Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (Nintendo DS, 2007)

I'll admit that I was a tiny bit skeptic about adding fighting to a harvest moon game. I thought that maybe the game developers would focus to much on the fighting system and not enough on the things that make a harvest moon game a harvest moon game. But I was wrong, Harvest Moon Rune Factory is undoubtedly one of the best harvest moon games to date, if not the best! The graphics are a large improvement over the sub par graphics of the other harvest moon games for handheld systems. Here's some of the cool new things they added to Rune Factory. Once you upgrade your house you can forge your own tools, weapons, food, and accesories, you can also get a kitchen. The way to cook in this harvest moon game is highly improved from all the other Harvest Moon Games. Knowing how to make medicine, weapons, and food is very simple because you can view the recipe while making whatever it is your making. Also new to harvest moon is the introduction of a strong plot that unravels when you make progress, but the story line does not make the game linear in any way. As you may have heard you must tame monsters instead of buying animals. You aren't restricted to taming cows, sheep, and chickens, but you can tame any monster (except for bosses of course) and make it your pet. Any monster can fight with you as you explore the one of the eight caves Carmite, Toros, Clemens, Mt. Gigant, Misty Bloom, Kasmir, Dannan, and Greed. Also some monsters can water fields and harvest crops for you. Overall this game ands a great new spin to the Harvest Moon games but still holds true to its farming roots (ha I think I made a pun...) Rune Factory has way more than what I've said here so if you have a DS buy this game!