{"id":134588,"date":"2023-09-02T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-154210"},"modified":"2023-09-02T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T15:00:00","slug":"feature-harvest-moon-64s-relationship-with-alcohol-the-magic-liquid-of-flowerbud-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2023\/09\/02\/feature-harvest-moon-64s-relationship-with-alcohol-the-magic-liquid-of-flowerbud-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: Harvest Moon 64\u2019s Relationship With Alcohol, The “Magic Liquid” Of Flowerbud Village"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Harvest<\/a>
Alcohol takes on an almost spiritual quality in Harvest Moon 64 \u2014 Image: Natsume<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nintendo games are usually all-ages affairs, but every once in a while a game breaks the family-friendly mold the company’s consoles are known for. One example, Natsume’s Harvest Moon 64<\/a> (Bokuj\u014d Monogatari 2<\/strong> in Japan,) is set to be released on Japan\u2019s Nintendo Switch Online service sometime this year, and we\u2019re feverously awaiting announcement of a Western release (seriously\u2014 it\u2019s the best one of these kinds of games that isn\u2019t called Stardew Valley<\/a>.) However, even though it was re-released on Wii U\u2019s Virtual Console, its absence from Nintendo’s Switch subscription service in the West may be due to one of the game’s central mechanics.<\/p>\n

Nintendo has a history of censorship in the West, especially in the ’90s. Around the creation of the ESRB, when there was more outrage about how video games were affecting our youths, Nintendo had a strict policy calling for certain alterations to licensed games on its platforms during the localization process. The company would routinely require the removal or replacement of any instances of suggestive content, gore, and religious iconography in order to make its library more family-friendly and palatable in the West. One of the most common practices to appease this policy was stripping out any reference to alcohol and replacing it with something more ‘wholesome.’<\/p>\n

\"Harvest<\/a>
Just one of the many examples of Nintendo\u2019s content policy at work in Earthbound<\/a> \u2014 Image: Legends of Localization<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the original Japanese release of Pok\u00e9mon Red \/ Blue \/ Green \/ Yellow<\/a>, a drunk old man in Viridian City briefly blocks your path before sobering up. In the American release, however, he\u2019s simply grumpy and in need of his morning coffee first. The changes don\u2019t stop there. Buildings clearly labeled ‘BAR’ in Japan\u2019s Mother 2 are all renamed to read ‘CAFE’ in America\u2019s EarthBound<\/a>. In Mike Tyson\u2019s Punch-Out!!<\/a>, Vodka Drunkenski becomes Soda Popinski. Wario becoming dizzy and belching after being hit with a ball in Wario Land II<\/a> suddenly makes much more sense when you realize he was originally being hit with a mug of frothy beer. This censorship was also required of third-party games, with Tecmo\u2019s Secret of the Stars<\/strong> replacing an entire alcohol-related town named ‘Drunkards’ with the coffee-dependent ‘Sleepers.’<\/p>\n

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You\u2019re able to challenge every person to a drink-off, winning handily if you\u2019ve spent the year honing your alcohol consumption. Some are impressed. Others are dejected. All are drunk.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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It\u2019s surprising then, that not only did Harvest Moon 64 survive this localization change, but alcohol actually plays a uniquely deep role in the game. Its influence can truly be seen all over, in everything from its story to its mechanics. Take, for instance, the only building in town open during the second half of your day: the bar. At this local tavern you\u2019re able to spend your hard-earned money on a glass of wine, liquor, or beer while surrounded by a fluctuating number of townsfolk. Sometimes lively and boisterous, with numerous residents crowded around wooden tables, other times lonely and barren, with only the bartender there for comfort.<\/p>\n

It is here where, already a few drinks in, you uncover the deepest worries and desires of these residents. Harris, the lonely postman, wonders if he\u2019s good enough for Marie, the librarian and mayor\u2019s daughter. The baker, Jeff, ponders if he\u2019s too young to already be waxing nostalgic. Zack, the town shipper, prays he\u2019s capable of raising his young daughter after his wife\u2019s death. All of these people are only able to come out of their shell with the help of this ‘magic liquid.’<\/p>\n

