I recently went on a vacation and picked up Rune Factory 3 for the plane ride (travel is the only time I actually play portable games anymore). Having played a Harvest Moon game for the Gamecube, I had a bit of experience with the series, and so the game was (luckily) not completely foreign to me. Still, I found myself often confused by fairly incomplete tutorial dialogue filled with awkward Japanese humour and only quick mentions of what one must do in order to progress in the story, or grow crops, or make new equipment. It's as if the game simply assumes you have played one or both of the previous Rune Factory games. Maybe the manual would have helped, but honestly: who reads the manual when it isn't in colour? That's the rule: if the manual is in colour, then it's a good idea to read it. Otherwise, don't bother. 
 
Still, I found myself going back to the game repeatedly despite having a couple of other games to choose from. I didn't even touch Knights in the Nightmare, despite having heard great things about it. And why? Because I love dungeon crawlers, and I love growing crops. Mixing the two kept me entertained for my entire weeklong trip. 
 
I made it to the boss battle of the second dungeon (in the desert), though I didn't beat him, before I got home and set down my DS until I leave again. I probably played a total of around ten hours or so, and made it to around the end of the first season. I'm not much one for finishing long, grinding Japanese games, but I still feel like playing the game. Hell, you never know: maybe I will pick up my DS and play it some more, just for kicks. 
 
So, for anyone who's like me and never finishes his JRPGs and dislikes Japanese humour, Rune Factory 3 has enough fun packed into it that the shoddy instruction can be overlooked (with the help of GameFAQs, anyways) and the weird dialogue can be quickly skipped through for more monster-smashing goodness.

I recently went on a vacation and picked up Rune Factory 3 for the plane ride (travel is the only time I actually play portable games anymore). Having played a Harvest Moon game for the Gamecube, I had a bit of experience with the series, and so the game was (luckily) not completely foreign to me. Still, I found myself often confused by fairly incomplete tutorial dialogue filled with awkward Japanese humour and only quick mentions of what one must do in order to progress in the story, or grow crops, or make new equipment. It's as if the game simply assumes you have played one or both of the previous Rune Factory games. Maybe the manual would have helped, but honestly: who reads the manual when it isn't in colour? That's the rule: if the manual is in colour, then it's a good idea to read it. Otherwise, don't bother. 
 
Still, I found myself going back to the game repeatedly despite having a couple of other games to choose from. I didn't even touch Knights in the Nightmare, despite having heard great things about it. And why? Because I love dungeon crawlers, and I love growing crops. Mixing the two kept me entertained for my entire weeklong trip. 
 
I made it to the boss battle of the second dungeon (in the desert), though I didn't beat him, before I got home and set down my DS until I leave again. I probably played a total of around ten hours or so, and made it to around the end of the first season. I'm not much one for finishing long, grinding Japanese games, but I still feel like playing the game. Hell, you never know: maybe I will pick up my DS and play it some more, just for kicks. 
 
So, for anyone who's like me and never finishes his JRPGs and dislikes Japanese humour, Rune Factory 3 has enough fun packed into it that the shoddy instruction can be overlooked (with the help of GameFAQs, anyways) and the weird dialogue can be quickly skipped through for more monster-smashing goodness.