Rune Factory 3: Special Review – Not So Special (PC)

Rune Factory 3: Special is the 2023 HD remake of the 2009 (’10 in America, ’11 in EU) farming sim RPG Rune Factory 3, released on the Nintendo DS. The Rune Factory series has been running since 2006, and currently contains five main games, two side games, and two remasters. The gaming world isn’t exactly short on farming simulator games, as perfectly showcased in a now-famous Nintendo Direct from September 2022, which has since been christened the “Farm Direct.”

Rune Factory 3: Special is actually one of the games shown off in that Direct. And it only really does one thing to stand out in my mind, and that’s the focus on the marriage aspect more than the farming aspect. As it means the game has a sizable roster of memorable characters, which is never a bad thing. However, the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, and can’t hold a candle to more polished games like Stardew Valley. Though the presence of an actual main plotline may be more enticing to players, as well as the lack of a pixel art style. 

The game is available in the United States on the Nintendo eShop and on Steam for $39.99, with a Digital Deluxe addition available for $49.99. A physical copy and Limited Edition version is available in Europe through Marvelous Games. 

This review contains minor spoilers for Rune Factory 3: Special

Story – Amnesia: The Seasonal Descent

Rune Factory 3: Special follows Micah, or whatever you decide to name him, after he awakens in Sharance Town with no memories of who he is. The lovely flower girl who finds him after his fall (where have I heard that before?) sets him up inside the town’s namesake, the Sharance Tree. Micah learns of a monster lurking deep in the forest outside of town, and decides to put a stop to it.

Defeating the monster leads Micah to a glowing orb that restores a piece of his memory. He learns that he is a half-human half-monster hybrid. He then decides to clear all the other dungeons surrounding the town to find more memory orbs. All in the hope of finding out how he ended up in Sharance Town.

There’s also a bonus Newlywed Mode, where you and your bride engage in a small story set after the game. It’s not very long, and each character has a different story, meaning some are way better than others.

The story isn’t anything special, but it really isn’t meant to be. It mainly serves as something to in the background while you focus on the gameplay and the characters. So if you like a deep story with meaningful themes, surprising twists, and complex characters; I recommend you look elsewhere.

Micah visits the Univir settlement

Gameplay – Stardew Vall-tree

Wow, a farming game is similar to another farming game? Who would’ve guessed? I haven’t played a farming game outside of this and Stardew Valley, so I don’t know how many of these mechanics are a mainstay in the farming genre. However, there’s a significant amount of overlap. And in almost every comparison, Stardew Valley walks away the winner. The controls are finnicky at best, and downright annoying at times. 

It’s Honest Work

Rune Factory 3: Special is a farming game at its core. You buy seeds to plant in your farm, water and raise them, then sell them for money to buy more seeds and other things. However, harvested crops can either be gathered, or cut down to get seeds of a higher level. Higher level crops earn you more money, and create higher level dishes.

There are many things to buy in Sharance Town beyond seeds. You can buy stronger weapons and shields for dungeons, weapon abilities, “recipe bread” to learn new crafting and cooking recipes, and more. So building a strong economic base for yourself is a necessity. And farming is one of the most crucial steps in doing so. 

It ain’t much, but…

Not-That-Dark Dungeons

Dungeons are another great way of making money. Monsters have a tendency to drop items that can be sold for a good amount of cash. They’re supposed to be used in upgrading your shields and weapons, but I went until the final dungeon without upgrading anything – just buying the strongest ones from the shop – and it served me well. There are also boulders in dungeons that you can hammer (not a pickaxe, for some reason) to get ores and gemstones.

As for the actual combat itself, it’s not very good. There’s this whole system of different weapons, abilities, and magic that you can learn. But I just bought the biggest, strongest sword I could find and swung away until I won. There are certain enemies that can combo you and demolish your health bar, which gets frustrating. Especially in the final dungeon, when there’s an annoying amount of backtracking.

The game does require a certain amount of grind, though. It seems the developers knew this, as there’s an option to turn off background music. And the note specifically mentions doing it to listen to one’s own music instead. Which I highly recommend doing.

Prepare for battle, weaklings

Farming for Love

When you’re not working yourself half to death for yourself, you’ll be working yourself half to death for the townspeople! There’s a request board in town that updates every day, along with more personal requests that get sent to your mailbox. This is how you see the character-specific stories for the 11 bachelorettes and 11 other characters. There are also simple requests that can be completed multiple times to build affection and get rewards.

You have to do 10 requests for a bachelorette if you plan on marrying them. Along with that, you have to give them plenty of gifts. Every character has gifts they hate, like, and love. They’re more than eager to tell you about them, so keep a notepad handy. You can take them out on dates once they have 7 or more hearts, leading to some pretty sweet scenes.

However, marriage isn’t an option until you beat the story. As it serves as the epilogue of the game. There’s a lot of eccentric girls in town with wildly different looks and personalities, so there should be someone for everyone. Unless you don’t like women, then you’re kinda screwed. 

Micah and the 11 possible swim-suitresses

Graphics & Sound – HD DS

I didn’t know that Rune Factory 3 was originally a Nintendo DS game, but I was able to figure it out within a few minutes of playing. This HD remaster ends up feeling more like an upscaled 3DS game than a proper remaster. Though, every character has a completely different design that helps them stand out, including a few that feel like they’re from completely different games, so I won’t complain about that.

However, for some reason, the added Newlywed Mode is more detailed than the base game. Mostly because the character portraits are animated. Would it really have been that hard to add that to the main game, too? 

The sounds in this game are just weird. Micah’s action noises make him sound like Link, and the voice acting is incredibly inconsistent. Certain lines of dialogue will be fully voiced at random, some will be only half voiced, and most have no voice acting at all. It’s such a strange choice that you’ll end up skipping the voice acting on accident. The music is pretty strong though, especially the opening theme. That song slaps.

Rune Factory 3: Special was reviewed on PC with a code from decibel-pr.