Harvest Moon: Animal Parade Walkthrough - Meet the Townsfolk!

Hello, internet! It happened again, I got lost in a game to the point where I wanted to write about it multiple times! Today, I want to talk about Harvest Moon: Animal parade for the Wii! Yes, dear reader, if you pointed out that I've written about this one before, you're right. I've also written about other games, then come back for a topic, or series of topics that were as of then uncovered, so we're doing this. Let's do it a bit differently, though.

I want to make a guide instead of a Tips N' Tricks set for this game, mostly because this game is one you really can do most of the things you want, you'll find certain things are unavailable until certain conditions are met, but isn't that the case with most games? Anyway, I decided I wanted to do a guide on this game, more particularly, the main story of the game. This one differs from Friends of Mineral Town (which I talk about a lot) in that exact manner, and the same could probably be said for some other games in the series (that I don't talk about as much).

I'll go into as best Detail I can about what to do for each of the five colored bells that you have to ring. You need to ring these bells not only to gain access to most of the areas in the game, but also to gain access to certain shop functions and upgrades. Before we jump into it, though, Let's prepare ourselves. Once you have your character chosen and ready, you'll find yourself hitching a ride to Harmonica town from Cain, who runs a ranch nearby. Cain is asking you different questions about yourself, and you can choose to answer these as you please. He'll first ask you your name, then he'll ask your favorite food (which I still fail to find any relevance to in game). And finally, he'll ask you about your birthday.

Now, I've mentioned before that Harvest moon games run on an interesting time line, what with the seasons taking place of the months, and a set number of days for each season, you know that thing. This time, though, they really simplified it, even to the point where you can't choose an exact date for your birthday. You're given a choice of which season, then choose early in the season, toward the middle of the season, or later in the season, with a fourth option to change your season. The relevance of birthdays is obvious, so on with the game!

Cain explains that Harmonica town and the surrounding areas have seen better days, and boy, is he right on the money there. People are having trouble with their crops, fires aren't starting, or staying, nobody can get in or out of the coast line because of storm, rough seas, and the lack of a lighthouse to guide them (which you should keep n mind if you want to get married to Jin, the Doctor, Gill, the mayor's son, Luna, the Tailor, or Selena, the dancer).In fact, you can't even get the wind to blow right away, and crops and livestock (farm animals) are just boring, or bored. The point is they're not as active. Your little friend Finn, who nobody else can see, has been insisting the entire time that we go see the Harvest Goddess. Indeed we will, but we need to make a few preparations, first.

You finally make it to your farm! And you...didn't think it would look this bad, sure it may have looked a bit shoddy, but this is a little redundant. On the bright side, you're getting it for free, right? Well,m yes, but there's a downside. You even get land to farm on, but you have to pay for it. The mayor stops by and informs you about a few things going on, and promptly lets you know that you can pay him the 5000G you suddenly owe whenever you want. Talk about Bait and Switch! You don't exactly walk into your room empty handed, however. Mayor Hamilton will give you some things to start out your farm with. Some seeds, a hoe to till the dirt with, a watering can, and a few books to help you should you need it. You can also pick up the plants that are already on your farm, and ship them for a little extra cash, or keep them for something, if you so choose.

Now that you finished with that let's begin figuring out why the land is such crap lately. Go ahead and place anything you may not need right away in that little red box with a hammer on it. That's your toolbox, obviously, but you can put much more than tools in it. In fact, you can put ANYTHING in your toolbox, which is useful until you get the money to buy shelves, fridges, and other such things. If you need a little extra help, take a little time to read the books on your bookshelf. Time will freeze as long as you're inside of your house, as well as most buildings. Once you're ready to head out, Walk the path that goes around your house, follow the trail up a mountain, and you'll run into a short haired guy who is staring at a broken bridge. This is Bo, say hi to him, and keep in mind that you'll need to help him for other things as well. For now, let's worry about the problem at hand, though.

Bo was assigned to fix the bridge leading to the Garmon mine area, which was damaged in a recent storm. He's not fixing it because He doesn't have his toolbox on him. He had asked Mayor Hamilton to bring him his toolbox, which hasn't happened yet. When the conversation ends, go back down the path to your house, now take the road leading to Harmonica Town. You can head to flute fields, which is down the same path, but in the opposite direction. Here you'll find the watermill, one of the eligible bachellors, Toby, and one of the eligible bachellorettes, Renee. There's a third one here, Annissa, but you'll find she won't be available to woo until you ring the yellow bell. Regardless of gender, Toby will give you a fishing rod to help you out, Keep this, you can fish for a decent amount of money, and grill the fish if you need extra stamina. With that in hand (or if you skipped that part for now, don't worry as you don't have to have a particular order here) Let's return to Harmonica Town!

When you reach the town, you'll see a pretty, picturesque town that looks like it was pulled from a painting! Directly across the bridge is town hall, you should go in to see the mayor. Don't worry, you don't have to pay for your land right away. You only begin with 1000G anyway, and you'll need it. Walk into the Town hall for another Cutscene. The mayor wants you to go introduce yourself to everybody (currently) in town, and why not? Now you have a chance to really explore the town. As well you should. First, however, you should check out the shop right next to town hall, Simon's photos. It's really easy to pass this one up, but here, you'll receive your first camera to take pictures with! It's not particularly necessary, but you can find some interesting photo subjects in this town, so keep it handy.

