And that's sad. I think it's fair to say I've enjoyed the more balanced RPG bent of the

Rune Factory series more than I have any of the more recent Harvest Moon titles, which

were ostensibly about farming but had all manner of land development or part-time jobs

kinda cluttering up the works. Rune Factory IV, on the other hand, acknowledges the fact

that you'll likely have plenty of plates spinning at once, but does a good job of detailing

just what needs done when. Part of it is a series of requests delivered by a sentient

message box. Part of it is the progression of a main plot. Part of it is having a decent

level of control yourself.

So you're minding your own business, riding an airship, about to deliver some package to

some god because RPG, and then WHAM. You get assaulted, and while you succeed in fighting

them off, you take a nasty blow to the back of the head, drop your parcel overboard, develop

amnesia, sharply increase your special defense by two stages, oh yeah and then you get knocked

overboard yourself, where you just happen to land on a dragon god. Is it the same one

you had business with earlier? Who knows! All you know is that she thinks you're some

kind of prince-slash-princess, and you don't know enough to tell her no. So begins your

life of royalty, and being made to work in the garden right out back of the dragon's

chamber, and then the actual prince shows up but wants no part of the gardening so he

designates you the "acting" royalty and gives you a bevy of options with which to invigorate

the local economy and/or improve your facilities. Much like Harvest Moon, you can break down

stray logs and rocks for building materials, then turn those into monster stables, larger

storage facilities, cooking equipment, compounding equipment... makes me wanna stop down and

play some Agricola just thinking about it.

But it's not all farming: Part of it's getting to know the townsfolk, bestowing upon them

home-cooked delicacies like pickled turnips because you pickled an entire crop of turnips

and can't eat 'em all. Part of it is recruiting folks to join you in the action-RPG dungeon-crawly

bits, either because you need a helping hand or because you kinda just want to spend some

time with them alone. Nudge, nudge. There's plenty of time for flirting, too, as most

other tasks can be completed fairly quickly, and the game even remembers certain achievements

if you later take up a similar request. It might not be the most polished game I've ever

played, but it's certainly intuitive, right down to having your entire inventory available

right from the L-button.

The presentation's tough to criticize. I mean, you can roll your eyes at what would seem

to be rather pandering pan-ups of each character as they're introduced, but it's kinda interesting

that pretty much everyone gets one of those, making for equal-opportunity eye candy. The

soundtrack and effects have a distinctly retro feel, just blippy enough to feel nostalgic

without seeming cheap. Also, what other game can you think of that includes a massive collection

of fanart included in-game, complete with commentary from the cast? I could go on and

on, but that dragon's making eyes at me and that's kinda strange and I should probably

back away now.