Rune Factory 3 Special - The Greatest Game Everyone Avoided | ScraggyKing20

[@ScraggyKing20]

Hey everyone! The Rune Factory 3 Special video is finally out! When I first picked this video back up, I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to format it like a video essay, or a critique, or a retrospective since I’m still relatively unfamiliar with the core of the series. So… think of this as like an unstructured rambling of a game I really like and wanted to talk about lol Regardless, I worked really hard to try and make this the best it could be, so I hope you enjoy this very special episode of the Rune Factory Marathon!

[@kreinzkuroyami4262]

I love your Rune Factory series so much! Thank you for your hard work. I really really waiting for your RF Marathon update because how much I enjoy the series. Much love Scragg!

[@dabrickshaw651]

My first rune factory was the first one. Ive never would have imagined anyone else let alone an entire community around this series. Much love

[@ZefoniusLinestraf]

Same lol i played 4 as my first

[@furiousthumbstick]

I just picked this game up from walmart for $10. It has a full-color 25-page manual. I can't wait to get started!

[@vaxick]

Ha, just found it at Walmart for $10 today too.

[@UglyTeddyBear251]

I have a story to tell. When I was a child playing this game for the first time I couldn't figure out the simple puzzle to unlock the first boss. So I ignored it. For 5 in game years. When I did figure it out I beat the raccoon in two hits. I accidentally started speed running the game because I already had level 10 hearts with everyone and was super over leveled. Good times lol

[@christianboi7690]

I remember really liking Raven as a kid. Most of the other characters felt a little shallow or one note. I like Carmen more nowadays I think, but one of the things I liked about Raven is her relationship with Gaius. He’s always working himself to death and she loves him, but has trouble interacting with people so she doesn’t know how to deal with him. She also pushes herself too hard, but refuses to acknowledge it. So it’s this thing where Gaius has her looking out for him, but she needs someone to look out for her too. I guess there’s also the whole mysterious secret she has that the main character can relate to.

[@crimsoncrescentmoonreviews5381]

I literally just got this game BRAND NEW for $10 at Wal-Mart. Im excited to try it out!

[@mn7306]

RF 3 was my first RF in Indonesia I think people still play and talk about it regularly, And I can say Raven is also our universally accepted Romance, second would be Sofia

[@ulfrey1155]

Excellent video as usual, but this one truly resonates with me. RF3 was my first farming game ever and got me into the genre. It's still got my favorite village and NPC interactions ever!

[@carlosarthur6694]

21:37 All of the characters in this games are so much fun... Except Carlos

[@blueshellincident]

I grew up on RF3 and loved it. No other farming sim I tried came close to it for me, even after playing RF1 and 2. Still haven't played 4 or 5 but I own them all for collecting purpose. The series NEEDS recognition for all the good it does. Thank you King.

[@lucaspielak]

Rune Factory 3 is my favorite RF and also one of my favorite games of all, i pre ordered a physical copy of the game from Play Asia, and really had Fun, it's great to be able to play RF 3 in the Switch, the only turn down for me is the new dub, idk, it's not bad, but i really miss the old dub, i guess it is a bit hard to get used to another dub of a game i spent more than 300 hours in the DS Anyway, i'm really happy to see this game alive again, and its really nice to see someone making content of RF3, awesome video!

[@DerTendou]

I really enjoy these long video essays were someone's favorite game is praised. They always make me want me to buy the games, even though I know I probably won't enjoy them as much as the video creator. It makes me really appreciate my love for video games even more.

[@dailyturnip]

the way i SCREAMED when i saw this in my reccomended i started playing rf3 and immediately fell in love, its amazing and so underrated

[@NerevarineKing]

I mean every single character is at least partially a well-known anime character trope, but that's pretty common.

[@christianboi7690]

RF3 by far had the best questing system. I loved being able to pace my interactions with the villagers. In RF4 I sped through the game and barely got to know anyone and the quest system was completely impersonal. In RF3 I could interact with the people I chose on a daily basis as I got to know them and progressed with the game. I could take a break from exposition and story if I wanted to focus on farming or combat even. It was perfectly designed for me. I don’t like stumbling across random events because it messes with my flow, but I also feel obligated because that’s the only time I’m gonna get to know the characters in RF4.

