So, I start a new garden using an account that didn't have VP data. I call this garden "Ryou-ou".
I arrive at the garden, and press A to hear the crying girl, Leafos, tell me that she was hoping someone would help her clean up, and that she's also here to help me. She magics up a Journal, and tells me to press X to go to a menu to open it up. Apparently, it stores the information that I collect over the course of the game.
There's a "How To" section, an Encyclopedia, a view of the Garden Area, a Player Awards list, and four conspicuously empty slots.
The only How To entry is for use of the camera. It tells me I can pan and tilt using the Right Stick, zoom with the triggers, and press the Right Stick to switch between the current view and an overhead view.
The encyclopedia has two submenus: Characters and Garden Constructions. Characters has a submenu: Family Members. That has a single entry: Leafos. She has a base value of 0. :D The only Garden Constructions are Garden Junk: A broken statue, building remains, a junk coop. a junk pan, a junk skip, a junk tank, an old fence, a rock, two types of ruined building, and a wheel.
The Garden Area section shows me that I only have access to a quarter of the total area that I can eventually work with. 88% of that is hard soil, and the rest is long grass.
Under Player Awards, I can view my Player Status. It shows me my elapsed game time, my garden's value (22), my rank (New Gardener 1), and the coins in my account (0). I can also view the Storybook, though only the first chapter at the moment.
I've got my first Alert! It's an Alert telling me how Alerts work. Important alerts open automatically; lesser ones let me decide if and when to view them, and it what order.
Now she magics up a beat-up old shovel. It's accessible from the X menu. It's not for digging, though: it's for clearing junk and smacking hard soil and getting to the softer soil. Holding down A helps me do it more quickly. The shovel is old, but won't break. Hitting piñata can make them ill.
Breaking junk releases coins, which I should then collect.
Soon enough, a Whirlm appears. I get a Grass Seed Packet as a reward! I can sprinkle as much as I like, and it won't run out.
I check my Journal. I now have a Leafos Log, where some of the things Leafos says go, and a Player Log, which tracks events. Right now, it just has my Whirlm sighting entries.
The How To section now tells me about packets and shovels.
The encyclopedia tells me about tools (the shovel and the surface packets), Misc. Items (Money: both Gold Chocolate Coins and Big Gold Chocolate Coins), and Piñata.
I learn from the Whirlm entry that to get one to appear, I need to have 10 square pinometers of soil or grass: 1% of the area of all the land. Great, but one has appeared already. What about visiting? Same, apparently! And residency is also the same! The only other thing I need for Romance is a Whirlm house.
Back to the garden. After a while of breaking junk and turning hard soil into soft, I break out the seed packet and start pouring.
The Whirlm becomes a Resident! I name it Soujirou. I unlock the Piñata Name Caller achievement.
A Sparrowmint appears! Why? Because of the Whirlm resident! For it to visit, I need two. For it to become a resident, as well, they need to romance. For it to romance, it needs to eat one, and there needs to be a Sparrowmint house.
Willy appears because I now have two Whirlm residents. He figures I'll need more. He decides to give me a free house! All I have to do is show him where.
Also, a Syrupent appears! It needs 10 sq. pm of grass, both for appearing and for visiting. Residency requires that I have 20 sq. pm of grass, and it needs to eat a Mousemallow. For romance, it needs to eat a Lickatoad, and I need 30 sq. pm and a Syrupent house.
Oh, and now I have a section on resident Piñatas!
I name my second Whirlm Kanata.
The house is built, so I smash the site open to reveal it.
Now it's time to get these two together. I select them, and now I have to complete a maze. Well, it's a maze in the loosest sense. It's a single path mostly lined by Loathers. If I run into Loathers, I lose a chance to complete the game, as well as some time. There are also coins along the way. I'm able to collect all the coins, even the one off the path (thanks to a break in the Loathers), and get the two Whirlms together. They head for the house and do a Romance Dance.
Storkos introduces herself. When two Piñata do the dance, Storkos delivers an egg.
When it hatches, the Sparrowmint becomes a resident. I name it Lain.
The Whirlm goes into a cocoon. When it hatches, I name it Konata.
Leafos feels this make me trustworthy, so she offers me one of two seeds. I get to see the seed. I choose the brown and yellow one. I plant it near the Whirlm house. Now I'm told how to water it.
The seed was a carrot, which prompts a Bunnycomb to appear! That's also the Visit requirement. For it to become a Resident, I need to have 40 sq. pm of grass, and it needs to eat 3 carrots. For Romance, it needs to eat a daisy or a buttercup, and... ??? My guess is that it needs a Bunnycomb house.
Also, a Mothdrop appears, because it's night. Visit requirement is the same. There needs to be a light if it's to become a resident, and for Romance, it needs to eat a thistle, and... more guesswork, but I'd think it needs a house.
I get a clock.
The Bunnycomb actually visits!
And now, I get to see my Experience petals! These turn blue when I do something to help the garden. I've gained enough to cause Seedos to appear. Seedos is Leafos's seed-obsessed brother. If you talk to him, he'll drop seeds.
Looks like, indeed, Day 1 is over. (It's not like it explicitly calls it out...) So, time to Save & Quit.
Next time: Day 2!
