Rune Factory Frontier (Wii) Review

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Rune Factory Frontier is almost exactly a copy of the Harvest Moon games. You farm, wander around town, and develop relationships with people in the town. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely a different game from Harvest Moon as well. It has elements from Fable, Harvest Moon, Zelda, etc. It's a really open, open world game. Almost too open. I have found myself trying to find a certain object to go further in the game, but I don't have a clue on where to look for it, nor does the game tell me where to find it. The holidays are completely random.



Visually, this is an amazing game. Graphics are quite detailed. There are fairies floating around that are defiantly a visual stimulant. The cut scenes right when you meet another character is exactly like watching an anime on TV. It's that detailed. Unfortunately with that, it's way too short. The characters are quite unique, an elven blacksmith for example. One of the draws to this game is building relationships with the other characters. There is a tab in the menu labeled "Relations," and it shows your standings with the other characters.



The dungeon stages are way too awkward. You use your RP to do anything, including swinging your sword. So you basically have to either choose to water your crops or go into the dungeon. I have found myself getting only so far into the dungeon then running out of RP. But here's the kicker, once you leave the dungeon, the monsters in the dungeon respawn. So you find yourself having to kill the same monsters again, thus bringing you to the same spot where you run out of RP. Once you run out of RP, and you don't notice it, it starts to use up HP. I've had times where I haven't noticed it, then when I looked up a little later, I had 1/4 of my health left, and I was in the middle of the dungeon and had to try to run out without getting hit.

Rating: Super Silver