[@CryBlueofZ]

RF3 came out when I was moving back to my hometown(where I hatched(I'm a dragon)) and buying a house this is was something that helped me though all those boring meetings my mom and Aunt took me to

[@HolicChan]

I also love raven because she’s probably one of the best written tsunderes I think ever tbh

[@kalejuice5701]

I will also note that Tides of Destiny/Oceans handled its approach to full 3D much better than RF5 did. Environments actually felt polished for what they were and they capitalized on the character's 3D models for expressive animations. RF5 unfortunately feels rushed by comparison, as much as I still enjoyed it.

[@blazikenowen]

Maan rf tod was amazing shame 5 was a trash fire compared

[@idkwhattoname538]

THE KING OF RUNE FACTORY IS BACK

[@saincx0m9]

the first time i heard about rune factory was through the announcement for the rune factory 4 special, and a while later i learned about the fact that the series was a spinoff to harvest moon, so i decided to try out the first game, i gotta say its somewhat enjoyable to play it, it also made me find your channel, i enjoyed your playthrough of the first game alot :) edit: also i think i might hold off a little before i wanna play 3, i just wanna make sure if i wanna skip 2 or not

[@CookedPages]

Let me just say, without going too far into spoilers, that the design choices in 2 are really difficult to deal with coming from 1 without playing the later games. I actually stopped playing 2 after the break point the first time through because I felt absolutely lost. after 2 I played 4 finally (never had a 3ds) and with that under my belt, went back to 2 and had a grand old time.. by using faqs extensively. Your milage may vary of course but even after playing every game in the series I'm still in the boat of 2 being the worst entry. After playing it a second time I don't think I'll ever do it again. I've played the first game 4 times by comparison because it's just that much more satisfying. Hope that helps you make a decision. 3 is a great game but it didn't teach me the lessons I needed to be able to enjoy 2, if that makes any sense.

[@saincx0m9]

@CookedPages ah i see, well i haven't started yet, it does sound like the game has questionable game design rather than being that one game being the most bland and plain game of the game series ever, still tho i might give it a give it a go to see how well it does in conversion to 1, one thing im gonna hope it doesn't do is leaving the rest of the tools behind npcs (almost went without a pet glove half way through the game) which i believe it might still do anyway

[@elis9409]

This video was great, well worth the wait. I started with RF3S thanks to you and I'm so glad I played it, easily my favorite farming sim

[@ScraggyKing20]

Thanks! Glad to hear you enjoyed the game too!

[@LilyBannel]

Thank you for this video. I really enjoy when someone talks passionately about a niche series or a little known game. You even talked about things the game did wrong and how it could've been improved upon. I started with Rune Factory 4 due to the high praise. I really love Story of Seasons Trio of Towns and still play when I can. I am playing Winds of Anthos because I wanted to form my opinion about the split and give the entry a chance. Also the preorder bonuses appealed to me. Farming games may be glutted right now but to be fair each genre has their glut. I remember the First Person shooter glut of the 90s. As long as the game can make someone's day and isn't predatory then good for them.

[@braydenhafdahl3246]

Rune factory 3 was my favorite one, and I absolutely loved it

[@nirvashtype-0177]

I saw your vid today. Yesterday i got myself RF 4 for the 3rd time, but this time for the PC. Now i am downloading RF3 after watching your video. xD

[@lookorionisonthesky605]

Omg i hope i wasn't late! Totally my new fav youtuber. Hope this ship to the seas of success may sail safely ❤ The rune factory series is totally amazing!!

[@zerir.3726]

As someone who was OBSESSED with this game specifically since near the time it came out finding out this exists made me LOSE IT. Great review

[@zeroyuki92]

Thanks for making this video! RF3 is also my favorite RF, and this encapsulates both things I have observed and I missed about why I liked this series so much. I would like to emphasize even stronger that Character and Character Arcs are the main reason why this entry stands out compared to the rest. To illustrate, any of the 'Top 5' bachelorette candidates in RF3 would be my top bachelorette in most other RF games if they're transported there. They are THAT good. Not only that they are introduced and developed much more naturally as you have mentioned, they also have really strong execution character 'tropes' that relates well to their story arc and interaction -- which serves as an excellent hook for players to know them better. Everything from a superb execution of classic trope (Raven).,really great moodmaker/comedy source (Pia) to 'do this kind of character even exist in any other story before?' (Sofia)... They have them all. TL;DR: RF3 is superior because it has superior waifus.

