Rune Factory: Frontier

Kombo’s Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don’t waste your time. This is why we’ve split our reviews into four sections: What the Game’s About, What’s Hot, What’s Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game’s About
Rune Factory: Frontier is a Harvest Moon game in disguise. Amongst a more futuristic setting and theme, you raise a farm and adventure through dungeons. If you have played the first Rune Factory game, Frontier picks up right where the first game left off. If you didn’t play the first game, don’t worry about it; you can pick it up and not be left wondering what happened.

What’s Hot
Frontier is a handsome game to look at. The overall style is reminiscent of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles for the GameCube. The futuristic gothic look goes over very well for this title and the mythos you delve into as you progress further. There is a country charm to the farm you homestead and the characters you interact with add spice to the world that could have been void of personality.

Wii games have been getting railed against because they are shallow in the gameplay department. Not the case with Frontier. You’ll be hit over the head with so many things to do and accomplish, you might not know what to do with yourself. The game will take you from agrarian beginnings and you’ll work your way into being a hero of sorts if you want to adventure through some dungeons. Gameplay this expansive is something that is a real treat to see on the Wii and is welcome with open arms. There will be a lot of content you can play and explore during your time with the game. A game like Frontier never really “ends,” since you can continually keep your farm running and be very successful at it.

Frontier is a hardcore gamer’s Animal Crossing. There isn’t a Mr. Resetti in sight, and you can do whatever you wish. With combat added to Frontier, it gives the open gameplay more teeth to satisfy gamers looking for a side of action with their farming chores. It’s like playing a one person MMO. The Wii hasn’t seen an RPG this good yet.

What’s Not
The chief problem with Frontier is that getting the most from it takes a lot of patience. From the beginning of the game, you don’t have much to your name and building a successful farm takes a lot of repetitive work. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from raising animals and growing crops, but that delayed gratification might take its toll on gamers looking for more immediate action.

If you fall into the instant gratification category, Frontier will be a bore. The main task is to start and run a farm. Wrapping your head around that takes a special kind of gamer, even more so if you want to enjoy the game. Some of the boring parts are mitigated by the dungeon areas so Frontier isn’t too much of a passive game. It would have helped if there would have been a tutorial of sorts to ease you into the gameplay to make digesting the information needed to run a virtual farm a little smoother.

The motion controls for Frontier aren’t thoughtfully integrated with the overall scheme of the game. What can be accomplished just as easily with a button press, you can clumsily perform with a motion. Why developers feel the need to add motion controls when there really isn’t a need isn’t a bad thing, just a part that could have been used for something potentially more worthwhile.

Final Word
In terms of content and things to do, Frontier is a slam dunk. If gamers who haven’t tried a Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game before go into this experience with an open mind, they’ll likely be in amazement of all the things offered in Frontier. Gamers who have played a game like this before are going to immediately fall in love with everything about the game. Frontier is certainly on the right path and fill a need that hardcore Wii gamers have been craving. Don’t miss the chance to explore Frontier because when you do, you won’t be looking back.