乙女ゲーム

So like I said in my first post, I’m back again with part two.

Like I’ve already mentioned, I am analyzing and explaining why the redesigns make sense for the Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town remake and how overall, their new designs better suit their roles and personalities in FOMT in comparison to HM64. 

For this post, I’ll be looking at Mary, Eli, Trent/Doctor and Gray. 

In HM 64 Mary:

Is known as Maria

Is the daughter of the Mayor and the Mayor’s Wife/Anna

Your rival for Mary is Harris

From HM 64 to FOMT Mary didn’t change a lot minus her parents changing and the name change. In FOMT, she still serves as the local librarian and is working on her own novel in FOMT. Personality and role wise, she didn’t change as much as the others. 

In HM:FOMT Mary:

Is known as Mary

Is the daughter of Basil and Anna

Your rival for Mary is Gray

Between HM64 and HM:FOMT, Mary really doesn’t change a lot. She’s one of the characters who undergo the least amount of changes. She remains the daughter of Anna but her father changes, however, she still remains the local librarian and remains a shy and introverted person. 

In fact, her new design remains relatively the same as her old one, except just more updated to be a more modern outfit. Just about everything about her has stayed the same which makes sense as someone who has undergone the least amount of changes in terms of personality and role in the games. She even retains the same color themes as her previous designs. The only thing is that she doesn’t look a lot like a mix of both of her parents similar to how Karen does and her primary resemblance with her mother is her dark hair and the fact that her clothing incorporates stripes and how her bangs frame her face, similar to Anna’s

But doesn’t look a lot like Basil.

In HM64 Elli:

Works in the local bakery

Still takes care of her grandmother Ellen, but has no younger brother

Your rival for her is Jeff. 

Similar to Mary, Elli didn’t really undergo many changes in terms of personality when it came to going from HM64 to HM:FOMT. In FOMT, the biggest change for Eli is her job and family as she has a younger brother now and it’s implied that her parents, or at least her mother, have died. Personality-wise, she remains roughly the same. 

In HM:FOMT Elli: 

Works at the clinic. 

Now has a younger brother, Stu

Your rival for her is Doctor/Trent. 

Once again, like Mary, Elli didn’t undergo a lot of changes. You can see here her outfit stayed the same and her personality did as well, except now she just works in the clinic alongside the doctor. Her grandmother remains Ellen but now she just has a mischievous younger brother Stu. 

Her new design pays a lot of homage to her original one with the apron and long dress underneath it, it even keeps with her original color scheme. Similar to Karen and Popuri, her outfit retains small and simple patterns and designs, making her fit in with the thematic approach for girls in Mineral Town and giving her outfit some more, but simple, design elements. They even made her bow look like little angel wings. Which she is. 

In HM:64 Doctor:

Actually doesn’t appear in HM:64

The closest to him as himself is Back To Nature

Is a bit of an outlier and his closest equivalent is Degas in 64. 

Sooo... Degas is the closest equivalent we have of Doctor in HM64, however, Doctor doesn’t actually appear as himself as we know him until HM:BTN. If we were to use Degas as his equivalent, we could clearly see how much Doctor changes from HM64 to FOMT. In HM64, Degas is the grandfather of Stu and Kent and runs the potion shop is the closest to a clinic that you have.

In HM:FOMT Doctor:

Appears as himself as he was in BTN

Still an outlier, being a relatively “new” character by this point in the franchise. 

Has completely changed if we use Degas as his “original” counterpart

This is (one of) the first time that he actually appears as himself as he initially appears in BTN, Harvest Moon Boy and Girl, etc. which are effectively ports or remakes of the original 64 game, or at least BTN is which set the standard for their new personalities from HM:64 to FOMT. In my initial post, I explained the reasons that I wasn’t using their BTN counterparts was because from BTN to FOMT nothing had really changed as it was BTN that changed their personalities and roles from the original HM64. So it would be a bit of a redundant point to use BTN and FOMT as opposed to 64 (which would be the original “original) and FOMT where their roles and personalities were changed. 

