InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I will possess your heart."

Ryan S. Singh (tennoarashi) wrote,
@ 2009-08-03 15:10:00

Current music:	Orange Pekoe - Yuragi
Entry tags:	personal

A bit of a change!
As you can all see, I've nary updated in two weeks for various reasons. Since it makes no sense for me to try and keep a schedule that clearly isn't working; I've decided on a new plan. For shorter, more consistent updates - you can follow my Twitter! Then, I'll try to update weekly with a piece of writing on here. I'm going to work on this new plan very diligently, since Twitter fits into my schedule much more easily.

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The randomly placed ramble on Harvest Moon normativity

rydain.livejournal.com
2009-09-03 03:12 am UTC (link)

Focusing on Tree of Tranquility and Rune Factory Frontier. Enjoy!

* * * * *

The silent protagonist in Harvest Moon games is a blank for the player to project themselves onto. Your main character in Rune Factory Frontier has some Helpful Hero personality, but he's generic enough to fit that self-insert mold as well. Since the game experience is meant to be personalized, marriage and children should be a neutral choice. They are seen as a universally desired goal.

It is sensible for a spouse to make box lunches and a child to help with chores. Yet the in-game family often has specific value beyond these immersive perks. Older Harvest Moons had a time limit, with marriage and children worth extra points at the game's end. Some newer games require kids for the full experience. An entry in the Rune Factory series can't be completed without playing as your child. The New Game+ mechanic in Tree of Tranquility involves sending your kid off on a journey to another island. (Which is just the first one all over again and one hell of a mind-screw, but I digress.)

Some games have no mechanism for a childfree marriage. ToT has Miracle Potion for making baby animals but nothing similar to prevent human pregnancy. You marry, you'll have a kid within the first few seasons - and this can actively hinder you by forcing you to spend a full day caring for the child when he or she gets sick.

To its credit, Rune Factory Frontier has birth control in the form of not buying furniture. If you don't purchase a child's bed, the miracle never occurs. Yet the post-marriage congratulations from townsfolk carry the expectation of parenthood. The otherwise awesome Ganesha declares that "Next up is a baby! I'll be waiting for a cute baby from the two of you." Argh.

ToT has canon couples, most of whom will date and marry if certain conditions are met. Each couple that marries inevitably has one child. As to your own marriage, wives quit their jobs and husbands maintain theirs. Neither helps with the farm. Wives spend much of their time shopping, and husbands do not share any of their income with the household. Like every other RFF wife, Bianca moves in with you although she has her own mansion with a pet elephant - quite important to her throughout the game - and the companionship of a live-in maidservant. (To be fair, I haven't seen enough of her dialog to see whether she desires a simpler life. Yet she seems happy enough with her living situation that I'd expect a spouse to move in with her. Furthermore, this would be an opportunity for a progressive change of pace.)

With that said, the series has some appreciated touches. In ToT, spouses of either gender will make you a daily boxed lunch. Various games have single-parent families, adults caring for children other than their immediate descendants, and people living alone with no apparent desire to find partners. Some women continue with their outside interests after marriage. In RFF, Cinnamon teaches magic to her friends. Annette maintains her job as a mail carrier and her friendship with Danny. (Cue LOL COMMITMENT ISSUES from recto-cranial inverts on GameFAQs, but once again I digress.)

What would I like to see? Gay marriage, of course, but that's going to be a ways off. At the very least, the script should be written with a more egalitarian bent. Spouses of either gender should choose between their existing career and full-time homemaking depending on their in-game personality. (I'd think we'd have at least one guy eager to quit his job to work on the farm.) Post-marriage roles should be an equal partnership, with the spouse contributing to the household in some way (income from their job, chores, or both). Children should be a choice, not a given that the player is assumed to desire. A nuanced overhaul to the relationship system could help a great deal, allowing for deep friendship (with or without romance or subtext thereof) and adding replay value by letting social circles develop differently from game to game. What if Rancher Tomboy Kathy was never more than friends with Brawny McHammertime Owen (her default partner in the gameverse), but she got close to Chase the Cook while working at the inn with him? What if the kid situation varied depending on who wound up married to each other?

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