Support NeoGAF

[Roubjon]

I arrive 8 hours late to a date and they laugh it off like it's nothing. These girls are quality.

Can I also mention that I think it's insane how everyone in town basically says something new every single day? Maybe that will change eventually, but I'm about to enter Fall and it's been the case since day one. I freaking love it.

 

[Trojita]

Fuck you Dylas. I can't win this big fish competition.

 

[Roubjon]

Fuck you Dylas. I can't win this big fish competition.

I tried 4 times. I would leave and enter the same area over and over again until a MASSIVE fish showed up, but then I realized that my rod wasn't even good enough to catch them in the first place.

 

[vareon]

Clorica friendzoned me

 

[ronito]

so I just unlocked Leon and all that...now what?

 

[kiryogi]

I arrive 8 hours late to a date and they laugh it off like it's nothing. These girls are quality.

Can I also mention that I think it's insane how everyone in town basically says something new every single day? Maybe that will change eventually, but I'm about to enter Fall and it's been the case since day one. I freaking love it.

This is why I love Rune Factory over Harvest Moon. It really shined in Frontier, making the dating experience very unique.

 

[Lumyst]

I liked in Frontier how the characters would also go through different "phases" of dialogue depending on certain events and such (like with Anette when she got depressed, then afterwards when she was cheered up by Raguna). I've got Harvest Moon 3D on deck for after I finish the main stories of Rune Factory, so it'll be interesting to see how Harvest Moon handles the formula (minus fighting of course).

 

[afreaknamedpete]

so I just unlocked Leon and all that...now what?

Talk to everyone, then a week later exit the town using the main entrance (not the airship). This triggers the next arc to begin.

 

[ronito]

Talk to everyone, then a week later exit the town using the main entrance (not the airship). This triggers the next arc to begin.

Thanks I thought it was done but was like "I'm sure I haven't seen it all yet..."

I have to agree the dialogue is much more varied in this game and I'm really glad for that. I always had that complaint about the Harvest Moon/Rune Factory games that for games so focused on dialogue and NPC interaction they certainly didn't have the dialogue necessary for it.

So far, I'm loving it but it just doesn't seem as well paced as Frontier. The problem is that a lot of the upgrades aren't really necessary/wanted. Like I built myself another field and really didn't need to seed it at all, and mainly just use it as a place to get stone and wood from.

Also I've never cared much for the recipe bread idea. I hate buying it and then eating it and having it say "Oh I didn't learn anything!" At least they let you keep it but it's a pain not knowing when you'll be ready for more. I much preferred the book idea in Frontier.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Surprised at how much this game sold in just a few days!

I haven't played RF4 yet, will buy it soon, but I can't wait to see how RF5 looks, anyone hoping for Frontier/Ocean graphics?

 

[vareon]

Surprised at how much this game sold in just a few days!

I haven't played RF4 yet, will buy it soon, but I can't wait to see how RF5 looks, anyone hoping for Frontier/Ocean graphics?

Me, I really liked Frontier's art direction.

 

[Lumyst]

I would like the game style of Frontier, full 3D models but fixed camera, panning, etc. I'd imagine the hardware is capable of that, there was the back alley of Ocarina of Time 3D for instance that did the same. They must have learned some things making Frontier and ToD that they'd like to try again, and hopefully the userbase in Japan would be accepting this time if it's on the 3DS rather than a home console (oh but they did make ToD on the PS3 so it's not like they'd be averse to the PS3.) If they do continue with the DS style, I'd want it to have much larger "sections," no need to walk for 2 seconds to go to the next screen in Selphia Field, then another 3 seconds to the next...sometimes it gets ridiculous haha!

 

[Roubjon]

So I didn't realize until today that a special option pops up while saving your game that lets you see the current event happening in town. I can only imagine how many I fucking missed while playing. I'm assuming they come back? I've also read that the one that pops up is random too?

 

[Man God]

One day I'll have time for you again, RF 4.

 

[ronito]

I'm very impressed by how much content their is in this game. That was one complaint of mine about the first three main Rune Factories, was that there wasn't much content (especially the first) but this one there's a lot of different requests and dungeons and all that. So much better.

 

[Milamber]

Ever since Rune Factory 2, the character portraits art style keeps bugging me. I'm not saying its terrible. On the contrary, I love it, but it is so incredibly similar to ShindoL's style.

And if you know ShindoL's doujin work's you can imagine the "terrible" things that you can inflict on the female populace.

Hahaha...




*googles for RF doujins*

 

[vareon]

Oh Clorica, when will you accept my love?

Ever since Rune Factory 2, the character portraits art style keeps bugging me. I'm not saying its terrible. On the contrary, I love it, but it is so incredibly similar to ShindoL's style.

And if you know ShindoL's doujin work's you can imagine the "terrible" things that you can inflict on the female populace.

Hahaha...




*googles for RF doujins*

I don't know whether I should be happy or sad that I know who ShindoL is ._.

 

[kiryogi]

Frontier would have been perfection were it not for the runey system.

 

[Milamber]

FFFFFFUUUU..... My birthday landed on the same day as a festival next season. Will this impact anything?

 

[ronito]

FFFFFFUUUU..... My birthday landed on the same day as a festival next season. Will this impact anything?

It shouldn't. Just talk to people twice that day.

As for my adventures there was a bug that kept me from meeting up Clorica when we had agreed and now she's all pissed.

Essentially what happened was that we were supposed to meet at the designated time but she wasn't there. She was in the restaurant and there was a cut scene with her and margaret. But she never left so the meet up never happened. Next morning she's all pissed.

Funny bug.

 

[Jessicat]

is there a monster guide somewhere? I've noticed certain ones can do different things while tending the field. Also have a not-Wooly (Shmooly) that drops fur but i cant shear it like the Woolies weird.
I'm having so much fun playing this game, can't put it down XD having trouble finding certain materials lately though

 

[afreaknamedpete]

is there a monster guide somewhere? I've noticed certain ones can do different things while tending the field. Also have a not-Wooly (Shmooly) that drops fur but i cant shear it like the Woolies weird.
I'm having so much fun playing this game, can't put it down XD having trouble finding certain materials lately though

As far as I know all monsters do the exact same thing on the farm once they're at a high enough friendship level. They water crops, break small rocks and branches, and harvest crops later in the day.

 

[Trojita]

As far as I know all monsters do the exact same thing on the farm once they're at a high enough friendship level. They water crops, break small rocks and branches, and harvest crops later in the day.

Higher friendship they can plant seeds as well.

 

[Jintor]

Oh Clorica, when will you accept my love?



I don't know whether I should be happy or sad that I know who ShindoL is ._.

you and me both, buddy

 

[edwardslane]

Question for those enjoying this game.

I was a huge Harvest Moon 64 fan. I used to rent that game religiously as a teen. So good. But i haven't played any since the gamecube version which was meh imo compared to the N64 version.

I always wanted what Rune Factory does ( Implement RPG combat to the harvest moon formula)

How is the RPG element of the game?

I love festivals and the dating element as well as the farming and raising wildlife of course.. This games screams that i'd love it.

I don't know whats holding me back from buying it to be honest. convince me to buy it!

 

[Milamber]

Question for those enjoying this game.

I was a huge Harvest Moon 64 fan. I used to rent that game religiously as a teen. So good. But i haven't played any since the gamecube version which was meh imo compared to the N64 version.

I always wanted what Rune Factory does ( Implement RPG combat to the harvest moon formula)

How is the RPG element of the game?

I love festivals and the dating element as well as the farming and raising wildlife of course.. This games screams that i'd love it.

I don't know whats holding me back from buying it to be honest. convince me to buy it!

I personally feel that Rune Factory has fleshed out more of Harvest Moon by adding the monster combat. It's great, even more stats to level up and more things to do.

Bored farming? Go out and fight monsters.
Bored fighting? Crafting galore.
Bored crafting? Go on dates with an even wider array of bachelor/ettes to choose from.

Really, the only thing missing that might make this perfect is customize-able villages.

 

[edwardslane]

Niceee.

yea i just bought 2 gamecards $50 each today and used them on my wiiU without anything i want to buy at the moment out.. Really should have saved one and Downloaded Rune factory 4 for the 3DS.

