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   (Click the picture to go to the respective post) Latest Updates          ---The Thread--- It's another multi-helping of Harvest Moon, except this time it's mostly not. Two of the franchise's finest, coop-flown children on the 3DS, alongside one of their more inexplicable older cousins on the Wii. Why these three? I held a poll after the conclusion of my previous two Harvest Moon LPs to find out which HM games people would most like to see LP'd. RF4 got the grand bastard majority of the votes by far, with SoS and AP tying respectably in second place. I've wanted to do something with all three of these games, so here we are doing them all at once! ---The LPs--- Rune Factory 4 has recurring viewer interaction. Goons will frequently be asked to vote or make suggestions for everything from animal names to who I woo. Story of Seasons and Animal Parade, since less people wanted to see them, will be played/named/wooed/etc at my own discretion. RF4 is co-commentated by BigTUnit1 from parts 1-7, then by Skippy Granola and YamiNoSenshi, and SoS and AP by Skippy and Yami. Additional guest commentators are welcome but not guaranteed. If you would like to join for a part, let me know; people I know or have plenty of commentary experience are preferred, and people with knowledge of Harvest Moon, Rune Factory or Story of Seasons are welcome for discussion and their thoughts on it. Spoiler Policy:
------------------------------------------------------------- Additional Livestreams    ------------------------------------------------------------- ThornBrain fucked around with this message at 09:54 on Nov 24, 2017 |
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Jan 2, 2017 10:37
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---The Game--- Rune Factory is a Fantasy, Action RPG spinoff of Bokujou Monogatari (AKA: Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons) by Neverland Co. You can farm and kill things! And you're supposed to, this time. RF4, in turn, is the culmination of all of the experimentation Neverland did with the admittingly odd genre mix. While the previous games had good ideas but varying execution, RF4 has tightened all of its mechanics into one of the most entertaining, most addicting, and all-around best of any games on the 3DS or games tangentially related to Bokujou Monogatari. They also figured out how to make quirky townsfolk who aren't annoying twats. Mostly. Couldn't figure out how to write a compelling, non-cliche'd anime story or to not have it descend into a ballbuster grindfest by Act 3, but they gave it a whirl. The story is such: Our protagonist, Thus Pubert must use his farming prowess to make his little patch of dirt glorious, thereby reinvigorating the country's rune power and... I dunno, recovering his stamina...? All the while he befriends the quirky and colourful townsfolk, beats up innocent wildlife, enslaves chicken and cow monsters with grass, and levels up by doing every single little action possible. Just in time for the Sechs Empire to cause trouble again, and for monsters to start turning into humans... ---The LP--- This is a straightforward run through the game with viewer interaction: goons gave suggestions for names of monsters or requests to have monsters named after themselves. They also voted on Forte as Pubert's spouse, though voting was withheld until all of the bachelorettes were unlocked. While not quite a completionist LP, I do complete all 3 acts, Sharance Maze, and the entire request board. My co-commentator for Parts 1-7 is BigTUnit1, and then Skippy Granola and YamiNoSenshi for Part 8-onward. See also: LordHippoman's screenshot LP of the first Rune Factory. SSLP's of RF2-4 are active at the time of this LP's archival, so search them out in case they also got archived. ----------------------------------------------------------------                                                          Shei-kun posted:In the course of a year, Pubert:        EponymousMrYar posted:'Oh you, you've always been that peculiar stranger from the sky to me.' ----------------------------------------------------------------  (By mischievousart)  (By LordHippoman)  (By GreenGuy)  ---------------------------------------------------------------- YamiNoSenshi posted:Can't stop ThornBrain fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Nov 28, 2017 |
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Jan 2, 2017 10:38
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---The Game--- Story of Seasons is a 2014 installment in the Bokujou Monogatari franchise, and the second on the 3DS after Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning. The series was originally localized by Natsume in the West as Harvest Moon, until developers Marvelous acquired localization heroes XSEED as their Western branch. It would have been silly to keep using third party localization when they have their own branch for it now (and one with a considerably better track record than Natsume), so they dropped Natsume and gave the job to XSEED. However they left the rights to the name "Harvest Moon" with Natsume, thus Natsume now develops their own games as Harvest Moon, and the true Bokujou Monogatari games live on as Story of Seasons. The game itself is a continuation from/condensing of the mechanics of A