[@reveriesend4668]

The writing is very anime. But the difference is that it's simply good writing good cast. Rune Factory 3, character-writing wise, is simply above the rest.

[@Morkibay]

Funny thing: i also played rune factory 3 around 6 years ago, but on an emulator on my old iphone 5s. Since then i own Rune Factory 3 special, 4 special and 5. Rune factory 3 is indeed a fantastic game but a bit short. (and i romanced raven)

[@barelyhere7200]

I finally get to find out why you refused to put on clothes

[@samunurai569]

This is a high-quality in depth review. Great stuff!

[@MrPoppints]

You really pinned down as to why I really like Rune Factory 3~

[@Vivles]

Collette is a fertilizer bin confirmed 👽🤧

[@greentea0956]

Nobody commented on the fe3h music at the beginning of the vid so i will--great music taste!

[@seamarie3111]

I'm so excited to play this! I'm partially blind, so had a LOT of DS/3DS envy back in the day because I LOVE HM/SS/RF games, but there are SO many I cannot play because I don't have good enough eyesight for those little DS screens. Having RF 4 Special for Switch has been such an awesome experience! I can play on the big screen, and even on my Switch's smaller screen because it has a zoom feature and I can just read all the dialog with my phone's camera. I kind of slept on RF3 special because I'm still playing through 4 and 5. However, I ordered it on a whim yesterday and can't wait to get it

[@domesticsoul]

This video is soo good with a such beautiful outro and such lovely music I’ve only played rf4s since it came out on PlayStation, it has such a special place in my heart and now i want to play rf3s so so bad!! It’s shame that it’s not on PlayStation yet and i don’t even know if it’ll ever get ported on it… If i ever buy nintendo this will be the first game i buy alongside with it right away!

[@antoucool]

Alright, sob story time! My history with Rune Factory 3 is very complicated. I got the game as a kid after having played the first two and it was my favorite. My kid self crushed hard on Raven. So what's the sad part? I never got to finish it. I went on a trip to visit my uncle in a city 5 hours from home and I lost the game there and never got it back. Later on I tried playing through emulation, but it never felt the same and had some issues on my PC. So this port has been a way to finally see it through. It feels both nostalgic and sad, like I missed out on the experience and even though I can play it now, it's never going to be the same.

[@turtleisland4829]

My first rune factory game was Rune factory 4 special played it and loved it then I played Rune factory 5 and loved that game too I want back to play rune factory 1 and like it and as played rune factory 3 special and loved it I’ve fallen in love this series and I’m looking forward to playing more games in the future

[@mikeval1525]

Return of the king.

[@azrael5839]

I put off this video for a while because I've still not finished the Newlywed scenarios and thought it'd pop up. Nope, I was safe all along lol Very thought provoking video. Rune Factory 3 was my favourite of the RF games until I think I got into the second arc of RF4, but its still such a good game. I had a blast playing the remaster and marrying all the girls, even the ones I didn't like so much as a romantic interest still felt great as a character. The interactivity between the NPCs is also something that was very important and gives the game a lot of life. I adore Rune Factory 5, I'm not a fan of all the pot-shots that get taken at it by the community (especially when some folk are calling it objectively worse than some older games though RF has only improved on its great mechanics over time). But it did have a lot of issues with it. I loved the characters, the game has some of my favourite bachelors and bachelorettes, but there's not as much interactivity as there was in RF3 and RF4. It's also slow and I don't really mean the performance issues. I'm used to playing games with bad framerate, what made RF5 slow was the time system. Some of the older RF games had it too fast, RF3 felt like a bit of a rush at the start for example whilst RF4 got a good balance. But RF5's time flow makes all the late night events genuinely frustrating, especially later in the game when your tools are upgraded and you're done with everything by noon. Whilst RF3 though it started off fast and a little stressful at the beginning, the upgrades are more rewarding in that sense as they give you time for everything else (whilst not dragging it out painfully like RF5). RF3 really did a lot to perfect the formula and I feel like they should be pulling from it and RF4 to make the newer games even better. ... Sorry about the essay, I'm just really passionate about Rune Factory lol

