Great story, great game, a must have.
It has very nice long storyline, with turns and twist you would not expects, and many false endings that bring surprises if you continue playing.
Game spans over 2 generations - first you play as main (male) hero, and second as his child, which let's you choose gender - boy or girl.
While first generation is simple and more close to traditional HM - farm, socialize, get married and get a child; second generation brings lots of customization, exploring, boss battles, forging, cooking and other aspects into mix.
There are 9 dungeons/shrines to explore, and 9 bosses to defeat, some of them you can rematch at any time.
There are many skill levels to raise, and many weapons to forge - so you can pick if you want to be a wizard who used magic spells and rods, or warrior with best swords ever. (for all HM players who never played RF before - battling is easy in RF, and actually nice addition to normal farming routine)
You can trade items via Wifi, and some weapons will turn into wifi-exclusive, most powerful weapons in game.
As in traditional HM, you get your farm animals - but not exactly - they actually monsters you have to tame from wilds. In addition to producing ranch products (eggs, milk, wool, honey), they can help you on the farm as well - with watering, harvesting and other chores - very useful!
Game is absolutely beautifully designed - graphics are amazing, architecture and dungeons landscapes are very detailed and pleasant to look at.
Music is very nicely done, appropriate for each season on farm, and in dungeons - love it!
Menus and controls are easy to use and feel natural.
Rune Factory 2 is a stand-along game, you do not need to play first one to enjoy it.
If you a veteran HM player, or new to HM/RF series - get it! It's a great game for any collection - well worth it!