Rune Factory 3 Special is a ported remaster of Rune Factory 3 A Fantasy Harvest Moon. Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon was originally released back in 2009 on the Nintendo DS. It’s taken more than a decade but we finally have a port available on more modern systems and it’s great, to say the least.
So is Rune Factory 3 Special worth picking up?
Rune Factory 3 Special
In Rune Factory 3 players will take on the role of a half-human, half-sheep named Micah. Playing as Micah, you will have to farm, fight off enemy monsters, fish and basically make a living in the fictional locale of Sharance. Micah has amnesia though so it will take a little while for you to get up to speed with everything that’s going on in the Rune Factory 3 world.
Once you’ve waded through the hefty tutorials, it’s up to you to start tilling the fields, planting crops and then eventually harvesting them. Players will have Rune Points to use and time will pass in the game as you perform your day-to-day activities. There are seasons in Rune Factory 3 Special and these each take around a month of in-game time each.
The core gameplay aspects of Rune Factory 3 Special involve planting crops, harvesting them, gathering the right materials necessary for upgrades, dungeon crawling and fighting off monsters for more materials. Players can also tame certain monsters and they can produce items that you might need.
Purists who enjoyed Rune Factory 3 A Fantasy Harvest Moon will notice quite a few differences in this remaster. Firstly, a lot of quality-of-life changes from the later Rune Factory titles have made their way into this one. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but if you wanted a straight one-to-one port of the DS title from 2009 with upgraded visuals, you’re not getting that here. Some of the writing has been changed too and this will most likely upset hardcore fans while newcomers or more casual gamers won’t notice it at all.
Interestingly, Rune Factory 3 Special has introduced the new “Newlywed” mode which allows you to get married to any of the 11 different bachelorettes in the game and then play through a story episode. This includes new stories and most of this content is voiced.
When it comes to the voice acting in Rune Factory 3 Special, it does take a bit of a backseat though since not every single interaction is voiced. The voice acting that is present in the game is performed by some well-known voice actors in both Japanese and English and it’s a shame that not every line is voiced. If it was, it would really added a lot more immersion to the title.
Graphically Rune Factory 3 Special looks fantastic. Marvelous Inc has somehow made this title look amazingly good. The DS visuals have truly been brought up to a more modern standard and the character portraits and environments are visually pleasing to look at thanks to their artistic style. Growing your crops is easy to understand thanks to the on-screen visuals and attacking enemies looks flashy too.
Players will be able to select various weapons to use in their fight against monsters and you’ll quickly find a favourite weapon as you play the game. Requests in Rune Factory 3 Special are limited to only one per day and this might come across as a tad annoying but for the most part, it’s manageable. There are plenty of other things to do in the game when you’re not handling requests too.
The story of Rune Factory 3 Special isn’t exactly anything to write home about. It’s fairly simple and straightforward and is dipped in anime and manga tropes throughout. Fans of these types of media will find themselves right at home here and probably won’t mind much of the cliched writing.
Characters in the game do have their own unique personalities and it does shine through via the localisation’s writing. There are some great moments where you’ll laugh at conversations in the game and it feels very wholesome and laid back. The game’s soundtrack is also enjoyable to listen to and doesn’t get annoying even after you’ve spent numerous hours farming.
Final Verdict
Rune Factory 3 Special is a solid remaster of an older Rune Factory title from the Nintendo DS years. It’s been modernized and the core gameplay loop of farming, crafting and dungeon crawling holds up very well. In fact, this same core gameplay look features in a lot of games these days with Cult of the Lamb springing to mind immediately.
If you haven’t played Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon before, Rune Factory 3 Special is a great way to dive into the genre and enjoy it with a more modernized twist. Give this game a try if you’re a fan of laid-back farming, JRPG, hack-and-slash games with a romance twist.
Rune Factory 3 Special Launch Trailer
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