Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon

Rune Factory 3 is the 3'rd of its kind for the DS and the 4'th installment overall in the Rune Factory series. So far, I'd have to say it is the best one yet despite not being on a console.PROS:*Beautiful graphics. You are no longer a 3D character running over 2D backgrounds like in the previous two for the DS.*The most beautiful and most interesting set of bachelorettes ever known to the Rune Factory series. This includes a beautiful yet ditsy mermaid, a gorgeous and mysterious half-human/half-monster girl of few words, the strange little witch whose plans never go right, the adorable girl who tends to always be the victim of the witch's "experiments", the Japanese girl in traditional attire whose mother was once a warrior, an elegant girl who tends to speak in opposites, the Mayor's daughter whom is quite beautiful and helps you as the story goes, the general store owner's daughter whom is always sleeping on the job when she's not complaining about work, a tomboyish girl with an overprotective brother whom both cannot get enough of fishing, and the horned Univer girl whom bares an intense hatred for humans while serving as her tribe's elder. There's so much variety and each girl is not without her own unique charm! Your character is interesting too seeing as he is a half-monster/half-human!*You can only take 3 requests a day. One from the bulletin board, one from your mail box, and one from the owl in the settlement. While some see this as a con, I see it as a pro! You're able to do enough where you still feel busy, but not too much so that you fly pass it too quickly. I often did that in Rune Factory 2 and ended up fulfilling most all the requests before I was even halfway through the first year.*There's a HUGE IMPROVEMENT in the English dub. Unlike in Rune Factory 2 for the DS, I didn't have to mute my game to withstand it. Everyone has pretty nice voices except Karina, the general store owner's daughter. I really couldn't get used to her "Sup?" and "Ving." just because she's too lazy to speak properly. Maybe if her voice were cuter as her appearance, it would've been more acceptable. Instead, she sounds like a bored "goth" teenager. Despite that, everyone else's voices are easily withstandable and some are even enjoyable.*Any character (bachelorettes included) with 3 hearts or more can be invited to take walks with you or go into battle alongside your character!*Rune Factory 3 has a realistic "affection" system. Unlike Natsume's "Harvest Moon" franchise in which gift-giving plays a big factor in winning your dreamguy or girl's heart, it doesn't really matter here. Whether someone likes you or not depends on how much you talk to them and how many requests of theirs you respond to. While giving gifts does help their affection rise more quickly, it isn't a "have to". Another thing about the affection system in Rune Factory 3 is that is does not rise too quickly. In its predecessor, "Rune Factory 2", I was married to Yue by Summer/Year 1. It was nice, but it felt like it happened too suddenly. In Rune Factory 3, characters' personalities also change the more you get to know them: Sofia starts becoming more understandable, Raven begins to open up to you, Monica stops biting you, Shino lets you know more about her mysterious past, etc.! Bachelorettes also get "hearts" that appear above their head whenever you pass by them depending on how much affection you've gotten with them. They even begin to greet you differently and sometimes even blush when you speak to them once you've gotten their 7 hearts or so. Once you've shown your monster-side to a bachelorette after earning 8 hearts or more, they will stay out on a walk with you pass their curfew and will even still be there the next day after you've gone to bed if you have not dismissed them. The realistic qualities are quite an impressive feature that surprised me upon my playthrough.*Dailogue is never repetitive as everyone says something different every day!*The storyline is much more captivating than all other Rune Factory titles. I find myself actually interested in it and curious to find out more.*The dungeons are more interesting as are the monsters you face within them. Each dungeon is largely expanded and there are so many different types of monsters you can befriend. "Harvest Moon" fans won't be disappointed as you can still adopt certain monsters that resemble livestock/poultry and still produce the same kind of products such as milk, eggs, and wool. It's alot more interesting as well because you could have pet elephants, wolves, penguins, and so much more. You also no longer have to use a "harvester" of any sort to recieve produce from the animals; it's lying on the floor every morning when you enter the barn - all ready for you to simply pick up! This means you have extra space in your rucksack and less hassle to get your animal products!*The weather system can be considered both a pro and a con. I despise the typhoons that come mid-day because they completely destroy ALL your crops - even if you grow them in a dungeon. However, I do love how realistic the weather changes are because life itself is like that. It's a feature that I find bittersweet.*Picking up items is even more simple - especially if its a multiple of the same type of item. You can just pile them ontop of eachother without having to individually tuck every single one into your rucksack.*I love how you can learn recipes for your kitchen, pharmacy, forge, and crafts by simply eating recipe bread. OK OK...it's not realistic, but it makes things ALOT more easier and stress-free.*The bathhouse is open very early in the morning to late at night! There is also a multitude of shops & stores in town. Every building in the game has one store or more attached to it. Sofia's home is the setting for Evelyn's clothing store in which you can buy your much-needed swimsuit for the Summer, the bathhouse holds a variety of things - especially if Yue & Mei are opened up on the top floor, Raven's place sells a wide range of weaponry and farming tools that change everytime you beat a new dungeon with new "Special Deals" changing daily, etc.!-Truthfully, I cannot say everything I love about this game because it'd take ALL DAY-CONS:*Not enough festivals nor dates. This could be major to minor depending on who you are.*Not enough game files. This game has such high replay value and so many lovable bachelorettes that I wish we'd have four files instead of only two.*No option to play as a girl. I constantly find myself liking Zaid and wishing I could marry him as a girl character! Haha!*Some requests ask too much of you.*When taking a character out for a walk or alongside in battle, they will often say the same things over & over very frequently which can get annoying. My advice - when you're looking to marry a certain someone, don't take them out on walks too often. I've had just about ENOUGH of Collette's "I'm sooo hungry" or Pia's "I wanna eat squid!". Ugh.*Your children will always look the same regardless of who you married. They are also slightly boring with repetitive dialogue. I wish I could've had children that looked more like Raven.. *sigh*Overall, this game was the best 30$ ever spent. It's my favorite DS game and the best "Rune Factory" to me. I spent hours playing it and really couldn't get enough! For my first file, I married Raven. For my second, I'm either going for Pia or Sofia. Once again, I wish you could only have more files! Haha!This is truly a great game that can appeal to just about anyone of any age! Not too easy for adults, not too difficult for children! :) If you find it too easy, set the difficulty on "Hard" once you've gained access to the lower portion of the right side to your house. :) Enjoy & Happy Gaming!

