Should I get this game or Rune factory 4?

I've played a lot of Harvest moon games and I enjoyed them, however by the time I was done with new beginning I was pretty burnt out on it but that was like 2 years ago. I just found out about Rune factory recently, and the reviews for it are pretty good but the graphics look kinda shitty which is what's actually stopping me from investing in it. If Rune factory has better game play and is more fun however I could probably overlook the shitty graphics.

The story and characters in rune factory 2/3/4 are about as "silly anime" as you can get but there's still something strangely likable about most of the cast.

I don't know how tight to the harvest moon formula story of seasons is but if you're looking for a familiar experience with some fundamental differences RF4 is a solid choice.

The combat for the most part feels good, farming solid with interesting mechanics going on with soil levels and seeds that can level. Dialogue is interesting in that a character typically has something to say about current events or weather followed by a kind of "per conversation per day" progression of lines, both seem to be rather large as I've got over a year in so far and I don't think I've seen a repeated line yet.

Animals are all "monsters" that you can tame and keep for their drops or harvestable resources.

Rune Factory has always had an overwhelming amount of systems going on and I've personally found them more enjoyable than the main harvest moon series for a while now.

And 4's story seems to go on forever, over a year in and I've seen two credits rolls so far and I know there's a third act I've not reached yet.

The graphics are shitty though.

If you want a traditional Harvest Moon game, get SoS. If you want a Harvest Moon game mixed with some light combat mechanics and monster collecting/dungeon diving get Rune Factory 4. The only thing I remember not liking about RF4 was the marriage system being a bit janky, but it was still pretty solid overall.

@chizfoshiz: The anime aspect doesn't bother me and if the story and characters are good then shitty graphics can be overlooked, I was wondering though, since you seem to have played a fair amount of the game, if the focus of the game is more on the farming, taming of monsters, or combat, or is it an even split?

@mindbullet: The thing about "traditional Harvest Moon game experience" that's stopping me from fully committing to SoS is that every review I've managed to find seems to say the same thing, which isn't really a selling point for me if that's just another way of saying it's harvest moon a new beginning with a couple of extra things added, because I've already played that game to death :P

You need to do dungeons to advance the story and unlock stuff. You can get away with ignoring the monster collecting/training up to a point, but battles do eventually get tough enough that you kind of want that extra support. You can still farm all you want, and I don't remember there being a time limit on story stuff, but you do have to interact with the dungeons and general combat stuff in order to get certain materials and items. I wouldn't say farming takes a backseat to the combat elements, it just kind of... Shares the focus, I guess. You need to do both in equal measure.