Lots of Monkeys

Rune Factory Frontier is something else.  I’ve already logged over 20 hours.  To put that into a little more perspective, that’s longer than most games from start to finish.  To make that wide angle, let me put it this way:  I think I beat the first dungeon, but I’m not sure.  I didn’t consult the internet to make sure, but there was certainly a “Boss encounter” with a life bar and everything.  And it was pretty exciting, albeit straightforward.

I was not ready for it, but to be fair, the game did ask if I was ready for it.  Being overconfident, I went ahead anyway.  I came out on top but the life meter was flashing red.  Furiously.  There may have been a pixel of green in there somewhere, but I’m surprised that my character didn’t just wake up in the hospital with Sister Lara tending to his wounds.

It’s very open ended, so I’m not sure I’m doing it the right order.  Not that there is a “right” order.  I’m convinced I could spend the rest of Laguna’s life being a farmer.  Planting turnips in the Spring, and then growing grass for fodder for the buffamoos and the indentured servants befriended monsters that work the farm.  Maybe working enough nerve to ask Rosetta to marry him.  Spending summers on the beach, playing lazy beach games with the townsfolk.

But let me start with a summary.  Rune Factory Frontier is a game about farming.  And about dungeon crawling.  And dating.  And time management.  And monster raising. Continue reading →

I’m playing Rune Factory Frontier right now and I’m really enjoying it.  Or I’m finding it compelling.  It’s a very thin line between the two.  World of WarCraft was compelling, but eventually it turned into something that felt more like a second job.  Not fun.  While enjoyment was still to be found playing it, I was finding it harder and harder to have fun playing the game.

Yet it was still compelling.  Eventually I knew that I had to just let it go.  I beat the final boss (Protip:  It’s your credit card!)  Then, I just let my account lapse.

I found something interesting about my playing habits with Rune Factory, how I have changed my habits over the years.

It used to be that when I found out something interesting, or exciting about a game I was playing, it really felt like a discovery.  That in this game, I did something that’s a singular experience, that event is something that was on the edge of a great frontier.  This was before the internet.

Now before I do anything I feel like I have to check for a FAQ or a guide to find out if it’s the “right” decision.

I was considering an expansion for the house in Rune Factory, but then I was presented with a couple of choices.  I then went to the forums and looked up pictures of the possible themes.  Then I almost posted something to twitter to ask about which one I should go with.

Then I stopped myself after I realized what I was doing.

I decided from that point on, I was just going to forge ahead and make the decisions and live with them.  That’s the beauty of Rune Factory.  There’s no “wrong” decision to make.  If a path gets closed to me, oh well, the game is huge, there are tons of things to do.

I just need to make my peace with that.

I need to make peace with a game about farming, dating, monster fighting, and returning balance to the land.

Oh, and I went with an unseen extension to my house in the game.  And it turns out to have been the steampunk styled expansion.

Score.