Rune Factory A Fantasy Harvest Moon | Retrospective

The first Rune Factory retrospective in my Rune Factory Retrospective series! Not like your traditional reviews on here! I hope you enjoy, and please look forward to more in the future. I am doing this in preparation for Rune Factory 5!
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[@raulrojas9253]

Rune factory Frontier was the one who got me into this whole sub genre. People always talk about Stardew valley this, stardew valley That, is fun but it doesnt compare to rune factory. I have only played 1 frontier and 4 thought

[@kelliecanscan3364]

Stardew is charming in its own way. It got me into these farming games. I loved the experience so much I sought out similar games. And then RF 4 came out on switch!!! And that's where I started rune factory. It has so much story to it. And DYLAS OMG... Any who, I'm loving all the characters and story. I love the anime openings too. Wish they could actually turn this series into an anime x,D

[@MagicalAuroraDream]

A Very Angry Guy I got started way back with Harvest Moon: Magical Melody. I also played another spin-off, Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon, on PS2, and a failed attempt at playing it on the PSP. I got into Rune Factory with Frontier, which I mostly loved! However, keeping all the runeys balanced was a MAJOR pain for me, and I think I actually sold that game at a garage sell, which I MASSIVELY regret now! I own Tides of Destiny, which I adore, but haven't quite finished yet. Unfortunately, I was never able to play Rune Factory 1, 2, 3, and the original 4 for DS and 3DS. I have a moderate visual impairment, so it's hard for me to see small screens, and especially hard or impossible for me to read on them without a zoom feature. I'm so glad RF4 came out on Switch this year! I so wanted to play it when it came out years ago... It'd be awesome if they'd re-release all the others on Switch too! I'd love to try them! Anyway, Stardew Valley is great and all, but I feel just too pressured into filling all those darn bundles. Also, I'm a little sick of the visual style. I've logged dozens of hours on it and other games like My Time at Portia, Verdant Skies, Re:Legend, Garden Paws, etc., but while they're all good/getting good NONE of them quite fill the same place in my heart as the Harvest Moon, (now Story of Seasons), and Rune Factory games do.

[@__FloweRy_]

I got started with harvest moon: Friends of Mineral town on the GBA!

[@NekoNya12]

Rune Factory A harvest Moon was my first one. I could not put it down, I fell in love with it! It got me started on the whole series. I will admit that going back to the first one is hard because of the controls. Rune Factory 3 was a huge improvement.

[@TheAngelbase]

I started with Rune Factory also and I also loved it and got hooked on the series. And I agree, it's hard to go back to, because I got used to better controls in subsequent games. Even 2 was better!

[@RexZShadow]

I skipped 2 and 3 due to me just stop playing DS game for several years. Got RF4 on 3DS but had to stop due to lack of time. With RF 5 think get the switch verison and finally finish it. Proabaly to try 2, 3 and the woo games.

[@raharii12345]

Rune factory need more recognition to revive!!

[@IkaGamma]

I think with Rune Factory 4 Special and Rune Factory 5 on the horizon I think it's safe to say the series is making a nice comeback! But im hoping this series im doing will shine even more light ont he series.

[@raharii12345]

@@IkaGamma yeah let's hope the sale will be well, since the fate of RF depends on that

[@TXFDA]

I mean, I recently got access to playing my 2DS. I wanted a Harvest Moon esque game. So I googled for it. Most reddit posts I saw where people were asking for the same recommendations that I was looking for....people would say Rune Factory 3 or 4. Most people agreed that Harvest Moon DS (or Harvest Moon Cute for DS), Trio of Towns, or Rune Factory 4 were the 3 top Harvest Moon style games to play. Most of them saying Rune Factor 4 was actually the best. Only time I saw 3 suggested instead was if someone was specifically looking for original DS games and not 3DS games. So I feel like it's got the recognition, it's just mostly within the Harvest Moon community.

[@bridgetm3445]

To be fair while the game didn’t age well especially in comparison to later games it was also a 2006 DS game so playing this for hours on end as a youngin i thought it was the coolest thing ever and really different from a lot of other games that were out at the time. So the first rune factory game will always have a soft spot in my heart.

[@James_Lo]

I think rune factory 1 has the best character design in all the series to be honest. It’s the perfect mix of the medieval European era and the stereo typical Japanese fantasy design. All the other games seem to have more cliche and less interesting (or sometimes too complex) designs.

[@HENTAIENTHUSIAST]

preach. you can definitely see how char design became more "wacky" (for lack of a better word) as the series progressed

[@javv1193]

Yeah i think its the insistence to give most characters candy colored hair instead of holding back on that and only giving a few characters crazy hair colors and most characters having realistic colors like in rf1

[@Gibbon420]

I agree. I love RF4 but the designs in that game are SO busy and impractical, few people look like real people who actually lives in these clothes.

[@ancala4140]

agree with that, like it when they keep the graph simple, similar with BTN, simple but still the best of HM.

[@cnguyen4113]

Definitely agree. The aesthetics of the first game is my favourite out of all of them. I love the muted, brown-ish colour palette. It adds a vintage look to the game that I adore. I’d play RF1 more if the mechanics weren’t so clunky. Also the art style for the sprites is very very cute, imo.

[@thecakegarden5324]

Just wait until RF3, your hard work will be rewarded

[@IkaGamma]

So I keep being told, looking forward to it!