I just switched from Visa to American Express and Nintendo Eshop doesn't take AMEX. Ghetto!

They're missing out on $$$$ because they don't take AMEX.. even if they have higher fees vs Mastercard and visa.

Oh well!

 

[ronito]

I'm really hating that the proposal events happen randomly. I've got Clorica to 13 hearts have done a slew of dates with her have the double bed and the ring and nothing.

 

[Milamber]

I'm really hating that the proposal events happen randomly. I've got Clorica to 13 hearts have done a slew of dates with her have the double bed and the ring and nothing.

Start spamming Love Potions?

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Start spamming Love Potions?

Is that what they do? I've been giving mine to Bado since I thought it just some kind of super gift item....

 

[ronito]

Start spamming Love Potions?

I've already got her to 13 hearts, the requirement is 10. From what I'm reading the event that happens is random, and it gets skipped for a few if you have a festival, town event or a date with another person. I have all the festivals and so I think it's that it just keeps getting skipped. I hear some people have had to do the "sleeping trick" where they leave the person in their party and just wake up and go to sleep over and over until they say they have to go somewhere. That's not cool

 

[Mononoke]

Can I jump into this series if I've never played any of the ones before it? Was considering getting this with Ace Attorney today.

 

[Kuren]

As much as I love the game's mechanics and core gameplay...the dialogue is horrendous at times. It's so verbose and inane it drives me nuts.

And just to put into context, I've grown up with Anime and all it's subcultures all my life. I guess I've grown out of it to a certain extent, but with RF4, it's often just too much.

I'm not a fan of the art style too, nor the facepalm worthy cut scenes that happen right before introductions of specific characters (I'm guessing you can court these characters).

I feel there should be fairies everywhere in this game.

Btw, I'm coming into this game fresh and I've never played RF4 before, but I really like the idea of a farm game, plus an action RPG component attached. So while I'm enjoying it, I wonder if the game would be better off without the animu stuff. ._.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Can I jump into this series if I've never played any of the ones before it? Was considering getting this with Ace Attorney today.

It's not a direct sequel or anything, so go ahead.

 

[Niahak]

As much as I love the game's mechanics and core gameplay...the dialogue is horrendous at times. It's so verbose and inane it drives me nuts.

And just to put into context, I've grown up with Anime and all it's subcultures all my life. I guess I've grown out of it to a certain extent, but with RF4, it's often just too much.

I'm not a fan of the art style too, nor the facepalm worthy cut scenes that happen right before introductions of specific characters (I'm guessing you can court these characters).

I feel there should be fairies everywhere in this game.

Btw, I'm coming into this game fresh and I've never played RF4 before, but I really like the idea of a farm game, plus an action RPG component attached. So while I'm enjoying it, I wonder if the game would be better off without the animu stuff. ._.

Yeah, it's a bit too anime. The new Harvest Moon struck a pretty good balance, but RF4 goes overboard. The age range of the potential love interests is another oddity -- it seems like they could get a bit more broad appeal if they went for a bit more mature designs.

I don't think I've ever seen a good character intro cutscene in any game. I'm baffled as to why they still exist. IMO, it would be better without the super-anime stuff, but it's not unbearable.

 

[Lumyst]

I'd find it interesting to learn about the cultural differences and acceptance (or lack thereof) of visual styles and such in entertainment from place to place (as well as the acceptance of gaming and animated fiction among different age-groups, but that's for another day.) In the "Iwata Asks" for Rune Factory 4 the producer said that Japanese children, teenagers, and even women enjoy the Rune Factory series. They may have found something that appeals to the Japanese audience and have no need to modify that. So I see it as going to a foreign restaurant and eating a local dish: some may find the taste questionable, others may be fine with it. But you're among their culture so it shouldn't be surprising to find something "different" about it compared to what's back at home.

(But funnily enough, isn't there going to be a modification to the game "World of Tanks" to appeal to the Japanese audience )

 

[Flarin]

I'm at the end of Pokemon X/Y and am gonna pick this up ASAP! Lots of people in here seem to be saying that Frontier was the best in the series? Some questions and perspective:

- I really enjoyed the world and characters of Tides of Destiny, but the conversations and development were SO SHALLOW. Do RF4 and Frontier improve on that?
- I really enjoyed the sim aspects in games like Harvest Moon Back to Nature and Persona 4. Are the sim aspects deeper in 4 and Frontier?
- What made the sim aspects of Frontier so good?

Thanks

 

[Mononoke]

Just got this. Going back and forth on whether to do the FC or the MC. Is one better than the other? I know nothing about these characters (in terms of t heir personality/design).

 

[zigg]

Just got this. Going back and forth on whether to do the FC or the MC. Is one better than the other? I know nothing about these characters (in terms of t heir personality/design).

I think they're supposed to be the same—it's just a matter of your own preference.

 

[ronito]

I'd find it interesting to learn about the cultural differences and acceptance (or lack thereof) of visual styles and such in entertainment from place to place (as well as the acceptance of gaming and animated fiction among different age-groups, but that's for another day.) In the "Iwata Asks" for Rune Factory 4 the producer said that Japanese children, teenagers, and even women enjoy the Rune Factory series. They may have found something that appeals to the Japanese audience and have no need to modify that. So I see it as going to a foreign restaurant and eating a local dish: some may find the taste questionable, others may be fine with it. But you're among their culture so it shouldn't be surprising to find something "different" about it compared to what's back at home.

(But funnily enough, isn't there going to be a modification to the game "World of Tanks" to appeal to the Japanese audience )

Well I think that's a bit of the issue and why its' so cliche at points. It just feels like its written to what the writers think you want to hear instead of being more interested in making something they want to make. But still the Harvest Moon/RF games are nothing if not iterative and with each iteration it gets a bit better. I feel this one fixed the issues with the prior mainline entries which were mainly lack of dialogue and low content level.

Here there's a lot of content, and dialogue's at least varied. Next I hope they deal with the cheese and pedo factors.

 

[Lumyst]

Didn't Rune Factory 1 feel different compared to the others? The artstyle and story seemed a little more "mature," it didn't feel like "slapstick" was forced in for the hell of it. Could be a difference between Natsume and XSEED's translators, or maybe there were changes made to the tone of the series over time (Otaku pandering perhaps?!?)

I actually like the "tone" of Rune Factory 3 best, it felt "balanced" regarding humor and seriousness. The main character helping out the villagers to discover the best in themselves, as well as letting them help him discover himself as well. But the dungeons were too short and easy I'd love the tone of Rune Factory 3 along with more challenging dungeons, let the humor be a treat rather than something "forced" in at every moment possible. (A charming Thomas Kinkade village would be nice as well...okay, now I'm just projecting my own desires on this.)

 

[Man God]

RF 1 and frontier were localized by Natsume and XSeed, had goofy as all get out characters but felt very much in line with one another.

 

[Lumyst]

To me, it's 3 and Frontier that have the similarities in "tone." So that would show that ultimately the humor and tone comes down to what the developers in Japan make rather than how it is translated then, considering those two games were localized by different companies. But there's differences in tone too between Natsume and XSEED, for instance in RF4 there's some joking around with the descriptions in the settings (turn off the character portraits if you're shy), some of the "inside jokes"/breaking the fourth wall (like the Skyrim reference) is stronger in RF4 than I recall in any of the previous games. But of course neither Natsume nor XSEED have control over the characters that are created, or the situations they are in, or what can happen in the game, or the game's setting and story, that's up to Neverland.

 

[Niahak]

I'm at the end of Pokemon X/Y and am gonna pick this up ASAP! Lots of people in here seem to be saying that Frontier was the best in the series? Some questions and perspective:

- I really enjoyed the world and characters of Tides of Destiny, but the conversations and development were SO SHALLOW. Do RF4 and Frontier improve on that?
- I really enjoyed the sim aspects in games like Harvest Moon Back to Nature and Persona 4. Are the sim aspects deeper in 4 and Frontier?
- What made the sim aspects of Frontier so good?

Thanks

- RF4 doesn't really. Frontier's maybe a bit better from my recollection. It's still pretty shallow.

- I'm not sure how this really differs from the first question -- P4 isn't really much deeper than an RF game sim-wise. RF4 does have more leveling / better leveling, and a more Harvest Moon type crop system.

-I think it was a perfect storm of various elements. The characters involved are more mature, a little more nuanced, and less cartoony, there is a large (but not overwhelming) array of crops, the Floating Whale angle is more mysterious than anime-ish. Progression is steady but not spoon-fed (RF3/4 makes things a little too easy, Tides of Destiny is about the same rate as Frontier).

I can't recommend Frontier. The Runeys are tedious as hell to manage, and there's no way to automate the system. I ignored them for a while and paid for it (your crops start to randomly wilt, among other things). Then I started to spend the 5+ minutes per game-day managing them well, and it just got to be too much. Frontier is otherwise pretty good, but Runeys are numbingly tedious.

I think RF3 and 4 are the best in the series. If they pushed a little more towards Frontier's design (or even ToD's) but kept the tighter pacing of RF3/4 with some of their other features like inviting townspeople on adventures, they could really hit one out of the park.

 

[Lumyst]

Interesting the polarizing opinions on Frontier come down to the Runey's I got Frontier as my first RF game due to NeoGAF's recommendation and it's the reason why I love the series and am playing through the other games now. The trick with the Runey's was (one: if you don't have internet to learn about them then you're screwed!) Aside from that, on the 20th of each season 20 Runeys would show up in a random area. You could then distribute them to all areas until each area is red. If I recall, there's a "buffer period" where Runey's don't die out? And also, growing crops and keeping them unharvested is what produces Runey's. So it came down to a point where I had a bunch of unharvested feed to produce Runey's and I would just suck a bunch of Runey's and distribute them every week or two. It was the initial period after the population was decimated that was the challenge. But red areas are okay for farming, so I had to grow crops ASAP after distributing those 20 runeys.

Besides, doesn't the "story" part of the game only require Runey's for the "rune stones" to open the second dungeon, otherwise farming can be neglected to focus on the story? But I think I got way more than my $20 worth, Runey's included, when it came to RFF.

 

[shimoto]

When will Doug stop hating me so I can raise his friendship level above 3?

 

[gblues]

I can't recommend Frontier. The Runeys are tedious as hell to manage, and there's no way to automate the system. I ignored them for a while and paid for it (your crops start to randomly wilt, among other things). Then I started to spend the 5+ minutes per game-day managing them well, and it just got to be too much. Frontier is otherwise pretty good, but Runeys are numbingly tedious.

If you get Frontier, you can play it on Dolphin and use an Ocarina code to lock the Runeys to max, allowing you to ignore them. I think there's a way to apply Ocarina codes on a modded Wii as well, but I'm not sure.

I love the large character portraits in Frontier. The 3d-models used in Tides of Destiny was a major downgrade.

 

[Niahak]

When will Doug stop hating me so I can raise his friendship level above 3?

Supposedly his friendship level unlocks when you finish the 2nd arc of the game. I can't confirm yet, but I'm about to finish it at about 20ish hours so far. Which really doesn't make sense because you can get the "Raise all friendship levels to 5" quest really early. If you don't know how to cancel requests (click the journal on the bottom screen) that could get you into a nasty position easy.

Also, it should really unlock earlier since

Spoiler

you reconcile with him after the 1st arc and he's friendly during most of the 2nd. Maybe something else is yet to happen.

 

[H.Protagonist]

To me, it's 3 and Frontier that have the similarities in "tone." So that would show that ultimately the humor and tone comes down to what the developers in Japan make rather than how it is translated then, considering those two games were localized by different companies. But there's differences in tone too between Natsume and XSEED, for instance in RF4 there's some joking around with the descriptions in the settings (turn off the character portraits if you're shy), some of the "inside jokes"/breaking the fourth wall (like the Skyrim reference) is stronger in RF4 than I recall in any of the previous games. But of course neither Natsume nor XSEED have control over the characters that are created, or the situations they are in, or what can happen in the game, or the game's setting and story, that's up to Neverland.

That wasn't anything XSEED added. It was in the Japanese original. There are tweaks to be sure, but that reference (and possibly others) are in-jokes from the dev team.

 

[Man God]

A lot of it must be in the original games.

If I didn't know Frontier and RF 1 were localized by different companies I never would have noticed the difference.

Same for RF 3 and 4.