Rune Factory

Anyone play this game? Either the first two on DS or the new one out on Wii? (Although I don’t know if it’s been released in the US yet)

I’m a sucker for Harvest Moon games, and I really adore the art style and think the combat system is a nice addition to the monotony of repeatedly watering/harvesting crops.

I’ve played more hours in the first Rune Factory, but haven’t made it very far in terms of how many caves I have access to. I’m trying to get all my tools and stuff upgraded, as well as stock pile a bit of money, before I start spending night after night in caves ;x It’s also a bit of a pain to plant/water crops in the caves in order to have access to runes. But it is a neat concept and makes exploring caves a (fun) challenge.

I picked up Rune Factory 2 recently and felt like they watered down (no pun intended) a few things. You start out with some pretty great tools — 9 squares at a time, even if you can only water 30 squares with one fill of the watering can, is still pretty handy. Even though it’s a pain in the original RF and other HM games to work plug away, little by little, til you have the cash and materials to upgrade, it was still part of the challenge and I felt a bit disappointed at the change.

The characters in RF2 I found a bit less likeable, maybe because of some of the really bad voice acting (Star Ocean 2 is one of my favorite games, though, so I do have a high tolerance for bad voice acting). Their interactions with each other and separate personalities (save for Egan or whoever the Innkeeper is) are a bit more involved and complex than in RF1, which I appreciate.

Mild spoilers re: the second half of the game.
I haven’t married/had a kid yet in RF2. I’m taking my time, although I’ve got a waifu lined up (Cecelia probably). I’ve been trying to avoid spoiling myself so I’m interested to see how gameplay changes as you start the "second generation", as well as how characters change and the new characters that show up. I’ll probably replay and marry Yue since, from what I understand, that’s the only way you can see all the possible new children/characters in the 2nd generation.

Anyway, I’m up for trading friend codes if anyone is interested (for either game). I don’t really know what you can do in the wifi areas or whatever besides trade items, but I’d be interested in at least trying it out.

Bumping this thread because I"m now to the point in Rune Factory 2 where I can play that one game with people and I want friends to play with 🙁