(Nurse Fin's) Exciting Animal March: A First Look, Observations about the game Options

[Crystal Talian]

My mom cares about what I play, she always has. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalasmile.gif)

But, since I am nineteen, she doesn't disallow me from playing certain games. I can play what I want, but my mom still expresses concern if I might be playing something bad (as in violent). She might take a game away if it was explicit or something, since I do still live in her house. But I have no desire to play a game like that. I rarely even have the desire to play something rated higher than E. =/

I don't think she'd be concerned in the least about a Harvest God.

[LadyKartoffel]

It was confirmed by Natsume as Harvest King several months ago, and appears as that in all of the English previews and advertisements. Sorry peoples, but we're stuck with with Harvest King. Ask Nurse Fin if you don't believe me. We had an entire discussion once upon a time on how the names of all the new characters (Witch and Wizard) were going to be translated. After all, they butchered several names in translation already: Chihaya=Chase, Ose=Owen, etc.

[Marley]

I don't mind any of the name changes except for Kotomi -> Candace. That one irks me. But it's all part of localization; personally, I prefer my games in English to have English-sounding names, and my games in Japanese to have Japanese-sounding names. It makes everything flow better; hence, why my character in my shiny new female file is named "Sora" and not "Lily," which is usually my default. (I would have named her Hikari, as that is pretty much my favorite Japanese name, but I'm saving that name for my daughter.)

Harvest King, though, was just done to please people, which also irks me, but I'm not going to raise a fuss. Even though when I think of Harvest King, I think of the Harvest Festival in HM64 where my dear wife never wanted to give me the slice of cake with the coin in it. Well, that's why she was never the Harvest Goddess. Hmph.

[LadyKartoffel]

I don't mind the translations either, but some of them make no sense, like Gil=Gill. Okaywhut? But quite frankly I like

Spoiler:
Gail and Vivi

for the wizard and witch. And I think they are just fine for English. But no one will know if they get translated to something else because their names are meant to be a surprise. No one will know what the English versions of the names will be until someone marries them in the English version. That was pretty much the basis of the discussion.

[Zen Clarke]

The name changes don't really bother me. I can't pronounce Chase's Japanese name anyway, so changing it makes it easier on me. I really can't wait for the game. It excites me. And Marley, I love that idea for naming your child!! Mind if I borrow it? ^^;;

[Lleyta Black]

I didn't mind most of the name changes except for Tao--->Toby I mean come on, he's a awesome japanese fisherman so don't you think he should keep his awesome japanese name *sticks pin into her Natsume employee voodoo doll*

[LadyKartoffel]

Nooo! Don't voodoo magic attack Natsume employees! The game will be delayed again!
*ahem*
Do you think it would get delayed again if all of the employees got swine flu? On a side note, Lleyta, feel free to use your black voodoo magic to your heart's content after the game is released. And if you could brainwash Marvelous into signing their next HM game to Xseed, that would be great. I would greatly appreciate a Harvest Moon game in the US 6 months after the Japanese release. (daydreams)

[ClassicTyler]

As long as the game is fun and stays close enough to the storyline, translation doesn't bother me.

[Larchyk]

I don't mind the translations either, but some of them make no sense, like Gil=Gill. Okaywhut?

Gilligan's Island. I'm 99.9% sure that this is why his name has that extra "l".

I'm fine with name changes. They happen in every other foreign game I play, so I expect them.

[LadyKartoffel]

Gilligan's Island, that makes sense. Must be. You're right. It's just, I think Gail and Vivi are pretty English sounding names. But if Natsume is so intent on changing everything that they would add an extra "L" to Gill of changing "C" to "K" in Kathy, then what are they going to do with those names? And no one will know for awhile.

Not that I care too terribly much. I like the names, but I won't be vandalizing any office buildings if they do change. It's just something interesting to wonder about until the game comes out.

[Maylili]

But no one will know if they get translated to something else because their names are meant to be a surprise. No one will know what the English versions of the names will be until someone marries them in the English version. That was pretty much the basis of the discussion.

*de-lurk*

I'm pretty sure it's been confirmed now that the Witch, Wizard, God, and Goddess's names are all going to be kept, though. There was a member on Ushi no Tane who'd met an employee for Natsume during E3, and that employee gave her the info, as well as the default English names for the new protagonists shortly after the convention via e-mail. :D

The only thing that really changed was spelling in the Goddess's name, so it's spelled

Spoiler:
Sephia, instead of Cefia.

(And while we can't be 100 percent certain since the info was probably tentative, there's still a good chance that it's true.)

