Denizens of Flower Bud: Karen

This is a legacy article and was originally published December 10th, 2019.

It was somewhat shocking that during our Then and Now series for Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town there were a lot of responses about how folks didn’t know very much about the original Flower Bud Village incarnations of the characters! So, with SoS:FoMT having released in Japan and Harvest Moon 64′s 20th anniversary on the horizon, it seemed like a good time to do another article series. Presenting…

Denizens of Flower Bud: Karen!

The daughter of Gotz and Sasha, and the grand daughter of Eve from the original game who died just 20 years prior to the start of the game. Karen is a brash, sharp tongued young woman who’s probably most infamously known for her unquenchable thirst for liquor, which she seems to take to any time she’s being put into a bad mood… which is basically every day. With nothing but a failing vineyard that can’t produce anything but sour grapes, a father she’s constantly getting in fights with, and nothing they try to do to save the vineyard seeming to work… well, if things don’t change, she won’t be willing to live that life forever. It’s very possible that she’ll leave the village, with Kai following shortly after, resulting in the village potentially losing three residents (including their potential child) and the vineyard never recovering.

Yes, the life she’s denied is literally via sour grapes. It’s a little unfair to only ever characterize her solely as a drunk though. It may be surprising to learn, but the Flower Bud iteration of Karen is also a pretty good cook! Naturally, she does a lot of experimenting with alcohol infused foodstuffs, so I guess she can’t completely escape her wine-based reputation. She’s also talented in making charms, which you can find hidden in her room and even receive one yourself as a birthday gift if you’ve befriended her enough. She also loves to dance, which is a good thing because…

The fairies love to dance too. In probably the most significant secrets of the game, you can help revive the vineyard by having it blessed by the grape spirit and the keifu fairies. It’s pretty rare that the player has such a direct influence into solving the village’s problems, but nevertheless, this will completely change the atmosphere of the vineyard for the better and give Karen and her family’s longstanding struggles a happy ending at last.