As a result, he is a bit of an outlier. In fact, from 64 if I were to use Degas, he is a completely different character with Degas being pretty much scrapped come to FOMT as opposed to someone who had the same appearance as the original but different roles and personalities. However, there isn’t much to reference “back” for him in terms of personality.

But getting on with the point, his new design in Story of Seasons makes him look like a more modern doctor. He still retains his lab coat, except now it isn’t and closed and his outfit isn’t all white either. His look maintains the serious yet still calm and kind outlook he has towards being a doctor. However, they still couldn’t give him an actual name as “Trent” so, in SOS, he’ll still be known as Doctor. 

In HM64 Gray:

Is the son of Doug, Ann’s brother and cousin of Rick. 

Works on a horse ranch and used to be the jockey for Cliffgard. 

Socially awkward and quiet but otherwise nice. 

In HM64, Gray has familial ties with Doug, Ann, and Rick. He’s described as a quiet and socially awkward guy who is cold but otherwise actually pretty nice. He was already quiet before the horse-riding accident and it just left him even quieter. It’s pretty clear he works with horses quite a bit considering that his hat says “Uma” which is Japanese for “Horse” and wears something akin to a tracksuit, although, it’s more so suit for farmwork similar to the MC rather than riding horses. 

In HM:FOMT Gray:

Is the grandson of Saibara and has no familial ties to Doug, Ann, or Rick. 

Moves to Mineral Town from the city. 

Is rude as a result of his frustrations with Saibara rather than being socially awkward and quiet. 

You can see that despite no longer working with horses or on a farm, he still retains his original design. Given that his jumpsuit looks to be made of a thick, insulating material from how the wrinkles are drawn, it would be too hot to actually use for blacksmithing work and making tools or accessories. 

Of those introduced for this batch, he has actually undergone the most changes going from HM:64 to FOMT. In his new design, he ditches the jumpsuit for what appears to be a denim jacket and work pants, shoes, and gloves, something that’s more appropriate for working in as a blacksmith while also still retaining the fact that he’s someone who isn’t actually from Mineral Town. It looks like he’s wearing a type of reinforced shoe as well. 

While he loses his hat, his color scheme pays homage to it by giving him a red, white, and blue color scheme, similar to what his hat was and on the shirt, it looks like it says “Uma”. So in a way, his hat will live on. Given that he doesn’t have any ties to Ann, Doug, or Rick, it makes sense to further distinguish them from each other. 

A few people have criticized or pointed out that his outfit is too stylish, however, it fits within the same style range as someone from the city (as the city naturally offers more “stylish” options when you go cloth shopping even if you don’t care for it personally) while also still being similar to Rick’s in that they both do labor-intensive jobs and opt for wearing denim and work clothes. Denim is a common material used for work clothes and actually has a history being used for work clothes due to the fact that it is structurally stronger than other material and doesn’t have insulating properties.

When you compare his outfit to actually stylish characters such as Kamil/Cam, Gray’s clothes are actually less stylish and are just more plain similar to Rick’s or even Doctor’s. From what we’ve seen so far, stylish characters such as Sasha, Anna, Jeff, etc. lean towards having simple patterns and designs on their clothes such as stripes or zigzags. 

As I’ve already mentioned in my previous post, it’s important to remember that this is a remake, not a remaster or port of the game and is, as such, treating the characters as if they are new people rather than just keeping the same nostalgic designs that we’re used to. Given that their personalities and roles in the story of Mineral Town have changed from their Flowerbud counterparts, I think that it’s the right direction to go in.

A lot of people dislike the SOS:FOMT remake designs because of the fact that they don’t bear a lot of resemblance to their old designs. However, the designs used in FOMT were ported over from HM64, however, the characters had completely different roles and personalities in comparison to HM64. That said, I know that BTN had changed their roles and FOMT just carried it over, but I’m focusing on FOMT and HM64 because FOMT is getting the remake and HM64 were the original designs. 

Overall, their new designs fit within the aesthetics of a new game and better suit their new roles and personalities, as opposed to the ones they originally had in HM64. If they had kept their roles and personalities from HM64, I could understand being upset with the redesigns, however, I feel that their designs needed to be updated even if it means they don’t look the same anymore.

Because truth be told, they aren’t. 

