Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny

 PlayStation 3
  • Publisher: Natsume
  • Release Date: Oct 7, 2011
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 47 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 47
  3. Negative: 5 out of 47
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  1. MWesthoff
    Dec 12, 2011
    10
    After playing Dark Souls and Skyrim, this game was a nice change of pace. The critics mostly had beefs with the changes that have been made to this series. I have never played the series before and think the game is great. The characters are awesome! A homosexual priest with two adopted kids, a tough old sailor that sports a floaty and snorkel at all times, an overweight baroness thatAfter playing Dark Souls and Skyrim, this game was a nice change of pace. The critics mostly had beefs with the changes that have been made to this series. I have never played the series before and think the game is great. The characters are awesome! A homosexual priest with two adopted kids, a tough old sailor that sports a floaty and snorkel at all times, an overweight baroness that is spending her family fortune on an obsession with treasure hunting while her daughter works three jobs. All lovable and comical character that are very intricately woven together. Combat is good, golem combat is fun and strategic while character combat is a little repetitive and involves some button mashing. Crafting, fishing, and farming all have a fun mini-game element. The game loads up and plays without a glitch or patch, load times going through doors are a mere 1-3 seconds. The game is smooth, functional, fun, and addicting and for that I give it a 10. Don't overlook this game it's very different and has no genre.… Expand
  2. StephBurdo
    Aug 5, 2013
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. When it comes to games such as Rune Factory Tides of Destiny, many things must be taken into consideration. Are you a grinding gamer who likes to divulge endless hours into quaint, anime-like environments while shopping for gear, upgrading your house and building relationships? Than perhaps this game is just right for you. Rune Factory Tides of Destiny dubbed as the "Fantasy Harvest Moon" is one of the most successful of it's predecessors, a strong branch in the tree of Natsume's successes.

    In Rune Factory Tides of Destiny you play as Aden, a charming young adult accompanied by a supporting protagonist named Sonja. The two of you are best friends living in a sweet spring time town very reminiscent of previous Harvest Moon titles. Gazing into a pond, both you and Sonja are sucked into another dimension forcing Sonja to dissapear and live within Aden's body. When you travel to this new island dimension, people are still able to hear Sonja when Aden is present, yet no one can see her. Funky right? Exploring the ocean atop your giant Gollum you explore across the oceans picking up sunken islands, raiding them for supplies so that you may progress through the story, return home and reunite Sonja with her body.

    While traveling to recovered islands you will meet a series of different types of monsters that you must battle and collect for later use on your farms. Different monsters harbor different possibilites in expanding your garden, supplies and eventually your overall wealth. You begin with such monsters as "Wooly" who resembles a sheep that will produce fleece for you. The further you get in the game the bigger the monsters you will encounter, which will in turn bare more fruitful supplies once captured. Take the Gold Dragon for example once captured he will produce vast amounts of gold for you once placed on a farm to work. The monsters who produce dairy or other food products will allow you to also cook food, which you may then use for giving gifts, which will allow you to romance a towns person.

    Further on in the game, you find yourself strangly attached to your new hometown in which you were sent to. Not only do you fall in love with the nostalgic Hayao Myazaki themes riddled with sweet undertones of cherry blossoms and wonderous childlike imagination but you truly fall in love with the cast of characters. Take the witch Pandora for example, you find her trapped in a chest on a sunken island turned to stone. Once you have freed her you know you shouldn't trust her but her sweet and sassy personallity forces you to regardless. Or characters like Odette for example, a beautiful tomboy with purple hair and fantastic cooking ability, she can actually communicate with the dragon spirits which are the entire essence of the sweet island in which you were sent to. They worship these beautiful dragons and when you take a trip to their native dragon shrine, you can watch her sing to them. I personally fell in love with Odette because she reminded me so much of Saria from The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. Whether it be the blacksmith with her robot slave the beautiful tavern lute player or the overly friendly priest, you cannot help but fall in love with the villagers of Fenith Island in your own way.

    When playing this game you have to expect to not find a typical story you would find in a triple A title, but a tale that will make you smile and give you one of those wonderful memories you remember as a kid. As a gamer with a wide range of games to play I find gems such as Rune Factory Tides of Destiny very seldomly in life. It will definitely be one of those games that will keep you up at night, make you forget your homework and have you wishing that every game had some of it's elements. This game is truly an amazing buy and a rare gem to come across. For all hesitant gamers, play it and give it a chance. I doubt you will regret it.

