Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS) Review

The Harvest Moon series has been around for over 10 years now, with the core gameplay remaining essentially unchanged throughout that time. There may have been tweaks and refinements over the years, but nothing that has fundamentally changed the way the game is played. Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon sees the series receive a huge overhaul, changing many of the core mechanics and adding a variety of new elements to help streamline the gameplay and breathe new life into what had started to become quite a stale concept.

The most obvious change to the formula is the addition of action-RPG dungeon crawling to the series staple farming action. This adds some much needed thrills to the repetitive plant, water, harvest cycle of the previous games and while simple in their execution, the fighting areas feel like a very natural addition to the series.

The changes dont stop there though and while many of the other adjustments may seem rather minor to those who have never played a Harvest Moon game, believe me when I say the tweaks and refinements have had some major consequences for the way the game is played. Without detailing the many modifications, let me just say Rune Factory has made the task of farming much quicker and easier as many tasks are now so much more simplified that your chores never get overly tiresome. Something as simple as being able to walk over your crops means you will now spend less time worrying about where to put them and more time thinking about what is the best crop to grow.

By making everything much simpler the developers have freed time for the player to experience so much more than any previous Harvest Moon game. Farming, cooking, fishing, capturing monsters, forging, decorating, wooing the ladiesthe list goes on and on. So much has been crammed in there that there is no way for anyone to ever truly experience everything the game has to offer. Each task has so much depth that you can only really choose to focus on two or three things and only dabble in the others to get something you really need. If anything, I wish they had toned things down a little bit, so I could have explored some things a little deeper. By freeing the player of some of the shackles of previous Harvest Moon games, Rune Factory lets you get more done in a shorter time. Think of it like farming with the latest mechanised tractor versus farming with a horse-drawn plough.

The thing is, by giving the player so many options Rune Factory could have easily led to confusion and a lack of cohesion, but everything is so well linked that you’ll always feel like youre working towards a common goal. Farming helps you raise money and refill your RP bar, which in turn gives you access to improved equipment and weapons plus more stamina to fight for longer. Improving your forging helps you fight more effectively, as well as giving you access to a better range of farming equipment. Cooking will help you build your relationships with the villagers, as will your decorating skills. Captured monsters can help you in battle or can be put to work on your farm, thus giving you more free time to progress through more dungeons. Every skill is linked and ultimately helps you to make your way through the game.

This improvements have not just been confined to the gameplay either, with beautiful graphics complementing the game perfectly and helping to differentiate Rune Factory in yet another manner. Each dungeon has a unique character that helps you keep track of where you need to go and the fantastic looking 3-D monsters are well animated. While it may not push any boundaries when it comes to what the DS can achieve the visuals are very appropriate for the style of the game and still rather nice to look at.

The sound is also fantastic for the DS, with good musical tracks setting a great atmosphere and sound effects that again complement the whole package.

The addition of Nintendo WiFi Connection compatibility to trade items with your friends is very welcome, even though the dreaded friend code system make it less functional than it could have been. With a more open system, I could imagine how wonderful it would have been to have a marketplace where goods could be bought and sold on the open market, at the very least perhaps even in a system similar to that of the worldwide trade center of the latest Pokemon games.

That small complaint aside, Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon is the best Harvest Moon game I have ever played. The simplified farming system and sheer wealth of things to do make this the most fun you’ll ever have performing manual labour. There are so many options and ways to play that you will finish the game well before you get bored with it. The new fighting system is simple and easy to grasp, and really complements the core farming mechanic making for a much more varied experience.

The Harvest Moon series has always been one of those strange Japanese oddities where players either loved it or hated it. Rune Factory is the game that can drag the series from its current niche title status and transform it into a mainstream hit. I really hope this game achieves both the critical and financial success that it so rightly deserves.