[@raebans]

I LOVED the original Rune Factory when I first played it. It's everything I wanted in a game and I loved all the villagers and my interactions with them. I remember it so fondly but I'm sure it would be painful to play now (game mechanics aside). Back then I thought there were a lot of events between villagers and myself (mayor's daughter, separated parents, etc) but it probably wasn't as hashed out as I thought it was. Nonetheless I adore that game and I'm so glad that this series lives on.

[@ProjectAlci]

So, Rune Factory 1 was actually my first entry to the series.... and I LOVED it! I'm not sure if it's nostalgia clouding my judgment, but I adored this game as well as 2. I have since played all the DS entries and have touched the two Wii entries. Growing up, Rune factory was probably my favorite series. There are a few things that are seriously lacking in 1 and 2, however, that I think a remake could really fix. - 1's color pallet is soooo bland. If you play 4 and then switch to 1, you'll see what I mean. The characters all look pale and washed out. - The general speed is a problem. If you play 3 or 4, you can pick crops up rapidly in stacks. But playing 1 and 2, you have to pick each crop up one by one, and it seems to take a good chunk of time not only to pick it up, but to put it inside your backpack as well. - The NPC character AI.... isn't. In 2, they at least move (somewhat) around during the day. But they just don't feel like living breathing characters compared to 4's NPC's. - No events. Rune Factory 4 had a request board and events triggered by dialogue. Which, again, contributed to the feeling of a living world. Rune factory 1 doesn't even have a request board. - In 1, wheat is not re-harvestable. That is, if you use the sickle on it, it destroys the base crop. It's very upsetting to have to replant the wheat. - Items that are dropped onto the ground freakin' DISAPPEAR! Why?! This frustrated me so much when revisiting 1 and 2. In 4 (and I think 3 as well) if your inventory was full, you could set something on the ground temporarily and go to pick it up again. But in 1 and 2, your stuff just disappears into a void. Does the ground have teeth in this series or something?? There are also a few things that made the 1st and 2nd Rune Factory stand out to me in a positive way, compared to 4. - Seasonal dungeons. To me, having the seasonal caves was a really nice addition to the series. It was also cool to explore the idea of "phantom crops" that grew for 180 days or something. You couldn't do that on your farm because you only had so many days in a season. - Sleeping bags. This is a minor feature that added another breath of realism to the series. I was very sad to see them removed. - The soundtrack. Rune Factory has had an AMAZING soundtrack.... until 4 came along. 4 recycled SO many OST's from the first several games while adding very few of its own. Let's go back to having the amazing *original* soundtrack that we all love.... not recycling already composed songs.

[@g0rgon1]

If I remember correctly, I do believe Godwin does explicitly tell you how much land you need to till for at least the first dungeon, unless my memory is off.

[@TheNorilla]

If I remember right, he'll tell you how to get the pass or just give you one for every dungeon with the exception of the 3rd dungeon since he feels that it's too dangerous for Raguna to go though until Cecilia gets stuck in there.

[@jellewilligenburg1126]

The manual of the game also say’s how to go about unlocking the first dungeon, here’s what is written in the manual: “ Here’s a hint: till plenty of soil and the mayor will give you the Carmite Cave Pass.” So it doesn’t say the exact amount but you definitely have enough information to know what to do.

[@destinyleak9099]

i LOVE rune factory 1 as an indicator of the passage of time in this franchise. the gateway devices show how far the sechs empire has come in their tech research, and the damage theyve done to the natural world by opening rifts between the normal world and the forest of beginnings. also, it is much more abt the politics in the rune factory world than the other games and i adore it

[@kristinahall8467]

now i loved the sleeping bag in the caves the more you leveled it up the more times you could use it in a day it was nice not to have to run back home after taking some damage outside and not having your crops wilt inside the cave was a lifesaver.

[@RenoKyrie]

Rune factory 1 honestly is the one that did not age well compare to others (Although i personaly dislike 2 more) The villagers interaction is almost non existed(Only small side quest and main story involvement) Upgrading your house was just ridicilously expensive Soetimes, boss fights or even regular enemies fight can be annoying, and the ones i still remember being the most annoying are the 1st Boss, Hornets, Queen Bee, and the Fairys from Greed Cave Unlocking dungeons is honestly weird... like really? You have to tile specific amount of tiles? And i really dont like the one you have to wait for Winter just to enter it, not only that i heard the Winter lake dungeon is the most game breaking(litteraly break your game) And my biggest complain, your Rune/Stamina gauge drains way too fast, especialy when you get the Rune blade

[@ynsan3]

i honestly dont remember running into issues with the first 1. finished it and moved on to 2.

[@someoneanonymous2516]

Honestly the game reviewed so well because it was a game of its time. The farming was on par with that of concurrent Harvest Moon games, but with combat! And in that vein, it very much is a Harvest Moon game with some RPG elements. (As per the subtitle.) Later games in the series invert this, being more RPGs with some life sim elements. I find dungeon crawling in RF1 more compelling th an 2 or 3 personally because it is more of a farmer's approach to dungeoneering. progress is more akin to a Mineral Town, where your inventory/stamina/resource limits are a huge barrier to progress. This can be a little rough at times, but overall I found it enjoyable. Honestly I think your biggest problem is that you started with the best games in the series (4 and Frontier), and they have improved the formula so much that it's difficult to go back to the older titles and enjoy them even for someone who enjoyed them (except 2) originally.

