Picked up Rune Factory Frontier last night. Had to sell a couple old games (something I swore I wouldn't do this gen), but it was a good decision. The game is excellent. It's everything that was good in the DS version plus a little more, with better combat (though still not great). So far I think the most interesting thing I've noticed is the more and more I play the less like Harvest Moon it feels. The farming aspect is still there (not quite to a true Harvest Moon level of depth), but they've stacked so much more onto this. There's combat, smithing, crafting, cooking, socializing, and monster training. And while most of those things have existed in the series they've been given an extra level of depth so that they feel genuinally important instead of just side projects.
In the previous Rune Factories farming still felt llike the main job. In fact in the first one, all you could do in the first weeks of the game was farm (everything else was introduced later). Now it just feels like one more part of the game. It's still important mind you, but it's getting pushed further and further from the center. In fact, the game is really starting to feel more like Legend of Mana now minus the world creation feature with all the directions you're able to take the character.
For the next month(s) this is likely all I'll be playing with a few minutes over We Ski and Snowboard to break things up. I shall reach GamingGeek/HotD: Overkill proportions of annoyance with the updates as well so please prepare yourselves.
I've got both the Rune Factory games for the DS and have not opened them yet. They are too much like my real life to feel like fun.
I'm of course still playing the game. First of all I'd like to congratulate Marvelous for including the first ever fat chick as a woman you can court. I'm not sure why you'd want to go after her as she's not aesthetically pleasing and frankly she doesn't even have a nice personality. Most wives offer some kind of bonus at the beginning of the day so maybe she offers up a huge one... who knows?
As for my progress, I've yet to get to the boss of the Green Dungeon (the first one that Leo mentioned earlier), but I've had a lot of adventures there so far. I've been focusing a little more on the farming side of things. I'm also about to discover the first great secret of Whale Island so that should be pretty cool.
I've got a couple women on the line already (neither of which are the fat chick) but I'm not committing myself yet. There's still a few that haven't come to town yet so I want to make sure I'm not missing out on anything.
On the whole I will say that the Wii version is a step up from the DS versions, but they still have a long way to go. Combat is much better and that's the most notable improvement. But the crafting and smithing got dumbed down in this game to make it way too easy by eliminating the penalties for a failed attempt. The town still feels kind of lifeless with the absense of people ever walking around. And the story still take forever to ramp up.
Technical flaws aside, I think I still prefer Tree of Tranquility on the Wii over Frontier. Still, it's a good game and I won't be putting it down for a while.
There are 2 kinds of RPG aspects to pay attention to and both are number based or at least sort of. Your combat specific stats - attack, defense, weapon strength - have a number attributed them. But then there are also your daily skills also have a level attached to them which goes up as you use them.
To be a little more specific, as your level increases you get a small stat increase and when you forge a stronger weapon you'll see that weapon's strength also go up. And in battle when you attack you'll see a number for power of the hit you dealt the monster. The weapons may also have other stat bonuses such as a chance to stun or an elemental attribute to it.
Aside from combat your other abilities (farming, smithing, lab, etc.) get skill points every time you practice the particular skill. The reason that's important is every time you engage in an action you drain what you might call your "stamina meter." The better you are at the skill, the less it drains the stamina meter. So whether you swing a sword or sow crops your stamina meter points go down.
Once the stamina meter is depleted then you'll start draining your health points. That's not such a big deal when you're working the farm because it's very easy to manage for the most part, particularly because once your health starts to drain your character will be slumped over. But when you're in a dungeon it can be extremely dangerous. It's very easy to get caught up in combat and not pay attention to your meters. You can be doing extremely well, not getting touched by a single enemy and suddenly realize you're near death simply because you've exhausted yourself.
So overall the system is a little different than anything you've probably played before. I wouldn't say it's complicated but getting used to monitoring stamina can be a little tricky and at times a little frustrating particularly when you're out of stamina but there's still daylight left to do work. There's a couple ways to regain stamina (food, potions, and hot springs), but sometimes those aren't available and the only thing you can do is go to sleep and call it a day.
Yes. You won't pass out unless you overwork yourself. A day will keep going until 5 AM, but then it automatically starts the next day with you waking up. But if you push yourself to that hour you'll wake up later in the day, without full energy, and possible a cold or other ailment. And if you're wondering a cold will cause any action to take up 3 times the amount of your stamina bar that it normally does.
No, you don't have to eat anything, but cooking is important. Cooked meals give you certain temporary bonuses to your stats. More importantly they can refill your health and stamina meters. In the dungeons you won't last long unless you bring yourself a few snacks for the trip. And the more difficult the recipe the more it will refill.
That's the interesting thing about all the little side things you do at home. The smithing, cooking, lab work, and crafting is all optional but if you don't learn it it makes the dungeons much harder.