I am new to the Rune Factory games, and since it's arrival in the mail 3 days ago, I've logged 26 hours on a weekend off.
It's got that kind of draw.
The game starts innocently enough, yes the character has amnesia; but they even work that into the story for other characters too...so it doesn't feel stale.
The first day, you gradually get the basic tools to make it in this fantasy town & then the rest is up to you. A lot of the beginning revolves around farming and chatting, yet each day brings something new to check on or to explore. The farming has a solid rate of growth, to where once you start to get a feel for the controls, new crops and seeds are made available because of your efforts.
Then you decide what crops are worth growing, and you cash in for more crops or do "requests" for points that go towards a ton of world-upgrades: ranging from festivals to larger space, or crafting tables of all sorts. Farming has never felt so fun, and sometimes frantic as ones trying to harvest half a field before rocks and trees pop up. Later on, animals can be tamed to help water the field or do battle even. It's very micromanaged to the players taste, and the results are because you made it happen.
The controls are tight and fast paced, whether it's battling or traveling the land. The designers knew that a lot of "backtracking" would be necessary and compensated such. The layout of the town is literally centered around your farm, and each house or shop can be traveled to without feel of it being a chore itself. There is even a warp-tab that whisks you back to town, or to your room... no matter where you are. At first this felt cheap, but later it was such a relief when going back to town.
The battles are done in real-time as you explore each segment of the map, and eventually covers a fair amount of the game-play. There are a variety of monsters to face or maybe even tame. More than one enemy can go after you, and in return some weapons have a broad stroke to get them in one swing...so, weapon choice is a variable. There are items that get dropped after random victory, and those items go towards various forging items, so it has a value to re-exploring locations.
The battle-gear has a regular fanfare of swords, axes, gloves, or spears etc; and each weapon can be leveled up for dash-attacks or charge attacks. I set battles to "hard" and I was surprised at that it actually meant it. Some bosses have required leveling up a bit beforehand, yet most of the regular battles flow pretty well.
The graphics are smooth and colorful, with bits of CG dropped in for character introductions. At first glance, the movement has the feel of 60 FPS, how animation glides from frame to frame... I don't think it really is 60fps, but it has that vibe. This is not a "3D" game however...not sure why not, but it's clear the effort went into the art design instead.
The menus are easily accessible, yet I wish the touchscreen would be used more. Sometimes it's tedious to switch gear by sliding along the options, and then back again...the map is pretty much the bottom screen at all times...unless you're using the storage or equip menus.
The music is pleasant, nothing outstanding, and mostly chipper; but it isn't annoying. The voices are characterized, and...there are a lot of characters here. Most of the townies are so much a 1 sided persona that it's predictable, yet there are so many people that it all blends together into one ball of charm &... ...whats another word for cuteness?
Overall this game has so much going on that it's hard to put it all here...you get to go at your own pace and pick what to do next. Even if a story-arc comes to light, one can still farm for a few "days" and get back to the story as you see fit.
Aside from the fishing mechanics, my only real complaint is that the Inn keeper and I, we're in the friend zone; and I wonder if that's how the game is coded...but her daughter has a "heart" for me, so who knows...