Rune Factory really is the BEST Harvest Moon game ever made

This is what convinced me:

IGN - 8.4/10. "Best Harvest Moon ever."

August 17, 2007 - Despite its GBA success, Harvest Moon hasn't had the greatest start on DS. The original title released back in September of 2006 was hardly what you'd call a true DS vision, having nearly identical assets as its GBA predecessors, and adding clunky touch control on top of a sloppy interface. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the franchise, Natsume has reinvented the world of Harvest Moon in Rune Factory, a half farming, half dungeon-crawling adventure that pairs classic gameplay with the action of something like Children of Mana. And while last year's effort was anything but a worthy DS debut (if you remember, we advised readers to pick up the old GBA game and save their cash of Rune Factory's 2007 release), Rune Factory is quite a different experience, as it has become one of the most engaging and entertaining Harvest Moon titles since series birth.

http://ds.ign.com/articles/813/813633p1.html

(Seriously, the graphics looks better than these screens!)

So what I was looking for was a game that I could use on the go that doesn't rely too much on the touch screen. And since Rune Factory can be played fully with the buttons, it was something I had to get.

So far, it's really spiffy. It is Harvest Moon at heart, but the fantasy setting makes it feel like a RPG. First thing I have to point out is how good the game looks because the backgrounds are all pre-rendered backdrops. So the environments look like painted canvases, kind of like the RPGs from the PS1 era how the characters were polygons and the backgrounds were gorgeous renderings. The character animation is also top-notch and not stiff. They even yawn, show that they're getting tired, etc. Very nice!

It's also very much like a western RPG in many ways because there really is no linear story but a open-ended world where you can practically choose your own adventure. So that's another reason why I showed interest in this. Also, a nice touch is how some of the town's girls talk behind each others backs, mainly because each one is trying to win your heart, or the other way around, trying to win theirs. So the gossiping is kind of funny.

Anyway, I hope that helps to anyone who's showing interest in this game. I only played a couple of hours so if you guys have any questions that I can somehow convince you to get it, I'll answer as best I can.

Theres been so many harvest moon games come out, or coming out, that i don't have a clue where to go now. Last one I liked a lot was the psx version "harvest moon back to nature".

Your right, the harvest moon your showing looks really sharp. I don't have a DS though.

Theres been so many harvest moon games come out, or coming out, that i don't have a clue where to go now. Last one I liked a lot was the psx version "harvest moon back to nature".

Your right, the harvest moon your showing looks really sharp. I don't have a DS though.

Old_Gooseberry

That's the thing. I usually thought Harvest Moon games were boring as heck, tedious, and pointless. But Rune Factory's hybrid of RPG with Harvest Moon set in a fantasy setting makes the game more appealing.

I think the fantasy backdrop makes the game more fun to play. It's kind of like a "what if" type of scenario on what it would be like being a farmer in a fantasy world?

Anyway, it's a pretty good game so far. It's still Harvest Moon at its core, so it can turn people off...but I think the fantasy setting makes it more rewarding.

i think the old harvest moons were very much a game were once you started playing it you lost track of time.

then after you got bored you could leave it alone and then come back to it in a month or so and still be able to get right into it, like viva pinata and other open ended games for example the sims

but its good to hear they have branched out i'd love to see harvest moon and Xbox 360 people would have to play for the achievements lol would dirve some people up the wall lol

I've been saying for that the Harvest Moon franchise has been stale as hell for years. I loved the original on SNES and the N64 version too, but once the Back to Nature came out for the PSX it was pretty clear that the formula had run its course. They were jus having you do the same things but with more crops and more characters.

Unfortunately all the new attempts they tried weren't working either. Save the Homeland was okay but too short and the farming aspect was barely there, and Wonderful Life was just so slowly paced it got painful to play. So it's nice to see that Marvelous is still trying new things. Finally looks like it worked out too.

I haven't played any harvest moon game. my ex-gf said harvest moon games are pretty fun. She has played a harvest moon game on the gba. Is this game hard to learn, get into or fun for gamers who haven't played any harvest moon game yet?lordlors

It's a little bit hard to learn because this is mainly designed for Harvest Moon fans because Rune Factory was supposed to be kind of like a developer's gift to them.

But you don't need previous Harvest Moon experience to get into this one.

So far, I think it's charming. Like all Harvest Moon games, it takes a lot of patience. The first playthroughs require a tons of waiting, grinding, and slow-paced gameplay. But once you pass all that, then the game picks up. I haven't got through all that drudgy gameplay yet but it is still cool since it's based on a fantasy world.

"half dungeon-crawling" Tell me I didn't just read that.Alaris83

Yes, it has dungeon crawling elements. But it works harmoniously to the farming aspect. Basically, IGN said it perfectly: you need to farm in order to fight monsters, and you need to fight monsters in order to farm, because you need monsters to work at your farm. They take the place of the ordinary farm animals like chickens, cows, sheep, etc. And after I saw the latest Nintendo Power, the monsters in Rune Factory look very cool.

I remember years ago when Harvest Moon was all about farming and exotic and exciting in Harvest Moon was going to the village :P. In modern HMs one has robots who want to human and dungeon crawling. I haven't played any of the modern games, so I can't say whether or not the changes are good or bad, but Natsume certainly has taken the franchise in directions I wouldn't have anticipated back when.CarnageHeart

Believe me, if it wasn't for the fantasy premise, I'd probably pass this one up like all the other Harvest Moons.

But I know that Natsume's reason for this fantasy version was supposedly a 10th anniversary type of thing. It's kind of like a gift for the fans, in a sense.

[QUOTE="CarnageHeart"]I remember years ago when Harvest Moon was all about farming and exotic and exciting in Harvest Moon was going to the village :P. In modern HMs one has robots who want to human and dungeon crawling. I haven't played any of the modern games, so I can't say whether or not the changes are good or bad, but Natsume certainly has taken the franchise in directions I wouldn't have anticipated back when.ASK_Story

Believe me, if it wasn't for the fantasy premise, I'd probably pass this one up like all the other Harvest Moons.

But I know that Natsume's reason for this fantasy version was supposedly a 10th anniversary type of thing. It's kind of like a gift for the fans, in a sense.

Don't ask me why, but I actually enjoyed the tomato watering/cow milking aspect of the old Harvest Moon games. It was simple yet unique.

I remember years ago when Harvest Moon was all about farming and exotic and exciting in Harvest Moon was going to the village :P. In modern HMs one has robots who want to human and dungeon crawling. I haven't played any of the modern games, so I can't say whether or not the changes are good or bad, but Natsume certainly has taken the franchise in directions I wouldn't have anticipated back when.CarnageHeart

Yeah theyhave come a long way from Flowerbud Village, when the most exciting event was going to the village on Sundays because the trader would be there and he'd give you an extra 50% for that bottle of milk you were selling. Like I said earlier, they sort of had to evolve the series because the traditional format of planting/watering/harvesting crops and raising cows was getting pretty tired. This seems like a much bigger jump than I anticipated, but hey I'll give it a shot.

On the other hand Harvest Moon Heroes for the Wii pretty much sticks with the traditional format, but with Wiimote controls. Unfortunately every preview I've read for that game all seem to say it's pretty dull and uninspired. When a previewportrays a title withanything less than a "this game has potential", it's usually a bad sign.