I already made a sizeable review of the original DS release, which you can view here. So I’m not going to repeat myself, and instead evaluate this game as a re-release of that game. Overall, I think it’s good enough, but could’ve been better. Not gonna lie, there are some missed opportunities to introduce more quality of life changes. But anyway, let me list the changes this game brings (or lack thereof).
First, let’s talk the positives. The performance has been improved, which is one of the more obvious improvements. The original DS version struggled to maintain a consistent framerate around enemies/NPCs or other stuff, but modern PCs and Nintendo Switch are more capable of handling the load. The graphics are also obviously better. Rune Factory 4 Special also had “better” graphics, but that was more from a technical standpoint, as artistically they were mostly just "AI" upscales, which didn’t always look very good. Rune Factory 3 Special makes an actual effort of turning upscales into something far more appealing. Maybe it’s because the difference between DS and 3DS graphics is big, so simply upscaling DS assets wouldn’t cut it. The models are new and look quite good. I think the monster designs in particular come from 3D Rune Factory games (like the recent Rune Factory 5). Only backgrounds feel like they didn’t receive the same treatment. But I applaud the devs for taking the criticism of Rune Factory 4 Special’s graphics and gave Rune Factory 3 a nice visual overhaul. Other obvious changes include the ability to use more than 2 save slots and toggle for text and voice languages, which is a feature since aforementioned Rune Factory 4 Special.
Then there are a couple of QOL changes. First, the dashing ability is now a separate button instead of double-tapping the direction, which is FAR more convenient. Second, you can skip crafting animations, which speeds up the process significantly, especially if you’re someone who likes to fail a lot to try and craft a 10% chance item. Third, the amount of space for upgraded fridge/material box has been significantly expanded. Great for item hoarders. Then there are additions that the last “Special” release introduced – Hell difficulty, which, as it sounds, is hell (maybe, I didn’t try it, and honestly, I think on normal the game is harder than I remember). Another Episode mode which is a bunch of narrated stories for each bachelorette and is a separate DLC. And then the newlywed mode, which is also a bunch of new stories for each marriage candidate, but with its own objectives to complete. Just like with Rune Factory 4 Special, the main characters use live 2D, and I still think they look kind of jarring, maybe because I’m used to looking at static sprites and now they’re moving, it’s kind of… uncanny. But maybe it’s just me. There’s also an imbalance in what you do in these stories. For instance, in Carmen’s story, you are tasked to catch a bunch of fish, but more importantly, one Sun Squid, and it was a real pain in the ass to catch. You’re given 3 in-game days to do these. While in Shara’s story, all you do is basically follow the quest marker to find an elusive Golden flower something. You’re given 16 days of time limit. This is not challenging in the slightest, and I highly doubt people play these stories as an excuse to play standard Rune Factory 3 fare.
Of course, with the good comes the bad, as this significant subsequent rerelease isn’t quite perfect. First, let’s start with the OK – the english voice acting and script are different from the DS original, which is understandable, since that version was published by Natsume, and XSEED has since taken upon themselves to publish later entries. The copyright issues are inevitable, and who knows if the original English voice work is somewhere in Natsume’s basement. Besides, I heard that the original had some mistakes in its translation, which isn’t very surprising, considering how sloppy Rune Factory 2 (and most likely the original Rune Factory for that matter) tended to be in the English script (typos and actual errors like forgetting a line break). I can’t really comment on how the new translation stacks up against that, I know little Japanese. What I can do is compare voice lines. Honestly, some of the new voice lines tend to lack the exaggerated emotion that the originals had. But I dunno, maybe I’m just being a little nostalgic to the old voice work and think its charming in its own way. I think the new voice actors did an adequate enough job, not much to say. Of course, you can switch the VO to Japanese if you want to know what the originals sounded like. Or don't, I'm not you.