Let’s start with the ones we’ve already seen, Karen, Popuri, Rick, and Cliff. 

In HM 64 Karen:

Is the daughter of Gotz and Sasha and is the cousin of Cliff and works in a vineyard/bar. 

Is rude and ungrateful, becoming defensive towards strangers

Has a strained relationship with Gotz

In HM64, Karen’s outfit complements her personality. She’s rude and harsh, similar to Gotz and likely got her style of clothes from him. Your rival for her was also Kai instead of Rick. In HM64, she was the daughter of a rude and hard to befriend man who was described as lazy and unmotivated by his wife and a quiet but kind mother who doesn’t seem to socialize much. 

In HM:FOMT Karen:

Is the daughter of Jeff and Sasha and works in the local supermarket. 

Is chill and laid back, rather friendly and easy to get along with.

She gets along with both of her parents. 

You can see how her design is still pretty much the same despite the fact that her personality and role in the story has changed. This design doesn’t really suit someone who has a gossipy and strong-willed mother and a quiet and anxious father. 

However, her new design better reflects her personality and parents. It pays homage to her blond bangs and dark hair by having her hair transition from a light blond to a dark brown, it also pays homage to her original design by keeping her boots and shorts, as well as the vest and undershirt, but gives them a more stylish appearance. It’s something that is befitting of a girl that is no longer temperamental and rude, but rather someone who is casual and friendly. But otherwise, she looks more like Sasha and Jeff as seen in their new designs here

Jeff and Sasha’s designs even better suit their personalities with Sasha’s being more reminiscent of someone who is actually strong-willed and a social butterfly while Jeff’s looks more like a guy who runs a supermarket as opposed to looking more the version of himself who was Duke’s nephew and ran a bakery. Between the transition to HM64 and FOMT, the main thing that stayed the same for Karen was her love of drinking, but otherwise, she was a completely different person. 

In HM 64 Popuri:

Is the daughter of Basil and Lillia

Works at the flower shop

Seems to be overall more mature although still considered young and upbeat. 

You can see here how this design is better suited for someone who works more so with flowers than they do chickens. Both Basil and Lillia are florists and both have friendly and upbeat personalities. In HM64, your rival for Popuri is Gray instead of Kai. Her parents get along well and she is an only child, as a result, she helps out more in the shop. 

In HM:FOMT Popuri:

Is the daughter of Rod and Lillia, and sister of Rick. 

Works on a poultry farm.

Is more childish and doesn’t seem to help out as much on the farm. 

Like Karen, you can see how her personality has changed but her design didn’t. With Popuri, her personality didn’t undergo many changes, however, they did make her more childish with her having a huge sweet tooth and participating in festival events mostly meant for children. While still youthful, her outfit doesn’t seem beneficial for someone who works in a chicken coop even if it isn’t as much as she’d like because Rick takes care of most of it. Her outfit is better suited for someone who is a florist or works in a flower shop. 

However, her new design is better suited for someone who is still feminine, girly, and childish but also someone who works on a poultry farm. It pays homage to her original job by giving her a flower-like bow for her braid and giving her a two to three-piece outfit consisting of a blouse, bodice, and dress. It keeps in with her childish nature as well as for someone who would work on a poultry farm. Her boots are similar to the ones that Rick has and the shorter dress makes it easier to get around a coop. 

While we don’t know who her father will be in this game, we do have Lillia’s design here

Assuming they still keep Lillia’s personality and illness the same, it’s safe to assume that she doesn’t get to leave the house as much. It pays homage to her original design with the dark colors and long dress, as well as keeping her hair tied back. 

You can easily see how Popuri’s style of clothes is very close to that of her mother’s in both games. 

In HM 64 Rick:

Is the cousin of Gray and Ann and is the nephew of Doug

Works in the tool shop where you can purchase brushes, milker, etc. 

Is not your rival in any way. 

As you can see, his outfit is pretty well suited for someone who works in a tool shop. In HM64, we don’t know who his parents are, but we do know that he’s related to Gray, Ann and Doug. Because of that, we can see the resemblance between him, Ann, and Gray since they both have blonde hair and he has brown eyes like his uncle Doug. The apron allows him to reach and work with tools easily and the shoes presumably protect his feet in case any of them fall and seems to have a sweatband of sorts to keep the sweat from his eyes while working. 

