RuneFactory2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
Ages: Everyone

This is a very different Harvest Moon. There are battles and monsters, but true to the ethos of the game, you can befriend, tame the monsters and make them work on your farm - now that's more like it. The kids look older, they have traded the round faces for the pointy anime look and the screen sports a decidedly RPG look.

As Kyle, a wandering amnesiac, your first encounter is with Mana and her overly possessive father. Mana encourages her father to lend you an unused farm to work and so begins the farming part of the game. Talking to everyone you meet is important, because that's the only way you will get information and the objects you need. Mana is you guide and gives you your first tool and seeds.

Soon there will be caves to explore and monsters to defeat and tame. It is here that the game takes on the RPG quality with RP - rune points and HP - health points. RP is energy expenditure and includes everything from hoeing to fighting and can be recovered with certain plants and sleeping. If HP hits zero while you are fighting in a cave, you are done for, and the game restarts at the last save point. Solution is to farm in the cave - clever, and you could see it coming.

This is a monster of a game - many lands, large number characters to interact with, plenty of activities other than farming, and you still have to find time to date and get married and have children. Should you get this far - you come back as Kyle's child with all the loot you have acquired. They call this "Generational Gameplay"

The manual, although good, is completely inadequate for a game of this size. I would suggest the game guide by Freyashawk, at http://faqs.ign.com/articles/812/812421p1.html. The second section refers to RuneFactor2 .

Fun Factor: Unusual combination of RPG and sims
Female Factor: Mana a central character
Player Friendly: Manual insufficient for the complexity of the game. Poor information on saves.

Reviewed by: Editor - 11/08