Rune Factory 2 follows the formula set by last year’s Harvest Moon release, Rune Factory. The last Harvest Moon I played was Friends of Mineral Town for the GBA, so I’m not personally acquainted with the first Rune Factory, but following is a brief description for comparison’s sake. A departure from the classic tiled landscape, Rune Factory featured anime style characters and a more realistic appearing environment. Not only was the look different, but the gameplay incorporated dungeon crawling and skill leveling, along with the traditional simulation elements of farming, gathering and fishing. The result was successful and most fans loved the new format.

Rune Factory 2 builds on this platform and adds new features and tweaks, culminating in a delightful Harvest Moon title.

I have always enjoyed the Harvest Moon and River King games, both on handheld and console systems. I also enjoy the more recent Animal Crossing and My Sims Kingdom. It may sound strange to some that mundane chores such as farming, cooking or fishing could be entertaining, but they are enjoyable and satisfying if there are goals and quests attached. Rune Factory 2 has a plethora of quests and many skills and items that can be improved. Plus, there is a ton of things to do! Mining, fishing, cooking, making jewelry, logging, building house and farm additions…many, many things.

The game begins with you arriving in Alvarna, with no memory of where you came from, or how you came to be in Alvarna. No matter, though, you are very easy-going and decide that farming is just what you like most. A generous family gives you a farm they are too busy to run, on the stipulation that you work hard to make it a successful farm and become a good member of the community. Armed with only a water pail and a hoe, you dig in.

First on the list is to earn some money, in order to buy seeds to plant. By gathering plants and sticks from the field, players can earn money by selling their findings to the general store owners, Douglas and his daughter Mana, the people who own the farm. As in most Harvest Moon games, selling items can be easily accomplished by placing them in a bin for automatic daily shipping. Once the player has some cash, it’s time to buy seeds. Hopefully the player has been busy tilling the field, so it will be ready for planting.

Another method of earning money in the first part of the game is by running errands for the villagers, in the form of quests posted on the town’s bulletin board. Players will pick a quest, and then find the person requesting the help. Once they receive the full instructions, players will need to fulfill the quest and report back to this same person. Most often the player will receive money, but sometimes a special gift will be given, like a new spell, a tool or a weapon. A Pet Glove for taming wild critters is obtained this way, and also a fishing pole, among many other things.

And so, as in all Harvest Moon titles, players will spend most of their time working to earn money, socializing with the villagers, and searching for items around town and in the outlying dungeons. However, the Rune Factory games add RPG elements such as dungeon crawling and skill leveling. The dungeon crawling is designed exceptionally well, with plenty of interesting monsters to fight. Players will be able to increase their weapons and personal fighting abilities throughout the game. There are four dungeons, one for each season of the year.

The easiest dungeon is Trieste Forest, the spring dungeon. The monsters are comparatively weak and easy to beat. Some of the earliest quests will require players to venture into Trieste, so it will behoove the player to buy a sword early in the game. A neat feature of these dungeons is the fact that there is free farm land where seasonal items can be grown year round. No longer is the player tied to the farm.

The interface is different from most DS games, in that players have a choice between accessing the menus with control buttons or by stylus. I love having a choice! I’m not normally a big fan of using the stylus for menu interaction, but this worked well. I found it easier to use the button system for most menu interaction for viewing information and stats, and to use the stylus screen for quick item use swapping and for moving around the farm tiles. It’s a little hard to distinguish amongst the items for swapping in the bottom of the screen, though, as they are displayed against the regular background. The player character can be moved by either stylus or by buttons, and can be set to run, which is great.
The menus are chock-full of information about any and everything. All the statistics that anyone could want are included.

A huge difference between Rune Factory and earlier Harvest Moon games is the almost leisurely pace of the game. In Friends of Mineral Town, it was a frantic rush every day to get things done, especially if the player needed to travel away from town and get back in one day. It could get quite tense. In Rune Factory, the clock also ticks, but there is no hurry, as long as the crops get watered and the animals fed every day. A smaller difference is the lack of sprites to help with chores, but this is no loss, as they are not needed. The monsters do the work, instead.

Another difference with Rune Factory is the use of “monsters” as farm animals which can be caught and tamed, rather like in Pokemon games. Instead of purchasing cows and chickens, players will tame their monster equivalents and gather milk and eggs from them (this is sort of weird, but whatever). Other monsters can also be tamed and set to work on the farm and even come along for battle, besides the ones that produce needed commodities. These monsters can be affectionate toward their masters, and players can check socialization stats to see how they rate with their monsters, as well as how they rate with the game characters.

Rune Factory 2 is essentially very similar to Rune Factory, but has some differences and improvements. The interface is better designed, and there are also quests (I’m not sure if there were quests in the original Rune Factory). A big difference is having the gameplay split between two generations; after your character marries and has a kid, the story continues with the now grown child. Your descendant will be able to attend classes in the schools and become expert at skills like cooking and jewelry design, and the dungeons are also a little different.

Graphically, this game is very nice looking. The anime style is awesome and the backgrounds are very attractive. However, the characters are a bit blocky and are not quite as detailed as the background environments. The music is very good, too.

I’m having a blast with this game! I just wish I had more time to play it, but it’s Christmas time, and ain’t got no time! Sounds like a Country music song. It’s so very nice to have a great DS game, amongst the crowd of mediocre games I’ve experienced lately. I haven’t played the Harvest Moon DS or Rune Factory for the DS, but judging from what I’ve read about them, this is hands down the best Harvest Moon outing since Friends of Mineral Town. While the original Rune Factory sounds good, this second in the new series appears to be an improvement in all areas. The really cool thing about Rune Factory 2 is that it retains all the features that Harvest Moon fans love and expect, and then adds different gameplay elements that mesh perfectly with the farming simulation format.

Rune Factory 2 is a great game for the handheld, and most anyone will enjoy it, not just Harvest Moon fans. I wholeheartedly recommend this as a Christmas gift this season.

Gameplay: 9.0
So very fun, so very addictive. I love everything about the gameplay experience, from the interface to the myriad of tasks to do. I just wish there were more quests.

Graphics: 8.5
The background graphics are beautiful, but the characters could use a little work.

Sound: 8.0
The music is quite pleasing and nice to hear.

Difficulty: Medium
For players new to the Harvest Moon world, this game could present a bit of a challenge at first, due to minimal instructions on the beginning philosophy of earning money first, fast. However, the relatively slower pace of Rune Factory makes it a bit easier than previous editions. The early monsters are fairly easy to beat, but become much tougher later.

Concept: 8.0
Adding the RPG elements was a great idea and the designers did an amazing job of blending all the gameplay features.

Multiplayer: 7.0
Players can use the DS wireless connection to trade items with other players, and to interact with other players’ monsters.

Overall: 9.0
Absolutely a great game! This is one that is hard to put down. For anyone who loves simulation games, and also RPG games, this is a must-buy. And just in time for Christmas, too.