Neverland

Review Rune Factory 3 Special (Switch) - The Same Great Farm Sim/RPG, Though 'Special' Is A Stretch

Another day of sun

Being a Rune Factory fan has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the past several years. After Rune Factory 4 launched in 2013, the games went on hiatus for nearly a decade, with the fate of the series itself being pretty up in the air for most of that wait. Against all odds, and after a change in development teams and rights...

• Tue 5th Sep 2023
• Reviews
• Nintendo Switch

Review Rune Factory 4 Special (Switch) - The Definitive Version Of A Series Classic

"You're always welcome here"

The Harvest Moon series made quite a name for itself when it first released on the SNES in 1996, trading the typical combat-centric trappings of an RPG in favour of a much more laid-back and slower-paced focused on farming. Many sequels would follow in the coming years, and on the tenth anniversary, Marvelous produced an...

• Thu 27th Feb 2020
• Reviews
• Nintendo Switch
• Rune Factory

Review Lufia: The Legend Returns (3DS eShop / GBC)

The legend isn't feeling so good

Young Wain is the protector of his small village; it’s not a tough gig, with just the occasional blob-creature to slash on the outskirts, but things are about to change. As a spiritual force awakens inside him, the powerful Sinistrels re-emerge to release a threat of “unseen terror on the land”. His bloodline...

• Sat 22nd Nov 2014
• 3DS eShop
• Reviews
• Lufia
• Game Boy Color
• Retro

Review Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS)

Farm-assured prime cut

Thanks to Rising Star Games, gamers in Europe have finally caught up on the Rune Factory series — until Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny launches on Wii in North America next week, that is. Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon on DS is the third and so far final portable instalment in the Harvest Moon spin-off, and the...

• Wed 5th Oct 2011
• DS
• Reviews
• Retro

Review Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals (DS)

A brilliant retelling of a classic RPG

When the original Lufia 2 was released on the Super Nintendo, it came rather late in the console's lifespan and with very little fanfare. Sadly, this meant that many gamers missed out on one of the true RPG gems to come out of the 16-bit era. Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals is a complete re-imagining of Lufia 2,...

• Sun 31st Oct 2010
• DS
• Reviews
• Retro

Review Rune Factory: Frontier (Wii)

Everyone could use a good plough

If there’s one thing guaranteed to liven up a good hack-and-slash dungeon crawler, it’s a bit of farming. There’s many a Zelda game that could have been saved with a bit of ploughing, yet the combination has been mostly ignored by cultivators of digital goods, with only the snack-sized Rune Factory on DS...

• Fri 9th Apr 2010
• Wii
• Reviews
• Retro