...As well as marriage candidates that function differently from the other ones in that game (like how Inari can be married by either MC).
I'm not a huge fan of candidates that take forever to unlock or marry. I understand offering an incentive to play for longer, but the requirements are usually so huge that you'll be done playing the game before you even meet them. Like... if it's something like having to finish Town Restoration Plans 3 in A New Beginning before getting a marriage candidate, that's fine. It'll be awhile before you meet them yet you'll still be actively playing and maybe find yourself interested in them. But when it's stuff like the Witch Princess in DS where you have to slaughter 50 animals, give 10,000 gifts (even if you can give multiple ones in one day), etc., it's just ridiculous to me. To some it may be worth it, but for me I usually end up marrying one of the regular candidates instead.
As for candidates that are mechanically unique, I think they've been handled both well and poorly in different games. When it's something like Inari where it feels like a drastically different candidate from the rest with all of its differences (like not living with you, the weird heart event order) as well as being available to both genders, I'm all for that. I think an example of this type of candidate being handled poorly is Alisa in Sunshine Islands. Not only does she show up as a marriageable candidate in the assets menu, but she also has her own love events yet you can't marry her. What I found particularly odd is that her reasoning for rejecting you is that she's devoted to the Harvest Goddess, yet the MC who can talk to the HG on a whim by throwing something into the pond right where Alisa is at 24/7, decides not to summon her to see if something can be worked out. Tale of Two Towns did admittedly fix this, albeit with the snag of making you go on 100 dates (remember, you can only go on 3 a week, plus you only even meet her near the end of Year 2) with her if you want to even get started working towards marrying her.
Alright, I'm done rambling. What are your thoughts?
Thoughts on hard to unlock/marry marriage candidates?
Personally I don't think I could ever devote that much time to candidate like that, but I almost kinda like that they are there?
I suppose that's easy for me to say because in most cases the bachelors and bachelorettes locked behind this difficulty wall aren't my type anyway. I think they serve a purpose for a more niche part of the fanbase that likes that ridiculous challenge though.
I've also been trying to take my time with these games more lately, so I kinda like harder-to-marry candidates as a concept.
When I was younger I used to get tunnel vision trying to get married as fast as possible, and then I'd get bored before making my farm as good as it could be. Having a loftier goal on the back burner can be fun.
I suppose that's easy for me to say because in most cases the bachelors and bachelorettes locked behind this difficulty wall aren't my type anyway. I think they serve a purpose for a more niche part of the fanbase that likes that ridiculous challenge though.
I've also been trying to take my time with these games more lately, so I kinda like harder-to-marry candidates as a concept.
When I was younger I used to get tunnel vision trying to get married as fast as possible, and then I'd get bored before making my farm as good as it could be. Having a loftier goal on the back burner can be fun.
it depends on the candidate. if it's a character i already know i like, i don't mind waiting for them.
i like candidates with different requirements. they're more fun to pursue. i especially like what they did with elise in story of seasons where she had a whole character arc before you could even start to see her heart events. i kind of wish they'd do something like that for another candidate again
i like candidates with different requirements. they're more fun to pursue. i especially like what they did with elise in story of seasons where she had a whole character arc before you could even start to see her heart events. i kind of wish they'd do something like that for another candidate again
Last edited by Kam on Oct 18, 2017 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I feel like they add to the replay value of the game. If I've played through the game before, then going for a more challenging marriage candidate the second time around can be more fun! It does depend on the requirements though. Like...marrying Kai in MFoMT is a fun little challenge because you can only see him in the summer. It's not actually that challenging but it's different anyway. But then marrying the Harvest Goddess in FoMT is RIDICULOUS.
Some of them are just trophies tbh.
Some of them are just trophies tbh.
I like that those sorts of candidates are there and, as long as I'm actually attracted to them, I will often decide to pursue those types. The challenge is nice. However, I also agree that the requirements for some of them are absolutely ridiculous and overwhelming, so I can easily see how someone could have issues with them. The difficulties vary so much between games and even characters within the same games.
