Rune Factory Frontier Review

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I was ecstatic when my friend got me this for Christmas. I had all the games I ever wanted on Wii! Well, not really, but it was a great start!

Rune Factory is pretty awesome, I'm not going to lie. The DS versions seem a little strange but then, I'd have to actually try them before I pass judgment completely. But along with Harvest Moon games, I love games like Tales of Symphonia (check it out if you haven't)and this one having anime cut scenes and voice acting makes it just sweet.

The game starts with you searching, God knows why, for Mist. Raguna, the cutey, has arrived in Trampoli and meets the nun lady, Stella. After some probing, Mist shows up and you have a puzzling exchange...and Raguna is straight whipped because it really didn't take much to get him to stay, I have to say.

The problem I ultimately faced with this game is...I don't WANT to farm! It was horrifying. But times for some Pros and Cons!

PROS:

Raguna is hot: His voice actor sounds adorable too? Straight win! I almost died when I thought he was naked in the bath but turned out he wasn't...ah well.

Blacksmith: As I have a limited amount of systems and a sucky computer, I don't get to play RPGs much but I was delighted to find I could make my own weapons pretty much from stuff I find! It was so exciting and I have an overabundance of swords. But I love all of them <3

Battling: I just love fighting, lol. And Raguna gets insanely into it too! (I have some cons, nonetheless) His little grunts and loud growling are too cute. But I suppose the fact that I can be both a farmer and a warrior is just kind of sweet...

NEUTRAL

CHARACTERS: (WARNING: LONG RANT) So meeting this Mist I've heard about frequently on the internet portrayed to me that her title of being INSANE wasn't ill-gained. I found myself just having to sit there after talking to her blankly. It reminds me of one of my favorite lines from the movie "Billy Madison" with Adam Sandler when he was asked to explain something and went into this long monologue about a duck that he learned about or something and the questioner was like, not word for word, we are all a lot more stupid because of what you just said.

Not to say I don't like Mist though, it's just like talking to that crackhead at a party who suddenly is talking about his alpaca farm in Ireland (I'm not even sure that makes sense which portrays my point perfectly). One of my favorite lines for her is that she talks to a baby chick and he seems worried or something...

Fanfiction story wise, I'm going to use Erik and Kross and Annette and stuff. Annette is full of win and I can't wait to use her in my short stories...

Okay, I read about Kross prior to this game and...well, he's a little...different. But I LOVE him O_O He's the most depressed character EVER. I love when he starts reciting poetry or songs and Raguna is like, that was so moving with a tear in his eye. And when I give Kross a present of a warrior's medal which I beat the crap out of a goblin for, he is moved to tears as well and expresses concern about Raguna going off into the dungeons. And I find that touching, even if he is a fictional character. No one else in other games worries about the trouble I went through for a gift! So yea, definitely can't wait to use him too.

Erik though...

I used to look at his picture and was like, he's cute! I couldn't wait to meet him and when I did...he sounds like...a dummy? x.X If that makes sense...he's just high pitched and my brow furrows at why we look to be about the same age and he calls me "young man". "Hey young man!" "Hey, ya' nutcase!". I find his fear of turnips pretty amusing but nonetheless was a tad disappointed...he will definitely be one of those "alternate personality" characters when his time comes in my stories.

So yea, the rest of the ladies in this story make me...feel bad for the guys in this town. Raguna and I ironically have about the same reaction when it comes to talking to Cinnamon. I believe talking to a fence would yield more conversation. Selphy's little outburst about books just reminds me of my friend so while I won't marry her, I'll befriend her :)

Again, Annette is my prospective wife and I just find her kind of cool... again, Mist=crackhead at party talking about alpacas in Ireland. Rosetta rubbed me the way I figured she would: eh.
However, she did make me laugh and lighten towards her character when she was like, 'you have a nice body, Raguna...but I don't mean it like that!'. Now, now, don't be shy ;) Melody just seems weird but it was cute when she hugged you...and I can't argue, she has one of the cheapest services in the game that yields amazing results. Lara is as bland as I expected her to be...now Uzuki intrigues me more than I thought she would. She speaks eloquent and Tsubaki threatening my life for talking to her just reminds me of my boys from the series XD

