Despite having roughly twelve thousand entries in its series, the Harvest Moon formula remains largely unchanged from game to game. You tend crops, you raise livestock, and you socialize with the charming townsfolk. Playing a Harvest Moon game is like putting on your favorite ratty t-shirt, right down to the warm and snuggly feeling you get deep inside, and the series’ devoted fans have come to expect a certain amount of familiarity from each new entry in the series. While Rune Factory does have many familiar landmarks typical to a Harvest Moon game, it combines them with all-new gameplay, including monsters, swords, death, amnesia, and runes. Not your average day on the farm.
You begin Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon struck with a wicked case of amnesia. A local girl named Mist takes pity on you—or advantage of you, depending on your point of view—and gives you a house on her property and your very own field to plow. Experienced Harvest Moon players will get to work right away, clearing away debris and readying the soil for that first crop of radishes while those new to the series will find themselves instructed on the basic mechanics of running the farm. A quick jaunt through town introduces you to the game’s supporting characters, including the mayor, various shopkeepers, the librarian, and the girl who really, really enjoys running the bath house. It’s all very sweet and cozy until a monster attacks your farm and you’re forced to fight it off with your hoe.
It’s an oddly unsettling moment; the most violent act you can usually commit in a Harvest Moon game is accidentally dropping a chicken, or perhaps running over your crops. You soon learn that the nearby cave systems are positively crawling with the little beasties, but if you venture in armed only with your farm equipment, you’ll be dead before you’re more than a few feet inside the entrance. Dying in Harvest Moon? Passing out from too much crop watering or digging, sure, but actual death? It feels strange using the money you were saving for toydrop seeds to buy a sword, but it’s what you’ll find yourself doing in Rune Factory.
The caves and monsters aren’t just there to add a little variety to your daily farming routine, however. Each cave has its own weather system, such as spring or summer, allowing you to grow whatever crops you like no matter what season it actually is outside. Greenhouses provided the same service in other Harvest Moons , but they were very expensive, and therefore not available until fairly far into the game. You’ll be able to explore your first cave after plowing just 100 squares in your field, a mere hour or two after you first start playing. The end result is that Rune Factory ends up being a bizarre—but not unwelcome—hybrid of farming and dungeon crawling.
Monsters can also be persuaded to help you out on your farm once you build them a house on your property, much like the friendly gnomes of Harvest Moon’s past. Of course, the gnomes didn’t try to kill you first, but the farmers of Rune Factory live in troubling times.
Though the addition of monsters and weapons may at first feel strange to longtime fans, it’s worth the effort of getting used to them. Rune Factory’s world is enormous, providing you with far more to do than just tend your cabbage or woo the shopkeeper’s daughter. Exploring the caves could practically be a game in and of itself, and is far more satisfying than the mining expeditions of previous titles. Even your house is huge right from the start, though you’ll have to work to fill it.
Not only does Rune Factory offer a huge world with tons to do, it also fixes some of the tiny details that have been annoying in previous titles. You can walk over your crops instead of being stopped by them, thus expanding the area in which you can plant. A handy target reticle lets you know exactly where you’re about to water/plow/put something, making it nearly impossible to throw away something by accident or water a seed twice. Sure, they’re little things, but it’s remarkable the impact they have on the quality of your overall play experience.
Though the game improves on the Harvest Moon formula in a number of ways, it somehow winds up sacrificing some of the series’ trademark charm. The characters just aren’t quite as kooky or endearing, the art style not so cute as in versions past. It doesn’t make Rune Factory any less enjoyable to play, but it does certainly make it feel different, and different is not something that the Harvest Moon series is traditionally known for.
It’s unlikely that Rune Factory is going to make converts out of anyone who doesn’t already enjoy the series but it will certainly please longtime fans, especially those who felt like the series was growing stale.
