Last Rant... Kinda: Final Thoughts about a Farming Chore Simulator

I've finally finished the game that made me start writing these.  Rune Factory 2 was an awesome game, though it definitely has some flaws.  So, in the spirit of making the quest for games to play easier for the masses, I'm going to talk a bit and give my recommendation about this game.

I feel that there are a number bugs in this game that are common across Natsume's productions.  How about an enumeration?  First, this game lags if you have more than four or more sprites on the screen.  Seriously.  I don't know how that made it out the door.  This becomes something of a problem when you start filling your dungeon... I mean barn.  Since you have four creatures on each floor, walking from the front of the room to the back, or milking your Buffamoos, or generally existing in the barn tends to be a bit of a drag on the system.  It's not a huge problem, but it is mildly annoying.

There are a number of places where your name is stored for NPCs to relate it to you.  This sounds fine, but it appears that someone forgot to change all of those occurrences to refer to your second generation name.  There was even a point where the game couldn't find a name at all and no name is printed where there should be.

My biggest gripe isn't a bug at all, however.  In order to get the best equipment, you have to forge it yourself.  Cool!  The actual forging process is a bit painful, however.  Mostly, it involves collecting items and tossing them together on the right crafting bench and waiting a bit.  The anticipation kills.  As in, it kills your investment in the game.  No time in game passes, just real time.  One of these is slightly more valuable.  This isn't terrible, but cooking, a specific field of crafting in this game, is the only form of crafting that consumes the ingredients if you fail.  Considering the rarity of some ingredients and the fact that you must attempt formulas that you can fail at to get better, this seems rather rude.

Also, the final ending to the game fades to black.  No credits.  I think my game might have frozen, but I can't find any confirmation.

That said, I really enjoyed this game.  The combat is simple, but engaging.  All the spells feel rather different, and it's a lot of fun to alternate between keeping enemies at bay with a spear and chasing them off while surrounded by big glowing balls.  The farming is a quick task, especially if you've put in the effort to upgrade your tools.  I was a millionaire without trying due to the ease of farming, and it's pretty easy to go and get yourself the specific vegetables you need.

This game lends itself quite well to a mobile platform with an abundance of save points.  It's a fun time waster, though you're not going to be enthralled by the plot.  Overall, as I said before, it's worth a play, especially if you have any interest in Harvest Moon.  Farming!