[@zacharydackerydock5522]

I had a lot of nostalgia for this game. Despite its clear flaws to this day I instantly compare any new farm simulator to this game. “Does it have huge expansive dungeons? No? Then it’s not as good as rune factory.” Lol, when I heard Stardew Valley had a cave you could fight monster in, THIS was what I was secretly hoping for. Sadly I was always secretly disappointed

[@immaguy7905]

You're doing God's work for making this retrospective, and a great review for someone to know more about the franchise.

[@IkaGamma]

Well someone has to document this whole franchise, and I decided that someone will be me!

[@immaguy7905]

@@IkaGamma You've taken the mantle to educate a new generation of Rune Factory fans! Good speed you Lad!

[@aylinhuber42]

Rune Factory 1 is my favourite game 😍 The bachelorettes are very adorable and especially the music was soooo good. And there are so much other reasons why i love this game

[@Tumultulous]

Rune Factory is my favorite game series. Rune Factory 2 was my first one that just hooked me into buying the first, then every other game. I think the most frustrating thing about Rune Factory 1 was just that I couldn't marry Mei cause I needed a level 10 Love Snapper I think it was. I usually replay each rune factory once with each weapon type, then marry each maiden. But like you said Rune Factory 1 was a challenge. Only really married Tabitha (since she is the easiest, but imo loveliest), then Melody. I wanted to marry Tori too, but that's when I got burnt out on the game. IF I did have to say though. I'd say Rune Factory 3 is my favorite so far.

[@IkaGamma]

I am actually very excited to play Rune Factory 3 for the first time with this retrospective series :) And yeah it kinda sucks certain things in this game are now very hard to access, especially those things that required the use of the WiFi system.

[@rahumor7556]

Rune Factory 1 is only as hard as you make it.

[@post6597]

RF 3 is my favorite

[@k-reb9687]

I’m not gonna lie, this game is incredibly crude, slow and at times down right boring. However, as you said, this game had all the right ideas on what it should be and that’s why I appreciate the game for getting its foundation right. It did pretty well setting itself up for a sequel.

[@EM_vi_ix]

I was just happy you can get to the center crop.

[@camchem]

Apart from RF4, RF1 was the only RF game I completed. This was because it didn’t have the issue of difficulty spikes. At least, I never experienced it. In both RF2 and RF3, I would breeze through the first two or three dungeons with very few problems and not much difficulty. But then I’d get to the next dungeon and be absolutely annihilated, and then I would discover that I was (somehow) WAYYYYY under-leveled. Or my weapons/equipment weren’t strong enough, but my forging/crafting skills weren’t very high. This issue absolutely destroyed all of my RF2 and RF3 playthroughs, but I don’t remember experiencing this issue in RF1. Perhaps the reason I didn’t have this problem in RF1 was because there were more dungeons (or at least, that’s the way I remember it).

[@postapocalypse0763]

12:40 Good lord don't remind me of having to faff about for two seasons waiting for the 4th dungeon It being first in a series hurt the finished product the most

[@IkaGamma]

Yeah I nearly went insane in the long break for the Winter season just to go to the next dungeon

[@ceniloar]

I'm playing right now and I'm at that point. Guess it's time to get 2000 pieces of wood (who thought that was a good idea?) and upgrade my house. I guess when Cecilia asks Raguna if he can swim the answer is no, because he can't figure out a way to get past 3 feet of water.

[@RexZShadow]

Imagine playing slow and get to it on the next year spring gg lol

[@archangelmichael1978]

>I'm going to play every single Rune Factory before RF5 comes out. Enjoy, bro. You'll fall in love with the series. Super comfy feels good gaming.

[@garrettchandler1948]

Everyone always forgets that Innocent Life: a futuristic harvest moon, came out the same year. Rune factory is the one that did better so it was the one that got a sequel.

[@jerb82]

I enjoyed og rf when it came out 🤷

[@HENTAIENTHUSIAST]

i miss the actual rune FACTORY mechanic

[@K_Dog253]

So in other words, this is a hardcore game. Like dark souls, I'm glad there are communities figuring this stuff out together. I think this is a design that juxtaposes old games like zelda; sometimes games push the limits on what's hard, and what's tedious. I played 3 first, and loved it. 4 was pretty good too. First impression of this game wasnt too great, but I appreciate it for what it meant during its time. If I played this when it came out, I'm sure I would have been hardcore into it

[@AlexandraStubbs]

I’m excited to know what you think of Rune Factory Tides of Destiny. It’s my all time favorite game for the Wii. And hear your retrospective of it! 😊

[@KingSnickSnack]

Currently playing RF4S on Ps4 and seeing this makes me happy how much the series have evolved yet stayed the same. To be honest I have not played this game in forever that I have forgot almost everything that happens. Hell I don't even remember if I finished it. Only thing I do remember is getting married.

[@xdragoonzero0]

The issue with the dungeons (the spawners/RP/prep part) is weird, because it basically just seems an issue with roguelikes. You're *supposed* to push into the dungeon to scout it out, learn what threats you'll come across, and then come back to counter them. Enemies later in the dungeon kicking your ass with poison? Make sure to come back with antidotes. Fire blocking your path? Make sure to have a full watering can. For nearly all of those issues, I was just like, "Yeah... That's the whole point." Now there could be issues with the implementation of those mechanics (like the Watering can having no indication of how full it is, or how cooked food doesn't really restore that much RP), but I don't think it would be those mechanics themselves that are bad. I agree with pretty much everything else though. I even remember using my Action Replay to get the house upgrades.