\"Harvest<\/a>
Flowerbud Village\u2019s residents share their deepest thoughts at the bar each night \u2014 Image: Natsume<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The connection between Harvest Moon 64 and alcohol permeates through to the game\u2019s mechanics. A hidden ‘tolerance’ stat determines your ability to outdrink the village residents at the New Year\u2019s Eve celebration. You\u2019re able to challenge every person there to a drink-off, winning handily if you\u2019ve spent the year honing your alcohol consumption. Some are impressed. Others are dejected. All are drunk. Regardless of their reaction, each townsperson you\u2019ve bested stumbles out of the festival with a higher affection stat for you. Drink is a central component of this community, and you\u2019ve proven yourself capable of being a part of it.<\/p>\n

Nowhere is this relationship with alcohol more prevalent than in the player’s attempt to restore the vineyard\u2014the game\u2019s longest, most opaque side quest. In the far back corner of Flowerbud Village\u2019s vineyard rests a large, dead tree. It\u2019s been years since the vineyard has produced quality grapes, and the family who runs it has suffered, unable to see the twisted, sickly, barren branches of this tree as anything other than a sign of their own failure.<\/p>\n

Karen, the moody and abrasive daughter who works part-time at the bar, dreams of saving up enough money to run away to the city (and away from her family) for good. Gotz, the grumpy father who inherited the vineyard, drinks alone each night, turning down your every attempt to socialize. Sasha, the meek, withdrawn mother, worries heavily about her daughter\u2019s unhappiness. None of them can understand why the quality of their wine isn\u2019t what it used to be, and why that barren tree no longer blooms. Legend has it, however, that in this tree sleeps a spirit. A Goddess of Wine capable of restoring the vineyard\u2014and its family\u2014to former glory. Harvest Moon 64\u2019s very own Dionysus.<\/p>\n

It’s by completing this side quest that you\u2019re able to awaken the long-dormant spirit. Through a series of events that include befriending the local bartender, a harvest sprite, and a specific prayer, you\u2019re able to restore the vineyard back to its former glory, its wine becoming sweet and profitable once again. Karen and the rest of her family are overjoyed. One of the workers, Kai, brings by a bottle of the new batch to your farm and drinks with you to celebrate. What were the most standoffish NPCs in the game are suddenly reborn, and, if just for a moment, full of ebullient hope.<\/p>\n

\"Harvest<\/a>
With the help of the Harvest Goddess, the vineyard is restored to its former glory \u2014 Image: Natsume<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is worth noting that the game tends to celebrate alcohol consumption in a way you wouldn\u2019t likely see today. It\u2019s not blind glorification \u2014 the bartender cautions you not to drink too much, and a scene of Karen stumbling drunk on the job is certainly not portrayed as a good thing \u2014 but overall Harvest Moon 64 tends to fall short of showcasing more nuanced, negative aspects of drinking. However, for an almost 25-year-old game on a Nintendo console, it\u2019s impressive that it was present at all.<\/p>\n

Who knows why Harvest Moon 64 was spared Nintendo of America’s strict censorship policy back in 1999. It\u2019s not as if the game came over from Japan completely unchanged, as a fourth television station and farm completion screen are among the features not brought over from the Japanese version<\/a>. Probably it was simply too integral to lose or adapt in this case. After all, what would this small country town be without the joys and sorrows of alcohol? How would they celebrate their success? How would they mourn their loss? It\u2019s drinking that brings out these residents\u2019 rich, complicated interior lives, turning would-be stock characters into blooming three-dimensional ones you can truly empathize with.<\/p>\n

So next time you\u2019re in Flowerbud Village, take a moment to have a glass of wine and appreciate just how undiluted the English language version of this game was. Cheers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alcohol takes on an almost spiritual quality in Harvest Moon 64 \u2014 Image: Natsume Nintendo games are usually all-ages affairs, but every once in a while a game breaks the family-friendly mold the company’s consoles are known for. One example, Natsume’s Harvest Moon 64 (Bokuj\u014d Monogatari 2 in Japan,) is set to be released on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}