New Beginning. The godawful tutorial month has been reduced to a quick and painless week that also better introduces the town, and you only have to wait the one week to start crafting instead of waiting all loving Spring to have a random door on your house pointed out to you. I'm not bitter. The aesthetic also charmingly invokes rural Germany, the music is as cheerful as any Bokujou game, and it's hard not to be in a good mood while you play. However making money is difficult early on, as you can only ship when salesmen come to town, and unlocking them is a slow, monthly process. The original release of the game also had stupid difficulty where everything cost way too much, which was eased later on with a "Seedling Mode" that dropped the prices and crafting requirements by 30%. The online mode was also dramatically nerfed from A New Beginning's utterly broken version, to the point that there's not many people still playing SoS's anymore. Stick with the game, though, and you'll find a remarkably tight and deep entry in the franchise. Hopefully this LP will help you find ways to manage your time and money in the early game and befriend an entire town with the bare minimum of effort. But if you like any marriable person who isn't Fritz, you're wrong. Well, Raeger, Lillie and Agate are all cute, but come on - Fritz is perfect. The story is such: Think most Bokujou Monogatari games have too much story, purpose, or even stakes? You're in luck! Story of Seasons has gently caress all. You answer a flier to move out to the country and help a charming little town make some money. That's it. No dead grandpa, no imminent demolition, not even a Harvest Goddess in need of help for being a useless rear end. Just grow some crops and animals, make friends with all of the little dorks, and assert your dominance against the other farmers by eventually stealing all of their fields. ---The LP--- The game considers unlocking all of the merchants as the marker to allow New Game+, and is therefore the soft end of the game. This LP's core goal is to do just that, and though I will attempt to collect as many recipes and show off as many cutscenes as possible, it won't be an utterly completionist LP. Though I'll be dating and marrying Fritz, I will at least show off the first two heart events with every bachelor. My co-commentators are fellow Harvest Moon lovers Skippy Granola and YamiNoSenshi. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  My original blind stream of the first week of SoS  Spoilers for the first five parts of the LP Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (Revisited)  A Look at Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming First Look at Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  (By peachteadreams)  (By NullBlack)  (By mischievousart) (By crthemighty) 
ThornBrain fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Sep 22, 2017 |
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Jan 2, 2017 10:38
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---The Game--- Harvest Moon: Animal Parade is a 2008 installment in the Bokujou Monogatari franchise, and the second on the Wii after Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility. It's essentially ToT but better. But is it good, though? There's the rub. Animal Parade should easily be one of the better games in the franchise. It has many good ideas, fun things to do, and smart story progression, but it's hampered by numerous questionable design and programming decisions, slow loading and framerate, and... stupid story progression. But like most games in its family, AP maintains a charm that makes sticking through its faults ultimately rewarding. So join me, Skippy Granola, and YamiNoSenshi as we cut out all of those stupid loading/title screens, mod in a walking speed boost, and dissect what does and doesn't work in this mixed gaming blessing. The story is such: Young farming hopeful Best has been summoned by the Harvest Goddess to travel to the island of Castanet, where the Divine Tree has weakened and the five bells of nature have lost their power. With the help of Harvest Sprite Finn and a large cast of cute-but-flat characters, Best must farm her face off so she can find and ring the five bells, whereupon the Harvest King will return to the island and fix everything, the lazy git. ---The LP--- Along with completing the main story and unlocking New Game+, I will complete all of the lists (Crops, Cooking, Mining, Fishing, Animals, Animal Products, and Flowers). Most of the character events and cutscenes will be shown as well, excluding rival children events. I will be dating and marrying The Wizard, which will also allow us to see every other couple's cutscenes, as the Wizard has no marriage rival. And, of course, I will rescue the circus animals so we can see a proper animal parade. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (By ChibiWisdom)  (By NullBlack) (By mischievousart) (By Miz Kriss) 
ThornBrain fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Sep 29, 2017 |
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Jan 2, 2017 10:38
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Oh hey, Rune Factory 4. I've got that one. And yes, it's quite addicting. Looking forward to the LP! (And since I'm here, might as well check out the other two as the updates come, right?)
