Rune Factory 4 - Cancelled in the EU

Today we have some sad news to share. If you're a fan of the Harvest Moon series, or the Rune Factory series, I am sorry to announce that the latest entry, Rune Factory 4, has been canceled in the EU region. This news comes just shortly after Neverland Co, the developers of the series, announced that they filed for bankruptcy. Despite the great success of Rune Factory 4 in Japan, which sold well enough for Rune Factory 5 to go into development just weeks after its release, the company still struggled, and ultimately had to shut down.

Although Neverland Co went under, the producer of the series Yoshifumi Hashimoto (who is with Marvelous AQL) did release a statement which gave hope to reviving the series. According to him, a new secret project was underway, and that the staff members were "still doing great." Not much more was said on the matter, and still to this day we are unsure of the series' future.

As for the EU release of Rune Factory 4, it was going to be handled by Zen United. While the game was never given an official release date in the EU, most expected to see the game either during 2014, or during 2015. Typically Rune Factory games are released in the EU region a little over a year after the US release, and up until now everything seemed to be on track. Even when Neverland Co went under, Zen United still had plans on bringing the game to the EU region, but them plans have since changed.

Today, Marvelous released the following official statement:

"We regret to inform you that the European release of Rune Factory 4 for Nintendo 3DS has been cancelled.While Marvelous AQL has made every effort to secure the title’s release for this territory, it is, unfortunately, not possible to do so at this time.MAQL and MAQL Europe would like to thank everyone for their support and enthusiasm for their European releases. Please look forward to announcements on new MAQL titles over the coming months."

While the statement states that releasing the game in the EU is not possible "at this time," the future of the game seems bleak. At some point in time the game may be released in the EU after all, but as it stands, the chances seem slim to none.

Really it is too bad that Rune Factory 4 won't see a release in the rest of the world. It was easily one of the best entries in the series to date, and a lot of people were really looking forward to it; especially a few of our writers here at NGR. Sorry guys...

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Rune Factory 4 Delayed

Today I have some sad news to share. If you are an owner of a Nintendo 3DS, then most likely you have heard about the upcoming Rune Factory 4. Rune Factory 4 is the newest entry in the Rune Factory series (which in itself is a spin off fantasy version of Harvest Moon), and also one of the biggest entries to be released. The game sold so well during its first few weeks in Japan that Rune Factory 5 actually went into development almost instantly. Needless to say, the game was a major release, and it is also one of the larger 3DS exclusives to come out this month... At least it would have been...

According to XSeed's Facebook post, the game has now been pushed back to a September release. Originally Rune Factory 4 was going to hit the states in July, but the game had to be delayed until at least August so that XSeed could insure a quality product. As stated by Xseed themselves "the game is massive," and it is taking them a lot longer to play test it for a US release than they have originally planned. Each time a spelling or grammar error is found, the translation goes back into the works, and that in return causes the delays.

Even though Xseed has stated that it will be released in September, the release date is not truly set in stone. There may be more smaller delays in the future, so don't get your hopes up. Either way, in the end I'm sure the wait will be worth it. Personally I'd rather wait longer for a well refined game rather than playing an early released game with loads of glitches and translation issues.

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Rune factory 4 E3 English trailer

Hello there my dear readers! When I was looking through some other E3 news I found a trailer for the next sequel to one of my favorite Farming/dating/Dungeon crawling/Action/RPG's out there Rune factory! (4):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q8PghggUbMQ

This game is still only confirmed for a NA release while guys like me who live in EU have to suffer with the fear that it may not come here. . . . . . But lets hope that's not the case! EU will probably get this game to (I hope).

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Top Chef in Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny!

Wow just a few mins ago I decided to update my leaderbaord scores for Rune Factory, and that's when I saw some very shocking news... I actually came first in the cooking contest! Normally I'm always kicked to the bottom of leader boards, but for once I actually made it to the top!

