I was invited to attend a conference call with other writers to speak with Natsume’s Vice President of Operations, Graham Markay. Although the call was mostly focused on the soon to be released Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny, it also drifted to other subjects. Here’s a rundown of what was discussed:
Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny discussion
- Request system is back (previously in Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon)
- No lead platform per say, however originally for Wii (not PS3)
- No Classic Controller support
- Main story is robust and will be approximately 60 hours
- About 20 “permanent” islands, more uncovered with Ymir, a golem you control
- More suitors for males than females
- Story revolves Aden and Sonja being stuck in one body
- You start in the body of Aden, but Sonja can make comments on what you are and aren’t doing
- In order to play as Sonja, you need to figure out why they’re stuck in one body
- Festivals will be present, but not as many as in the Nintendo DS version
- Both PS3 and Wii versions were localized at the same time, started approximately in April/May and went gold officially today September 22nd
- Less focus on the social aspect of the game and more focused on the mythical/battle gameplay
- Not as complex in farming, however crops will still produce Rune Points
- Story and battles more complex
- Thousands of voice actor lines, English only, no Japanese option
- Nothing as whacky as “Opposite Girl,” but still some crazy characters in the game
- Two types of quest, side quests and main story
- Side quests may be fetch quests, but also ones that will promote exploring
- Once the main story finishes, you can still play the game, which is where the split comes in and the game goes from linear to non-linear
- To travel approximately 1/5 of the map can take half a day in game time
- Tutorials are detailed and beginning is full of information, but they’ve tried not to make them long to be both appealing to veterans and new comers
- $39.99 for the Wii version, $49.99 for PS3
Other topics
- Natsume aims at niche markets mostly but will also aim for mass market, expecting niche
- Trying to really separate Harvest Moon out from the Rune Factory franchise
- Have been looking at PSVita
- Natsume’s new online store opened in September
- Store is already sold out of Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns pre-orders, no more expected for store due to allocation
- Store is a learning process for the company
- Online store may have exclusive products, but if retailers want a piece of the action, they’ll bring it to them as well
- Pre-order bonuses are sent to Canada, but with a smaller allocation to coincide with smaller unit sales as compared to the US
- Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove 3D is up for pre-order on the online store
