So, Rune Factory...

So, Rune Factory is a new Harvest Moon game wherein players do the usual Harvest Moon things such as plant corn and collect eggs from chickens but players also use a sword to battle and befriend monsters. The monsters one befriends can fill the roll of farm animals (sheep, chickens, moo cows) but also these monsters can be given tasks such as watering plants, harvest crops, and, presumably, milking your moo cows. The game also has wifi functionality by which players can chat with other Rune Factory players as well as trade tools and other in-game items via the tubal interwebs.

I think this is intriguing.

The problem, though, is that my history with Harvest Moon is not good. After I purchased the GBA Harvest Moon I found a faq online which explained how to amass great quantities of gold from the beginning of the game. So I spent an hour constantly resetting my game to get the exploit to work. I found this to be stupid and frustrated so I then chased my dog with a hoe for 15 minutes and finally put the game in a drawer where it remains to this day.

The aspect of Rune Factory that may allow me to enjoy it is the combat system and wifi functionality. The problem I have with games in general is that they are restricted to only interracting with themselves on a cartridge. So I am not compelled to level a character in Disgaea, for example, because that character only ever exists on my save card and only ever interacts with other characters within my save card. With wifi, though, I can give my moo-cow milk to other players via the tubal interwebs. So, in my mind, the game matters. Sort of like how Diablo II is a better game than Neverwinter Nights because Diablo II has functional multiplayer whereby I can give Adam the extra Goreshovel he needs, whereas in Neverwinter Nights the multiplayer experience is tantamount to punching yourself in the balls while a polygon screams, "ROLL FOR INITIATIVE!" in a folksy accent.

It's $30 and On Goody has a copy. I already know that if I buy it I'll never finish it. But I might find it to be enjoyable for a while. I also have a "long weekend" coming up, apparently, and this game could allow me to waste that time effectively.

Maybe Adam will buy it and tell me that it is awesome. Then I can get it and we will trade moo-cow milk over the internets.