Rune Factory Frontier

If your a battle devoted hard-core gamer then your probably ashamed to even think about purchasing a game about farming and relationships, but Rune Factory Frontier is nothing like that. Although Rune Factory is spin-off series from the highly popular casual game series Harvest Moon, Rune Factory adds a twist non-existent in Harvest Moon: combat! Rune Factory appeals to both casual gamers and hard-core games because of its mixed game play.

In the past, Rune Factory has been a Nintendo DS exclusive. Both past Rune Factory games were on the handheld system, but Rune Factory Frontier makes its turn to the Nintendo Wii. The main plot of Rune Factory Frontier focuses around a young male farmer named Raguna, a character from the original Rune Factory game. Raguna left his home town of Kardia on a search for Mist, a potential bachelorette from the original. Mist has been hearing pleas for help and eventually convinces Raguna to stay in the new town of Trampoli on a run-down farm. As time passes Raguna will learn that a large floating island called Whale Island, because of its whale shape, is losing rune power and will soon plummet to the ground crushing Trampoli.

Like Harvest Moon, the ideal part of the game is its relaxing pace. The game allows you to progress as you want. The games time is based on 4 months each with their own weather effects and events. For instance in Summer the beach is open for swimming and in Winter crops can not grow. This relaxed game play is also one of the faults of Rune Factory Frontier. Many of the items needed for farming, or for doing other chores, are hard to find because there is little, or no, direction on how to get them. You may spend a month looking for a axe or a hammer.

The games camera is fixed and will always be set in one direction for each area. The camera is not bad but will sometimes leave you wondering where to go. To get from area to area you must pass through a loading screen. This can become mundane because areas are quite small and to get from one spot to another you may have to pass through 2 or 3 of them. This adds to the even slower pace of the game. Luckily, caves are quite large and don't require you to go through many loading screens allowing you to keep action going without stop.

The game has two main areas the casual and the fighting. The casual part of the game plays a large part on how you want your game to work, not so much the plot. Farming is the easiest and best way to get money in the game because of their high selling price. Farming mainly consists of sowing, planting, watering, and then plucking and it doesn't make good use of the Wii's Motion Controls. As you progress through the game you can upgrade your tools to make farming even easier. Another casual aspect of the game is fishing. Fishing in Rune Factory Frontier is almost worthless. To fish you must stop a small quick moving bar in a green area to successfully pull a fish from the water, but the movement will sometimes trick you and you may press to early or late and waste energy. If you do catch a fish, you can sell it for barely any money compared to other methods of making money or cook it for food when battling. Another major casual aspect of the game is building relationships. As you go through the game more neighbors will move in, some of who are bachelorettes. There are 13 bachelorettes in all that Raguna can marry by raising their LP, or love points, and going through their unique series of events. Getting married does not play a part of the game's plot, but it will allow you to have a child eventually. You can choose between a male or female child who will help you with your farm. You can also experience events through other neighbors if you raise their FP, or friend points.

As for fighting, the game has 4 main dungeons each with their own monsters and bosses. The game allows you to equip different weapons such as swords, spears, battle axes, hammers, and others. Also, for the first time in Rune Factory you can equip different staffs each with their own spells. The many options allow you to have a variety of different tricks against enemies. Fighting consists of simply swinging your weapon or staff or using special attacks or spells. The game has Wii Motion Controls for fighting, but there is never any direction on how to use them. You will have to fight through each dungeon eventually to finish the storyline.

Many of the casual and fighting actions require energy. The game has two different energies: Health and Rune Points. Farming, fishing, fighting, etc. will use up RP, Rune Points, and when RP runs out these task will take away health. Also, when monsters attack you they will directly hit your Health. If you run out of Health you will pass out and be put in the local clinic. As you progress through the game you can upgrade your tools and make better weapons/staffs for more efficient energy use.

The one major flaw with Rune Factory Frontier is an addition called Runeys. Runeys are floating colored spirits that are located in every area of the game, except caves. There are four types of Runeys: Grass, Tree, Rock, and Water. Each Runey eats other Runeys so to keep a sufficient amount in each area of the game you must constantly make sure each area has enough of each Runey. Every area also has a type (one of the four types of Runeys) which effect the growth of Runeys. The problem with Runeys is that without noticing Runeys will randomly fluctuate and eventually die out in areas. When areas become empty of Runeys it effect your crops directly. As more areas die out your crops will grow slower and slower and eventually just die. The only way to get more Runeys is to grow crops in Homestead, where you live, but if your crops die then it makes things difficult. You will have to learn how to manage each area so that your crops won't start dying, since crops are the main source of money in the game. Runeys can potentially ruin your game if you can't learn to keep them balanced, which is a difficult and time consuming task all its own.

In all, the game is worth a purchase if your into a mix of casual and fighting, but if you don't want to have to worry about managing numbers of Runeys to keep your game going, then it might not be worth buying.