Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon

"The (R)Evolution of Harvest Moon"

Introduction

I believe Harvest Moon is quite a popular series. Since it was first introduced in the SNES, this series always have its own fans. Since then, several Harvest Moon games have been released in several consoles and handheld.

Always retaining the same basic gameplay, last year Harvest Moon started to change its style. First is the Innocent Life for PSP, and now Rune Factory for NDS. Will this change be a good one for the series - or should Natsume never change the winning formula?

Gameplay

The basic gameplay of Rune Factory is quite different from the other Harvest Moon. Granted, Rune Factory have the farming simulation that we all know and love - but it also included several new gameplay aspects.

The most notable aspect is the battle system in this game. In Rune Factory, we are not only limited to farming and wooing the girls but also fighting the cave-roaming monsters.

Another new inclusion for Rune Factory is a story element (this will be further explore in the next section). As we know, ordinary Harvest Moon game never includes any story inside it: there's a nameless boy who ends up stuck in a village and start farming. Rune Factory story might not match the depth of Final Fantasy or other RPG story, but it definitely is far more complicated than the other entry in the series.

I am happy to announce that most of the basic gameplay from the series remains intact in Rune Factory - and even better! Do you remember how easy it is to make a girl fall in love with you when you play Friends of Mineral Town in GBA? You just need to give the girl a specific gift everyday and most likely she'll be your wife by the end of the second year. It's not really the same this time around. You have 10 candidates for the love of your life and each of them are quite different; you must try different approaches to win their heart.

Also do you remember how annoying it is when we cannot harvest the middle vegetables in Friends of Mineral Town just because we cannot walk pass the crops? Now they fix that bug so that no crops will be wasted.

In more depth gameplay issue, we will understand why this game got the title: Rune Factory. It's because in every cave (dungeon) we explore, we can also grow crops there and receive some runes from it. Runes are used to replenish your RP (the point consumed when you do any farming or battle activities).

Story

The story as I said is quite simple. You had an amnesia and fainted in front of Kardia Village. A girl name Misty found you and name you Ragna. She also offered you to work in her farm; because she never use that farm. Now, that's an offer you can't refuse!

However, when you go to explore some caves, you find out strange devices in the cave that summons monsters! What is going on here in this small village? As Ragna, you must find the mysteries of the strange devices... and the mysteries of your past as well!

Graphic / Sounds

I think it's really great. The graphic in this game is sharp and you can notice that the artwork in this game are different from other Harvest Moon entries. The overall design give a very RPG-ish fell (hence the name: Fantasy Harvest Moon). Somehow, I also like the design of girls here. They are more adorable and beautiful rather than cute.

The music is now also expanded larger. Most ordinary Harvest Moon only have limited theme, changing as the weather changes, but Rune Factory have a lot of different dungeons (with different themes in the dungeons). Overall, it's great to have more different music in this game.

Play Time / Replayability

I think you can take around 20 - 30 hours playing this game, depending on how you want to play it.

If you love a perfect Harvest Moon game, you'll want to collect all the monsters, build a Rune Factory in every dungeon, woo possible bride, and do many-many more things. If so, then your play time can expand until more than 40 - 50 hours!

Basically, Rune Factory have its storyline but after you conclude it you can play it all the way until you are bored.

I'm not someone who like to replay a game like Harvest Moon, but I know some of my friends who are willing to repeat the whole farm building process just because they made some mistakes. So I guess the replayability value for this game is pretty subjective.

Final Recommendation

If you like Harvest Moon, I believe that you should give Rune Factory a try. This game deserves the title of a 'different' Harvest Moon rather than Innocent Life who actually only replaced you as an android (not to mention taking all the girls out from your life).

Rune Factory might seem to be a bit complicated at first, but once you get a hold of it, it really is addictive!

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