[Marley]

Zen: No, you CANNOT steal my names. They are my property. I own the rights!
Of course, do whatever.

As for the Goddess's name, was the romanization beginning with a C officially confirmed? Because there is no C in Japanese; it should have defaulted to S.
Gil and Gill are both viable names, but one of them, I associate with marine anatomy. >> I don't mind it, though.
I'm confident that Vivi's name will stay the same, but if they change it I'll be having Natsume-employee sandwiches for breakfast.

Completely unrelated, Larchyk, your avatar makes me smile real wide. :D

[Lleyta Black]

I will allow peoples to borrow my Natsume employee voodoo doll if needed *starts pulling out many needles she put in it*

[Larchyk]

So their names are likely to stay the same? Nifty. But again, changes wouldn't be loathed.
Natsume voodoo dolls? Didn't know they had those :P Hmm....

Unrelated reply, that makes me happy to hear, Marley :D

So... question. It's been a while since I've sifted through the topic, so bear with me. Approximately how much time passes between the first child growing up and the second pregnancy event? My guess is that it's random, but I'd like to be sure. I'm trying to get a specific date for my daughter's birthday (Spring 12), and since I'm not likely to get it the first time around, I'd like to have a time frame to go off of.
Please and thank you :)

[Zen Clarke]

Marley: ...>-> <-< *steals anyway* ;P

As for name changing, I think it's weird when they change some names. Oh, and I didn't hear the way Gil's name is pronounced until a movie, like, forever later. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif) But by that time it was too late. It's supposed to be pronounced gil, right? Like, a fish has gils? I pronounce it Jill. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif)

[Marley]

Larchyk: Three days. Each pregnancy, oddly enough, takes exactly seventeen days (for the first, from the day you speak of it to the birth of the child; for the second, measured from the day the first child grew up). Strange number.
My children's birthdays are Winter 9 and Summer 26; Riley (the first child) grew up on Summer 9, and Vivi asked me about Kiki (the second child) Summer 12.

Getting Spring 12 as a birthday for your first child should not be difficult at all; for the second child, however, it depends on who you marry and how quickly you marry; if you want your second child born in Year 2, then you're going to have to kick your bum into gear and get married by at least Summer 5, which I don't think is possible in the first place (except maybe with Maya, and only if you're filthy rich and can buy her pie every single day, and rub her and talk to her, which isn't difficult. I should try that...). You'd have to wait until Year 3, which I personally just couldn't stand to do.
To hold off the birth of your first child, just get your spouse up to fourteen hearts, then hit him (or her) with a tool or something until his (or her) affection is at a very high 13-heart level; at that point, don't talk to him (or her!) at all, no gifts no nothing, until Winter 23 or Summer 6, depending on which child you want to be born Spring 12.

Zen: Yeah, it's Gill like the fish; in Japanese it's spelled with a "gi" character (ギ) and not a "ji" character (ジ), so it's pronounced with a hard "g."
>> Actually, I knew how the name was pronounced because there was a minor character on The Office with the name Gil (though I'm not sure how it was spelled). Besides... "Jill" is a girl's name.

[Larchyk]

Aha! Exact time frames are much nicer. Thank you so much! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalagrin.gif)
I don't really have an issue with waiting until Year 3, so I'll probably stick to having my daughter second. Besides, I have a bit of extra work to do anyway, since I think I'm going after Gale.

[Marley]

Actually, oddly enough, Gale's affection rises more quickly than that of the other bachelors; you could marry him very quickly if you didn't have to wait for him to move into town. (He's also only slightly more difficult than Vivi, who's extremely easy; Tamtam mushrooms pop up every day in the forest, but in Gale's case, you have to go out of your way to get them.)
And! If you're going to go for Gale, he won't ask you about children until you have fifteen hearts with him, unlike the usual spouses. So be careful with that.

As soon as your child is "conceived" (I.e. you talk to your spouse about children), the birthday will be visible on the calendar. So you can see if you've done it all right on New Years' before your daughter is born.
Of course, by that point, your second child's birthday will have been decided since the previous summer, so there's not much you can do about it.

[LadyKartoffel]

If you have the time, get him a TamTam mushroom every day, but if you have the money, just buy him coffee every day. On a side note, once you're married you can invite your spouse out on a walk with you. Every hour that you are moving they gain affection for you. But if you just stand there they won't gain affection. I got pregnant about a week or two after being married just by giving gifts and going on all-day walks.

[LadyKartoffel]

Aha! IGN just announced that Animal Parade went gold. But we knew that already, didn't we? I'm still not getting my hopes up, but it is good news regardless. Maybe, just maybe, they'll stick with the November 10 release date.