Chasing Monsters for War Trophies

I intended to add a section about this to my Guides long ago, but it was only when I forgot to follow my own advice today that I remembered this point.

In the 2nd Generation, once you have defeated Fiersome and obtained access to the four Underground Shrines in each of the four original Seasonal Caves/Dungeons on the Map, you no longer will be restricted to the usual locations or time of day when searching for a specific War Trophy. If you remember the types of Monsters that you face in each of the Underground Shrines, you can fight the Monsters there for War Trophies that you need irrespective of the time of day or night. Almost every War Trophy is to be found in one of the four Underground Shrines. Time does NOT pass while fighting there and instead of being forced to wait until day or night arrives in order to chase down the Monster type that you need, you can go to the Underground Shrine instead.
Fighting Monsters in the Underground Shrines will increase your Levels as well. Energy Levels are restored at one of the two little altars on either side of each entrance. You therefore have a 50/50 chance each time you enter a new chamber of having all of your HP and RP restored.

A Little Tour of Trieste Forest and other Seasons

Here is a little tour of Trieste Forest, courtesy of Freyr. He is accompanied as always by his favourite Monster, his Silver Wolf, named (without much imagination) Wolfe. He stops to speak to Yue who mentions the Dance Festival on the morrow and expresses an interest to discover how well he can dance. He then goes forward and flails about rather ineptly in the various areas of the Forest due to the fact that I cannot hold the camera and use the DS controls effectively.

You may notice that a Chest containing a War Trophy is left behind more than once and that the combat is left to Wolfe. Freyr takes a few blows from various monsters but ignores them in the interest of showing you the Forest.

It is eternally Spring in the Trieste Forest and Spring Crops and Flowers can be grown there. An apple tree in the northeast corner of one screen displays Apples every few days. As Freyr collected them yesterday, unaware that a tour of the Forest was in the future, you will not see any Apples on the Tree. The Pomme-Pomme Monsters in the first area of the Forest drop Apples as War Trophies on occasion as well.

Aquamarines and Emeralds are the gems that can be mined here. Again, as Freyr is helpless while I carry the camera, he cannot use his Hammer in the course of the tour...

The text of the conversation with Yue is as follows:
Yue: Good morning. It’s a nice day, isn’t it? Tomorrow’s the Dance Festival. I don’t dance much, but I still have a good time.
Me: I don’t think I’m very good at dancing either, but I’m looking forward to it.
Yue: I wonder what you dance like…



Here is one of the Messhina Valley and the Padova Mountains. The guide is becoming rather weary of this, as he says he looks like 'a right prat!'. He is quite a good fighter in his own right, but you wouldn't know it from the way he appears due to my own ineptitude with the camera.

The Messhina Valley is ruled by Autumn and it is here that you find the Buffamoo and the Cluckadoodle, two 'Ranch Monsters'. In fact, you will see the Buffamoo here, on a screen accessed by a bridge that is almost hidden from view. At night, the same location is frequented by the Cluckadoodle.

The Padova Mountains are ruled by Winter. In fact, this is the home of the Silver Wolf. I have one more video that contains some exciting combat scenes of wolf pitted against wolf...

First Generation Bestiary Guide

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Although there is little one can do in terms of the actual 'story' plot in Rune Factory 2 in the 1st Generation, I decided I should complete all aspects of my Guides before I moved onto the 2nd Generation. Two important aspects of the game are the acquisition of all necessary tools and a complete Bestiary. I have completed both now.

Monsters are a vital aspect of both Rune Factory games. They serve many purposes, from providing all Ranch products and acting as helpers on your farm to being a source both of transport and War Trophies. A War Trophy from a Monster often will be the object of one of the Requests on the Bulletin Board. Although the individual who makes the Request will tell you precisely where to find the War Trophy in question, it saves time and energy if you have saved items in advance in your Cabinet.

Knowing which Monsters will water crops and which will harvest them can be useful as well. If you intend to grow as many crops as possible both on your own field and in the plots in the Cave/Dungeon areas, it is most helpful to have a Monster working for you on your farm.

Monsters who neither produce any Ranch Products nor can be trained to work on the farm nonetheless may be useful companions in a fight. All Monsters can be commanded to accompany your character when he goes to any Cave/Dungeon and they automatically will fight by your side against both enemies and Monster Generators. Some Monsters are more powerful than others and some have far better attack strategies than others.


In the 1st Generation game, there is one Monster who will act as a Transport Animal, and in fact, it is one of my own personal favourites in the wild animal kingdom. You can ride a Wolf both in the original Rune Factory and in its sequel although the Monsters bear different names in each game.

The Silver Wolf whom you can ride happens to be one of the best fighters to have with you in combat as well. In the 1st Generation game, he is powerful enough to take out any Monster Generator with a single pounce. He can fell any Monster enemies with one or two blows. His attacks are very well-aimed as well. There are other types of Monsters who may be powerful but less adept at aiming their attacks precisely.

