I haven’t blogged about it yet, for the past 2 weeks or so I’ve been playing Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility every spare minute I’ve had. I can’t get enough! And it was only $5!
I’ll elaborate more in a future post, but suffice it to say I’m hopelessly enamored with these Japanese “life sim” games, as we’ve already seen with my recent infatuation with Atelier Rorona. Sure, Harvest Moon and Atelier Rorona aren’t exactly the same, as Rorona has both very specific time restraints, alchemy, and battle elements, but fundamentally they’re both hopelessly cute time sinks that are about as innocuous as games can get (aside from some creepy undertones in Atelier Rorona…).
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| I’m a bit of a sucker for this kind of art. And that dragon in the background?? |
As such, I’ve always had my eye on the Rune Factory series, but never really delved into them for two main reasons: 1. they didn’t have playable female characters like many of the Harvest Moon titles, and 2. I just couldn’t figure out what installment to start with. #2 is actually a reason why I also hadn’t tried Harvest Moon until now… Do you know just how many there are? But thankfully a super sale and some good timing made the decision for me.
But now that I know more about Rune Factory 4, I’m almost positive this is going to be the entry that gets me into the series whenever it comes out in English. As Natsume has been very diligent about localizing Rune Factory titles, I’m sure we’ll be seeing it on North American 3DSs somewhere between 6 months to a year after the Japanese release in July (a bold prediction – let’s see if I’m right!).
So what’s got me so hyped for Rune Factory 4, when I’ve never even played a Rune Factory game? As the title suggests, I’ve got two words for you: datable monsters. Actual monsters you fight in the game will morph into humans for you to date and eventually marry, if you so choose. Pretty cool, huh? I know, I’ve got some weird interests…
So far, only one female and one male monster character have been revealed. Here they are in their duel forms:
In all honestly, I’m not particularly impressed by their character designs, aside from the fact that the male character, Dylas, looks like a punk rock unicorn in his monster form (which is all kinds of awesome). His human form isn’t much to look at, unfortunately, and I find it odd that they decided to keep his ears and tail but have Kohaku, the girl, appear 100% human. Dylas looks like he’ll be the token fisherman, while Kohaku will probably be a quiet girl who enjoys spending her time tending to flowers… Not like we haven’t seen that before. Of course, you’ll have to find them in the wild and beat their monster forms before they’ll be datable as humans.
Aside from the datable monsters, which pretty much sold me from the get-go, Rune Factory 4 will finally offer the series’ first fully-playable female character. Unlike Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny, which only let you play as a girl after beating the main story as a man, Rune Factory 4 will allow you to choose your gender right at the beginning. Hopefully this means that there will be just as many datable bachelors available to players who choose to be a girl as there are bachelorettes for players who opt to be a guy. Of course I’m perfectly happy to play as a male character in a game, but as I’m a sucker for otome titles, any game that has some sort of romantic element added with women in mind gets extra points in my book.
Other interesting additions for this installment include the ability to date someone you’re interested in before marrying them… Very realistic, no? Not so realistic is the reported ability to communicate with dragons. But really, there isn’t anything you need to know either than the fact that monsters are datable in Rune Factory 4. Right?
Interspecies erotica?! Sign me up :p !
I’ve long been interested in the HM and RF series, too. Not sure why I haven’t yet jumped in, although I’m guessing it’s because there are just so many of them that the idea of figuring out where to start overwhelms me. Maybe I’ll take a cue from you and just jump into one without overly thinking about it.
Anyway, as for RF4: It certainly sounds … interesting. I kind of want to see a video of it before saying whether or not I’m going to add it to my 3DS wish list, though…
Hey Alois!
Hah, well, I admit my interests are a bit odd. Have you played any Rune Factory titles before?
Bryan – Well, there is this goofy little trailer that details some of the characters in the game, but it doesn’t really tell you anything about what the game will actually *look* like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQQsJftE9Qo
You know, I tried researching what were considered the “best” HM games, but most people have their own opinions, so it’s really hard to pick just one! Though a lot say Harvest Moon 64 is up there with the best, that and Friends of Mineral Town for the GBA, I think. I wanted a newer one, and Tree of Tranquility is actually regarded pretty positively. That and Animal Parade, which is also for the Wii, seem to do okay. But I hear the newer HM games are really hit-or-miss with fans, so it’s good to do a little research first.
But after playing a fair bit of it, I really think you’d love it! If you like Animal Crossing it’ll be right up your alley. I like that there are more things to do – in Tree of Tranquility you can go mining for precious gems to sell or make jewelry or upgrade your tools, focus on farming, fish, purchase clothes and furniture, and raise all sorts of animals. Combined with the all the different characters to romance, there are tons of ways to play the game! And there is even a bit of an overarching “story,’ so you have an additional goal either than just making your farm bigger, as well.
Haha, looks like I ought to get around to posting about it, huh?
Thanks for the info, Anne! I’ve actually been considering buying Harvest Moon 64 for some time — or since I retrieved my old N64 from my parents’ home, at least. I really like the looks of it and, like you said, it seems to be highly regarded among HM fans and regular ol’ gamers alike. I’ll let you know if I get it, OK?