[zigg]

I'm in. Particularly if it follows on to 3. 3 was so good.

[Gravijah]

do I sense optimism?

my post was originally "can't wait to play this in 2014."

;/

[Man God]

my post was originally "can't wait to play this in 2014." ;/

Either way you're off by a year. Natsume will have it out in 2013 and RSG will have it in 2015.

[Cherubae]

You also get to build upon the town itself, in a "tourism-attracting" manner. You expand the town by creating the blacksmith and other buildings.

That sounds like how the newest HM 3DS game plays out - you have to construct the buildings and other decorative objects in the village to get the residents to move in.

Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon ...

Only in English territories for promo, associative, and familiarity reasons. The "harvest moon" part of the title hasn't been attached to the series in Japan since RF 1 was "new harvest moon".

[injurai]

my post was originally "can't wait to play this in 2014." ;/

;P haha shouldn't have edit it.

[zigg]

Only in English territories for promo, associative, and familiarity reasons. The "harvest moon" part of the title hasn't been attached to the series in Japan since RF 1 was "new harvest moon".

And only for the DS games, in North America at least. XSEED didn't use it for Frontier and Natsume followed suit with Tides.

[Emitan]

For some reason I really want to get into this series now. This game will take forever to come out here :(

[Man God]

Oceans is the worst game under the RF banner. Boring and lifeless.

3 was incredible. 2 was a bit unfocused. 1 and its crazy spritual successor Frontier are both really good though Frontier would have been much better without Runies.

[Cherubae]

And only for the DS games, in North America at least. XSEED didn't use it for Frontier and Natsume followed suit with Tides.

Rising Star Games also left off the subtitle from RF Oceans for EU but left it in place for RF3. It seems archaic to keep the subtitle when the series is branching farther away from the farming aspects copied from the HM series.

[zigg]

Oceans is the worst game under the RF banner. Boring and lifeless.

I'm still playing Tides... I've gotta be getting close. I'm in the fourth shrine. But it's hard to get motivated to finish.

I hope this game is more like 3. Incidentally, anyone else get a chance to play the multiplayer? It was fantastic. Does 4 have any?

[Man God]

I'm pretty sure the console RF games are under a gypsy curse.

The elements of Tides of Destiny/Oceans make it seem like its going to be awesome and parts of it are. The combat is better then 3 and you get a giant golem plus a lot of neat little changes here and there to the formula.

But in actual execution there is just something wrong about it. I could barely make it two seasons before I eventually gave up.

Frontier on the other hand would be the best game in the series if not for Runies. It is a completely tuned up to the 9th degree version of RF1 including that wacky cast of characters turned up to eleven. But one game element if not understood will ruin your damn fun.

[Truth101]

I still don't understand, after playing 5 Rune Factory games why the farming system in all of them is so shit.

[Man God]

I still don't understand, after playing 5 Rune Factory games why the farming system in all of them is so shit.

It's not the focus in any of them.

The first game tried to make it important by forcing you to grow shit in order to advance the plot but it sort of lessened from there quite a bit.

I think 3 had a decent balance of crop growing with other stuff.

[Truth101]

It's not the focus in any of them. The first game tried to make it important by forcing you to grow shit in order to advance the plot but it sort of lessened from there quite a bit. I think 3 had a decent balance of crop growing with other stuff.

It's not that they should be the focus of the game at all. But the amount of shit that sprouts in the crop fields: the rocks, the wood, the weeds, the herbs. Is just ridiculous especially the rate at which new stuff comes.

They might as well completely take out the entire farming aspect if it continues to be so shit.

EDIT::

Runies are not bad at all there just needed a way to mass manage them.

[zigg]

But one game element if not understood will ruin your damn fun.

I understood it well enough, and it still did. :lol

[UncleSporky]

I'd like to know what was so good about 3.

I mean, I enjoyed it I guess, but...well, here's what happened. I played the game normally for a while, it was fun but pretty normal for a HM/RF game. Got to know all the people, got used to the different areas, killed a boss or two.

Then I played the multiplayer mode by myself for a little bit and gained like a billion levels instantly and finished the whole rest of the game's story mode in an hour.

So it's my fault, I suppose?

[Etrian Oddity]

I'm pretty sure the console RF games are under a gypsy curse. The elements of Tides of Destiny/Oceans make it seem like its going to be awesome and parts of it are. The combat is better then 3 and you get a giant golem plus a lot of neat little changes here and there to the formula. But in actual execution there is just something wrong about it. I could barely make it two seasons before I eventually gave up. Frontier on the other hand would be the best game in the series if not for Runies. It is a completely tuned up to the 9th degree version of RF1 including that wacky cast of characters turned up to eleven. But one game element if not understood will ruin your damn fun.