But finally, let’s move onto actually bad stuff. Even though this version does introduce a few improvements, I think it missed a lot of opportunity to add more quality of life improvements. Rune Factory 4 Special and Rune Factory 5 are on the same platforms, and released a little earlier, so it’s jarring when you go to this brand "new" game and you see the backward mechanical progression. For instance, Rune Factory 4 Special had a dedicated button for escape spell, which can be used to, well, escape the dungeon and teleport back home easily. Of course, it can be argued that the 3DS version had it on the touch screen, and for platforms that lacked it (while you can use it on Nintendo Switch's touch screen, you couldn’t in docked mode), they had to map it to a button, but c’mon, nobody would’ve complained if you retrofitted that in. But, the most obvious missed opportunity to me is the lack of analog movement. You’re still locked to a D-pad movement scheme, even when using a stick. The thing is, the original DID have an analog input… If you used the touch screen. I doubt you did, but it was an option. Why didn’t the devs map that touch screen movement onto a stick? Even if the DS version didn’t have that, it’s such a no-brainer change, it’s baffling why it’s not implemented. Again, it’s very jarring going from recent Rune Factory games on the same platforms, that released just a little earlier to a decade-and-a-half-old control scheme. It also doesn’t fix the slippery movement, as you don’t instantly stop & carry a little bit of moment, which feels clunky (and I had to re-adapt again after not playing Rune Factory 3 in a while).
There are more missed opportunities I can list. Like how instantly stashing an item with the R button doesn’t automatically add it to an existing stack that isn’t full, taking its own slot, which is then fixed by pressing minus button (with a Nintendo Switch control scheme) to sort everything. Or how the game doesn’t tell you what items you haven’t shipped, which was introduced in its immediate sequel (would help those looking for 100% completion). Y’know, little stuff that would smooth out the gameplay and make it feel more modern? Lastly, the Swimsuit DLC. What was originally a pre-order bonus for Rune Factory 4 Special’s Switch release, this DLC isn’t particularly enticing on its own and is clearly very fan-service-y, it added a toggle to make all characters that had a swimsuit outfit wear that until the toggle was off. However, fans haven’t been served for a while since Neverland went bankrupt, so it was relatively inoffensive and was still kind of a neat bonus to sweeten the deal. Now it’s a $10 offer on top with Digital Deluxe Edition, it’s not a separate DLC, it’s just game + this. I think it’s legitimately overpriced – it should’ve been a preorder bonus like before. Are you actually going to pay 10 extra dollars for something so minor?? Freak. Also, I noticed that the credits don’t include original DS version’s staff, which is pretty lame. Apparently this game isn’t developed by Hakama, the new team behind Rune Factory 4 Special and Rune Factory 5 that includes some of the former staff (including the series producer). That might explain the faithfulness, but idk. Just throwing this out there.
With all that said, how would I evaluate this game? As a re-release, I think I would give it a 4 out of 5. It’s a fine and accessible way to play the game which does bring in some improvements and new content, but I wish the devs rocked the boat a little more, I think it’s faithful to a fault. It doesn’t really have any other issues besides missing opportunities, it doesn’t riddle an existing product with more issues for instance (oh, hello there, Half-Life: Source). I don't think Rune Factory 3 Special is quite as "Special" as 4, although I think that was mainly because it was simply a return of the series that made it special. As a game however… I gave it the score you probably already saw: 4.5/5. I do think, on its own, Rune Factory 3 Special is a great game. It’s still the same engaging game with a colorful cast of characters and hilarious writing, it’s the same game that introduced fast-paced gameplay compared to the DS predecessors. I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the original DS game, maybe because I was a little disappointed by the lack of changes and that it doesn’t stack up well to the modern RF games. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed myself quite a bit. I would still recommend Rune Factory 4 like most fans, but you can’t really go wrong with this one. It’s fun, quirky, and just a good time.
That being said though, I really hope the inevitable Rune Factory 2 Special and Rune Factory Special games will receive better mechanical treatment, the originals are even more clunky and not as fast paced, which will make them stand out even more. There’s nothing inherently wrong with being faithful, but I think there should be some restraint in that regard… fingers crossed!
First, let’s talk the positives. The performance has been improved, which is one of the more obvious improvements. The original DS version struggled to maintain a consistent framerate around enemies/NPCs or other stuff, but modern PCs and Nintendo Switch are more capable of handling the load. The graphics are also obviously better. Rune Factory 4 Special also had “better” graphics, but that was more from a technical standpoint, as artistically they were mostly just "AI" upscales, which didn’t always look very good. Rune Factory 3 Special makes an actual effort of turning upscales into something far more appealing. Maybe it’s because the difference between DS and 3DS graphics is big, so simply upscaling DS assets wouldn’t cut it. The models are new and look quite good. I think the monster designs in particular come from 3D Rune Factory games (like the recent Rune Factory 5). Only backgrounds feel like they didn’t receive the same treatment. But I applaud the devs for taking the criticism of Rune Factory 4 Special’s graphics and gave Rune Factory 3 a nice visual overhaul. Other obvious changes include the ability to use more than 2 save slots and toggle for text and voice languages, which is a feature since aforementioned Rune Factory 4 Special.
Then there are a couple of QOL changes. First, the dashing ability is now a separate button instead of double-tapping the direction, which is FAR more convenient. Second, you can skip crafting animations, which speeds up the process significantly, especially if you’re someone who likes to fail a lot to try and craft a 10% chance item. Third, the amount of space for upgraded fridge/material box has been significantly expanded. Great for item hoarders. Then there are additions that the last “Special” release introduced – Hell difficulty, which, as it sounds, is hell (maybe, I didn’t try it, and honestly, I think on normal the game is harder than I remember). Another Episode mode which is a bunch of narrated stories for each bachelorette and is a separate DLC. And then the newlywed mode, which is also a bunch of new stories for each marriage candidate, but with its own objectives to complete. Just like with Rune Factory 4 Special, the main characters use live 2D, and I still think they look kind of jarring, maybe because I’m used to looking at static sprites and now they’re moving, it’s kind of… uncanny. But maybe it’s just me. There’s also an imbalance in what you do in these stories. For instance, in Carmen’s story, you are tasked to catch a bunch of fish, but more importantly, one Sun Squid, and it was a real pain in the ass to catch. You’re given 3 in-game days to do these. While in Shara’s story, all you do is basically follow the quest marker to find an elusive Golden flower something. You’re given 16 days of time limit. This is not challenging in the slightest, and I highly doubt people play these stories as an excuse to play standard Rune Factory 3 fare.
Of course, with the good comes the bad, as this significant subsequent rerelease isn’t quite perfect. First, let’s start with the OK – the english voice acting and script are different from the DS original, which is understandable, since that version was published by Natsume, and XSEED has since taken upon themselves to publish later entries. The copyright issues are inevitable, and who knows if the original English voice work is somewhere in Natsume’s basement. Besides, I heard that the original had some mistakes in its translation, which isn’t very surprising, considering how sloppy Rune Factory 2 (and most likely the original Rune Factory for that matter) tended to be in the English script (typos and actual errors like forgetting a line break). I can’t really comment on how the new translation stacks up against that, I know little Japanese. What I can do is compare voice lines. Honestly, some of the new voice lines tend to lack the exaggerated emotion that the originals had. But I dunno, maybe I’m just being a little nostalgic to the old voice work and think its charming in its own way. I think the new voice actors did an adequate enough job, not much to say. Of course, you can switch the VO to Japanese if you want to know what the originals sounded like. Or don't, I'm not you.