[@NikoDuong]

Just wanted to say that the lawsuit joke was hilarious 👍

[@reveriesend4668]

being short is also one of the game's charm. Because there are A LOT OF CUTE GIRLS, GOOD CHARACTERS

[@CatsandDragons7]

Yeeeeeeeesssss!!! 4/4S is great, but I LOVE RF3 so much. It’s my favourite one hands down. Also that FarmSim direct gave me life. My fav RF getting an HD switch/PC release AND one of my favourite BokuMono games getting the same? I died and went to Heaven that day

[@hajime9958]

It was on sale for me for $30 when I got it early Christmas of last year and it's actually pretty fun.

[@000Dragon50000]

I just wish 3 and 4 Special added gay marriage into these older games since it's pretty much a genre standard at this point. And also I'm a girl and a fan of elves and DAMN there's some interesting characters that first bit locks me out of exploring. Which is a real shame particularly since the writing you discuss being so much better in 3 is something I miss in Farm sims in general. I WANT to see the writing and character development fleshed out to that degree but I can't, at least until a proper Fem!MC mod exists. Not gonna be too salty about that though, at least 5, 6 and whatever Project Dragon ends up being will all have it.

[@HolicChan]

Rune factory was way too short for me to feel like I needed to upgrade my weapons or grind for something new to build, meanwhile rune factory 4s trigger system it left me tons of room to experiment and spend a large amount of time to grind and gain experience on my skills and soil and make tons of money until I’m leaving my room holding a bunch of tomatoes when venti tells me the world is in trouble again! Made it feel so much more real but in rf3 I finished it in 20 hours and never picked it back up, meanwhile after finishing RF5s story after 30 hours, I kept playing for another 160 hours

[@Cyril86]

4's definitely my favorite in the series, but 3 is probably my #2.

[@reveriesend4668]

I played since the very first one. plus a bunch of Harvest Moon - Story of Season. Rune Factory 3 was the best. Best set of cast. The right balance and choice of how to play these games. In all aspects.

[@reveriesend4668]

ah the collette money tree trick lol i just use brute force rng. keep coming in and out until they summon a good chest. Sharance Tree also exists after all.

[@tiezoc757]

Great video and it is very apperent so much heart was put into it. Rune Factory 3 has and always will be my favorite of the franchise. I was so happy when I first saw the Special announcement, but after seeing all the changes I personally refuse to get it. They replaced the best opening with in my opinion absolute garbage. Mostly the animation, it looks so childish and the song while catchy, nothing can replace the beautiful song Hapiness. The missing of iconic catchphrases also just killed it for me. I wasn't to happy with the voice cast change, but I probably could have gotten use to it, but taking out the catchprashes takes out some magic. Just my personal feelings and I still enjoyed what you had to say about.

[@jur9532]

This video brings me back to when I was a child, we share the same path of experience on it! When I just got my very first ds, I thought this game was very interesting and different so I decided to play (tho I thought Micah was a girls at first I was disappointed I couldn't marry Gaius 😂 so I married Shara cuz, she was just there I guess, thought she was cute 😂 I'm sorry Shara) and it was one of my first contacts with English, which I was learning at the time, so I hold a very special place in my heart for this game. I think this video resonated a lot with me and I can only say a big Thank you, made me very emotional to see the love and care you put into it to express how much you loved this game, as a lot of us think the same for it I think it was only right for me to write this comment, have a good day Scrags, hope to see more of your passion into the videos 😊 (Sorry for any grammatical errors, I was too happy trying to write this down jkdiajsa)

[@nowucit6346]

This was awesome! Great video!!

[@Name_Undetermined]

Aside from me being colossally ass mad that the original intro got replaced, good port tbh.

[@ZerotrojanWars]

Pls make more interesting topics for Harvestmoon or RF. I liked and sub

[@reveriesend4668]

15:45 They will. Believe in it. They have realized it.

[@tulip811]

"avoided" Our parents gave us a console without games for birthday/Christmas and we never had our own money during the DS/3DS era 🚬🚬🚬

[@lr5085]

It's the cigarettes 😂 but very this! we were just kids if you didn't have some scavenged money and got lucky in the bargain bin we weren't getting games!!

[@magolor152]

What kind of dumbass parents just buys you a console without even one game...?