In HM:FOMT Rick:

Is the older brother of Popuri and son of Lillia. 

Works on a poultry farm

Is your rival for Karen

Like the previous ones, you can see how his design didn’t change even though his roles and relations did. Here, he doesn’t look related to Lillia or Popuri, but that can be attributed to Rod as we don’t see him in FOMT. While this outfit isn’t horrible for working with poultry, there are some that could be a little more effective. 

His new outfit in the remake pays homage to his original design by keeping his hair the same color, his bangs, his glasses, and even keeping the green long-sleeved shirt, apron, and pants. However, is better suited for a poultry farm, they even gave him an eye color similar to Popuri’s so they look more related. 

With a shorter apron, it’s less likely to get pecked at by rowdy chickens and with pockets on both sides as opposed to just one in the middle, it’s easier for him to store and access small things for dealing with the chickens. And his pants are also tucked into his boots so the chickens can’t peck at that either. 

We’ve already seen Lillia’s redesign for the new games, so I won’t go over it again. While his outfit isn’t similar to either Popuri or Lillia, it is better suited for someone who is more active in caring for the farm. 

In HM64 Cliff:

Is the cousin of Karen and nephew of Gotz and Sasha. 

Lives off the land and in a cave behind the carpenter’s shop.

Doesn’t worry about not having a job, just a quiet guy enjoys animals and fishing. 

As you can see, he looks like a guy who prefers to live off the land rather than a nomad who travels place to place. His hair even has blond highlights, similar to Karen since their cousins in this version of harvest moon. He has thick braces on his arm, useful for his pet hawk Kane/Cain to land on. He’s just a simple and quiet guy who likes animals and doesn’t worry about a job because he lives off of the land. 

In HM:FOMT Cliff:

Has no known family in the town

Needs a job in order to stay and is presumably a nomad for that reason, doesn’t live off the land. 

Rather than just being quiet, he’s simply shy and has a bit of trouble opening up to people.

Just like with everyone else, noticing a trend here?, Cliff’s design wasn’t updated to better suit his new personality and role. He still maintains the outfit and looks of a guy that looks like he lives off the land rather than someone who needs a job and has no known family. The only thing that really changed between the two designs is that he lost his thick arm braces as Kane/Cain is not mentioned anymore in the games. 

While I am going to miss his blond hair and highlights, his new outfit looks more like someone who is a nomad as opposed to looking like someone who knows how to live off the land. Since he has no known relatives, we don’t have anyone to compare his outfit too. However, unlike the others, it doesn’t seem like his outfit fulfills a particular kind of job or purpose, which attributes to his nomadic lifestyle as he searches for a job and place to stay. So far, his design pays the least amount of homage to his original one, however, given how much he and his role has changed, it makes sense as he is more of a “new person” than the others revealed so far as they’ve normally have had at least one family member in common going from HM64 -> FOMT> 

I’d like to do the others, but their designs haven’t been revealed yet. So chances are, I’ll either update this post or make a part two I necessary analyzing and discussing the character art. 

In the end, while the old designs are more nostalgic for a lot of us, at the end of the day, they gave them new designs to represent who they are as people... and FOMT is vastly different from it’s HM64 counterpart even though a lot of the characters at the same. A majority of the time, their mother has stayed the same although their father changed, however, some changed more than others. 

Ultimately, I’m glad that Marvelous decided to treat the FOMT versions as if they were different people rather than just cashing on the nostalgic designs to be a selling point of the game. Their new designs further distinguish them from their hM64 counterparts because they are basically different people in comparison to their HM64 versions. 

If HM64 was the game getting the remaster, then I’d say that they should probably stick closer to the original designs. However, they aren’t and it’s FOMT getting the remake. 

It’s also important to note that the game is a remake rather than a remaster, which basically means that this is a completely different game compared to the original (as a remaster would just be graphical and mechanical updates) and I’m glad they’re treating the characters as if they are brand new characters. 

Once more designs are released, I’ll discuss them either here or in another post.