DS Cute game version

[Guest]

I apologize if this is well known knowledge, but is there a distinct difference between the game versions for DS Cute? I know for DS you would look at the number on the back of the cartridge to see if it was 1.0/1.05/1.1, but I’m having problems finding good info for DS Cute.

I really want to 100% the game, so just want to be sure there’s no glitch between versions that would prevent me from doing so!

[Cherubae]

DS Cute has a few hiccups, mainly with the cooking festival every 4th year. I am unsure if it was ever corrected.

For reference, the code on the back of my release-day DS Cute cart is AB4EN0J41.

[PaleSunflower]

Only HM:DS' initial North American release is broken to the point of being nearly unplayable. Apparently, Natsume dropped the ball and broke the code while translating the North American release. Natsume tried to fix the game in later releases, and HM:DS Cute was released later. The other releases in other regions and HM:DS Cute's releases are generally considered stable and fully playable.

There are a handful of HM:DS Cute glitches reported in this thread, but they seem to be of the annoying/mildly inconvenient variety rather than the "randomly deletes your save file" or "deletes your spouse" level that HM:DS is infamous for. If you are still worried, then HM:DS Cute has 2 built-in save slots, so keeping a back-up save file in case something happens to the main save file is a precaution that you can easily take. Still, 100% any game is a rough and long process. Good luck!

[Guest]

Thank you both!!

DS Cute has a few hiccups, mainly with the cooking festival every 4th year. I am unsure if it was ever corrected.

Only HM:DS' initial North American release is broken to the point of being nearly unplayable. Apparently, Natsume dropped the ball and broke the code while translating the North American release. Natsume tried to fix the game in later releases, and HM:DS Cute was released later. The other releases in other regions and HM:DS Cute's releases are generally considered stable and fully playable.

I’m so excited to relive this game once my copy arrives. I remember a few graphical bugs with the sprites back when I was playing it upon release, but I’m glad there’s nothing more serious.

Even coming back to this forum was a blast from the past, wow. I’m so glad the community still exists

[Cherubae]

Only HM:DS' initial North American release is broken to the point of being nearly unplayable. Apparently, Natsume dropped the ball and broke the code while translating the North American release. Natsume tried to fix the game in later releases, and HM:DS Cute was released later. The other releases in other regions and HM:DS Cute's releases are generally considered stable and fully playable.

FYI, the code was already broken. The Japanese version of HMDS was the base used for the EN version and was using the buggy code as well, so much so that MMV was offering to swap cartridges for its JP game purchasers (not for importers though, as I remember my inquiry to them to swap went unanswered). All coding was done by the crew at MMV. I still have my buggy JP copy of the game, too.

Natsume leased the game code from MMV to use for their "Harvest Moon" game and simply handled the English language translation, publication, and marketing. MMV then inserted Natsume's text into the game. I'm assuming someone at Natsume made the decision to move forward and publish the EN game using the original buggy code from the JP version instead of pausing the game's release to demand corrections from MMV.

[PaleSunflower]

Only HM:DS' initial North American release is broken to the point of being nearly unplayable. Apparently, Natsume dropped the ball and broke the code while translating the North American release. Natsume tried to fix the game in later releases, and HM:DS Cute was released later. The other releases in other regions and HM:DS Cute's releases are generally considered stable and fully playable.

FYI, the code was already broken. The Japanese version of HMDS was the base used for the EN version and was using the buggy code as well, so much so that MMV was offering to swap cartridges for its JP game purchasers (not for importers though, as I remember my inquiry to them to swap went unanswered). All coding was done by the crew at MMV. I still have my buggy JP copy of the game, too.

Natsume leased the game code from MMV to use for their "Harvest Moon" game and simply handled the English language translation, publication, and marketing. MMV then inserted Natsume's text into the game. I'm assuming someone at Natsume made the decision to move forward and publish the EN game using the original buggy code from the JP version instead of pausing the game's release to demand corrections from MMV.

I had no idea that the initial Japanese release of HM:DS was a glitchy, nigh un-playable mess, the essential same as the North American release. I thought something went wrong during translation, rather than Marvelous kicking out a broken product. Depending on who assumed the busted original was the best way to release the game in North America, Natsume has a non-zero chance of being innocent here. Huh. Thank you for clearing that up.

The part about HM:DS Cute being considered stable and playable across all versions and regions is still correct, right? Specifically, there wasn't a similar coding debacle for the girl version that escaped my notice, correct? Due to HM:DS and HM:DS Cute being only 1 word apart, it's hard to look this stuff up.

[Cherubae]

DS Cute, for the most part, is cleaner than the original DS, but it does have that cooking festival glitch in the EN version. Not sure how that was introduced during the text insertion. I also don't know if it was ever corrected with another version release, like how we have so many versions for the boy version of the game.

[PaleSunflower]

HM:DS Cute being much more functional than HM:DS is good. One very broken game is enough.

For the Guest, the Cooking Festival Glitch that plagues HM:DS Cute seems to only impact the oven theme, which is the theme for Year 4. Specifically, it appears that Gourmet will freeze when judging Ruby's dish. The other themes will not freeze the game, and the theme changes every year, even if the player doesn't participate (so the other years without the oven theme are fine to join). The glitch seems easy enough to avoid by not giving the Gourmet anything that year or any other year that has an oven theme. I don't think that it deletes save files or anything like that, but it is inconvenient depending on when you last saved.

Cherubae's guide talks about the glitch, too. There is also a glitch mentioned were the game will try to submit the same dish every year, but reports from GameFAQs and this very forum indicate that this glitch affects the early versions of HM:DS and not HM:DS Cute.

[carlycarrot]

I'm a little late to the thread, but I'm in year 16 on DS cute and I haven't encountered many glitches. One thing is if you want to 100% the game, do not marry Sky or Kai. I married Kai in like year 3, but there is a glitch where you won't be able to purchase a set of the records. I've had the same save file since I was like 10 years old (I'm 22 now) and my goal starting in like 2020 was to 100% the game so I was pretty bummed to find this out
IDK if it matters, but the code on the front of my cartridge is NTR-AB4E-USA, and on the back it's AB4ENOJ19