Video Games DCC

I heard A New Beginning was quite the innovative entry to the series.

Now personally, though, I would get Rune Factory 4. That game is fighting for Game of the Year for me, and if you're interested, I have a review of Rune Factory 3 in the DS section.

Yep, A New Beginning is the best Harvest Moon on the 3DS so far. All the DS entries are rubbish, including a Tale of Two Towns. I'd only suggest Rune Factory 4 if you want something more gamey, and action paced.

Elendil said:

I'd only suggest Rune Factory 4 if you want something more gamey, and action paced.

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I'd agree, but I think that, while Rune Factory is basically an ARPG Harvest Moon (well, it IS an Action RPG Harvest Moon), one who doesn't want to invest in the Action RPG elements doesn't have to. It's really a "choose how you want to play" sort of game, and one who isn't interested in ARPG elements could easily take part in Farming, Monster Care, and economy (or any of the other facets) without taking part in the Action Segments and they could still enjoy the game to its fullest. That's the real charm of the game, it can appeal to any single crowd or a whole bunch of them at the same time.

I'm gonna disagree. This mindset and philosophy might not be what everyone has, especially Tiara, but I personally would not buy a whole game without experiencing everything it has. The reason you would buy Rune Factory, and actually its the sole reason to be honest, over Harvest Moon is for the action bits, and if you do not want to experience that part, then why buy it? Why not buy just Harvest Moon which would satisfy your thirst for farming and wooing, and nothing more? Except of course you have a preference for Rune Factory's art, and that's it.

Elendil said:

I'm gonna disagree. This mindset and philosophy might not be what everyone has, especially Tiara, but I personally would not buy a whole game without experiencing everything it has. The reason you would buy Rune Factory, and actually its the sole reason to be honest, over Harvest Moon is for the action bits, and if you do not want to experience that part, then why buy it? Why not buy just Harvest Moon which would satisfy your thirst for farming and wooing, and nothing more? Except of course you have a preference for Rune Factory's art, and that's it.

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But there's more to Rune Factory than just that. I would agree if it were literally only Harvest Moon with Action RPG elements, but Rune Factory is Harvest Moon contained in a different world with elements expanded and changed from facets that exist in Harvest Moon. There are a lot of things in Rune Factory that, had the setting for any given Harvest Moon game been in line with that of a Rune Factory title, would be welcome in a Harvest Moon game, and this is a lot of why average Harvest Moon fans have taken such great interest in the Rune Factory series. It still feels like Harvest Moon, and one could easily substitute for it should that have a craving for the gameplay and characters.

After all, Rune Factory doesn't tote itself as "An Action Harvest Moon" but as a "Fantasy Harvest Moon", and it even welcomes those who aren't into Fighting Games to play their own way with the quests and character events (these are most prevalent in 4, but they exist throughout). It tries to separate itself from the main series but not from its main fans, turning its world into its own thing, and its characters as well, but adding onto the mechanics from the main series to keep them fresh without alienating fans. Heck, I love Rune Factory for reasons completely seperate from the rather polished Action segments, and a lot of those reasons DO exist in the Harvest Moon series to that extent. That's why Rune Factory (and many other games) manage to have such wide appeal.

I mean, if the Action's the only reason that someone plays Rune Factory, then I wouldn't recommend them Harvest Moon, but if someone loves Harvest Moon for what it is than I'd recommend Rune Factory in a heartbeat.

machomuu said:

I heard A New Beginning was quite the innovative entry to the series.

Now personally, though, I would get Rune Factory 4. That game is fighting for Game of the Year for me, and if you're interested, I have a review of Rune Factory 3 in the DS section.

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Please, enlighten me. ^^

But I played some Rune Factory's which were rented, and it was painful to the eyes and I didn't like the character's design. :P

Yeah, if your going to get a Harvest Moon, bet New Beginning. I had a friend who owned Two Cities, and it was very buggy and would even crash on him from time to time. I think he even lost his save file during one of the times it crashed.

