Runefactory, one of the most unique "live a life" series out there. It all began when they decided to take the original Harvest Moon series in a bit of a different direction, and what resulted were 4 games of complete awesomeness. What was originally merely living the life of a farmer became an epic tale of legendary monsters, tons of colorful characters, and the constant search to prevent the seemingly unavoidable case of amnesia.
To sum up Runefactory quickly so I can move on, essentially imagine the Harvest Moon series mixed with monsters, swords, magic, and adventure. If for some reason you don't know what Harvest Moon is, then look up Runefactory on google or something, because it will take WAY too long to explain otherwise.
This is the first of my "series" reviews, in which I review an entire series of games, comparing them to one another and presenting their faults and weaknesses. Now, I will mostly be covering MAIN games in the series, meaning unusual games or spinoffs will typically not be covered. For example, I am not covering either of the Wii games of the series, as they work quite a bit differently and have almost nothing to do with the main plot of these 4 games. What I am covering is each of the 4 Runefactory games, 3 on DS and 1 on 3DS. Without further ado, here we go!
Terrable (RF1)
No, this game is NOT actually terrible, it's name of the first elder dragon just...gah, why do they have to make this difficult for me? T.T
Being the first game of the series and based off of Harvest Moon, this one is definitely the most similar to the original series. Your main goals are to make money by farming, make friends with the townsfolk, and get married with the added goal of adventuring. As such, this game has all the positives of the pre-3DS Harvest Moon games as well as most of the negatives.
The characters have more rural and traditional characters and appearances, which can be a positive or a negative, depending on how you look at it. Raguna, the protagonist of RF1, like all the other RF protagonsits, have amnesia and have very similar personalities. He doesn't exactly have any particularly interesting traits, but since he's you it kind of makes sense why that is. There are a few weird characters here, but most of them are traditional Harvest Moon types.
This game suffers horribly compared to one major thing that every other game has: the request board. The Request Board is essentially RF's version of quests, where you can do things for other characters, get rewards, learn more about them, and become better friends. It's an excellent tool for character development, which is why it hurts this game so bad compared to the others. While they all have their own personalities, they don't change what they say that often and can be much more bland than in other games. Also, the controls can be an issue occasionally, and the weapons are all over the place in terms of usability.
That being said, this game isn't bad. In fact, it possesses some unique traits compared to other games, possibly due to it's old roots. For one, this is the only game where every girl requires different paths to marry, some of them requiring items that will prevent you from marrying other females. Even though it might seem like more of a hassle, it feels more realistic, and is one of the ways in which character development IS shown within this game.
Another positive this game has compared to others is length and difficulty level. This is the second hardest RF game and has the most dungeons. One particular similarity to Harvest Moon that helps is that this is the simplest RF to play, and the easiest to pick up and put down at any time.
Is it the best RF? Heck no, it might be the worst, but it's actually a pretty good game. It mainly looks bad comparing it to later titles, but for what it is, it still holds up as a fun game.
Fiersome (RF2)
Runefactory 2, the strange game of the series. In the middle of a transition from Harvest Moon to becoming something completely new, RF2 is a game that makes a lot of changes, most of which never make it onto future games but are still pretty neat changes. But first, onto the characters.
One thing to mention immediately that sets this game apart from every other game is that this game goes through 2 generations: Kyle, the main protagonist, and his son or daughter, making this also the first game where you can choose the gender of a character. The characters are certainly more interesting this time around, especially with the addition of the Request Board. The characters aren't quite the level of interest as 3, but certainly a step up from 1.
What is possibly the biggest and weirdest change to the series is how you play through the game. The entire first generation plays almost IDENTICALLY to Harvest Moon. No plot, no major enemy or goal, just living the life of a adventuring farmer. However, once you get married and have a child, the entire game changes. Not only does crafting of weapons and armor return from the first game during the second generation, but this is also where plot actually starts happening and you have to figure out where your father disappeared to and what the Sech Empire has to do with all of this. This change work surprisingly well, as it allows you to just relax and have fun for the first half of the game, and then dive into the story during the second half.
The change in combat is also welcome. The only difference between the combat of this game and others is that this is only game to feature a "dodge" move, but it still has quite a few combat improvements compared to RF1.
This game is certainly a step up from RF1, and even though the next two are amazing games, RF2 has a charm to it and I can easily see it being someone's favorite.
Aquaticus (RF3)
Runefactory 3, what might be in my opinion and the opinion of my friends the BEST Runefactory there is. RF3 was the game where the developers finally figured out what the series was supposed to be, and created what is in my opinion one of the best rpgs of all time PERIOD.
What make this game so awesome is completely due to the characters. This picture might get that across to you immediately, and that's just the marriage options of the game. Every character is unique and interesting: a mermaid with a hatred for squid and childish personality, a witch who loves being a doctor so much that she'll give people disaeses just so she can cure them, a brother and sister that love each other so much that it's almost a legitimate ship, a family in which opposite day is EVERY day, it just doesn't end! Every character has a place and purpose, is developed well through conversation and requests, and truly makes this game awesome.
The plot formula returns to normal where it goes throughout the whole game, and they also hit the mark on combat, finally making every weapon different yet balanced, making combat enjoyable and challenging. This game also had awesome mutliplayer, which RF2 had as well, but was polished in RF3 along with everything else I could rave about this game for awhile if I had the time to do so.
The only thing I can say would be even close to a flaw would be that this is probably the easiest game of the franchise, especially with the way multiplayer works. However, this a very minor gripe, and might not even be worth calling a flaw.
This game is awesome, and if you see it in the gamestop used section, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing it if you have the means.
Ventuswill (RF4)
Rune Factory 4, what is possibly the last game of the series isn't too different from the previous game, but why should it be? Beyond having a change of characters, plot, and location, the game plays near identically to RF3, which isn't only reasonable but makes this game just as awesome if not moreso than RF3.
There are only two big differences between RF4 and RF3 gameplay-wise. For an unknown reason, multiplayer was completely removed, which is hard to avoid calling a flaw even if done to keep it from being easy. It's just like Phantasy Star Universe not having character creation: it's such a bad change from the previous games that it feels like a major flaw.
However, this game makes up for such a big flaw with a massive gain as well. This is not only the longest Rune Factory game with the most plot, but also the most difficult of the series. It's the only game where you almost need party members to beat it, and the challenge is certainly welcome.
So yeah, this series is awesome, you should totally play it. I will end this review by posting some random RF comics I found.
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