But finally, let’s move onto actually bad stuff. Even though this version does introduce a few improvements, I think it missed a lot of opportunity to add more quality of life improvements. Rune Factory 4 Special and Rune Factory 5 are on the same platforms, and released a little earlier, so it’s jarring when you go to this brand "new" game and you see the backward mechanical progression. For instance, Rune Factory 4 Special had a dedicated button for escape spell, which can be used to, well, escape the dungeon and teleport back home easily. Of course, it can be argued that the 3DS version had it on the touch screen, and for platforms that lacked it (while you can use it on Nintendo Switch's touch screen, you couldn’t in docked mode), they had to map it to a button, but c’mon, nobody would’ve complained if you retrofitted that in. But, the most obvious missed opportunity to me is the lack of analog movement. You’re still locked to a D-pad movement scheme, even when using a stick. The thing is, the original DID have an analog input… If you used the touch screen. I doubt you did, but it was an option. Why didn’t the devs map that touch screen movement onto a stick? Even if the DS version didn’t have that, it’s such a no-brainer change, it’s baffling why it’s not implemented. Again, it’s very jarring going from recent Rune Factory games on the same platforms, that released just a little earlier to a decade-and-a-half-old control scheme. It also doesn’t fix the slippery movement, as you don’t instantly stop & carry a little bit of moment, which feels clunky (and I had to re-adapt again after not playing Rune Factory 3 in a while).
There are more missed opportunities I can list. Like how instantly stashing an item with the R button doesn’t automatically add it to an existing stack that isn’t full, taking its own slot, which is then fixed by pressing minus button (with a Nintendo Switch control scheme) to sort everything. Or how the game doesn’t tell you what items you haven’t shipped, which was introduced in its immediate sequel (would help those looking for 100% completion). Y’know, little stuff that would smooth out the gameplay and make it feel more modern? Lastly, the Swimsuit DLC. What was originally a pre-order bonus for Rune Factory 4 Special’s Switch release, this DLC isn’t particularly enticing on its own and is clearly very fan-service-y, it added a toggle to make all characters that had a swimsuit outfit wear that until the toggle was off. However, fans haven’t been served for a while since Neverland went bankrupt, so it was relatively inoffensive and was still kind of a neat bonus to sweeten the deal. Now it’s a $10 offer on top with Digital Deluxe Edition, it’s not a separate DLC, it’s just game + this. I think it’s legitimately overpriced – it should’ve been a preorder bonus like before. Are you actually going to pay 10 extra dollars for something so minor?? Freak. Also, I noticed that the credits don’t include original DS version’s staff, which is pretty lame. Apparently this game isn’t developed by Hakama, the new team behind Rune Factory 4 Special and Rune Factory 5 that includes some of the former staff (including the series producer). That might explain the faithfulness, but idk. Just throwing this out there.
With all that said, how would I evaluate this game? As a re-release, I think I would give it a 4 out of 5. It’s a fine and accessible way to play the game which does bring in some improvements and new content, but I wish the devs rocked the boat a little more, I think it’s faithful to a fault. It doesn’t really have any other issues besides missing opportunities, it doesn’t riddle an existing product with more issues for instance (oh, hello there, Half-Life: Source). I don't think Rune Factory 3 Special is quite as "Special" as 4, although I think that was mainly because it was simply a return of the series that made it special. As a game however… I gave it the score you probably already saw: 4.5/5. I do think, on its own, Rune Factory 3 Special is a great game. It’s still the same engaging game with a colorful cast of characters and hilarious writing, it’s the same game that introduced fast-paced gameplay compared to the DS predecessors. I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the original DS game, maybe because I was a little disappointed by the lack of changes and that it doesn’t stack up well to the modern RF games. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed myself quite a bit. I would still recommend Rune Factory 4 like most fans, but you can’t really go wrong with this one. It’s fun, quirky, and just a good time.
That being said though, I really hope the inevitable Rune Factory 2 Special and Rune Factory Special games will receive better mechanical treatment, the originals are even more clunky and not as fast paced, which will make them stand out even more. There’s nothing inherently wrong with being faithful, but I think there should be some restraint in that regard… fingers crossed!