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Jan 2, 2017 12:20
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I love me some Harvest Moon. But wow this is a lot of Harvest Moon all at once. Here's hoping you don't overdose on farming! 
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Jan 3, 2017 00:40
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EponymousMrYar posted:I love me some Harvest Moon. I just hope they're not all going to be named Pubert. But boy is that an all-star cast. Travis, SkippyGranola and YamiNoSenshi? Hoo boy.
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Jan 3, 2017 01:03
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I am hoping for maximum Pubert, but I'll settle for one Pubert, I guess. If there's a shortage or something. Maybe Rune Factory Pubert ate the Puberts due to star in the other games.
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Jan 3, 2017 01:25
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EponymousMrYar posted:I love me some Harvest Moon. Don't you worry. This thread is around 2/3's of a year in the making. I've spent a lot of time recording all of these games independently of each other, and we paced commentating them well. As long as we don't hit any availability snags and whatnot, this thread won't have any problems. 90s Cringe Rock posted:I am hoping for maximum Pubert, but I'll settle for one Pubert, I guess. If there's a shortage or something. Maybe Rune Factory Pubert ate the Puberts due to star in the other games. RF4's the only Pubert. The other two will be upbeat go-getters named Best. Because you need to be Best to save The Worst.
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Jan 3, 2017 01:38
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ThornBrain posted:RF4's the only Pubert. The other two will be upbeat go-getters named Best. Because you need to be Best to save The Worst. Ah, good. That neatly sidesteps the 'Who's on first' confusion.
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Jan 3, 2017 02:38
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Going to be looking forward to the Best farmers. And more Pubert of course.
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Jan 3, 2017 03:01
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And now I need to catch up with the HM LPs.RareAcumen posted:Ah, good. That neatly sidesteps the 'Who's on first' confusion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdqv5xIsFLM Chimera-gui fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Jan 3, 2017 |
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Jan 3, 2017 03:28
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After this and Thruthkeeper's LP, I can pretty confidently say that I really like Ventuswill. She's a lovable dork and she has a really neat design. Also her name isn't as stupid as the other dragons you hear about.
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Jan 3, 2017 08:33
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Fellow Harvest Mooners SkippyGranola and YamiNoSenshi join me for one of the least stressful, and lowest-stakes, farming games on the 3DS. Full details are in the now-added OP. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And as a bonus, here's a stream I did in the Summer where I revisited SoS's direct predecessor, A New Beginning, to refresh myself in some of the ways it's not good. Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (Revisited) Also have a more recent stream of Frantic Farming, which I had considered for a full fourth LP for this thread. This stream convinced me otherwise. (By peachteadreams, Hitbox)
ThornBrain fucked around with this message at 09:31 on Jan 4, 2017 |
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Jan 4, 2017 09:27
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Eda's grandson is clearly Wily working on his doctorate.
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Jan 4, 2017 14:13
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I might need to start keeping notes, and maybe some diagrams for keeping track of characters and cross-over jokes. Ask me about my farming LP crazy wall.
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Jan 4, 2017 14:22
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Skyridge posted:After this and Thruthkeeper's LP, I can pretty confidently say that I really like Ventuswill. She's a lovable dork and she has a really neat design. Also her name isn't as stupid as the other dragons you hear about. It's weird how "Terrable" and "Fiersome" exist, but then Ventuswill sorta completely drops the bad puns thing. They were even all named in the first game, so it's probably not a case of the localizers changing their minds, unless it was literally like halfway through a paragraph. I mean it's sort of still a pun, but it's miles better.
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Jan 5, 2017 01:22
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And finally the third Harvest Moon LP begins, Animal Parade! As much as I enjoy the other two LPs, this one in particular cracks me up. And again, full details are in the newly-added OP.
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Jan 6, 2017 09:07
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I'm glad to see you're back at the farm(s)! Will be following for sure. 
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Jan 7, 2017 18:50
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Well that jig is up awfully quickly. The Prince Pubert farce hits a snag. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (By ChibiWisdom)
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Jan 9, 2017 11:34
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You can marry the harvest goddess in a lot of Harvest Moon games, so I need to know. Is Ventuswill a bachelorette in Rune Factory 4?
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Jan 9, 2017 13:54
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KaineWraith posted:You can marry the harvest goddess in a lot of Harvest Moon games, so I need to know. Is Ventuswill a bachelorette in Rune Factory 4? She is not, unfortunately... or fortunately. However you look at it. Also got to say I'm super excited to watch you play through rune factory four. I put a ton of hours into it but there's 2 events that are triggered by RNG later in the game, that I couldn't never get to trigger. Pretty much killed my chances/desire to finish it. sgt turtle fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Jan 9, 2017 |
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Jan 9, 2017 14:16
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Judging by Bado's portrait compared to Margaret's the main difference seems to be that Dwarven ears, while pointed, are shorter than Elven ones.
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Jan 9, 2017 16:45
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Now that we've met everyone in town, I have to point out that the airship's figurehead in the intro seems to be a mermaid version of Porcoline.
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Jan 9, 2017 20:58
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Chimera-gui posted:Judging by Bado's portrait compared to Margaret's the main difference seems to be that Dwarven ears, while pointed, are shorter than Elven ones.
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Jan 10, 2017 04:42
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Dangit, all the bachelorettes have a charm to them! Come on, Pubert! Make a harem.
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Jan 10, 2017 04:46
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Commander Keene posted:AFAIK, you never meet any male elves, or female dwarves. Just gonna put that one out there. Actually there are male Elves in the other games.
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Jan 10, 2017 05:53
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mischievousart posted:Now that we've met everyone in town, I have to point out that the airship's figurehead in the intro seems to be a mermaid version of Porcoline. I didn't notice this until the LP despite sinking at least a 100 hours into the game and had to pause the video due to uncontrollable laughter. This game is just so full of poo poo like that and I love it.
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Jan 10, 2017 07:38
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sgt turtle posted:She is not, unfortunately... or fortunately. However you look at it. The infernal RNG is why I could never marry Margaret, and then finally gave up on the game. I was pretty much done with it, except for that.
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Jan 11, 2017 03:16
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Gotta give this game credit for letting you water things with a watering can in a realistic 'just pour it all over the field' instead of just one square at a time.
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Jan 11, 2017 03:36
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AltaBrown posted:The infernal RNG is why I could never marry Margaret, and then finally gave up on the game. I was pretty much done with it, except for that. There is a way to quickly cycle the RNG, and it lets you get the right event relatively quickly. Minor game mechanics spoilers below. Once you have enough friendship with a villager, you can invite them into your party and they stay in your party overnight if you sleep. Play through the game and check every morning until an event starts (this step may be unnecessary, but it's what I did). Reload before the event starts and invite the villagers involved in the event you want to trigger into your party. Sleep, and if they don't leave your party, reload. If they do leave your party, it's because they're involved in an event that just popped up, so check the events to see if it's the event you want. It's not as good as if the events weren't RNG in the first place, but it's an easy way to quickly cycle until the event fires and you can usually trigger the event you want within 10-20 minutes.
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Jan 11, 2017 04:39
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First day: amazing dork boyfriend already discovered.
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Jan 11, 2017 09:32
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ThornBrain posted:
I know it's a couple days late to comment on this; I just wasn't in a video-watching mood, I guess. That said, my thoughts thus far! Gonna try to avoid spoilers, because of the policy. Plus, I think you'd rather demonstrate stuff yourself if possible. Let me know if I cross a line on accident, okay? Regarding the bachelorettes thus far: Clorica's okay, but I'm not too fond of her events (and I can't go into further detail because of the spoiler policy, so don't ask!). Xiao Pai kinda rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's her speech patterns, maybe it's her clumsiness... maybe it's just that I have a type, and she doesn't fit it. Margaret's overdecorated, in my opinion. I'd probably be able to tolerate it better if she didn't have those weird ear-tie things. As to her as a character... doesn't really do anything for me. Forte is, by far, my favorite bachelorette, and quite honestly has been since the first screenshot I saw of her. I mean, she is, in my opinion, the most attractive character in the game BAR NONE, and doesn't ruin that with overaccessorizing. The fact that I like her personality on top of that pretty much cements things, really. Oh, and I don't know if you'll show off exploits and such (especially the time-consuming ones), so I'll bring them up as they become relevant, if you don't mind (spoilered, just in case). First off (and not possible for Thorn anymore): You get the ability to gain skill levels immediately after the farming tutorial, but time doesn't actually start progressing until you meet Ventuswill and Arthur, so you can boost your Walking skill (and one other Thorn doesn't have, but could get if he wanted) as high as you have patience for on your first day. Yes, it takes a long time, but getting about 20-30 levels in two different skills helps quite a bit in combat (and it only gets better as you get more). There's another, lesser thing I could talk about here regarding stuff like the shipping box, but Thorn will probably talk about that in an update somewhere, so I'll hold off unless I get permission. ThornBrain posted:
As for this update... that selling system sounds TERRIBLE. What made them think it was a good idea to do that? Jonas's nose is ridiculous. Nuff said there, I think. ...Honestly, none of the characters in Story of Seasons thus far are really sticking out to me. I mean, I know it's only been a couple days of tutorial, but still. Yes, I know, I don't have anywhere near as much to say about this as I do about Rune Factory. It's only to be expected when I've never played Story of Seasons, I'm sure.
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Jan 11, 2017 14:04
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ThornBrain posted:
Stay strong, Best! If you ever feel the pull of the underground, just float above it with your pontoon dress.
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Jan 13, 2017 06:41
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We run off in the opposite direction of the town to Flute Fields, which is home to our primary business partners Generic Happy Family 1 and Dysfunctional Prick Family 2.
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Jan 13, 2017 10:40
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Apparently when they progressed the Rune Factory series, they made everything go WAY faster. The way your character uses tools, moves, and even animates seems to be like twice as quickly as it did in Rune Factory 1. It seems like a massive quality of life upgrade. Just within the first 15 minutes of this second video, I can see a ton of positive minor changes they've made since the first one. Stacking the items, moving while watering, better control over where you plant seeds, etc. Also weapons not costing RP, but that seems so handy I can't even put it in "minor" changes. Also Porcoline is incredibly good, proving Jasper's wonders are clearly passed down genetically.
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Jan 13, 2017 19:28
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I was actually meaning to say this as soon as I saw the game's starting cutscene, but Animal Parade has so much charm! I'm going to have to give it a try one day.
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Jan 13, 2017 19:34
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Did I see Ostrich Egg there? You can raise loving ostriches in this game?
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Jan 13, 2017 19:54
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I swear, Animal Parade was made just for Skippy and the rest of the world just got the benefit of being able to play it. His pure joy is a wonder.
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Jan 13, 2017 20:05
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Thorn, if that cute calf gets sick because its got no food, there'll be hell to pay! 
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Jan 13, 2017 20:07
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