[@thebeigesheep6132]

This is such a good review!

[@chaosdestructionlove]

Great review! This definitely covered all the issues I remember and hopefully you enjoy the newer titles more I think if you played this game when it first came out it was much more forgivable when less games had such big quality of life improvements (because quite a few of these games had kinda tedious mechanics back then). When I first played it, it was one of the few titles besides HM cute/harvest moon fomt that were available for the ds that I could get my hands on. it was annoying as hell to grind, I enjoyed the characters and their archetypes but the interactions did feel just like going through the motions and really bare bones.(And the farming and fighting was a pain but somehow I had more patience as a child/teen...) I went back to it to make sure I'd beaten it before beating 3 and buying 2, honestly if you've played 3 or 4 it's pretty rough going backwards. The dynamic character interactions in those two are just world's above the first two. Really felt it hard with 2 where you'd marry your chosen bride and her family members or friends wouldn't even mention you being married or only make references to you about finding a lover or w/e at a certain heart level. Which is a shame because Barrett is in that game and he is the best ;- ; honestly if we could get Barrett from rf2 and Gaius from rf3 as cameos in the next game i'd be so happy. (I've put rf2 on hold actually because the grinding stressed me out...better look for easy ways to do that orz)

[@ryonnl7101]

Well Raguna is handsome prince like main character. I mean.. Other male protagonist.. You know?

[@MisokatsuPangolin]

As a fan of Rune Factory who has played every game they year they came out, I think of the first Rune Factory as the Pokemon Red/Blue of the series: tons of problems, yet felt amazing at the time. Seriously though, when you compare this game to Rune Factory 4, and consider that they were released six years apart (and that they almost released one new game per year) it's absolutely amazing how much and how fast the series has evolved.

[@faikungirl18]

The only thing I couldn't stand about the first Rune Factory, and I love the game so much, is just...how HARD it would be to marry some of the girls (looking at you, Mei)

[@unbounded7851]

I couldn't marry Mei because I hadn't friends to connect my nintendo DS with, I still this thorn stuck in my heart.

[@robertsilvermyst7325]

I see you do not take advantage of the early tutorial. During that time, time doesn't pass and you have no stamina bar. I usually use that to gather up everything and till the majority of the land.

[@sssspnl8699]

RF3, RFF and RF4 are my favourite entries. RF3 really influenced my childhood and my view on the games. I always wanted to.go back and play the first two entries, but in comparison to RF3 they couldn't catch me. RFF was awesome (except the Runey system and the shitty Runey extractor thingy which wasted so much of my precious time) and RF4 had the best social interactions in my opinion (In this game, I don't like how every event was randomized. You want to marry someone? Be lucky that the event triggers. You want to progress in the story? Wait for the event to trigger.) BUT Dylas has a special place in my heart, so RF4 is very important to me too. Ty for reading this text :)

[@GoldenGateNum9]

A closer relation to Friends Of Mineral Town than the other Harvest Moons on Wii are, Beautiful.

[@RobotLVS]

This is one of the games I had on my DS when I was a kid. I had played the Gamecube and DS versions of Animal Crossing quite a bit, so I was no stranger to the grind, but this game was certainly an exercise in frustration sometimes. I don't have a lot to say that you didn't, but after playing a very small amount of Rune Factory 4 Special on Game Pass, I thought back to my playthrough of the original. So, here's what I have to say about the original title that started the series. Biggest wins: Music - The music is pretty nice, despite being on a system where the audio (maybe it was just the speakers? idk) was honestly awful. A lot of the dungeon themes still worm their way into my brain from time to time, and I think a mulligan on those tracks (updated soundfonts, better mixing) would make some of them instant classics of the game music genre. Runes - Turning dungeons into a difficult experience that requires planning and preparation to surmount was really cool. I love the idea of tying farming, which is arguably the most iconic part of Harvest Moon adjacent titles, to dungeon crawling is a very fun idea with a lot of meat on its bones. Using your farming skills to help clear a dungeon really makes it feel like you earned the victory. Seasonal caves - There might be a bunch of Harvest Moon adjacent titles that feature some kind of greenhouse feature like we see in Stardew Valley, but in 2006 I'd wager Rune Factory was one of the only ones where you could grow summer crops in the middle of winter. Having to wait a 3/4 of a year to get a certain crop back into rotation really stinks, and although you're incentivized not to harvest your cave crops (at least during cave progression) it's a neat inclusion. Biggest losses: Visuals - This game just looks awful most of the time. I'm not sure what they were aiming for but they missed the mark a bit. I know that the DS was hardly a supercomputer, and that even games like Animal Crossing have that stilted and jagged look to them, but wow it really feels awful here. Locked Progression - Much like you, I had the experience of the game slapping me in the face with a "nuh uh, not yet, you haven't said the magic word". For most of these dungeons you probably don't need to demand the player grind in such a hamfisted way. It's a dungeon, after all. Just put some stronger enemies right in the front and players will intuit that they aren't strong enough to brute force their way through it. I would have loved to do testing on this game, because I'd have given them quite a bit of feedback on this feature. Characters - Aside from the issue of some of the romance options being a bit too young looking for my tastes (at least your avatar looks about the same age as many of them, something I can't say for RF4: Special), the flatness of the roster was evident to me as well. This game actually made me believe that these sorts of games were only really about grinding for the best stuff, and for years I didn't pay much mind to socializing because I thought that having single-dimension characters was industry standard. Talk about one game poisoning the well, huh? The mid to late 2000s saw a lot of franchises find their humble beginnings or grand revivals here, and a whole lot of spaghetti was being thrown at the proverbial wall. The biggest winners were obviously games like Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Call of Duty 4, Borderlands, Arkham Asylum, and the juggernaut that is Minecraft. All of those had glaring issues that were slowly fixed over time, but for a lot of those games the juice of the gameplay was worth the squeeze of dealing with experimental features and buggy systems. It's too bad I I can't say the same for Rune Factory.

