Harvest Moon or Rune Factory?

ShaShaBear

So, when I bought my 2DS, I went straight to look for a personal favourite - Harvest Moon. Was a bit strapped for cash so went for A Tale of Two Towns. Big mistake. Don't like all the insane running around that has to be done in order to complete it properly. Anyway, I know the newer one is on it for 35 euro, but Rune Factory 4 is also there for 30! Originally I had thought it wasn't coming out in Europe at all!

So, long story short, anyone played both? Got any experience? Not in a position to buy both (and I imagine my partner would end up leaving me and taking my daughter if I had access to them both 24/7 :P ) but not sure which one I would enjoy more - an equal fan of both series.

Naydy

I'm a big fan of both series of games and would really recommend Rune Factory 4! It's definitely the best Rune Factory game, there's so much to do with farming, crafting, fighting/taming monsters, mining, exploring dungeons and expanding your farm/house. The characters are really likeable and have tons more dialogue compared to earlier RF and HM games. The voice acting is great too. You can raise your friendship with characters and some will follow you around and help you fight if you ask them. You can also get married like every other RF game but it feels like there's more depth to it in this game. The whole atmosphere of the game is lovely, the music is nice and the graphic style is very pretty.The combat is very similar to previous Rune Factory games, so you'll know what to expect, but I found the difficulty a bit higher in this game compared to say, 2 and 3. I'm only part way through the story, which is pretty thin to be fair, but then that's the case with most HM and RF games.
I've only played the latest HM a little bit (it's called New Beginnings I think) but that's because I'm still playing RF4 so much :P. I'm a little biased as I slightly prefer RF to HM in general anyway. From what little I've played of A New Beginnings, its much, much better than Tale of Two Towns though, so I don't think you could go wrong really!

ShaShaBear

Naydy wrote: »

I'm a big fan of both series of games and would really recommend Rune Factory 4! It's definitely the best Rune Factory game, there's so much to do with farming, crafting, fighting/taming monsters, mining, exploring dungeons and expanding your farm/house. The characters are really likeable and have tons more dialogue compared to earlier RF and HM games. The voice acting is great too. You can raise your friendship with characters and some will follow you around and help you fight if you ask them. You can also get married like every other RF game but it feels like there's more depth to it in this game. The whole atmosphere of the game is lovely, the music is nice and the graphic style is very pretty.The combat is very similar to previous Rune Factory games, so you'll know what to expect, but I found the difficulty a bit higher in this game compared to say, 2 and 3. I'm only part way through the story, which is pretty thin to be fair, but then that's the case with most HM and RF games.
I've only played the latest HM a little bit (it's called New Beginnings I think) but that's because I'm still playing RF4 so much :P. I'm a little biased as I slightly prefer RF to HM in general anyway. From what little I've played of A New Beginnings, its much, much better than Tale of Two Towns though, so I don't think you could go wrong really!

Well I hadn't even heard of RF until pure randomness turned it up via "A Fantasy Harvest Moon" and I couldn't figure out why I was wasting my time on mere farming when I could be doing so much more :pac:
Wanted to be sure though as there only is a fiver in the difference and I knew myself that RF *should* have more to do than HM, but they've changed so much since the beginning with quest boards, foraging and making friends that I thought I had better ask.
You've pretty much sold me RF though

Naydy

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Well I hadn't even heard of RF until pure randomness turned it up via "A Fantasy Harvest Moon" and I couldn't figure out why I was wasting my time on mere farming when I could be doing so much more :pac:
Wanted to be sure though as there only is a fiver in the difference and I knew myself that RF *should* have more to do than HM, but they've changed so much since the beginning with quest boards, foraging and making friends that I thought I had better ask.
You've pretty much sold me RF though

Same here, found it randomly and absolutely loved it, I've played all the DS/3DS ones now. Yay, well I think you will love it, its a shame more people haven't heard of it

ShaShaBear

Naydy wrote: »

Same here, found it randomly and absolutely loved it, I've played all the DS/3DS ones now. Yay, well I think you will love it, its a shame more people haven't heard of it

I know, my partner thought it was absolutely ridiculous until he realised how easy breezy it was to play. Caught him passing an hour or so on the Wii one when he thought I wasn't looking

Retr0gamer

Harvest Moon is a series that on paper sounds boring but in practice couldn't be any further from boring. It's a great time sink.

ShaShaBear

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Harvest Moon is a series that on paper sounds boring but in practice couldn't be any further from boring. It's a great time sink.

Time sink, yeah - that pretty much covers it!
And even more so for anal folk like me that need to clear it with all possible endings :pac: