Topic: Animal Crossing & Rune Factory etc...

My recent foray into gaming has been brought on by illness and shortly I will be heading off to hospital for a while. I'm not trying to be cheeky or superior in anyway but it's a private hospital and they have said they no objection to me bringing my Wii U or 3DS. The only reason I mention this is because I'm not sure if this is normally allowed?

However I doubt I'll have the capacity for the Wii U and it's better at home where it's safe anyway. So I've decided to take my 3DS and some games. I will be in hospital for some time and it now seems likely even over Christmas unfortunately as my condition has worsened.

The games I have so far include "Kirby: Triple Deluxe" (2014) "New Super Mario Bros" (2006) "New Super Mario Bros: 2" (2012) "Super Mario 3D Land" (2011) "Yoshi's Island DS" (2006) "Yoshi's New Island" (2014) "Kid Icarus: Uprising" (2012) and "Shovel Knight" (2014).

I know I have plenty of games there but most of my day will be spent on the 3DS as my Boyfriend will have to work most days and my family can't always come to visit. I am interested in the "Animal Crossing" games mostly due to the fact that they are cute and I've had great successes with "The Villager" in Smash. I included "Rune Factory" maybe even "Harvest Moon" because I think the games are similar in terms of gameplay but I could be wrong?

I'm thinking of getting "New Leaf" I've read about it online and watched videos on YouTube. I know what you do but I still don't know exactly what you do, what your goal is is it just a time sink? Please enlighten me thank you for your time and thank you for reading.

Best Wishes,

Edie x

Those are all very good games you have listed there, you should definitely take them with you. I would always recommend Rune Factory because it combines RPG elements with Harvest Moon farming and socialising elements so well. That's not to say that having a Harvest Moon with you wouldn't be just a good. It usually has a better farming mechanic and if you don't want to fight and concentrate on farming and socialising, you can always take that instead. Or both. Having the choice is always good, and they are both games to sink more than 50 hrs into.

As for New Leaf, it doesn't really have a goal beyond that which you set yourself. You're the new mayor so you are tasked with helping build up the town (which requires loads of money, planting trees and flowers etc.). Then you go on to collect everything from fish to bugs to fossils and much more for the museum or to sell them, decorate and expand your home, make friends with the people in your town and do things for them, make clothes, take part in town events/holidays, meet guest characters every now and then etc. There's really a lot to do in New Leaf but it's not for everyone as, like I said, there's no real goal to speak of. But it's a game you can play at your own pace and relax while doing so. I usually have an Animal Crossing craving every once a year where I'll play it for a month or two, then let it sit for while, then come back to it.

I'd also recommend Fantasy Life, don't know if you've heard of it? It's similar to Rune Factory with basic RPG elements and you can take on several jobs like hunter or cook or angler, there are 12 in general. It's got a nice story, too, and is a huge time sink as its very addicting to collect stuff, fight monsters, make your own weapons etc. and it's not too difficult. I love it very much.

All in all, I think these games will get you through hospitalisation. Still, don't forget a book or two and some music. And I hope you get well soon.

you will absoloutley love animal crossing new leaf. it is best for this time of the year!
fantasy life is also very good.

maybe you want some more action games? resident evil revelations is amazing! (if you are into that)

hope you get well soon !

Out of the ones you're interested in, Rune Factory would be my recommendation to you, easily. That said, Animal Crossing might be the better choice for your situation, since you seem to imply that you won't have many visitors, and even though they're not real, the other inhabitants in Animal Crossing will be very nice company to make your days a bit brighter.

Hang in there, Edie! I'll send you my strength! ^_^ raises arms

I'd say Rune Factory 4...and no not just because I'm posing as a RF4 character. lol
...I dunno about everyone else, but Animal Crossing has ran stale for me. :c

The huge disadvantage of Animal Crossing is that you can only do so much each day since the game runs in real time. The first 5 days or so will be really slow too. Rune Factory 4 you can play all day however (and I might have done that before) because you start the next day by going to bed in game. I assume the same will be for Fantasy Life and Harvest Moon. I can recommend Rune Factory 4 with the asterisk that it takes a long time to get X, whether it be reaching a certain point in the story, getting an event to happen, or just getting a character to like you more.

I guess that depends on the person, I'm still playing AC daily since it came out (did take a small break to play Fantasy Life though). RF4 isn't out here yet, so I can't compare between the two.

The game's only flaw...yeah, the story requires certain events to happen to complete it fully...and events happen at random.

I've played all of these series and they're good time passers.

Animal Crossing (Like Master Wario said) is great, but it's held back because time moves at a set pace, and you can do your days work in about an hour or so, after that, there's not really much point in booting the game until the next day. But it's a rather solid way of having a game that has something new to do everyday, if you don't mind somewhat repetitive tasks, which I guess you don't, considering you're mentioning HM and RF as well.

HM is all about interaction with the villagers in reality, similar to AC. Your goal is ultimately to run a farm and get enough money to upgrade your house and marry a guy/girl. I'm not familiar with the 3DS entries, although I hear "A New Beginning" is a solid entry in the series for the 3DS. Much like AC you'll be doing the same tasks everyday, except in HM/RF you control the pace of the game, as it isn't based on your 3DS's internal clock, so you can skip ahead to the next day when you're done. Also HM/RF characters tend to have deeper backstories than AC characters, and you might actually care about them.

RF is a spin-off of HM, but as has been said before, it features RPG/Combat elements, requiring you to defeat monsters in dungeons in order to gain skills and items. It also contains the farming and marriage elements of HM. Because HM can get a bit tiresome after a while, I really love the RF games, as they give you all the content of a HM game, and then add a little bit more to do with your time. RF4 was cancelled in Europe unfortunately, but a publisher recently announced they'd be releasing it at a later date as a digital only release. RF1/2/3 are all on the DS and will work on your 3DS, I'm not sure which is the best, as I've only played the 1st one, you'd need to ask someone with more experience with the portable entries in the RF series.

From my experience, NHS hospitals allow portable games consoles in them (at least in some wards), I doubt they would allow a home console like a Wii U however.

Thank you all for taking the time to comment and in such depth I have had a rough day and I'm very tired. I will be heading off to bed now, however I didn't want to go without acknowledging the fact you had replied to the thread. I will reply properly in the morning when I'm not as tired thank you again.

Best Wishes,

Edie x

Good luck with everything! I hope all goes well!

Animal Crossing will definitely eat some time, and it's a nice, "uplifting" sort of game to play if things in life aren't the most spectacular. Harvest Moon also fits in that category, though I don't have much experience with the most recent entries in the series.

Just a quick update I'm going into hospital on the 11th and I've picked up Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I want to get Rune Factory 4 but I've read that it comes to the eShop on the 11th so I'm not sure if I can download it before I go or not. I appreciate your help your help and good wishes and as it's December I hope everyone has a merry Christmas and happy new year.

Best Wishes,

Edie x

Indeed, RF4 won't be released until around 2PM UK time on the 11th most likely.

Hope everything goes well for you.

@Jenraux Thank you very much it means a lot you took the time to say that. ^_^