getting married. If any of the girls have confidence issues, it certainly seems to be Muffy. 

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