Harvest Moon Forever: RPG

Showing posts with label RPG. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Light-Hearted Charm of Rune Factory 2

I loved the original Rune Factory game, and in fact, in many respects it represented the ultimate fantasy fulfillment for me, combining as it did swordplay and role-playing adventure with Harvest Moon activities. I was not certain how similar Rune Factory 2 would be when I began to play it.

In fact, the characters and landscapes are as exquisite and romantic as the first game in the series but the creators appear to have approached this game with a more light-hearted attitude. Apart from the sometimes sly references to Kardia and the first game, there generally appears to be more playfulness in the dialogue and interactions between characters.

A new twist is the manner in which one obtains tools and necessary items. In a way, it reminds me of 'Animal Crossing'. One consults the village bulletin board, where 'requests' or quests are posted. Choose a request and complete the task to earn a variety of rewards, from money to tools to other useful items such as Empty Bottles for Potions. It is a chance, obviously, to learn the map and the schedules of the characters in the game, a very clever 'tutorial' as it were, combined with the fun of a treasure hunt.

In fact, you can obtain a Fishing Rod, a Hammer, an Empty Bottle and 4000G in a matter of hours or less in the second day of the game. If you are determined, you can acquire even more money and items.

As always, the Fishing Rod is a lifeline at the start of the game, allowing you to make enough money to purchase your first sword almost immediately. A reward of 4000G for delivering a portion of spinach to some one is not unwelcome and will allow you to purchase defence items such as a shield and bracelet as well as some crop seeds.

On the first day, when I saw the prices of items in the shops, my heart quailed but by the second day, I had accomplished a great deal and felt that the world was my oyster. That does not mean that the game is easy by any means. It simply means that one can begin to embark upon the real adventures fairly early...

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For all Harvest Moon fans and players

As Freyashawk, I have written about 150 guides for games, most of which have been guides for Harvest Moon games. These are published on IGN. IGN has given me the title of 'Mistress of Harvest Moon' and I strive daily to earn the right to maintain that title. Although there is a link page on IGN that lists all the guides published there, they are not organised by game, but rather given in alphabetical order. I therefore created this page in order to provide links to the guides I have created for each Harvest Moon game. If you access the General Guide for any game, links should be included to all other guides for that game in a section at the end. I will try to add links to ALL guides as time permits, but until I do, you always can refer to my user page at IGN for the complete list.

I wrote the Official Strategy Guide for Tree of Tranquility for BradyGames as well.
Harvest Moon Forever!

How to Use my Guides

I write three different basic types of game guides. I usually write a General Guide for every game, which is fairly comprehensive and deals with all aspects of the game. It may or may not be in the form of a Walkthrough, dealing with game aspects as they occur. My Innocent Life General Guide is an example of a General Guide that is organised as a Walkthrough.

After writing a General Comprehensive Guide, I often write a Calendar Guide giving birthday and festival dates, with additional information that may be helpful, such as favourite gifts for each individual. For all Harvest Moon games, I usually write a number of 'mini-guides', such as Events Guides for each year of gameplay, or Recipe Guides that give all recipes one can make. Fishing, Mining, Shipping or Item Value Guides are other mini-guides that can be very useful when playing Harvest Moon. Character Guides give detailed information about every character in any specific game. My Courtship and Marriage Guide is devoted to all aspects of Courtship and Marriage, including schedules of Heart Events, Rival Heart Events and the likes and dislikes of every Eligible Girl and/or Bachelor.

Although this site is devoted to Harvest Moon, I have included links to game guides for other games. I created a separate link section for Animal Crossing Wild World as well, because I wrote more than one guide for that game.

N.B. All my game guides are published by IGN. This webpage has been created simply to allow players to find links to all my guides more easily.

Copyright Infringement Warning

It is really sad to discover that there are individuals who are willing to steal my guides and to attempt to publish them under their names. Fortunately, there are many players who recognise my guides when they see them anywhere on the internet and who are willing to alert me when some one tries to steal my material. I want to thank all those players for their help in these cases.

Some one stole one of my guides and tried to publish it on Gamefaqs under his/her name. The guide has been removed and the poster has been banned. I now have a contact in the Legal Department at CNet. I spend many months sometimes writing a guide. They are available for the private use of any individual without cost, but they are not available for theft!
If you want permission to include a link to one of my guides on your site, please contact me directly.

Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town

You will notice that I wrote far more guides for More Friends of Mineral Town than I did for the original 'Friends of Mineral Town'. At some point, I would like to publish more specific Events Guides for Friends of Mineral Town, but players should be aware of the fact that ALL Calendar Events Guides for MFoMT can be used when playing the original FoMT. The Events are the same in most cases in both games. If, therefore, you are playing FoMT and you wish to know the events that can be experienced in the third year of gameplay, refer to the 'Third Year Calendar Events Guide' for 'More Friends of Mineral Town'.