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09 Jul, 2010
Rune Factory Frontier - Way Better than Harvest Moon!
1 of 1 found this helpful I had been a long-time fan of the Harvest Moon series ever since the Super Nintendo days. Over the past few years, it seems that the newer Harvest Moon games had grown stale - a redoing of the same formula without many new features. I had played the original Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon for Nintendo DS, but it didn't have a great affect on me.
I decided to try Rune Factory Frontier. I figured it would be a decent game bringing some new challenges to the old Harvest Moon formula. After playing an hour, I knew I was hooked. The old Harvest Moon charm that I had become disappointingly used to was totally revamped. This was much more than a Harvest Moon.
Perhaps my favorite new feature is the forging. In past Harvest Moon games, the player would mine for ore to take to a blacksmith to upgrade tools. In Rune Factory Frontier, YOU do the forging. It's not as easy as before - you must find multiple items and have a certain skill level to forge certain tools. Yeah, make it difficult!
The dungeons are great. You can wield a sword (and eventually start forging your own weapons!) to explore the dungeons that become progressively more difficult. These dungeons require lots of practice and grinding - they aren't sissy dungeons!
What is great about this game is that you aren't required to do any one thing. You don't HAVE to explore the dungeon constantly. You can work on your garden, choose a girl to marry, or whatever floats your boat. As far as I know, the game doesn't truly end, so there is no rush to complete the main story.
The presentation of the game of wonderful. The graphics are lovely. The visuals of nature are very nice and change beautifully with the seasons. The music works very well with the mood of the game. On the farm, the music is very relaxing and calm, while in the dungeons it is more suspenseful and creepy.
As mentioned before, there's so much to do. Let's just say I have logged about 45 hours on this game, and I feel like I'm only halfway through (although I am a perfectionist and try to do everything).
I have to say this is my favorite of any of the Harvest Moon games, and that's coming from a Harvest Moon veteran whose played since Harvest Moon for Super Nintendo. This game is superb! Anyone, whether a casual gamer or hardcore gamer, should give this game a chance!
Rating: EXCELLENT
- jareds789 -
22 Jun, 2011
Tony Hawk's 9th game is fun, difficult, and worth a shot.
I really enjoyed Tony Hawk's Proving Ground! As a casual/hardcore gamer for 15+ years, I'd say this game is one of my biggest challenges I've ever had. First time Tony Hawk players may have difficulty with the "Amateur" level, but it becomes brutal at the "Sick" level.
This installment has all the same controls of the classic Tony Hawk Pro Skater series plus more controls and new tricks. The game physics are somewhat fantasy-based and fake, which allows for some impossible stunts.
Comparing Proving Ground to EA Games' Skate series, this game isn't as realistic, which is what I personally like about it the most. Some parts can be extremely difficult, taking advantage of the off-the-wall, impossible-to-do-in-real-life physics. Though when I play Skate, I feel the physics are TOO realistic. Another thing, I've found a few bugs in Proving Ground which are at times hard to get around, but still playable.
The story mode is a nice non-linear, choose what you want do mode. You are given multiple tasks to complete, though you can choose them anytime or just free skate. The street challenges provide some nice (and rather difficult) side-challenges to complete between story mode missions. You have the ability to rig skate ramps, rails, quarter pipes, and a huge variety of other things in the middle of the story mode, giving you lots of room for creativity. You can even rig or mod to help in the missions! Even then, this game is no cakewalk if you want to 100%. Let me say once again, this game can be DIFFICULT.
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground has been overlooked and underrated since Skate appeared on the scene. Proving Ground is the 9th Tony Hawk game in the series, which most likely lost hype after so many installments. Skate, being something new and different, picked up the fame that this game could have had. If you want a more classic fantasy skater, try Proving Ground. If you prefer a more realistic skater, check out one of EA's Skate games.