The venerable Nintendo DS, now in its twilight, has been home to so many fantastic games that I can't possibly list them all without consulting my collection. But one of the things I will always remember fondly and be able to recall is the Rune Factory series—a series I got into on a whim years ago, when I picked up the original game to satisfy a yearning for an action RPG, and kicked off a lengthy affair both on DS and Wii. (Rune Factory 2 stands as my current favorite, by the way.)


Natsume is announcing today that its localization of the latest entry in the series, Rune Factory 3 (which they've subtitled, like the others, A Fantasy Harvest Moon), has now gone gold and will be available November 9. Rune Factory 3 takes the series for a bit of a turn for the fantastic, moving on from the amnesiac farmer storyline and into an all-new setting with a main character with a curious power: the ability to transform from human to Wooly—yes, a sheep. I played the game a little bit and talked to some of Natsume's team at E3, but I found I still had some questions; Natsume's Graham Markay, who I last spoke to about Rune Factory 2, was kind enough to answer those for me—and you!—inside.

This is the third game in the DS series, which as I recall spawned from a time when Harvest Moon spinoff series were being tried—the other was Innocent Life. What do you think made Rune Factory take off like it did? It seems it has really made a name for itself, even among people like myself who actually are not Harvest Moon players.
Graham Markay, Natsume:Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon combines the rewarding farming elements of Harvest Moon with the action and strategy of an action RPG. Those two elements really work remarkably well together. The farming works naturally with the item collection and crafting that you find in deeper RPGs, and the action elements open up the gameplay to an entirely new audience. And of course, developing deep relationships with characters is a core part of both RPGs and Harvest Moon games.

And now we're changing things up a bit with 3, story-wise, with a new protagonist who doesn't even look like your classic farmer-type. Micah's got a very different and, I'd say, potentially very interesting story.
Markay:Yes, Micah's got quite a bit more backstory than the other Rune Factory protagonists. I don't want to give away too many details now, as uncovering it is a central element to the plot.

Certainly, the most unique thing about Micah is that he's half human and half monster, and gains the ability to transform at will between his human and monster form.

Yeah, Micah's transformation belt turns him into a Wooly, right? A sheep. I think this is really cool on its face, but I'm kind of strange, I suppose... what's the upshot of being a bipedal sheep? Can he fight monsters that way, and if so, what advantage does he have?
Markay:When he transforms into a Wooly, Micah gains access to a range of hand-to-hand combat moves. He's got a series of rapid fist attacks and a rolling attack that you can use to hit multiple enemies at once. Once you've knocked an enemy down, you have several grapple attacks you can choose from: you can swing them around and use them to batter other enemies, throw them into another enemy, or lift the enemy up and slam them down, damaging anything nearby. It's a fun and fast combat style that feels pretty different from the weapon-based attacks you'll use in human form.

    

Seems Woolys are quite formidable. By the way, I understand we can recruit not just pet monsters to come along with us into the caves and such as we've done in past games, but also various NPCs as well.
Markay:That's right. With only a few exceptions, you can ask any NPC to accompany you into dungeons after you've raised their affection enough. Each has different attacks and abilities. Some are magic users, some will protect you from the projectile attacks of enemies, and some are brawlers who will wade in swinging a heavy weapon and take some of the heat off you. It's a lot of fun discovering which characters work best in which situations, and of course not a lot of games offer you the opportunity to fight alongside your virtual wife!

I asked you this question for 2, so I'll ask it again: how big is the localization effort? 2 was about twice the original, you had said.
Markay:It might be our biggest localization ever. This game is incredibly rich in content. Every character has a lot to say, and more context-specific text than ever. You can talk to characters numerous times throughout each day, and you'll rarely find them repeating themselves.

One of the things I really loved about Rune Factory 2—I've played all the games in the series thus far, including Frontier, and 2 is my favorite—was the way that the job board wasn't just for quests, but as you went about the jobs, you got to know each of the characters—well, particularly the eligible bachelorettes—a little bit better. What's driving these individual threads of story this time?
Markay:The game's central story revolves around the conflict between two towns. One is a town of humans, and the other is a town of monsters. A history of bitter prejudice divides them. It's up to Micah to bridge the gap between them and help the two towns come together.

Of course, each of the game's 24 characters (11 of them marriageable) have their own history and personality quirks, and you'll learn about those as you complete requests for them. I can't go into detail about each one, but I will tell you that it's a really fun and diverse cast of characters.

I was able to play around with Rune Factory 3 a little at E3—with a game as big as Rune Factory is, I obviously only could get a small taste—but between that playtime, what we talked about, and watching the demo reels, I got the feeling there was a big emphasis on efficiency over the previous titles, which 2 had already improved on, but now 3 takes that even further. For example: I saw Micah carrying a huge stack of apples...
Markay:There are definitely refinements to the gameplay in Rune Factory 3. Just for one example, as you explore areas, you'll discover teleport points that will let you get back to them quickly. And as you mentioned, you can keep grabbing items without putting them away until you're carrying a stack of 9, which makes farming go much faster. There are a lot of small refinements like that that add up to a smoother and faster gaming experience.

And there seemed to be a general speedup as well, being able to zip around town at a much faster clip.
Markay:Yes, you do move a little faster, and a lot of animations for actions play more quickly. Again, it's a lot of little refinements that add up to a big improvement in the game's pacing.

    

Speaking of going around town, there's also the fact that the top screen map also has a bunch of little townspeople heads on it—this should really make finding that particular person much easier than before.
Markay:Yes, it comes in pretty handy. Character schedules are more dynamic than ever before, so it's definitely nice that you can see where each is just by glancing at the map.

What else can we expect along these lines?
Markay:This game has more voiceovers than any Rune Factory before. As you're walking through town, you'll hear characters greeting you or calling you to come in and check out their shops. It really makes the town feel alive.

Yeah, I can see how that could work. Did I miss any other aspect of the game you might want to touch on?
Markay:For the first time in the series, the game has a multiplayer mode that lets you explore dungeons with your friends. Up to 3 players can battle their way through the bonus multiplayer dungeons. These dungeons are randomly generated and you can choose a setting appropriate for characters from level 15 all the way up to level 150, so they offer a ton of replayability. They have a lot of unique enemies and items that you won't find anywhere else in the game, and any items and experience you gain carry over into the single-player game, so they're well worth exploring.

Of course, if you just want the loot but don't have anyone else to play with, you can also explore these bonus dungeons in single-player mode.

Neat! I'll have to ask my DQIX group if they might be interested in that; I think we're about ready to move on to a new game.

Thanks for your time; I'm looking forward to Rune Factory 3's release, likely one of the last great games I'll play on the old DS before the 3DS sweeps in. Hopefully we will see the series continue there afterward.
Markay:You bet! We've got a lot of exciting plans for the series in the future!

Rune Factory 3 is just around the corner, as previously mentioned—it'll be out November 9. If it's anything like the last games, it'll be a massive title; I might just still be playing it when 3DS arrives on the scene. But even if I'm not, it'll be a fantastic way to send off the Nintendo DS.