[@honeymatcha379]

I really like how you focused on the way that RF3 presents the story by encouraging and rewarding curiosity It's something that bugs me about Rune Factory 5 - Alice/Ares is always being told by their boss where to go. They're going there because it's their job, gal/guy is working a 9 to 5 lol. There's no curiosity - RF4 also did it a lot better, Frey was going to the dungeons because she wanted to, if anything Venti was discouraging her to do it

[@reveriesend4668]

ah that fcking bone dragon dinosaur lol

[@Colin12475]

Everyone loves Raven, but I like Daria and Collette.

[@zacharybecker8228]

I think frontier is still the best game in the series but i really enjoyed 3 prob the 2nd best

[@HolicChan]

I have 190 hours in RF5 LOL I got use to the partial frame rate drops pretty quickly, I didn’t get RF5 like so many others did

[@reveriesend4668]

oh yeah back then theres no fermentation bin lol they use alchemy. you make the fertilizer.

[@kratine8610]

my first play was RF3, played RF4S when it release, finished the game and playing RF5, still have the feeling thas RF3 is the best version i've played out of the 3 game... everything in the video hit the point, not the perfect game, but really good overall

[@tx49er956]

Snagged $10 copy at local wal mart. 1/25/24

[@reveriesend4668]

Soon, farming x social game will be in gacha territory. Hoyoverse is alr making it. And with how huge their fanbase is atm, I think Rune Factory will have rooms to wiggle in. They gotta figure out how to do open world in newer devices tho. also need to realize most of us are old now lol

[@reveriesend4668]

dash has always been on RF3

[@maxgundamvsgundam743]

Perfection

[@reveriesend4668]

You missed the story for a bit: Rune Factory 4 was a goodbye. They made the whole thing in full knowledge that game would be THE FINAL Rune Factory for a long time, if not forever. If you consider how the game itself seems to be designed, you will get it.

[@SagaEf]

_the yellow border_

[@dwbryant13]

Only prepubescent smash players get triggered when they hear FE.

[@gothgrape]

Yeesssss let gooo

[@marcsm2008]

Hey, your character doesn't get amnesia in Frontier. ... Technically.

[@darrenho5170]

Great vid

[@blazikenowen]

Whats sad is people forget rune factory tides of destiny its Amazing its on ps3 was 3d like rf5 but it was so much better and hey no amnesia

[@BevinEG]

YEAAH!

[@lesslighter]

everyone avoided....? is that a red text?

[@JustRandomDude_]

Is it possible to play it on a android?

[@PerpetualScreamingAaaaah]

I'm gonna say it, I hate how they changed some of these characters voices. Karina is still nice, but any of the other deeper voiced girls? They sound like children. I can't even talk to Marian without being disappointed, she used to be one of my favorite girls. It's personal preference and blah blah blah, but I dunno, I shouldn't have to shut the voices off in order to enjoy talking to the characters

[@PerpetualScreamingAaaaah]

I will say though, I prefer Sakuya and Shara's new voices

[@reveriesend4668]

I play in JP full for Special, so cant comment on Eng Dub

[@raulrojas9253]

I mean, I played RF 1, RF 2, Frontier, Tidies of destiny and then 4 so As far I can tell RF 4 is the defacto best game in the franchise and Frontier a close second (FOr me I know runey system and everything has long animations I get it) New RF looks interesting but I don't trust them after the god awful RF 5

[@gamerice2477]

Anyboady know the song in 35:49

[@ScraggyKing20]

Kirby's Epic Yarn - Outer Rings ~ Rocket

[@DBT1007]

RUNE FACTORY ESPECIALLY RUNE FACTORY 3, IS THE STARDEW VALLEY BEFORE STARDEW VALLEY, THUS, THIS KIND OF GAME SHOULD NOT BE CALLED AS 'STARDEW VALLEY COPYCAT" It should be called as 'rune factory copycat'. even stardew valley is rune factory copycat. the farming sim, dating, RPG boss battle, recruiting NPC to battle or to date, cooking skill and variants, and lots of skills that you can hone in the game. this is RUNE FACTORY GENRE. not stardew valley.

[@marcsm2008]

I think RF4 is a downgrade compared to RE3. That said... I didn't like the faster pacing in this game compared to 1, 2 and Frontier.