Well, I finally did it, I couldn't help myself.....I got Rune Factory!

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, bring it on!

I tested the game out, it really isn't that good. It got boring pretty fast. Plus, the characters pretty much repeat themselves all the time. I thought it was Pokemon or something after a while, I just turned it off and deleted it.hollabackitsobi

Ign give it a 8.4, not 8.7. But it still a great score. Wanderer5

Oops. Fixed.

Is the game fun? AznTakumi

Well, it depends. Are you familiar with Harvest Moon and do you like the series? If so, then yes, this is the best version.

But if you are not into slice-of-life type of gameplay, then you may want to check out past Harvest Moons before checking this out to see if you like it.

I like this game. Although there are a few things which bug me like i can't chop stumps with the cheap axe, and i don't know how to make an axe to chop stumps with.

does the game get boring very fast?

i mean, i like sheep, cows and all but i dont really like swords, any other weapons like flails and guns?