[@christinacunningham4493]

I happen to stumble upon Harvest Moon first. Loved it. When researching about it I then came across Rune Factory and decided to try it out. And I Absolutely Adored it! I'm having a hard time finding something close to RF tho. HM has a few things Similar (Story of Seasons for example) but all these other games are missing some aspect of RF. If anyone has suggestions I'm happy to hear them ....

[@shqimpy5585]

Let's go! Rosetta gang rise up!

[@belphy205]

Hello childhood. This was one of my favourite DS games back when I was a child. Never finished it though😅 the final boss was a pain. Edit: I just remembered it took me a full year to get a hammer. Not an in game year an actual real life year. Good times. Then I upgraded my house and married Lara. But the house and the stones were the biggest pain.

[@Mito383]

I like that someone is talking about RF1, but I can’t help but disagree with your opinion on the hitboxes. Not once did I have an issue trying to hit a boss. Sometimes I would have issues striking a regular mob if I had a monster companion, but that was because monsters get a small amount of invulnerability after getting hit by a spell or a combo. Also, the game doesn’t outright tell you this, but Toyherbs (which can be grown at the beginning of the game) restore a small amount of RP. This is less useful early on, but the second you get a healing spell (I want to say right after the first dungeon) you can essentially one shot every dungeon without issue. Just eat a toy herb, heal up to full and repeat. Add in the potions you get (you have to find the bottles, so it isn’t obvious) and the game becomes significantly easier as you progress. I do agree that the cast is mediocre (unfortunately). They do have potential but in RF1 the villagers are mediocre at best. Finally, I absolutely agree that this game does have awful amounts of padding. Primarily because of the wait for winter to be able to access the 5th dungeon (Misty Bloom). However, the mayor does tell you that you need to till more of your farm to get the first pass. Grinding for wood was pretty awful though. Finally, yeah I agree the plot was a mess. Underwhelming is the best word for it.

[@elliegrace6410]

I played Rune Factory 1 on the DS when it first came out and it was my absolute favorite game. I came from Friends of Mineral Town and I was obsessed. I'm considering buying the new ones for Switch, but the character design just doesn't hit the same way and I'm worried they won't live up to the first one.

[@ancala4140]

Some point in this review very funny though. Personally i like how lack of instruction given, how every clue must be found by our self, it give it more natural sense. Slow game progressing gave time to player to enjoy other aspect that not founded yet. Of course it will quite frustating to do 'speed run' in this game, 'cause it not meant to. If there a downside that must be the first NPC Mist, how she babysitting the player quiet anoying to be honest.

[@rex23AB]

Great video! I feel as if the series need videos like these really. Now to the fun part about me and this series; my favourite is RF1. I have a hard time explaining why, but I love it a whole damn of a lot and can always go back to it. However, I am not so blind as to say that it is the best in the series, there is a difference between favourite and best to me. My recommendation to newer players is always 3, as I personally find it to be somewhat better than 4. Only rube factory game I will say I wholeheartedly dislike is Oceans/Tides of Destiny. Thank you again for such a great video! Cheers for Rune Factory! Edit: I realized that there were so many more things I could mention actually. My first RF game was Oceans, however, that was also the game which made me almost not continue the series. The game I played after oceans was RF1 which became so enjoyable to me that it is in my top 8 favourite games of all time (yes, I am insane). Also, one more thing! Go team Bianca (I am the only one in the world who will ever utter these words)! Bianca is my favourite in the whole series, if not possibly Mist. ^^ Okay, done now, ciao!

[@QuartzIsAnOxide]

This was groundbreaking for the time

[@ameagarain]

I'm proud that i've beaten this game in under 30 minutes.

[@jessicalarsen4546]

Each to their own I guess. Rune Factory 1 and 2 (and especially 2) remain my favorites of the series.

[@I.do.like.pina.coladas]

I recently played RF1 for the first time and honestly loved it. I liked seeing how the game tried really hard to implement farming into an action rpg (before getting it right in future games), and honestly this game is just really full of charm. I definitely agree on what a drag it is to wait until Misty Bloom Cave to open in the winter. I finished Mt. Gigant mid-Summer 1 and ended up using all that extra time gathering materials to upgrade my house. I managed to upgrade my house during early-Fall, and originally planned to marry Sharron. But given as I still had so much time to kill, I decided to fulfill Tabatha’s lengthy marriage request instead and marry her. The wait for Misty Bloom to open was definitely a drag but having goals to push through in the meantime definitely helped me not abandon the game entirely.