As for Rune Factory, I've only played 1 and 4, and if 1 was the one your rented, I could understand why you might have disliked it. 4 is an improvement in almost every way (besides the amount of sutors you have, which the first Rune Factory had like...12 if I remember correctly).

That's about all I can really say on the subject without getting lengthy. I haven't had the chance to play A New Beginning, but given how bad Tale of Two Cities was, I would gander it's probably the better choice.

Thank you~ ^^

I did enjoy all of the previous Harvest Moon games, plus I really like creating my own character and stuff, so yeah, I'll get that. :D

But now the real question is... who should I marry, Neil, Allen or Rod? xD

Would give you links, but Nathan's laziness is so contagious. :P

Yeah, as David mentioned, Rune Factory's come a long way in terms of mechanics, streamlining, and voice acting (and pretty much every other way) since the original games, to the point where 1 and 2 can actually be unplayable after experiencing 3 and/or 4. The art style and character design has changed in-game to an extent as well, so there's that, if you're interested.

As for Harvest Moon, I'll agree, A New Beginning is FAR better than Tale of Two Towns. Part of the reason is because Triple T is a DS game that is also on the 3DS, while A New Beginning is on the 3DS. Another reason is because, from what I've seen at least, took advantage of both the hardware and the title. Rather than it being simply a new Harvest Moon with a new theme, they decided to go all out and make an innovative new title, not only creating the first 3D Handheld Harvest Moon, but also streamlining the farming experience and making the most customizable game yet.

Now, as I said, I don't have the game myself, but I'd check out the videos for the game if I were you, to truly get a feel for what's new and if you want it.

Thanks, guys, much appreciated. ^^

But I'm totally in love with Harvest Moon, so yeah, I'm goin' for that. C:

I over trained in FF7.

Materia Keeper was hitting 300 with Trine. Lol.

Rune Factory, it goes like this.

2<1<3<4

Three is great mainly because the game is better and the combat is much faster flowing whilst everything else is expanded upon from 1 and 2 and I love carmen and Gauis. Four is great and much much better than Three. Though the creators of the game closed down a fifth one is in production and will probably be better so wait for that. Harvest Moon, is okay on the DS just don't get Island of Happiness it sucks and you have to control with a stylus.

I know people loathed the runey system, but frontiers was a pretty good game as well. So was tides of destiny, but eh, both get overlooked.
In other news, I started Drakengard today. Was not entirely prepared for this game, might have to let it go for a while to mentally prepare myself.

T!M said:

I over trained in FF7.

Materia Keeper was hitting 300 with Trine. Lol.

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I make it a personal rule to never grind in RPGs until I actually hit a wall. I can easily turn my brain off and just grind the day away(THANKS Dragon Quest), but it usually trivializes the game.

I never ever grinded in a RPG myself, which i probably should do cause i end up being underleveled D:

ShadowE said:

I never ever grinded in a RPG myself, which i probably should do cause i end up being underleveled D:

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Its why I love FFXII and Xenoblade. You can autogrind for hours without going inbetween menus and other such inconveniences.

Elendil said:

Its why I love FFXII and Xenoblade. You can autogrind for hours without going inbetween menus and other such inconveniences.

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Ah, then again i havent played tons of RPG's to get a clear view of it, but what i know, is that i might need to grind a few levels if i wanna make some progress x3

You do indeed. But, its annoying so much in the end. Random encounters are the most annoying things in gaming for me.

I should get some more RPG games tbh.

The only RPG i play a lot is also a FPS (Borderlands series), and just playing the main missions isnt quite enough, unless you have the Gunzerker class.

Modern RPGs (such as Xenoblade) generally avoid grinding by adding side missions (which are usually engaging, rewarding, or just interesting and challenging). As time goes on, grinding becomes more archaic (for a lot of reasons, largely because it's mostly considered tedious). Though, there are some games that tend to make grinding interesting, but games that make you spend hours grinding, especially Turn Based ones, can really turn players off.