Frontier would have not only been the best RF game, but the best Harvest Moon game period, had it not been for Runies. Everything else about that game was abso-goddamn-lutely amazing.

[Truth101]

Frontier would have not only been the best RF game, but the best Harvest Moon game period, had it not been for Runies. Everything else about that game was abso-goddamn-lutely amazing.

Eww... no.

As a connoisseur of Harvest Moon titles a Rune Factory game will never be better than a Harvest Moon game.

[UncleSporky]

Eww... no. As a connoisseur of Harvest Moon titles a Rune Factory game will never be better than a Harvest Moon game.

Most Rune Factories are better than most Harvest Moon games, simply because they provide the same core gameplay but with more (and fitting) gameplay elements built on top. They also have actual plots and not "make this farm succeed," and a much wider variety of items in crafting, cooking etc.

In this case, less is not more.

I wonder which you would find more attractive: a Harvest Moon game in a medieval fantasy setting but with no combat, or a Harvest Moon game set in the usual modern time but with dungeons and combat.

SHOTGUN COMBAT, FARMERS AM I RITE

[kiryogi]

I'm pretty sure the console RF games are under a gypsy curse. The elements of Tides of Destiny/Oceans make it seem like its going to be awesome and parts of it are. The combat is better then 3 and you get a giant golem plus a lot of neat little changes here and there to the formula. But in actual execution there is just something wrong about it. I could barely make it two seasons before I eventually gave up. Frontier on the other hand would be the best game in the series if not for Runies. It is a completely tuned up to the 9th degree version of RF1 including that wacky cast of characters turned up to eleven. But one game element if not understood will ruin your damn fun.

Absolute truth and I personally think it is the best HM ivee ever played despite runies.

My list

1: RFF
2: Magical Melody
3: HM64

[Truth101]

Most Rune Factories are better than most Harvest Moon games, simply because they provide the same core gameplay but with more (and fitting) gameplay elements built on top. They also have actual plots and not "make this farm succeed," and a much wider variety of items in crafting, cooking etc. In this case, less is not more. I wonder which you would find more attractive: a Harvest Moon game in a medieval fantasy setting but with no combat, or a Harvest Moon game set in the usual modern time but with dungeons and combat. SHOTGUN COMBAT, FARMERS AM I RITE

Harvest Moon in medieval fantasy with no combat, of course.


Also, the core game-play of Rune Factory games are completely different than Harvest Moon games. Harvest Moon is based on farming/ranching maybe add a little fishing into the equation. The Rune Factory game-play system is based around the combat/dungeon crawling/item forging and monster capturing. The farming system is completely inferior in RF games than HM games.

I prefer playing Harvest Moon games for just that reason.

Of course the ideal would be for a marriage and balancing of the two mechanics, but I doubt that would happen.

[UncleSporky]

I don't see why one couldn't play a Rune Factory game and completely ignore the combat, just farm, fish, cook, get married (if the marriage is not plot driven, I forget the details), and wind up playing a game that is about the same as most other HM games.

I suppose without combat you miss out on livestock. Maybe a quick dip into a dungeon for the sheep and cow monsters.

Is it one of those cases where if it's there, you feel compelled to do it, like you're missing out on a huge part of the game, even though it's a part of the game you don't want to play?

[Truth101]

I don't see why one couldn't play a Rune Factory game and completely ignore the combat, just farm, fish, cook, get married (if the marriage is not plot driven, I forget the details), and wind up playing a game that is about the same as most other HM games. I suppose without combat you miss out on livestock. Maybe a quick dip into a dungeon for the sheep and cow monsters. Is it one of those cases where if it's there, you feel compelled to do it, like you're missing out on a huge part of the game, even though it's a part of the game you don't want to play?

As I said before,

The farming in Rune Factory games is completely imbalanced. Weeds,herbs,wood and stone appear in incredibly large quantities and too quickly. Large storms happen often and completely eradicate everything, leaving you with even more junk in your plots.

It just isn't fun, it is work and a hassle.

[Etrian Oddity]

Eww... no. As a connoisseur of Harvest Moon titles a Rune Factory game will never be better than a Harvest Moon game.

As someone who has been playing Harvest Moon titles since 1997, I strongly disagree. :)

RFF had the total package--crafting, well done characters, customization, great polish/VA, beautiful art and environments, fun motion control, farming, and dungeon crawling. I loved it so much, and I really hope the developers realize they were close to striking gold with it.

Hopefully they'll see the negative critical response to Tides of Destiny, and realize they should put a bigger focus on the HM roots of Rune Factory.

