You clear your field, till the soil, plant some seeds, and water them until they’re ready to harvest and sell or cook, then use your profits to repeat. What I meant to say is, Rune Factory 4 Special has a ton of different things to do, which all merge back together.įirst and foremost, the Harvest Moon-esque gameplay has remained relatively unchanged since the original. And watering cans, and swords, and nice hats, and…err, ahem. Meals and Magicĭo you like interconnected systems? Do you like crafting systems? Do you like level-ups? If so, Rune Factory 4 Special delivers in spades. Quite handy when trying to recall who may have liked a certain present, or what weapons they might need as an upgrade. What I liked most was how despite the large cast of characters, their exaggerated personalities meant they all felt very distinct and memorable. I genuinely laughed at their jokes and silly moments, though this same silly attitude that surrounded the whole game made it a little difficult to take seriously when it tried to tug at my heartstrings. I also quite enjoyed the writing/localization. As you’re told early on, there’s no sense trying to rush recovering your memories, and the best thing to do is to live your life in the meantime. I really felt like I was getting to know them better as the game progressed. Getting to know the townspeople is as much a part of the story as anything else, and it felt like every day they had something new to say, along with more in-depth random events now and then. However, there’s plenty of stuff to do between waiting. The main quest can also come at a bit of a slow pace at times, requiring that you wait a few in-game days for things to happen, and occasionally requiring RNG for an event to trigger before you can progress. Overall, the plot is fairly basic, and even lampshades a few cliches such as how easily you lost your memory from a simple bump on the head. This leads to a grand plot involving humans who have been transformed into monsters, the fate of the “Runeys” that give life to the land, and the vital duty you were taking care of before the attack. Sometimes what the citizens need is for someone to go investigate one of the nearby dungeons before a problem there becomes a problem for the village. Of course, being a fantasy game, there’s a bit more to the plot than simple mundane village caretaking. While you’re concerned about your missing memories and what brought you here, everyone quickly agrees that living a peaceful life in the village is the best thing to do while waiting for your memory to come back. Said duties involve working on the farm behind the castle (Everyone who eats must work, and royalty is no exception here) and performing duties for the townsfolk to earn their trust, so you can then spend that trust on things to better the town. This prince does in fact arrive the next day, but is more than happy to let you keep acting as caretaker of the town. You fall from the sky, landing on the dragon you were going to visit, and, being mistaken for a prince that was supposed to be visiting soon, are asked to perform his duties. Unfortunately, a pair of rather ditzy soldiers have stowed away on your airship and attack you, causing you to lose your memory after getting hit on the head, and subsequently getting tossed overboard when an attempt at interrogation goes horribly wrong. The story of Rune Factory 4 Special begins with you on a journey to the far off kingdom of Selphia to deliver a certain offering to Selphia’s native dragon. Rune Factory 4 Special itself is a re-release of the 3DS original (released in October of 2013), bringing it to the switch with a few minor changes here and there. It takes the classic farm and town life sim and mixes in exploring the wilderness and dungeons, fighting monsters and bosses, and a plot involving magic and the fate of the world. Now, you might be asking yourself, “Hold on a sec, this is Rune Factory, not Harvest Moon, what are you going off about?” Rune Factory began as a fantasy spin-off of the Harvest Moon (now Story of Seasons) series, and in fact was made by the same team who worked on the original titles. The peaceful routine of watering my crops each day, planning out my investments in advance, talking to my fellow townspeople to learn the ins and outs of their personalities and schedules…it scratched an itch that few other games really do.
I’ll always have fond memories of the original Harvest Moon and Harvest Moon 64.