I'm sory if this seems like I'm bragging, but I guess it just made me so happy that I had to tell someone! lol Anyway I know it wont last forever, but for now it's nice ^_^ (Play this game guys! If you're a HM/RPG fan that is...)

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PIcked up Rune Factory Tides of Destiny!

Remember when I told you guys that I was looking for Radiant Historia the other day? Well not anymore! It turns out that GameStop released the newest Rune Factory game a few days early, and that was something I COULDN'T pass up!

So what is Rune Factory Tides of Destiny? Well Rune Factory, for anyone who hasn't heard of it before, is actually a part of Harvest Moon. Rune Factory takes the Harvest Moon gameplay, farming, interacting with the people of the town, taking part in town events, getting married, having kids, etc, and mixes them with an RPG!

There's MANY stats to level up, including the stats of walking and jumping, and the game has a big focus on exploring and crafting items. Everything you do will level up some kind of skill/stat (I'd say there's around 30 or so catagories which range from talking to people to actual skills you'll use), and the more you do things, the better you get at doing them. Need to cook a really good meal? Well you better practice! Want that really strong weapon? Hopefully you're good at foring! There's a lot of things to practice, and a lot of skills to master.

Tides of Destiny is a little bit different from past games, and it throws in a bunch of new features. To sum it up, this is Harvest Moon + Legend of Zelda Wind Waker + Kingdom Hearts. There are many types of weapons to create, which you have to get material for, and the battle system plays in real time just like in Kingdom Hearts. You'll learn both basic combos, and advance skills as you use your weapons more, and you can freely switch between weapons as well. You do NOT have to stay with a single weapon tree.
The world in ToD is also a fully 3D world, which is a first in Rune Factory, and the world is pretty lively. People will walk around the island, ask you to do favors (you can also take on side quests from a Request Board), and there's a huge ocean for you to explore with 100s of islands. By riding on the back of a huge rock monster, you can travel between islands, fight sea monsters, and discover new areas. Sometimes islands are mini islands with monsters to fight and items to find, other times they're "temples" like you would see in Zelda. If you have ever played Zelda Wind Waker, you'll feel right at home.

Farming is also a lot different, and it mixes in elements from Pokemon. In this game you can befriend pretty much every monster which will then send them to your "barn" like area. Here you'll be able to give your monsters jobs, or even invite them into your party. For the first time in a Harvest Moon game you cannot farm yourself, or even pick what kind of crops you want. This is all monster controlled.

Throughout the game you'll come across islands which allow you to farm, or harvest other items (such as rocks), and these are the islands you'll be sending your monsters to. Each monster is able to grow a different type of crop, and they will do so randomly. Sure you can group monsters together to get a higher chance of growing the crop you want, but you still don't have complete control over it. All you have to do is plant the seeds, which is done by using a magic stick, and the monsters will take care of the rest. (You can also expand your islands by dropping spirits that you can find. They'll allow you to plant more seeds after you've dropped enough of them.)

One thing I REALLY like about the game is the fact that you're always making progress. Every step you make gives you EXP into walking, and every item you make will end up helping you in the long run. No matter what you do, you are ALWAYS moving forward. It really gives you a lot to work at, but its nice.
The game does have a lot of freedom, and it lets you play it however you want to play. You could go do the main story, or you could go fishing. You could upgrade your house and build furniture for it, or you could go to the message board and take on some side quests. Want to explore the ocean and become friends with everyone in town? Go for it! It's just endless, and the game doesn't force you to play one way or another. However if you want to get married and have a kid, you do have to finish the main story.

I would like to do a full review over this game later on, but there's just too much for me to cover. I think it'll be awhile before I've seen enough to actually review it... I'm already 20 hours into the thing, but I'm not even close to the 1/4th way point lol. I've got a LONG ways to go.

Anyway, if you like Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, RPGs, or any other type of simulation game, check this one out! Yeah the farming isn't as deep as Harvest Moon or the past Rune Factories, but the game expanded in just about every other area.

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