[@Kashkaboys]

I'm so glad you made this video :)

[@zaidhernandez4601]

Boy, I'd love a remake of this game

[@TheDarkman543]

I played all of them, and even when RF3 was my first, RF1 is my favorite, yes character interactions where lacking at best, but it felt like the game was true to its name. you were pretty much obligated to create a Rune factory in every dungeon to beat it. (although if you are experienced enough at the game you might not have to, but is advisable) and in order to marry someone you had to fulfill certain requirements, it was not just increase hearts, and here a ring. for example my favorite one required me to beat the game, get everyone in the village above 8 hearts and fill up her heart to 10, and she was hard to increase heart because of the difficulty of getting the items she loves, like the 4 leaf clover that takes 100 days to harvest. That being said the game I despised the most is RF2, although it introduced the bulletin board and made villagers more interactive (the one that later became a staple in the series) It failed to deliver the feel of the previous one by making it all about the children, now it was not a race on beating the game it was a race of: "How much I can do to set up my children before I go", the whole thing became a grind fest, and although it's one of the things rune factory is known for, the other games do a very good job at making you feel like you are not grinding. As for RF3, it was my first RF game, but biased aside, the game was good, interactions where amazing and characters where diverse and interesting, by far the best in the series. but oh lord the dungeons. first let say, the whole idea of making Rune Factories in order to progress the dungeons was lost, now it was just solve this puzzle or beat this thing and you are in. it felt lacking, i remember not caring that much after beating them. And the final dungeon? waste of time if you ask me. Having a racist water snake trying to stop your marriage is lazy writing. Oh boy then we have RF4 by far the most flesh out one of the series, it had everything I had hope and more, and by far better dungeons. the haunted mansion being my favorite as it was interactive and scary. but unfortunately the lack of actually interesting characters was its flaw. although it had some that where nice, they could be counted with one hand. and the option of being female was a plus. Now we have RFTOD, to this day I hold this one dearly. not because it was good or had an amazing story, it's because it brought something different to the table, unfortunately it sacrificed many other things, but, it didn't change what it was trying to do. and bringing new weapons into the mix like a katana is always a plus. I did play frontier, but I didn't go that far in it, after knowing they took out my favorite character. That being said RF series will always be held dearly to me, and now that i'm pursuing a career in art, specially digital art, I want to be able to integrate what make this game so great in videos and stuff, but unfortunately I can't do it yet, but will try one day.

[@Histchin]

I juat bought Ndsi, and played rune factory 3, its really good old school game. Glad to know many people played it. I love all retro stuff, especially about game

[@mozesu5903]

Danm so that's why I had troubles in all of em. I thought that it has random or special events like RF4. My first is Rf4 btw and I had a blast.

[@brooksie9999999999]

i played rune factory 1 for hundreds of hours never beat it it was an amazing game you lie tbh ive searched for it for years and only just found it today!! :O 5 more games to play im so exited! :D

[@_Niwayanpiniarti]

Rune factory 3 is the best imo

[@SirUmnei]

So... that retrospective on Rune Factory 2, 3, 4, Frontier, Oceans coming?

[@jonathanplooij3666]

thanks for the video

[@Teacon]

Yayy first RF retrospective!! Good for you that this isn't your first rf game, because this is my first RF game and I really didn't enjoy it. That makes my first impression of RF is really bad. But after several years, people keep talking about RF, and I decided to play again from RF frontier. Holy moly, after I finish the game, I never thought that THIS IS MY KIND OF GAMES xD. Hope you still going strong with RF retrospective, because kiseki / trails series will be more tiring I think xD (but still, what a game xD)

[@IkaGamma]

Yeah if this was my first game I dont think I would ever have given the other entries a try at all lol

[@zaidhernandez4601]

Weirdly enough, this was my first experience with it, I loved it and then obsessed over the other games

[@Colin12475]

I like RF3 the best because all of the girls are crazy.

[@andrewshearsby8125]

St game has aged badly. But still love it

[@CatzZz4]

Rosetta gang 👌🏻

[@Tyler_FD3S]

I can't wait for you to play RF2. In my opinion, RF2 has been the worst of the 4 games so far. It is so frustrating due to so many game design choices. Can't wait to see what you think

[@IkaGamma]

Oh no....well we shall see how that turns out.

[@RenoKyrie]

I also dont like RF2 but there are something i can say improve over RF1 1. Its the game that invented Side quest, soo the villager interaction is significantly improve over RF1 2. Its the only game where the story continues with you playing as the main characters son But everything else like combat, story, hell even farming is the most ridicilous thing that happen I MEAN COME ON, WHY IS THE BASIC CROPS SEED COST LIKE 500G-900G???

[@hermitclavicle4675]

I feel like Rune Factory Frontier was the best entry

[@maxmagician8348]

Thank you for playing this game and telling me about it so I don't have to!

