Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon

"The traditional Harvest Moon- with combat swords and fireballs."

As said many times, at first a fantasy spin-off of Harvest Moon sounds utterly absurd. Harvest Moon has been a game made up of farming, foraging, rivalling and marriage for who knows how long. The closest thing to violence the series has gotten to is whacking villagers with your hoe to bring their affection down, whacking wild dogs with your sickle to drive them away from your grazing animals, and whacking dark beasts with a sword in Harvest Moon: DS. Harvest Moon has finally adapted to a game with FIGHTING-- you heard me, not whacking, but fighting. Who knew it was such a great idea.

Graphics: 9/10

First of all, the graphics are great. Not stunningly gorgeous, but great. I'll admit, the sprites can be rather ugly and squished-down, and one of the marriageable candidates even looks like she has legs growing out of her ears. However, the 2D sprites are very detailed and realistic, though I have to comment on the lack of different faces for each villager. (eg give them something they hate, they show a mad face.) Apart from the people, the objects and surroundings are quite good as well. The fish each have a different look, and all the fruits look lush and juicy. Also, the shading actually FITS- they're not just circular blobs on the ground.

Music/Sound: 8/10

The music fits. There is different music for each place, depending on the season, whether you're indoor/outdoor, and which cave you're in. And hark; YOU CAN HEAR EACH CHARACTER'S VOICES! No, it's not like Animal Crossing, where they say the entire dialogue, but just frequent "Hello"s and "Good morning"s and "Good evening"s and sometimes even "Thank you"s and laughs. Each character has an individual sound, including you.

Gameplay: 8/10

Of course, the most important aspect of the game is its gameplay. Rune Factory DEFINITELY is packed with things to do, from slaying monsters, upgrading tools and your house, mining, fishing, socializing with townspeople, farming, foraging, and capturing monsters. Overall, however, things may get repetitive and most of the day spent will be useless if you use up all your rune points too soon. (More on that later.) Also, the game time is counted going ten minutes by ten minutes. Ten minutes = approx. 10 seconds in real life.

The farming part of Rune Factory follows the traditional Harvest Moon- till 3x3 soil, and plant. The good thing about it is that you can step on the plants without harming them, meaning you can access each and every nine squares. Also, each time nine crops grow, there is a small sphere you can touch to raise your rune points.

As for socializing with townspeople, yes, you can get married, yes, there are 11 marriageable bachelorettes (one of them doesn't appear at the start of the game), and no, there are no rival marriages. But there are guys rivalling for girls' affection.

The system is divided into friendship points and love points. Only girls you can marry can have love points, and the maximum number for each is 10. The marriage system is different from other traditional Harvest Moon games. (Giving gifts does make most bachelorette's affection go up, but each one has a special way of getting their love points up.) Also, you must fulfill different steps before you are allowed to marry. Remember, each girl leads a different chain of events you need to unlock before you are able to pop the question. Some are harder than others, and one of them even requires Wi-fi connection.

As for the slaying/capturing monsters- yes, I'm not bluffing when I say you can do both of that. Necessary to slay monsters is to have a weapon, be it a farm tool like a sickle or a weapon like a Claymore sword. All you have to do is go up to a generator and try to kill it by hitting it with your sword. The generators summon monsters, and the only way to stop it from summoning the monsters is to destroy it. (Note: the monsters do not go away once the generator is defeated.) It is not like Pokemon or Final Fantasy I and II fighting, where it is in-turn. You see the monster sprites and you either choose to approach and start hacking at it with your B button or pivoting with the R button and running from the scene. (You cannot run from boss battles.) Also, you can use spellbooks, allowing you to cast magic- from fireballs to cures to escaping from a cave. Keep in mind that there are status conditions like poison and seal, and they do not go away by merely sleeping, which is an annoying part of the game.

To capture the monsters, you must use a "Friendship Glove" (using it requires the same way as using a tool) and press B repeatedly in front of the monsters. But before you can capture a monster, you'll have to have a Monster Hut, costing 1000g and 100 wood. Captured monsters can help out on your farm by watering or harvesting, or they can give you honey, wool or milk, or fight alongside you in caves.

So basically, Rune Factory is FORCING you to farm AND fight. You cannot advance on the storyline without first doing that. And speaking of the storyline...

Storyline: 9/10

Without a doubt, the best storyline in the entire Harvest Moon series. Traditionally, it takes place mainly in a village, and in this case the village is Kardia. You start off as a character without a name (default is Raguna) on the brink of death and limping down the road. You collapse before a house, where a girl (eligible to marry) named Mist takes you in. She gives you a hoe and watering can and allows you to live on her farm to the north. You have amnesia, you don't know your age, your name, or anything-- and figure it's all you can do. You accept her offer, and who knew living there would help you retrieve fragments of your past?

Whilst Mist finishes up teaching you the brief basics of farming... crack. A monster appears out of nowhere on the field. You want to help, so Mist tells you to hit it with your hoe repeatedly. After a few swings, it disappears into a blue orb (not the same as a rune points orb) and floats away into the sky. Mist then tells you that you have an enchantment on your tools and weapons called "Retornen", meaning you haven't actually killed the monster, you've just sent it to another world called "The First Forest." She is curious if whether or not you were a swordsman in your past, but of course... you don't know.

The good thing about the game is, you're not forced to follow the storyline. (Though it'll probably be quite boring if you don't.) No one makes you fight or go into caves, no monsters randomly appear on your farm and attack you. You choose if you want to go into the caves. If you do, you'll have to destroy each generator and then defeat the boss, earning a permit to the next, harder cave. The story that unfolds about your mysterious past slowly unfolds, so I'd highly recommend that if you do go to the caves.

You have a health bar and a rune points bar. The rune points bar, first of all, is basically your energy bar. For example, using tools or weapons (like a brush, or a spear) will slightly lower your rune points bar. You cannot permanently raise your rune points bar, but the more you use tools or weapons, the more your "Skill Points" go up. The higher your skill points are, the less rune points you use each time you use a tool or weapon of that sort. The only way to replenish your rune points bar is by going to the hot springs, going to sleep, rune point orbs, and possibly a few other ways I am unaware of.

Overall: 8/10

Buy or rent: BUY. To me, there is no point in renting a Harvest Moon game. The game never ends (you can complete the storyline, but it doesn't end) so there is an endless amount of things you can continue to do.

Conclusion:

Rune Factory is a very fun game, in my opinion. Still the basic Harvest Moon, just with a couple gigantic twists. However, this game is far from perfect. The repetitiveness and how long the days can seem are a downside. Unlocking events can be tricky, and once you reach the third cave making money is extremely easy. Keep in mind that if you have little patience, then this game may not be best for you.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/26/07