Pretty much the only special bachelorette I could ever want to marry in DS is Leia, of course part of that is just cause I think she's the cutest, but it is still partly cause the other 3 have crazy requirements that I don't want to deal with. No animal sacrifices from me. It already takes a lot of effort to get married regularly. Both Skye and Mason pretty amazing/interesting, and neither are hard to get, so at least Cute's special ones aren't so bad.
The Harvest King in Animal Parade was a bit challenging, but not to a ridiculous point. The ridiculous part comes in when you consider how I intend to make a New Game + and do it all over again with him.
The difficulties for normal marriage have quite a range between games too. The 3DS games make it so easy to marry quickly and before I'm even finished with the main goals, meanwhile I suffer just trying to raise Popuri's heart color in FoMT and she's not supposed to be even slightly difficult. Or get 50 stupid little sprites in the DS ones. And the music notes in Magical Melody are a pain too. Then there's A Wonderful Life's automatic marriage at the end of year one whether you want it or not. XD
Pretty much the only special bachelorette I could ever want to marry in DS is Leia, of course part of that is just cause I think she's the cutest, but it is still partly cause the other 3 have crazy requirements that I don't want to deal with. No animal sacrifices from me. It already takes a lot of effort to get married regularly. Both Skye and Mason pretty amazing/interesting, and neither are hard to get, so at least Cute's special ones aren't so bad.
The Harvest King in Animal Parade was a bit challenging, but not to a ridiculous point. The ridiculous part comes in when you consider how I intend to make a New Game + and do it all over again with him.
The difficulties for normal marriage have quite a range between games too. The 3DS games make it so easy to marry quickly and before I'm even finished with the main goals, meanwhile I suffer just trying to raise Popuri's heart color in FoMT and she's not supposed to be even slightly difficult. Or get 50 stupid little sprites in the DS ones. And the music notes in Magical Melody are a pain too. Then there's A Wonderful Life's automatic marriage at the end of year one whether you want it or not. XD
They had animal sacrifices in older games? Wow, so un-PC...I'm not sure they'd dare, any more.
I like that more difficult candidates exist, but...I generally would not go for them as I like to get married earlier in the game so that I have time to have the kid and see the events that depend on marriage before I've already done with the entire story and all my goals and am too bored to continue.
I'd like to see a difficult candidate who requires a lot of work, but that work can be fit into the first year if you make it your priority...maybe make it easier to concentrate on marriage BEFORE getting to story goals if the player chooses, instead of intertwining so many of them. Otherwise, to me they are useless and I'd go for a candidate that I can marry and get a kid out of BEFORE I've exhausted my list of things-to-do in the game.
Actually, I'd like that a lot...if they made a game so that you don't HAVE to concentrate on farming right from the start, but can afford to get into some social aspects first, without making the social aspects depend on the size of your house (or etc), which then depends on time or other unlocks and mean that you can't choose to make it an early priority. I'd also like if they made your family more interesting in that case...give more marriage and family events, and maybe let your kid build their own garden patch, let your spouse grow a herb garden or run a food/market stand with the veggies you grow or dishes you cook (even just on weekends or etc). Yep, I'd love that. Let us build a family BEFORE we really dig into to becoming a multi-millionaire farmer, so that we can involve our family in the process.
That would make a higher-requirements candidate more appealing to me. Actually, I'd like all of the candidates to have unique and variable requirements depending on their personality and life...make one really eager to get married and gain FP fast, make one more shy or reticent for other reasons and be slower...etc. (I really wish I had the skills to make my own games...)
I like that more difficult candidates exist, but...I generally would not go for them as I like to get married earlier in the game so that I have time to have the kid and see the events that depend on marriage before I've already done with the entire story and all my goals and am too bored to continue.
I'd like to see a difficult candidate who requires a lot of work, but that work can be fit into the first year if you make it your priority...maybe make it easier to concentrate on marriage BEFORE getting to story goals if the player chooses, instead of intertwining so many of them. Otherwise, to me they are useless and I'd go for a candidate that I can marry and get a kid out of BEFORE I've exhausted my list of things-to-do in the game.
