Rune Factory 3 Road Journal - Part 2: Not Too Different from Other Harvest Moon Games

Returning to Town

At the end of the last entry in my Rune Factory 3 travelogue my character gained the ability to transform into a wooly, a sheep-like creature with a couple of mean attacks. I went back to town and decided to do a number of things. First, I talked to the villagers in wooly form to see the kinds of reactions I would get. Not surprisingly, many of the townspeople approached me with a bit of fear.

After I had some fun creeping people out, I went to the town shop (in human form, of course) and purchased some seeds. Defeating the Privera Forest boss unlocked some new items, and I now had more seeds at my disposal. I foolishly spent most of my hard-earned gold, and that’s when I realized that I was going to have to start managing my money wisely as well as seeking a way to make some serious income.

Dedicated Harvesting

Rune Factory 3 may be a spin-off, but it still shares many similarities with the Harvest Moon games it originates from. Gold is absolutely necessary in the game, and in order to make money, I had to really push myself. Because the game runs on an accelerated clock, I had to manage my time wisely, do as much as possible, and make sure to get some rest in order to regain my lost Rune Points, which expend with physical activity and regenerate with sleep.

Like other Harvest Moon games, I found myself doing a lot of farming. After all, I had spent almost all of my cash on some new strawberry seeds, so I was going to make sure to keep the sprouts healthy. I spent a number of days going back to Privera in order to do some scavenging and mining. I gathered minerals, collected items dropped by my slain enemies, and leveled up considerably. By creating a routine I was quickly able to rake in a steady income. And although I wasn’t rich, I had enough gold to invest in produce so that I could in turn sell the fruits of my labor at a higher value.

Monster Hunting

The local blacksmith told me he could build a barn for me where I could keep different monsters. Though I knew raising monsters was a part of the game, I didn’t know what functions they would serve other than maybe filling some sort of tome. It soon dawned on me that typical Harvest Moon activities weren’t going to be the only things for me to spend a great deal of time doing.

I had the barn built and went hunting at Privera Forest. Right at the entrance I saw some woolies, and I decided to tame them. After feeding them some plants, I was prompted to name my new pets. I left the default names and sent them back to the barn. While in their barn, I noticed the woolies were running around frantically. I was previously given some pet grooming equipment by Raven, and I decided to brush the woolies and sheer their fleece which I later sold for even more gold.

Withstanding the Heat in Sol Terrano Desert

My next stop was Sol Terrano Desert. This area was host to many new enemies, but I wasn’t going it alone. Just like I do with my many Pokemon, I decided to establish a bond with one of my newly-captured woolies, so I took Rush along. The little guy held his own and provided a helping hand in my battles against the baddies of Sol Terrano. He passed out from being beat up a few times, but Rush was a worthy partner that I knew I’d be bringing along more often.

It was at the very edge of the desert that I met the Univir, a race of human-like creatures with horns on their foreheads. The elder was totally anti-human, but she was still kind to my character in his wooly form (wait until she finds out that he’s part human). As it turns out, the Univir were in need of some help. I did a couple of fetch quests for them, and then I discovered that a massive fossilized creature was threatening their land. I decided to take the monster down, but I failed the first few times. I did some more level grinding along with Rush, and after a few days, we were ready to take the beast down.

The Univir Are Safe

I defeated the monster of Sol Terrano with a little help from Rush, and I went back to talk to the Univir. They were grateful for my help, and they tried to convince me to stay in their settlement. Though I had to return to Sharance, I appreciated the offer and headed back home. After all, that’s where Raven is, and she’s not going to court herself!