Rune Factory is a totally sweet and heartwarming game!! Its full title is Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon. It includes the staples of the traditional Harvest Moon series - a young man inherits a farm and begins raising crops and animals, while interacting socially (and romantically!) with the nearby villagers - but RF incorporates a nifty twist: it is an RPG! Not only must the player manage their time and resources in maintaining their farm, but now there is the added content of exploring dungeons, crafting weapons and armor, and fighting monsters.
Here is the intro of the game. The song is lovely but has some bizarrely incoherent lyrics.
I finished this game some time ago, but still find myself returning to it due to its simplicity and charm. I love the idea that the plants that you grow become a source of magical power - doesn’t that just sound so romantic?
Speaking of romance, there are numerous girls in the village who are marriage candidates for the game’s hero, Raguna. My character married Tori, the soft-spoken bookworm. Which girl is your favorite?
Ushi no Tane’s Rune Factory Page ~ This is a very thorough guide to the game!
Rune Factory is about half a year old by now, but I’m looking forward to the release of Rune Factory 2, coming to Nintendo DS on October 16! Not only that, but Rune Factory Frontier is in the process of being made on the Wii!! There’s loads of RFF content out there, and I will probably dedicate a future post to all the beautiful screenshots and other content.