[Setre]

I’ve only played RFF, RF3, Tides of Destiny, and HM: Tale of Two Towns and Frontier was my favorite. It could be because it was the first game of its kind that I played but it’s still the game where I had the most fun. In all honesty I didn’t even make it past the 20 minute mark in Two Towns, I’ll have to give it another shot at some point.

But I think you’re all missing the main part of RF and HM. It’s not about the farming, animal caretaking, or even dungeon crawling. It’s about getting it on with those kawaii anime girls.

[Man God]

Storms and clearing the field isn't the reason why farming stinks in RF, it's that it is too easy. It takes almost no work to train a bunch of monsters to do 90% of the farming for you and the money you make is obscene.

Also if you really don't like storms just plant regenerating crops inside the caves.

[Jintor]

It's about a sense of community to me.

Friends of Mineral Town for life.

[Izayoi]

Two Towns is awful, avoid that shit. The new one for 3DS looks really good though. I'm cautiously optimistic.

[Etrian Oddity]

I'm considering getting RF3 again (had to sell my copy last year to pay rent, lmao).

Not getting a 3DS until this and Etrian Odyssey 4 come to America, so....

[ronito]

I have to agree, if it weren't for those damned runeys RFF would've been the best HM experience in any game.

[Zeer0id]

Among RFs 1-3, Frontier, and Tides, which is the best (or the best place to start)?

[Man God]

Among RFs 1-3, Frontier, and Tides, which is the best (or the best place to start)?

1 or 3.

[bon]

Among RFs 1-3, Frontier, and Tides, which is the best (or the best place to start)?

I like Frontier the best, but I haven't played 3.

[zigg]

I'd recommend 3 to nearly anyone. Only problem is that the other games end up paling in comparison on some level if you then decide to play more of the series.

[Zeer0id]

Well, OK, guess I'll try to pick up an inexpensive copy of RF3 to tide me over until 4 comes out. Maybe I'll check out Frontier later too, just to have a console one.

Is there some kind of consensus then that Tides isn't all that hot? Honestly that's the one I was leaning towards previously, if only because it has a PS3 version and my Move controller could use a dust-off.

[zigg]

Is there some kind of consensus then that Tides isn't all that hot? Honestly that's the one I was leaning towards previously, if only because it has a PS3 version and my Move controller could use a dust-off.

I liked Tides for awhile, but it is wearing on me now, about 80% or so in. I think it's a bit offensive to people who are really into the Harvest-Moon-style farming.

[Setre]

Among RFs 1-3, Frontier, and Tides, which is the best (or the best place to start)?

I'd recommend 3 as well. While I really enjoyed Frontier and still consider it the best I think 3 is the better game.

Is there some kind of consensus then that Tides isn't all that hot?

I enjoyed it for the first couple of hours but got bored soon after. The farming not being up to par is what turned me off. But if this is going to be your first Rune Factory and want to play on a console Tides would be a good introduction to the dungeon crawling. Still I'd say you'd have more fun with 3 or Frontier because they're a more complete RF experience.

[ronito]

I think 3 is a better introduction. Frontier is a deeper experience overall but it's much longer and slower paced and eventually the Runeys will destroy your game.

[Sammy Samusu]

http://youtu.be/nH5hJvPhv_c
http://youtu.be/n8r4lFtfKNk
http://youtu.be/O0GfPhl5zfo

Graphically, it looks a mess. WTH

[faridmon]

Why is Rune Factory 3 so expensive in UK? I wanna play that before I get my hands on this one. Damn it!

[Ushojax]

http://youtu.be/nH5hJvPhv_c http://youtu.be/n8r4lFtfKNk http://youtu.be/O0GfPhl5zfo Graphically, it looks a mess. WTH

Good lord those look awful. I guess this was originally for the DS.

[bengraven]

Wait, so you have to BEAT your wife before you meet her and decide to marry her? What are they smoking? Ah fuck it...

GOTF

[EvilMario]

Some new (?) shots from Andriasang

Pretty nice, rich looking world. Ugly fields, per usual sadly.



I hilariously posted this in the EO4 thread first. :P

[Zornica]

I really like the city design in this game.



btw:
all shots can be viewed in 3d on the official site with the 3ds browser.
the effect is minor, but it looks way better on the 3ds screen than it does on my pc.


this one in particular looks great in 3d

give it a watch:
http://www.maql.co.jp/special/game/3...l/gallery.html
(you can use the qr code with the 3ds camera tool for a shortcut)

[Conciliator]

Japanese gaming: Fight a demon unicorn and then marry it.

that sounds completely awesome

[zigg]

this one in particular looks great in 3d

Yeah, I really like that one too.

I'm not so sure about the other ones. The backgrounds look flat-ish with the characters standing out against them... well, we'll have to see. Probably next year when Natsume gets around to it... :)