Next, let's stop by the Tailoring Salon! No, we're not getting our nails done. I don't think they can do that here anyway. You'll walk in to see an old lady and a younger girl talking to one another. They have very few outfits to offer as of yet. You come in much to their shock, see this. Apparently, they're not open yet, but you don't care. You just wanted to say hi. They introduce themselves as well, so meet Shelly, the older lady, and Candace, one of the eligible girls for you to make babies with! (I know, uncalled for).You'll also hear about Luna, Candace's perky younger sister, who also happens to be eligible. You'll meet her later.

Next, we're going to go around to the building just above the Tailoring Salon. This is the Hospital, you'll find another Cutscene, Meet the old lady who works there, Irene, who will also act as a midwife later in the game, and you'll see how. She talks to you about the Goddess tree, and a bit about the Harvest Goddess. She also mentions that without her grandson's help, she can't do much but offer medicine to sell. You'll meet Jin, her grandson, around the time you meet Luna, so no worries. On a side note, Jin is actually very easy to please for those of you who want to be friends (or more) with the town's doctor. One of his favorite items is Remedy, which Irene will sell to you for 180G, so don't hesitate to make friendly with him, even if you already picked someone else.

Next, let's go to the inn. Go straight down the pink bridge next to the clinic, and it's the first building there. In this Scene, you'll see a young redhead failing at learning to cook, while her grandmother perfectly points out that failure. Meet Maya, another eligible girl, and Yolanda, her grandmother. They tell you about the fires have been too weak to cook anything good as of late. Jeez, everything sucks here! Maya, being the sweet little treat that she is, will boost your confidence, or try to, and then give you some cookies! What a nice girl!

Down more stairs, and below the Inn is the Bar, it's not open yet, but here you meet one of my personal favorite girls, Kathy. She'll invite you inside anyway for a cup of tea. They'll talk more about this dying world, and then introduce themselves. Like Jin, Kathy is pretty easy to please. You can buy a grape cocktail everyday to give to her, which she absolutely loves. You can also make cocktails via aging pot, which you'll find out about later. When you're all done with your tea and chatting with Kathy, It's time to move on!

Next head down to the wooden docks, and walk into the nearest store. This is Ozzie. He sells fish and different fish recipes. He also talks about Toby and Paolo, his son and nephew. If you've already met Toby, good for you. If not, you'll get the chance to, so don't worry. Before you leave, Ozzie will offer you some grilled fish. Again, shipping or stamina, it doesn't matter too much how you use them.

From there, walk down toward the end of the docks. Here, you'll meet Maya's parents, Jake and Coleen. Coleen will sell you nice meals at the inn, and Jake runs the place. They'll complain about how ships can't make it to port, so people can't stay at the inn. You'll see this improvement around the Blue bell. For some reason, they show you where the building is, but that's okay, considering you can go meet these people in whatever order you choose.

Now, we're done right? No, we're not. Remember when the mayor told you to make sure to check out the church grounds? Time to do just that! Go to the northern end of Harmonica Town by walking down the path, and turning when you get to the town hall. Go straight down that path to reach the church grounds. The church is very pretty, and they actually try to hide one of the five bells for you to ring. You couldn't ring this one yet anyway, however, so let's just worry about the church itself. You may notice a couple animals here. You can pet them, and give them items to increase your friendship with them. Eventually, you can adopt them to have as your own pet, but for now, just pet if you choose to and head toward the big green church doors. As you walk in, you'll meet someone who more commonly hangs out in the Garmon mine district. Mira lost her husband about a year ago, and has been in a complete slump ever since. It weirds me out, though, that when you see her talking about this, she has a smile. You'll also meet the town priest, Perry. Unless you want one of the two pets you found near the church, you may not find yourself being here very often.

Okay, NOW, we're done, right? Nope! Still one more person to meet then we're done! When you go to head back to town, veer off to the right of the stairs, here' you'll meet another of the eligible guys, Chase. I love how wild this guy's hair is, despite being a chef. Yes, he's a chef who works at the bar. He tells you about the bad fires, no customers, all that stuff. Then the cutscene ends there with him telling you that you should come by when they can cook some good food.'

Okay, NOW, we're done! Bear in mind, you can meet these people in any order you choose, I just streamlined them for the sake of this guide. Return to town hall. The mayor will finally give you Bo's toolbox to take to the poor guy. For now, We'll stop there. You've already gotten most of your important tools, and may have already chosen the girl or guy you want to build your relationship with. Next time, We'll finish up getting this bridge fixed with Bo's help, but for now, I guess I'll leave you guys with a useful tip for later in game. On rainy days, if you go to the bridge near the Harmonica Town entrance, you can catch a glimpse of the Kappa. You can't marry him, or even socialize with him, but you can take a picture of him. In fact, I recommend bringing a camera just to get the best look at him. Use your camera, and you'll see him in the tunnel next to the Harmonica Town bridge. He'll be here only on rainy days, so keep an eye out, and I'll see you guys soon!