Moonhero

User Score
9.1

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 9.0
Value - 9.5

I’ve been a Rune Factory fan since it was first released on the DS. Marvelous’ idea of taking Harvest Moon, my favorite game series, and adding a traditional RPG setting sounded fantastic from the get-go. The first Rune Factory was a great title, melding farming and dungeon crawling together in an instant classic. Once I heard that the game was being brought to the Wii, I knew I was in for a treat.

The plot is similar to the original DS version, in that the protagonist has lost his memory, and you’re given a farm house to stay in until you can get on your feet. Many of the bachelorettes from the DS version are back, along with a few new marriage options. From there, the plot does change. The dungeons are all new, with multiple floors to traverse. The townsfolk are mostly all new, bringing lots of personality to the game (The lush innkeeper is pretty entertaining).

One of the game’s better components is forging new weapons. While crawling through the caves, you find materials, be it by killing monsters, or treasure boxes, that you use to create better weapons and other objects. You can make swords, one handed or two, axes, hammers, armor, tools, and even gifts. Some weapons are even made by forging together existing weapons, making some very powerful new toys to kill things with.

Marriage is another great part of this game. As in most Harvest Moon titles, on top of all your work, you woe women (or men in some versions) in hopes of getting married and starting a family. You give the girl you have a crush on gifts to raise her love points. But in this title, some of you actions change their love for you as well. Some like it if you are a great chef, some if you read books. And on top of that, there are certain parts of the story you have to fulfill in order for a girl to become ready for marriage.

As for the down side of the game, the farming. Not all of the farming is bad, in fact, most of it is great. There’s just one flaw: Runeys. These little guys are cute. They float around the city, glowing, smiling, making the land bountiful. But if you do not take a lot of time to take care of them, they start to die out. When an area becomes low on Runeys, the soil goes bad, and plants grow slowly. Getting more Runeys is very difficult, making farming truly a problem.

The music in very enjoyable, as is the voice acting. Some of the cut scenes are done in anime style artwork. When they’re all put together, they make for a great experience.

With the controls, you get to choose whatever style setup makes you happiest. Be it swinging the Wiimote, pressing buttons on the Wiimote, or the Classic Controller, you’re in luck. They aren’t hard to master, after a few days (in game) of play, you’ll have a good grasp on them.

Overall, this game is worth the buy. The downside of the hard-to-control Runey population is vastly outweighed by the games pros. Between tilling, catching monsters to work in your fields, befriending your dream woman, creating a new Bastard Sword, and going to festivals, you’ll have your hands filled with an amazing adventure, brought to life on the Nintendo Wii.