I've been playing Harvest Moon for decades now. While it has come a long way, I think it lost focus. This game picked it up again and ran with it hard. Suffice to say I can't go back. One of the best features they did add in HM though was late game marriage candidates. In some of the games you can marry the Witch or Harvest Goddess but it takes ages to do so. Hundreds of gifts given during small windows of time over many seasons and years, it was a challenge to say the least. In the end it was always quite rewarding to know that your hard work paid off. I would love to see something like this be implemented here is SDV. Rather than change their particular happiness requirements make it a challenge to get to them or bring them into town. My thoughts on this run along 2 lines: 1) New shop or villager. Perhaps the mayor has a plan for a new shop (antique, clothing, whatever) and you have to help attract that shop to the village. Perhaps after you finish the community center a new Joja rep moves into town. Whatever the impetus the new shop brings a family to town with fraternal twins about your age. Bam! New marriage candidates boy and girl. By going this route you have to do a long term task (finish CC or 10 heart the mayor before he shares his master plan) then woo your new potential mate. -or- 2) Make it a little more fantastic. Add a new mine that is the secret remains of an underground kingdom. At the bottom of said mine is a chamber where the prince and princess of the kingdom sleep. Only a certain item will awaken them and the seeds for said item can only be found in the mine. Find the seeds, grow the crop. You can buy them from the cart or shop once you find them, and that is the only item they like. Once you give them enough they wake up and move into town. They would probably live with the wizard. You can then give them gifts as normal, whatever they are programmed to like. I feel like this would make future playthroughs pretty interesting once you have figured out how to min/max your farm income and married all the regular everyday folks.
I'm down with that new shop idea. New shops to build the world would be fun. The twins idea is neat too, it'd add something we haven't really seen in SDV.
