Then and now: Kai

This is a legacy article and was originally published August 24th, 2019.

So, clearly, one thing a lot of people noticed with the announcement of Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is that a lot of the characters have changed their appearance. While some of these changes are hit and miss, there’s a lot of changes that make sense! So I thought I would do a little series about them. So I present…

Then and now: Kai!

Kai is one of the characters that between Flowerbud and Mineral Town has a complete philosophy change. Kai in 64 is a hard working man who’s trying to support his family back home and dressed appropriately for the part with workboots and all. He’s pretty dedicated to that family as well, having left them behind at the age of 15 to seek work and send money home to support them. One of his first jobs being at the Vineyard in Flowerbud Village, where he meets and falls in love with Karen and ends up working there for the next five years to stay close to her. Can’t help but feel guilty when the player marries her and this poor guy just lost what he dedicated a quarter of his life to…

Mineral Town’s Kai on the other hand doesn’t seem to care much for his family back home, who he resents for being strict and uncaring, and prefers to live a laid back, casual life. He might come off as a bit selfish and lazy, but he justifies it as being true to himself and preferring to be a free spirit. Those aspects are probably the qualities that make Popuri like him the most, as she herself is denied much freedom. Kai can be a little surprising though, since he still acknowledges Popuri’s family loves and cares for her, even if Rick has a short fuse when confronting him about it.

Not that Flowerbud Kai doesn’t have an adventurous spirit himself. Should Karen run away from home, he’ll leave to follow her. Likewise, if Mineral Town’s Kai falls in love with the player, he’ll end his lifestyle to be with them. These two Kais have different approaches to life, work ethic, and completely different families, they can still be a bit of a hopeless romantic. Though no matter who Mineral Town’s Kai ends up with, he gets to live life as he chooses, landing where life’s currents took him.