IGN: Pre-E3 2008: Hands-on Rune Factory 2

Natsume has made quite a move in promoting the Rune Factory franchise in the last few years. While IGN keeps getting updated Harvest Moon games, fans of the series would undoubtedly agree when IGN says that the core series itself just isn’t what it used to be. For those looking for the best Harvest Moon experience out there though, innovation is just a title change away, as Rune Factory has taken on Natume’s primary focus, and it’s one heck of a series so far, spanning two DS games, and a forthcoming Wii title that we assume will be shown off at this year’s E3.

To kick the show off though, IGN had a chance to get their hands-on the latest Rune Factory 2 build, which is currently being localized for a US release after a very successful Japan debut. Like the original game, Rune Factory 2 is a mix between Harvest Moon and dungeon crawling RPG mechanic s, though there’s no loss in the depth of the main farming mechanic, making Rune Factory a much larger world than Harvest Moon ever was — even back in its impressive Super NES/N64 days.