izigame.me

Rune Factory 3 Special is a remake/enhanced port/what have you of Rune Factory 3 for Nintendo DS. It’s a farming sim RPG, where you farm, combat, and converse with unique residents of Sharance village.
I want to mostly focus this review on how well it does as a subsequent significant rerelease of the original DS game. Which, in summary, good enough but could’ve been better.
THE GOOD:
-The game performs better than the DS original, which is an obvious improvement. That version struggled to maintain a consistent framerate around other entities. Modern PCs and Nintendo Switch are up to the task.
-The graphics are also obviously improved. And unlike Rune Factory 4 Special, they are better on a technical side AND artistically. I think the devs took the criticism of simple upscales to heart and made an effort to make them more appealing (granted, upscaling DS assets wouldn’t cut it as much as 3DS ones). The item sprites are redrawn or at least updated enough to be more recognizable and actually look quite good. The models are also greatly improved, the human characters look nice, and monsters, I think for the most part they use the same designs as those from Rune Factory 5. Only backgrounds seem to remain AI upscaled. Still, I applaud the effort.
-You can skip crafting animations, which greatly speeds up the process (especially if you’re someone who tries to brute force a 10% chance item).
-The dashing is now mapped to a separate button instead of requiring to double-tap a direction, which is far more convenient.
-Upgraded material box and fridge have greatly expanded storage capacity. Great for item hoarders.
-You can change language options (text/voice acting) in case you are curious how original Japanese VO sounds like, a feature since Rune Factory 4 Special.
-All additions from the previous “Special” re-release: Newlywed Mode, Another Episode DLC, Hell difficulty, more than 2 save slots.
THE OK:
-The English script and voice acting have been completely redone, which is understandable, since the original was published by Natsume and that original work is likely in their basement somewhere, restrained by copyright issues. I heard that that script did have some issues/mistranslations, so this new translation is probably more accurate (they did keep all the old character names like how Chocolat is now Colette). As for the voice acting itself, I honestly think that some of the new voice lines tend to lack exaggerated emotion compared to the originals… but maybe I’m just being nostalgic and find the old VO charming. Of course, you can just change it to Japanese if you wanted. Or don’t. It’s your choice.
Now, let’s finally move onto LE BAD:
-This game does NOT include analog control. You’re stuck with d-pad movement even when using a stick, it sounds like a no-brainer change, it’s baffling why it’s not present. The thing is, the original DID have analog control… if you used the touch screen. Highly doubt you did, but it was always there, in the dark corner, saying nothing. They could’ve mapped that analog movement onto a stick, but they didn’t. But even if the original didn’t have it… c’mon, it’s such an obvious missed opportunity.
-This game does NOT fix clunky movement that was in the original. You have a slight slip to your movement, like you carry enough forward momentum instead of stopping dead in the tracks, which can make the controls frustrating early on (I had to re-learn this after not playing original game for a long while).
-The game does NOT include more quality of life changes, mostly from the future entries. This is a “brand new” game, released after Rune Factory 4 Special and Rune Factory 5, available on the same platforms, and is a mechanical step backwards. Makes sense if you’re playing originals back to back, not so much here. Some of these include Escape spell being a separate button like in Rune Factory 4 Special, better item storage (stashing an item makes it take its own slot instead of adding it on top of an existing one, e.g. you stash 2 iron and there’s already a 7 iron stack. Instead of adding on top of that stack, the 2 iron will take its own slot) and “Shipped” indicator for those looking for 100% ship all the items.
-Digital Deluxe Edition is legitimately overpriced. You pay 10 extra dollars for……………….. a swimsuit toggle. How is this enticing? Sure, it’s a very fan-service-y DLC, however, you didn’t have to pay extra for it when pre-ordering Rune Factory 4 Special on Nintendo Switch. That’s right, it was just a small bonus, for fans that haven’t been served in years. It was a nice little bonus, and now it’s whopping TEN DOLLARS??? Are you really going to pay for that? Freak.
-Credits don’t include original DS staff, which is really lame. Shouldn’t it be standard to include original credits? They worked hard on the original, y’know. This game isn’t even developed by Hakama, the new crew behind Rune Factory 4 Special and Rune Factory 5 which includes some of the original staff, like the series director, Yoshifumi Hashimoto. It’s by… Three Rings Inc. (and I saw some IREM in there). I think they were handed a checklist of how to make a “Special” re-release, which could explain it’s faithfulness… but I dunno. Just food for thought.
Overall, I think this is a good way to experience the original. It’s accessible, has some new content, great new visuals and a few improvements, but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed by the missed opportunities for more improvement, I think it could've been better. Of course, it also could’ve been worse, it could’ve been riddled with issues that weren’t there before (say hello to Half-Life: Source).
But, alright, what if you have never played a single Rune Factory game and this is going to be your first? How is it on its own? It’s… pretty good! It’s the first (numbered) entry to introduce fast paced gameplay, and it’s great. The characters are very unique and fun, the writing is, in my opinion, the funniest out of all entries, which makes this game stand out. The music is great, it has some of the most memorable tunes that I remember for a long while after putting the game off. It’s a little lacking in terms of content and its story is short compared to its successors, but it’s still a quality game with a decent about of things to do. Like most fans, I would still recommend Rune Factory 4 Special since that game offers much more, but you can’t go wrong with this one. It’s simply a great game.