I hadn't played any of the previous Rune Factory games before picking this one up, although I have played the Harvest Moon series that it is based off.The Japanese art style is nice and the game has a nice relaxing tone to it overall. The main goals of the game are farming and marriage, although you can get along without farming by fighting monsters and selling the items they drop instead of by growing crops or fishing. There are a large number of weapons to use to fight monsters as well and the combat plays surprisingly well despite being only one aspect of the game. Each weapon has a different feel to it and there are different weapon types available. You are able to craft weapons yourself using items you gather at the forge or by simply buying them at the store. You can upgrade weapons and farming tools you already own and you can also cook food. The game will reward you for exploring it as much as possible, every activity in the game you do can increase your characters "rune points" (essentially his stamina) allowing him to work for longer before he gets tired. Each day runs on a realtime schedule, an ingame day is about 10 or so real minutes. You will be running around busily trying to fit in socializing, fighting monsters, watering your crops and more before the day runs out. Every 30 days counts as a season (spring, summer, etc) and each season has its own crops, fish and weather patterns.Despite the colorful nature of the game it is probably enjoyed more by a slighter older audience due to its main goals being farming and marriage. There are also a few sexual innuendos in the game that kids won't spot.What really makes the game memorable is its characters, they change their dialogue frequently and have all have interesting personalities and things to say. You can watch them run around the town every day looking busy. Some days are holidays to give the player a break and time to interact with them. You can also take on a variety of tasks from the villagers ranging from delivering a message to taking them to a romantic spot and you will often get a reward or a funny scene after completing these.It is worth replaying the game multiple times in order to marry a different girl(I had trouble picking the first time). The game has a whopping 12 marriage candidates for you to choose from.As you can guess, it can occupy a huge amount of time, if you need a game for a long ride or something, look no further.I can't recommend it as a gift, since the game is about living on a fantasy farm and it may not appeal to some people. However for anyone who's interested, definitely pick it up. This is one of the best games out there for the system.

