Rival Couples!

[Butterscotch]

Romantic rivals have been part of Harvest Moon since HM64, but lately the series seems to be moving away from this. How do you feel about that? How do you feel about rivals in general? What rival couples do you like and which do you dislike?

[Juxapose]

Most of the modern Harvest Moon games don't really pair up nicely. Most characters are only made for you to choose, and don't do well with one another. The Tree of Tranquility/Animal Parade pairing didn't really make much sense to me. Unlike the older games where we have some sort of idea why they are compatible, the new characters hardly share chemistry with each other, and only are pared because they. . . need to be with someone I guess?

I like the pairing thing, but only if done well. The reason parings don't work well is because Marucome is not too concerned about the story behind relations between characters, and only create sprites likable by the players. It's a bit sad, but I honestly feel that way.

[Butterscotch]

I have a love/hate relationship with the rival pairings. For the most part, it's a feature I really enjoy and I've had a lot of fun trying to get the rivals paired off. But yeah, sometimes it's really obvious that people are being paired together for the sake of having everyone paired off. 

Rivals tend to bring out the worst in the fandom though. Characters are bashed just because they are paired up with a popular character. These characters are usually female; aside from maybe Rick, I haven't seen too many male rivals get a lot of heat from fans for being paired with a popular girl. And sadly, the ones bashing these female characters are most often female fans. 

[Simfarmguru]

Yeah, the original couples tended to have thought behind them. Even BTN wasn't TOO bad. Now a days, it seems to have gone from a couple of bad apples, to only one or two gems. That feels contrived. Seriously, this could use some fixing.