Rune Factory 4 is divided into three arcs. Every time you finish one arc, you fight a boss, the credits roll, music plays and you’re deposited back in town to enjoy the love and adulation of your fellow villagers until the next crisis arises.
There was clearly unfinished business left at the end of the first arc, but the second arc is a full, complete experience. I don’t know if I want to keep playing after this or just call it a day while I’m still feeling good. Help yourself to some spoilers while I figure things out:
It turns out the “last” boss was some random old dude named Ethelberd who just wanted to be a dragon. Yeah, we all have our fantasies, but that didn’t work out too well for those who tried it in 7th Dragon 2020. Just FYI. And it didn’t work out too well for Ethelberd either, I made sure of that.
When I finally cornered him and started asking questions, he went on and on about how much he hated Frey and how badly he wanted to be immortal, blah blah blah. Apparently he had a grudge against Frey and other “Earthmates” like her because they defeated him a long time ago…? Eh? Is this about the time I foiled the Sechs invasion attack back in Rune Factory 1? I’m sorry, I’ve killed so many. For me, it was Tuesday.
NO U
Still, he wasn’t about to back down, so I had to do what I had to do. You’d think one ass-whooping would be enough for a lifetime, but you know how greedy some people are. Don’t worry Ethel-baby, Auntie will take good care of you. Come over here for a sec… *POW!* *SMACK!* *KA-POW!* And then Ethelberd was a Runey.
Aaaah, that was fun, I thought. 55 hours is a nice good length. What should I play next? Eh? There’s more? You want me to go save Ventuswill? Eh? But you don’t want to trigger the arc that will let me save her? Eh? You want me to keep playing forever until it maybe triggers by itself? Ehhhhh?
So as I said at the start, I don’t know if I want to do that. I don’t know if I want to keep dating Arthur and get married either. I was thinking of playing through till the end of winter to get the full year experience, but now I dunno about that either. I turned the portraits and voices back on and that really helps with getting to know the characters but it’s not enough to make me want to keep going. The guys are still pretty boring. The only ones I kinda wanna date are Volkanon and Porcoline and whaddya know, they’re not available. That’s ageism and sizeism, Japan. They’re not old and fat, they’re “mature” and “full-bodied”!
Porcoline especially is just a cutie-pie, he makes me laugh so much. ^_^ He has great chemistry with Frey and he’s always “jokingly” asking her out. His advances are always treated as repulsive, but why don’t you let me decide that for a change? I mean, look at the size of the rings on those fingers! He has a huge house and a thriving business and he makes a mean omelette to boot! What’s not to like? You want to me to date a bunch of freeloaders and high school kids instead? Haa…
As for Volkanon I don’t have any special feelings for him. I just want to see him blush >:-D And hear his confession :DDDD And to see him in a wedding tuxedo XDDDD And that’s all there is to it. It’s not because I’m closer to his age than to any of the younger guys or anything like that. Anyone who suggests such a thing will be shot.
Okay, I’ve decided. I’ll play RF4 till the end of the first year or until the end of the third arc, whichever one comes first. Don’t get me wrong, this game is still all kinds of fun, but there are other games I want to play as well. I can’t spend all April waiting for an event that might never trigger. I’ll google around about the last arc and work on marrying Arthur (meh) for the next couple of hours and see what turns up. See you next time for the final rundown!
Hah, there is always a blacksmith or shop keeper or such in these games who I’d love to date, but he’s just an old* guy NPC Japan just couldn’t imagine you’d be into.
*by JRPG-Standards, which mean’s probably between 35 and 40.
35-40 is decrepit. Even 25 is old in certain RPGs. Stocke in Radiant Historia is only 19 and he’s treated like a war vet of 20 different wars. His friend Rosch is 21 years old and looks like this:
Hi, I wasnt sure if you would see this on the other review so I was wondering if you know if the benches in shepherds crossing 2 can be moved tpo the outside.
It’s been a while since I played it and I don’t remember trying to move them. My memory says the food jars and the benches can’t be picked up or moved. It’s worth a try though. If the game allows you to pick it up then it can be moved outside safely.