19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good guide but with one flaw, October 3, 2007
This review is from: Rune Factory: A Harvest Moon Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Paperback)
First let me say that I had second thoughts about getting this guide, however I took a chance and, with one exception, I'm glad I did.
The good:
-Great introduction for new players to the HM series.
-Very good 'catalog', lists every item in the game.
--For weapons, farm tools (which can also be used as weapons), shields and accesories, it gives all the items stats, bonuses, etc.
--For seeds, it lists all the growth times (when they can be grown, how long they take to grow, etc.)
--For recipes, it lists all the ingredients you need to make them, and what levels are good to start making them.
--For potions, medicines, herbs, etc. it lists there effect and where they can be found.
--Plus a complete list of all monsters, their total HP, strengths, weaknesses and there use on the farm (or in combat).
-Very good character guide, with complete (and so far what I've found to be acurate) schedules for every character.
-Complete 'wedding bells' guide, lists all potential brides, their likes, dislikes, requirements for marriage and their complete schedule.
-Great boss strategies.
-And last but not least, a complete walkthrough of the entire game, including the best times to upgrade tools, what monsters are best to catch, the best time to make big purchases (such as house upgrades) and some great money making tips.
And the bad:
The cave maps. This is my only complaint with this guide. The maps themselves are fairly good (though they can sometimes be confusing) it's there location in the guide that gets me. I always like to compare maps with walkthroughs, I do in every guide. However in this guide, all the maps are in a different section than the walkthrough. Meaning if you, like me, like to compare them with the walkthrough, you'll be doing a lot of page-flipping.
Overall, I would reccomend this guide to anyone who might have any questions about this game.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
What I would expect from a strategy, but not anything more., January 13, 2008
This review is from: Rune Factory: A Harvest Moon Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Paperback)
First of all, I must say, the recipe list, and item info guide in the back of this manual are probably the most valuable part, I'd probably get it just for that (in fact that was mostly why I got it.)
The walk-through, however makes several bad presumptions, all based around one: You want to get through the game as fast as possible. I don't know how many gamers use this method to play RPGs, but I don't. I prefer to get everything the first time around, and then go for speed the second or third time, if I feel up to it.
When a game is written so that you can play it any way you want, I don't see why the guide has to be so linear.
That said, there is a lot of useful information in the walk-through, and it tries and avoids giving too many spoilers (although, like any guide, there are a few.)
it's guide to the various potential brides is also fairly nice, but it seems to be lacking what they completely dislike, not just what they like. It also is missing the well known "harvest festival favorite" an item which only is of benefit on the harvest festival.
They also didn't list what all the various other characters like, just the ones that befriending will grant you after-hours access to certain areas.
Still it is what you would expect from a guide. I've seen better guides, for some games, but then again, it's pretty hard to cover a non-linear game like Rune Factory with a guide, and this guide does have a wealth of information that would take you months of play to jot down on your own.
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