[@Onetruepossum]

Rune factory 1: the original git gud

[@alfeiku9257]

Congrats on finally releasing the first part of the retrospective!! Rune Factory 1 is that bad huh. Honestly I probably knew that as well because when I played 1 I just did random things until I got to play 2 to which I played until the end of the tutorial I guess which is marriage to then which I played 3 and ohmygod all these hours sunk into 3. Yeah I can't wait to see when you got to rf3 and it seems you are pretty excited about it which is very nice! Hope you're still doing fine and can make it all through these 💪💪💪

[@IkaGamma]

I appreciate the support :) this one was a bit of a slog to get through, but the light at the end of the tunnel will be RF3 and playing RF4 again lol

[@codysully4367]

Rune factory tides of destiny was the one that got me into this type of game but my first was 2 I think

[@Nathan-qp9uv]

I hadn't played 1 or 2 (or finished oceans) so i made basically the same finish them all before 5 plan. Honestly I didn't expect much from 1 so it actually managed to be just a bit better then i thought it would be so far, but i had been noticing the lack of NPC involvement and was disappointed (tho thinking about it that put it closer to most SoS games in that respect so maybe it should of expected it?). I'm only up to the end of the first summer so far and have just put in for the house upgrade (i didn't till most of the 2nd dungeon until i had the wood for the house) i didn't know about the winter only dungeon tho thankfully i'm on track to beat the 3rd mid fall so i'll just have some time to focus on craft for abit, but I could see that reaaally pissing someone off if they missed the first winter. But ya the house upgrade was absurd it might of been acceptable at half that wood or at the same amount of wood and didn't lock crafting behind it somehow so you might have the house as a late year 2 or 3ish goal to let you marry and get a couple extras, maybe being able to pay the craft npcs to use their stations on Hol only (when they are closed but will let you in with a higher relationship) perhaps making it so the master tier items can only be made at your personal craft stations or something would of been a nice balance

[@bubblingbluecrab4813]

Dont forget the crafting system that locks materials for even beginner items in the final dungeon and the drop rates are so low for some of the items that you'll never see them in an entire play through. And Something went wrong with my Fishing Skill, it was stuck at 7 no matter how much I fished, I thought I needed an upgraded rod (couldnt upgrade past 2nd rod until 2nd last dungeon because of item locks) and even that didnt allow my skill to progress. I bought this when It first came out, I only took the time to finish it now, only took about a week playing on the train. Now to finish Rune Factory Frontier... which I have come so close to finishing several times but get fed up managing runnies. Then onwards to Tide of Destiny and Rune Factory 4, I never did buy 2 or 3 as I didnt know they existed until I saw Tides and 4 on the shelf and now they are like $90 each. Really hoping RF4 is like Frontier but without runnie management.

[@saikakouzlo862]

:O I never knew you had to plow a specific amount of land to get the first dungeon! I always just cleared all the land in the very beginning and tilled it then too because of the time cheat xD! I remember I got really stuck on the second dungeon though, because I didn't know how to use the hammer to smash rocks lol! I did end up abusing it for money though after hahahaha.

[@blnecolwell]

Well, let's have a look at your review: Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon. Wait, what? Why, this isn't a RPG at all, it's a HARVEST MOON game! If you want to play an RPG, go get a real one. There were plenty on the market at the time Rune Factory was released that were better than this. Wikipedia tells us that the main objective of Harvest Moon games is to maintain a farm over a period of time, tending the crops and livestock throughout the seasons, while befriending the nearby townsfolk and getting married in some games. Rune Factory (1) has added a (flimsy) RPG plot to this mixture, but the main principles of the game are those of Harvest Moon. The game is not over when you finish the RPG plot, at least one bachelorette isn't even available to woo until the RPG plot is complete. So, lets tend the farm and talk to people. As in most farming games, you start with crappy tools, and have to upgrade them. However, you can make things much easier if you READ THE MANUAL. Thats right, in games made in the 2000's and 1990's, there was often too much info about playing the game to fit into a tutorial (small cartridges, etc.) so you have to RTFM. Now Pat was playing on an emulator, and the secret to farming requires the stylus on the DS to work, so it may not have been an option for him. If you get the secret from the manula, though, farming becomes just tapping on the touch screen. When in-game tutorials were offered, Pat just skipped them. Planting seeds was always a problem for Pat; Mist would have told him how to do it at the very start of the game, but Pat just skipped it. All would not have been lost, as a book in the library tells you the same information. However, Pat never read all of the free books in the library, either. Talk to people. When I play this game, I make it a daily ritual to go around the town and talk to everyone. And not just once, but two or three conversations. When you start exploring caves, the first thing every villager says to you is about the cave you are currently exploring. You have to talk at least a second time to get real conversation out of them. Raising livestock: In this game, the livestock are the monsters you recruit out of dungeons. There are quite a few rules about how to do this, but if you talk to the villagers on a regular basis, they explain it to you clearly. And after Camus builds you your first monster hut, he tells you how to feed your monsters. Oh wait, Pat skipped that, too. Here's a hint: Pat never did feed the blue fish-monster that was watering the field. Without food, monster friendship will never leave 0, and they will never get better at their tasks. I think Pat successfully fed the other animals once. I don't recall seeing Pat brush them, either. Again, their friendship will never increase if you don't brush them. After you befriend your first monster, and talk to townsfolk, they start giving you items to tend to your monsters, and get wool, eggs, honey, and milk from them. Oh right, Pat never got the milker. Also, even though Pat had the shears, he never sheared the woolie. Free money, gone. More talking to people. There are several side-quests in this game, but you won't find out about most until your friendships are around 5. This is fairly easy to do if you talk to everyone at the festivals. OK, so you don't have a cookie to give, or cooking to show off, but talk to everyone anyway. Friendship levels go up quickly. What is a Rune Factory? It's a field (3x3) of mature crops, either on the surface or in the dungeons. Each field will produce a Rune every morning, which will partially restore the players Rune Points (stamina/magic points).As long as you don't harvest the crop, a rune will appear every morning, and you don't even have to water the field. The original makers of the game thought that the game would be played by growing crops in the dungeons to restore the players RP, while sleeping in the dungeons with the sleeping bag would restore Hit Points. Sleeping in the dungeon would also prevent the monster generators from re-spawning. Players being players, people have found other ways to stay alive in the dungeons besides that. Money: This game takes a lot of money. Just look at the prices of the recipe books at the library. The only sure way to have this kind of income consistently coming in is through farming. Mining may look tempting, but in the long run, it doesn't keep pace. Importantly, the thing Mist keeps telling you about the seed maker that Ivan sells is true. Plant a 3x3 field with seeds, and then put greenifier on the center square, so you can keep track of it. The center square will produce a Level 2 plant, which you then put in the seed maker to make Level 2 seeds. But you plant those seeds over 9 squares, obtaining 9 Level 2 plants. These plants sell for DOUBLE the list price of that plant. Lets then say that when you plant that the field of Level 2 seeds, you again put greenifier on the center square. Now the center square produces a Level 3 plant, which you convert into Level 3 seeds Grow a field of Level 3 plants and they sell for TRIPLE the list price of that plant. Do you see where this is going? (This will probably be continued...)