I have included screenshots of my best Silver Wolf. One shows the Monster Options Menu that appears when you have taken the Monster from the Barn. As you can see, one of the options for the Silver Wolf is to 'Get on its back.' Another screenshot shows my character riding the Silver Wolf through Cherry Blossom Square. The last screenshot shows both screens in the Trieste Forest Cave/Dungeon Area. Note that a detailed map of the Cave/Dungeon appears on the top screen. Among other things, it shows the location of any tillable land in the area.

When you are mounted, you neither can fight nor use farm tools. Dismount to use your Watering Can in any Cave/Dungeon area. The Monster will wait patiently by your side until you complete your chores. (Farm work is 'beneath' a Wolf!) As stated previously though, the Wolf is very useful even when your only purpose in visiting the area is to tend to the crops. He will take out the Generation instantly while you defeat the enemy it spawned, saving you time.

One cautionary note that I will make certain I include in my General Guide is the potential effect of combat on Crops. Using any weapon where a Crop grows may destroy the Crop as surely as if you used a Sickle on it. In the beginning of the game, when my attention was directed solely towards the threat any Monster posed, I inadvertantly destroyed a couple of my Crops by fighting the Monster on the plot where they were growing. If you do not have 9 squares filled with fully ripened Crops or Flowers, a Rune Point will not appear. By allowing my character to flail about with his weapons on the farming plot in the Cave or Dungeon, I lost a chance to create a Rune Point...

To be honest, in the 1st Generation, you may find that you have far more Rune Points than you can use. It is only later that you will be able to make every Rune Point count.

My Caves and Bestiary Guide now is complete for the 1st Generation game. It gives the name and specific location of each Monster, the time of day when it appears, a full description of its skills or Products and the War Trophy it drops.

Cheating in Harvest Moon

Any one who has used my game guides knows that I do not believe in 'codes' or other types of 'cheats' but I am more than happy to find an 'exploitation device' within the game itself that allows one to succeed more quickly or gain an advantage.

Much to my delight, I found an early 'cheat' in Rune Factory. It is included in my General Guide, but for any one who reads my posts on this site, I will write about it here as well.

There are a number of festivals in Rune Factory as in other Harvest Moon games. In the first year, it is difficult to participate properly in any of the early festivals, apart from attending and speaking to the villagers.

The Spring Festival is the equivalent of the Spring Thanksgiving Festival, which is the Japanese 'Valentine's Day'. In Harvest Moon games, it is a day when boys give 'Cookies' or 'Chocolate Cookies' to girls they fancy. In almost every Harvest Moon game, one's character is unable to do anything for the girl or girls he likes in the first year as he will not have a kitchen nor an Oven in which to bake any suitable offerings. Rune Factory is no different in this respect.

The next Festival in Spring is the Egg Festival. In Rune Factory, there virtually is no hope of obtaining the 'Cockadoodle' who lays eggs before the Egg Festival in the first year, but I suddenly realised that there was a shop that sold small eggs. Without knowing what would occur, I bought an egg and stored it in my rucksack for a day or two before the Egg Festival.

On the day of the Festival, I went to the Town Square and offered my (purchased) egg to Jasper, the officiating judge. Much to my delight, he not only accepted my spurious offering as a genuine entry, but actually declared that I had won the contest!

Winning this contest is not simply a matter of pride. The prize is 5000g and an Empty Bottle! An Empty Bottle may not sound like much, but for those who are playing Rune Factory, it is worth its weight in gold, as one only can obtain health Recovery Potions if one has an Empty Bottle in which they can be poured.

By 23 Spring, 5000g may not be that significant, but another Empty Bottle really makes a difference when it means that one can take three Recovery Potions instead of two to the caves.

27 Spring is the day of the Cooking Festival in Rune Factory. As in most other Harvest Moon games, one must resign oneself to the certitude of failure in the first year, having neither kitchen nor appliances with which to cook anything, even a dish as simple as sashimi.

There is only one house upgrade in Rune Factory, instead of the usual two that are possible in some of the other Harvest Moon games but it is quite costly. As in all Harvest Moon games, however, all good things come to those who wait...

Part of the fun of Rune Factory is the addition of traditional RPG combat to Harvest Moon. I always love to fight monsters who drop 'war trophies' on occasion. In most cases, a chest can contain one of two or three different items in Rune Factory. War trophies in chests do not appear each time a monster is defeated, which makes it even more of a 'surprise package'. I never outgrew my love of wrapped gifts and chests in RPGs never fail to delight me even when they contain nothing more than a 'cheap bandage' or 'cheap cloth'. After all, the next chest could contain a special sword or crystal...