Now after Annette, I plan to pursue Eunice. I know there was a bit of controversy over the whole 'tell her she's kind of...larger and that she needs to slim down' but I don't even think it's like that. People are always complaining about how thin is pushed and young girls are becoming anorexic and what not...but with Eunice, you see that she LOVES candy and LOVES eating. That's no more healthier than not eating so the fact that she wants to slim down isn't bad...and in fact, she does so by cutting back on sweets and even exercises. I think that's the proper message to be sent out: HEALTHY. No one said anything about having to be thin but why not portray healthy exercising and healthy eating in such a manner? Eunice also will show up in the series later.

Um, Kanno...(...if you're reading Lessons in Life, you'll know what I think of the old man ). I love Ganesha, especially when you give her a gift...

There's a lot of characters though and I think they have their pros and cons...

CONS:

I like one thing and one thing alone (the blood of a demon in the highest hilltops that takes hours to reach): So yea...going from Animal Parade where everyone had 20+ likes to Rune Factory, I was a tad irked by the fact that the characters like like...four things tops. It doesn't leave a lot of variety and most of the stuff they like is kind of impossible to regularly attain.

Battling: Lol, I wouldn't say this is a serious con but when Raguna gets hit, you would think the world is about to end. I mean, it's UBER realistic, I would spazz out too getting hit by a giant chicken trying to kill me but it's still like, OMG, take it like a man! A more serious con though is I HATE the HP and RP levels...I understand losing power for using magic or charged attacks but I think swinging a sword shouldn't be so...draining. Which, again, is realistic, but somehow having to have Raguna chow down on pickles while a chicken is throwing feathers at him to keep from fainting doesn't. I suppose I just wish that they'd kept the RP affected more by the magic than physical...

"Hi There!": Okay...this may be single-handedly the most stupid thing I've ever seen. It reminds me of Pokemon...except in Pokemon, you battle, weaken, then capture it. If you want a wooly (the Rune Factory sheep), you go into a dungeon (like Pokemon), wait for it to be summoned (like Pokemon), and...you go up to it and brush it? (...)
I really have to wonder what brilliant person thought of this. Sure, it seems a little horrible that you injure something you want to be your teammate in Pokemon but it's ATTACKING you. Like the WOOLY is ATTACKING you while you're BRUSHING it. And I about die inside of laughter AND horror when Raguna is like 'Hi there!' brushing something that's killing him at the same time. Peaceful, yes. Keeps PETA happy? Probably not but what does. Smart? Not a bit. I don't think you go up to a lion ready to rip you a part and brush it to make it your friend...again, fantasy and a video game, yes, but not exactly the most practical method...


Time-e-e-e is NOT on my side: So...time is a little slow at times in Animal Parade. It goes on that 10 minutes every minute or something clock. A Wonderful Life STILL felt slow going on a minute a second but that's because it was just bland in general...okay, Rune Factory uses this SAME clock but now that you have stuff to kill and more to do, time is eating you alive. It doesn't seem to take long for it to turn from 2 p.m. to 12 p.m. in a dungeon. I kind of wish it'd slow down.

No, the customer is always WRONG: I think Trampoli must have a different set of customer service rules...if I'm reading through the description of stuff to see what season it goes in, what it does, and it takes, oh, 15 seconds, the seller actually is like "HURRY UP" or something. Shut the hell up, I'll buy when I'm good and ready! I do like that the character recognizes whether you bought something but that rushing thing is stupid.

LOL, SMILEY FACE, <3...WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!: I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for the relationship system...but for some reason it just puzzles me. Like I talk to Annette and give her gifts daily but her friendship level is higher than her hearts...I talk to Selphy daily, her hearts and friendship are balanced. Um, eh? It would be nice if they just stuck to hearts with bachelorettes and the rest of the people used the smiley face system so you can see they're your friends. Having both is just a little weird...

I am a hotter version of Van: Lute's voice threw me for a loop... but anyway, it'd be nice if he came every other day or something because...I want stuff now!

GRADE: A-
There's a lot more for me to do in this game and I will do it. I just got busy and love writing lately...but it really is a fun game so if you like both battling, farming, and getting the girl, it'd entertaining.