Actually, I'd like that a lot...if they made a game so that you don't HAVE to concentrate on farming right from the start, but can afford to get into some social aspects first, without making the social aspects depend on the size of your house (or etc), which then depends on time or other unlocks and mean that you can't choose to make it an early priority. I'd also like if they made your family more interesting in that case...give more marriage and family events, and maybe let your kid build their own garden patch, let your spouse grow a herb garden or run a food/market stand with the veggies you grow or dishes you cook (even just on weekends or etc). Yep, I'd love that. Let us build a family BEFORE we really dig into to becoming a multi-millionaire farmer, so that we can involve our family in the process.
That would make a higher-requirements candidate more appealing to me. Actually, I'd like all of the candidates to have unique and variable requirements depending on their personality and life...make one really eager to get married and gain FP fast, make one more shy or reticent for other reasons and be slower...etc. (I really wish I had the skills to make my own games...)
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Guest
- Anonymous Fish
I think the only really difficult candidate i ever went for was Keria in DS. Looking back on that now though, i dont know how i ever had the patience to dig down 255 floors in the mine every day to give her a gift. If it were me now, i probably wouldnt try to go for anyone with conditions like that. As a side story, my sister married Leia in that game and had a kid. Then one day a storm happened that blew away the pond she lived in and she never saw Leia again, which i thought was funny but she wasnt as amused. She ended up having to raise her kid as a single parent after that
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HarvestHero
- Growing Garden Gnome
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Apr 07, 2011 5:40 am
In my opinion it´s good to have different difficulty levels for marriage candidates. Players have different preferences for game difficulty, prioritization of game goals and the candidates designs themselves. So giving different options for different tastes will help to make as many players satisfied then possible.
For example I`m one of this crazy players who married a few special candidates with ridiculous requirements. In DS I married Leia, Keria and the Witch Princess and in A New Beginning I went with the Witch Princess, too. I haven´t chosen them because of their difficult courting process, but because I found them interesting and attractive as bachelorettes. So I accepted the challenge to get them. Personally I don`t mind to marry in later years (sometimes I even prefer it) and think moderate challenges are kind of motivating. Although if challenges are too high and/or another bride or groom got my attention, I wouldn´t do that challenge because it´s a challenge.
For example I`m one of this crazy players who married a few special candidates with ridiculous requirements. In DS I married Leia, Keria and the Witch Princess and in A New Beginning I went with the Witch Princess, too. I haven´t chosen them because of their difficult courting process, but because I found them interesting and attractive as bachelorettes. So I accepted the challenge to get them. Personally I don`t mind to marry in later years (sometimes I even prefer it) and think moderate challenges are kind of motivating. Although if challenges are too high and/or another bride or groom got my attention, I wouldn´t do that challenge because it´s a challenge.
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Celestrian
- Ultimate Farming Fanatic
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RIP Leia. :'( What a tragic story. I guess even the MC can experience tragedy in the series.Anonymous Fish wrote:I think the only really difficult candidate i ever went for was Keria in DS. Looking back on that now though, i dont know how i ever had the patience to dig down 255 floors in the mine every day to give her a gift. If it were me now, i probably wouldnt try to go for anyone with conditions like that. As a side story, my sister married Leia in that game and had a kid. Then one day a storm happened that blew away the pond she lived in and she never saw Leia again, which i thought was funny but she wasnt as amused. She ended up having to raise her kid as a single parent after that
I think the act that these games fly so far under the radar played a big part in getting away with that, had DS been a more popular game I bet they're would have been backlash rightfully soKikki wrote:They had animal sacrifices in older games? Wow, so un-PC...I'm not sure they'd dare, any more.
I think special candidates present a fun challenge as long as there's payoff, otherwise, like with Alisa, is just seems like a kick in the teeth to people who may not know about what the end result would be.
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KonekoChan
- Ultimate Farming Fanatic
- Posts: 1524
- Joined: Aug 03, 2008 11:33 pm
it's not like you're taking your axe and murdering them on sight. the fact is the only way animals die in harvest moon games is to "neglect" them, and you can SPEED the process up by stressing them out and using tools on them, but either way it's still a passive way of killing them. im not sure the term "slaughter" is appropriate here lol. because of it's passive nature, i doubt too many parents would get THAT up in arms about it.white66 wrote:I think the act that these games fly so far under the radar played a big part in getting away with that, had DS been a more popular game I bet they're would have been backlash rightfully soKikki wrote:They had animal sacrifices in older games? Wow, so un-PC...I'm not sure they'd dare, any more.
i married Dirk in ToTT. i hated that game. I don't know why I did it, and I don't even remember it being worth it, lol. I think I was just super bored one summer and my cousin finished the tunnel for me. Besides that, I'm never really usually that interested in the "special" candidates... They always seem to have some kind of drawback to them? But I am glad they're there for the people who are interested in the challenge! I always considered it more the kind of thing to do when you've already beaten the game and are looking for a reason to go back and play it again, not necessarily something you'd want to do the first time around (especially for the ridiculously hard ones, like the HG and such).
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ChaosAzerothCat
- Ultimate Farming Fanatic
- Posts: 1195
- Joined: Jun 24, 2016 3:12 pm
It's weird because I'm fine with candidates with special/different requirements but at the same time hate when they feel stripped or 'lesser'.
Like some of the things OP said they like about Inari I hate. I was fine with no kids but got sad when I found out they don't live with you. I guess it works for some people, but for me it's lonely and not any better than dating. Which I think they also don't have. They're missing so much to me they feel lesser for it. Although I've suspected they were last minute additions, as even old HG and Kappa gave you kids.
But DS Keira was my go to gal, I didn't mind the challenge because to me she was the best choice. I don't even think Skye in Cute had extra difficulty really? I got tricked by the remains of friendship system in Cute and was trying for Keira again so...
I don't mind doing extra for the basics, or at least most of them. When they're lacking too much they aren't as fun imho. The sad thing being since the initial misconception of Inari living with you and no one knowing they didn't acknowledge Valentine's I got really set on them and it almost put me off marriage altogether. Even though I hate how stripped they feel as a candidate still have a file going for them so....
Like some of the things OP said they like about Inari I hate. I was fine with no kids but got sad when I found out they don't live with you. I guess it works for some people, but for me it's lonely and not any better than dating. Which I think they also don't have. They're missing so much to me they feel lesser for it. Although I've suspected they were last minute additions, as even old HG and Kappa gave you kids.
But DS Keira was my go to gal, I didn't mind the challenge because to me she was the best choice. I don't even think Skye in Cute had extra difficulty really? I got tricked by the remains of friendship system in Cute and was trying for Keira again so...
I don't mind doing extra for the basics, or at least most of them. When they're lacking too much they aren't as fun imho. The sad thing being since the initial misconception of Inari living with you and no one knowing they didn't acknowledge Valentine's I got really set on them and it almost put me off marriage altogether. Even though I hate how stripped they feel as a candidate still have a file going for them so....
Actually, that's not the only way to kill animals in DS. You build barns and coops with weak materials like fodder and then let them get crushed when the barn collapses. ...Lovely game.KonekoChan wrote:it's not like you're taking your axe and murdering them on sight. the fact is the only way animals die in harvest moon games is to "neglect" them, and you can SPEED the process up by stressing them out and using tools on them, but either way it's still a passive way of killing them. im not sure the term "slaughter" is appropriate here lol. because of it's passive nature, i doubt too many parents would get THAT up in arms about it.white66 wrote:I think the act that these games fly so far under the radar played a big part in getting away with that, had DS been a more popular game I bet they're would have been backlash rightfully soKikki wrote:They had animal sacrifices in older games? Wow, so un-PC...I'm not sure they'd dare, any more.
Also, did anyone even use the word "slaughter"? Maybe I missed something. I only saw "animal sacrifices" said after I said it. And that still fits what's going on pretty well if you ask me.