[@RinsMelody]

k

[@Ghost-ul8eu]

Mining gems and ores in the dungeons makes an absurd amount of money even later in the games.This games money system wasn't balanced well at all you make too much money mining that you don't really need to grow crops other then for energy and gifts.Growing crops is good early in the game,but once you upgrade your hammer a few times mining is all you need to do for money.

[@pahtosh]

Yiiikes, I’m going to play 2 and 3 but certainly not 1 after this review

[@12luigi45]

awe man, I'm not done playing it, I just started a few days ago

[@zerokura]

Hmmm dont even remember about unlocking by tilting land because i farmed mostly in the dungeons than on my farm so just beat the boss to unlock the next season cave.

[@acsisi]

I finished 2, 3, 4 (gave up on 3rd arc tho) but never finished RF1 cause it was way too hard and kinda empty 😔

[@kennethalvaro6499]

i actually experienced all that he said except the not beating the 4th dungeon thing

[@apfeliguess9383]

i remember having poison AND paralysis for the first two months on the first game because idk where to fucking remove the status ailments, i removed the poison by eating something and the paralysis went on for god knows how long

[@erasureing]

Is this the only retrospective you've done on the six Rune Factory games? I was looking forward to watching one for all six games but it appears this is the only one you've done. Might benefit you to do one for the four DS ones with Rune Factory 5 coming out soon enough.

[@cnguyen4113]

ROSETTA GANG

[@dokidori2309]

Misty bloom made me rage so bad I quit for an entire year. I literally just unlocked it my first play through within the last week of winter and I could not beat it no matter what. Oddly enough though once I picked it up again I managed it like there was no issue whatsoever and I finished the game.

[@krystelbeaulieu-thibault3621]

I need your opinion on the other games

[@klissattack]

I want to revisit this series but I think I'll stick to 3 and 4

[@Whatzitooya891]

Man the first title of rune factory seems outdated now compared to 4 And at the time RF4 only come out few years later after the game

[@TheJedaly]

honestly, looking back this game is really bad, but at that time, this was a really good game! i mean i has a nds and i had that game i could do go fishing and fight monsters and have a farm and a waifu even though i didnt knew what that was back then. after playing rf3, rf1 and rf2 felt like beeing bad games for a reason

[@likessox92]

Yo where the retrospective for 2

[@zuzucha5881]

Sooo, when is the next retrospective coming? I just joined the channel but I cannot find it. Can someone help me?

[@IkaGamma]

Its written, I just have to get my Trails in the Sky SC video out before RF2.

[@yoshiatic2000]

8:55 My man

[@cameeltjea4308]

Please help i played a farm game 5 years back with like a town and spirits on the field like difrent color things please help

[@josepellecer1911]

soooo.....uhhhmmmmm.... did you ever release a part 2 to this retrospective? O.o

[@IkaGamma]

Eventually

[@josepellecer1911]

@@IkaGamma fair enough... im subscribing based on that promise ;)

[@mikeval1525]

@@IkaGamma I'm holding on that.

[@yuuki_ppotle]

Coming back to the older titles after all the improvements Rune Factory 3 made to the franchise is hard, but back when this game released, I played and played until I beat it two times. For it's time it was super good, though I agree it has aged quite poorly

[@Gibbon420]

Love the series, could NOT sit through this one. I'd love a remake with all the kinks worked out.

[@jedbex7070]

Do I need to play the other Rune Factory games to understand 5?

[@IkaGamma]

Nope. Start with RF5 if you want. But if you wanna try the series go into RF4S

[@jedbex7070]

@@IkaGamma okay awesome! I know the vid is a year old so thank you for the response!

[@dekasuperlink]

I finished 1,3,4, and frontier. Lost interest in 2 half way through, and got frustrated with the mechanics of Oceans/ Tides of Destiny.

[@nuub82]

what i like about this series. is that it has the dating sim element and that it's not a turn based rpg game

[@iamsheel]

It's extremely beautiful game if you played it first. If you played it after the other games it will feel like a downgrade.

[@iamsheel]

But it's not a bad game

[@your-hermajestyismypronoun7372]

Your voice is funny ^.^