Love it!

jeu intéressant , ludiqueça change des jeu de combat plein de sang et des horreurs des jeux tel que zombi u ,

Der 3. Teil der Reihe ist leider nicht auf deutsch erhältlich und muss als Import gekauft werden. Das ist schade, weil es ihn teurer macht, als die Vorgänger, der Rune FActory 3 ist so einiges wert!Spiel Prinzip und Handhabung sind genau wie bei den Vorgängern. Ihr habt euer Gedächtnis verloren, nestet euch auf der Farm ein, Sammelt Freundschafts und Liebespunkte bei den Dorfbewohnern und müsst euch durch die 4 Dungeons kämpfen.Das ist neu:- Ihr könnt euch nach dem 1. Dungeon in ein Wolly verwandeln.- Das Farming hat ein paar sinnvollere Faktoren bekommen. Zum Beispiel, wenn ihr eure Pflanzen nicht gießt, wachesen sie einfach nur nicht weiter, sondern können auch verdorren.- Dorfbewohner beschweren sich, wenn ihr lange nicht mit ihnen geredet habt und ihr verliert Freundschaftspunkte-uswZusammengefasst wird in diesem Spiel mehr ins detail gegangen. Ihr könnt euch nicht mehr nur Tage lang durch Dungeons kämpfen, weil dann eure Farm vertrocknet. Ihr könnt auch Dorfbewohner mit in die Dungeons nehmen und die Mädls zu einem Date einleiden.Das Spiel macht eine Menge Spaß udn eweißt, dass es von Teil zu Teil mehr Spaß macht.Ist auf jeden fall einen Kauf wert!

I am not too ashamed to admit that I'm a huge fan of Natsume's Harvest Moon series and have been since I first discovered Harvest Moon 64 in junior high. There are so many things I love about HM64, and I've tried quite a few other HM titles in hopes of finding an equally addicting and rewarding gaming experience. Alas, my search continued in vain for many years. With Rune Factory 3, however, my faith in Natsume's HM series is restored! The first Rune Factory gave the HM series a creative (and long overdue) makeover by putting your little farmer in a fantasy setting. I was ultimately disappointed in the game, however, and quit long before achieving any notable accomplishments. The thing that keeps players coming back to HM64 is a simple but magical formula: a bunch of routine with a dash of change and excitement. You keep farming your crops the same way day-in and day-out because you know your labor will be worth it when you can finally afford that new house extension; you religiously keep in touch with the townspeople because you can't wait to see the next cut-scene that unveils more of their stories; you continue with your routine when you really should be getting to bed because you just want to make it to that next festival! The problem with the first Rune Factory was that it was all routine and no incentive...the festivals were boring and pretty much all the same - no great mini-games or real fun dialogue. The characters weren't that exciting because it never felt like you were getting to know them very deeply. Rune Factory 3 takes the great idea that is the RF series and adds the magic of HM64, giving you compelling (and sometimes hilarious) characters, an interesting and cute storyline, and fun events and festivals to look forward to. There's always a lot to do and a variety of ways to play the game, but not so much that you feel overwhelmed or don't know where to start. In my opinion, RF3 is the perfect mix of the new (fantasy-tinged Harvest Moon) and old (cute, addicting, simple Harvest Moon). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I love the games just amazing and it came in great shape and brand new