Rune factory 3 import help!

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Ninjam wrote on 2012-10-04 03:04

I was looking to buy some Japanese native materials to help me study more, as I have been studying for 2 months and managed to get myself into a class and private tutoring at my school, so I think having them would help a lot. Having a huge interest in video games, and loving harvest moon and hearing about rune factory, I decided that would be a good game to import, considering regular ds games are region-free from the best of my knowledge.

So, 2 questions. Is this hugely overpriced for an imported game?
http://www.yesasia.com/us/rune-factory-3-japan-version/1021063180-0-0-0-en/info.html

and will it run on my dsi? From what i remember, dsi can play regular ds games but not dsi enhanced ones.

Also to anyone who has played it, how is its gameplay? I heard its like ff and harvest moon combined.
Blassreiter wrote on 2012-10-04 03:25

I have a question first:

Did you play Rune Factory 1 and 2? If not I recommend playing those first, 1 then 2, otherwise you might lose interest in these two games if you start 3 first. The game play IMO gets better from 1 to 3, so if you start with 3 you might get too used to 3's faster and higher quality game play style so then you might get annoyed with RF1/2's slower and restricted style. That's just me saying it. It's not always the case, also you'll miss out on some story.

As for the price $62.99, that seems about right I would say. The Japanese Amazon sells RF3 at stock price about ï¿¥4272 which is approximately $54.50 USD. So basically you're paying about $10 for the import, and if there's shipping then that's another $5 or so. More or less you're spending an extra $20.

If possible you should try to look for Japanese books/games stores because most of the time it's cheaper in stores than online.
Ninjam wrote on 2012-10-04 03:38

Ah, the story is continous throughout all 3 games? I have not played any of the rune factory games but heard that 3 was the best, and assuming they were like harvest moon games where the story is different every time I choose the 3rd. I will try to look up the 1st if I can.

I'm not living in japan at the moment, and there are no japanese stores near here, though my cousin says he saw some up in Seattle.

This game also caught my eye-
http://www.yesasia.com/us/the-sagasou-fushigina-konchuu-no-mori-japan-version/1004795769-0-0-0-en/info.html

and because its so much cheaper I could get this and order the english version of rune factory off amazon for 20$ or so, and still have 20$ left over for a book or 2 manga or something in Japanese.

The only problem is I don't know if this game is any good or not, it looks interesting but i'm not sure. I think ill see if there is a err free trial available online before I buy it.
-Never mind, got a bit into the game and the graphics turned me off, nice looking cutscene in the begging, but graphics very reminiscent of a game boy advanced game right after the cutscene, which, while not necessarily bad, put a huge contrast in art styles between the cutscene and actual gameplay. Im going with rune factory 1, or if I can not find it, 2 or 3.
Rin wrote on 2012-10-04 14:15

In-game 3D models against 2D backgrounds in a DS game does seem off putting to some people.

I definitely recommend at least RF1, as I feel it has the most memorable cast of characters for the DS series. You don't exactly need to play RF1 to not get lost in the stories of RF2 and RF3, but it's useful for nostalgia when playing the Wii game, Rune Factory: Frontier.

... Which I also heartily recommend, if you have the Wii. My opinion is that it's the pinnacle of the series (and Harvest Moon in general). Just remember you do need a JP Wii, as the Wii is region-locked (unless you cracked that).
Hazeri wrote on 2012-10-04 20:25

Quote from Ninjam;959108:
Ah, the story is continous throughout all 3 games? I have not played any of the rune factory games but heard that 3 was the best, and assuming they were like harvest moon games where the story is different every time I choose the 3rd. I will try to look up the 1st if I can.

I'm not living in japan at the moment, and there are no japanese stores near here, though my cousin says he saw some up in Seattle.

This game also caught my eye-
http://www.yesasia.com/us/the-sagasou-fushigina-konchuu-no-mori-japan-version/1004795769-0-0-0-en/info.html

and because its so much cheaper I could get this and order the english version of rune factory off amazon for 20$ or so, and still have 20$ left over for a book or 2 manga or something in Japanese.

The only problem is I don't know if this game is any good or not, it looks interesting but i'm not sure. I think ill see if there is a err free trial available online before I buy it.
-Never mind, got a bit into the game and the graphics turned me off, nice looking cutscene in the begging, but graphics very reminiscent of a game boy advanced game right after the cutscene, which, while not necessarily bad, put a huge contrast in art styles between the cutscene and actual gameplay. Im going with rune factory 1, or if I can not find it, 2 or 3.

No, no no no. RF3 isn't connected to 1 and 2.
The thing is, the series mechanics have evolved since the first iteration, and if you where to start on 3, going back to 1's outdated mechanics and 2's horrible dub (and marriage shenanigans) would be off putting. These games aren't sequential at all, although, there's a couple of cameos here and there throughout every title.