    Thank you.    … Expand
  3. vahn
    Jul 9, 2012
    8
    I'm a big fan of the Rune Factory series (not of the Harvest Moon one though), and I basically played all of the games, including frontier on the Wii, and this game should actually make me sad because it has a very different style, focusing a lot more on fighting and exploration than harvesting and relationship. However I really love this game, and as a gamer I can-t really say it's bad;I'm a big fan of the Rune Factory series (not of the Harvest Moon one though), and I basically played all of the games, including frontier on the Wii, and this game should actually make me sad because it has a very different style, focusing a lot more on fighting and exploration than harvesting and relationship. However I really love this game, and as a gamer I can-t really say it's bad; yes it's different than the others but I still do enjoy a lot this game, mainly because it focuses a lot on doing things and has attempted to remove the dead times. Let's start with some good parts: the combat system, even though it's not that great, it works good and the jump button doesn't do a bad job either, although the fighting can be extremely repetitive quickly and, strangely, there is no parry (and the "dodge" is extremely bad, and hard to do too). There aren't many kind of weapons either, and they are "virtually" the same (except for the staff), but they are pretty good and you might enjoy testing them all, eventually. The exploration is pretty good too, even if it's not innovative or anything special but it actually gives you another "job", like fishing or blacksmithing; however the big fault here is the rune power for the golem that gets consumed pretty quickly, which makes the sea exploration a bit slow and very frustrating at times, especially when you can also fight while exploring, and if you have no power left you can die pretty easily. Another thing that I enjoyed too was the idea to add, finally, a female protagonist: you can finally get married as a girl and, even though the men aren't as many as the women, it's a very welcome addition! Too bad though they didn't add much else and, actually they seem to have removed a lot (and you have to finish the game in order to get married, sadly). Anyway, as a fan, there are few things that, maybe, are a bit of a letdown, or disappointment, or betrayal. The crop system is extremely simplified and, even though it helps you by saving money for the seeds and a lot of time for the harvesting, it feels a bit cheap and too simple: you can get tons of money in the first (ingame) month and with only the crops you grow. From your very first island! Also, you can't cure your crops: you need monster to do it. Again, it feels cheap and too simple, especially when, if I'm right, your crops changes depending on your monster, Speaking of monsters, your monster barn is very small (a total of 30, if I'm right), and this basically limits your selection of monsters for your harvests: this is a bit sad considering that you can have 3 monsters with you, but you won't have a lot of selection. For the plot I can't speak much, but it's not that much explained and, even though the gameplay is still what works in my opinion. Also your character(s) aren't as remarkable as some of the previous games. However, I'd still say to give this game a try: even though this installment is a lot different than the other games, it's still a good change among the other rpgs on the ps3 however and, really, the only ones who won't like this games are hardcore fans of the series who can't accept the changes or players who prefer more action: for whoever wants some relax, a good and calm game to enjoy without rushing, this game is a very good choice.… Expand
  4. Diswin
    Dec 7, 2012
    8
    A good way to kill 60-80 hours of free time. A little from "farm frenzy", something from slave-holder simulator, a lot from dating sims and completely easy-going atmosphere. And I really like side stories.
  5. Zyco
    Nov 9, 2011
    8
    This is a very fun RPG-lite.. I bought it for my daughter and wife to play with and I seem to be spending the most time on it of the 3 of us! Its a farming, crafting, relationship building RPG with pretty solid button mashing combat and tons to explore and do.. has plenty of dungeons to explore. Its super cute and really not insultingly simple, I would highly recommend it to RPG lovers,This is a very fun RPG-lite.. I bought it for my daughter and wife to play with and I seem to be spending the most time on it of the 3 of us! Its a farming, crafting, relationship building RPG with pretty solid button mashing combat and tons to explore and do.. has plenty of dungeons to explore. Its super cute and really not insultingly simple, I would highly recommend it to RPG lovers, anime fans, or anyone who likes to sit back and play fun games without tons of gore and violence.… Expand
  6. darkwraith
    Jan 16, 2013
    8
    Tides of Destiny or Rune Factory Oceans. Is pretty standard Jrpg gameplay but scratch the surface and after a few hours off play there are some fun interesting characters and ideas at play in the games system. a continuously running clock and a voice that tells you the time at different points announcing its mid day or its afternoon add to the overall atmosphere you must be back in youreTides of Destiny or Rune Factory Oceans. Is pretty standard Jrpg gameplay but scratch the surface and after a few hours off play there are some fun interesting characters and ideas at play in the games system. a continuously running clock and a voice that tells you the time at different points announcing its mid day or its afternoon add to the overall atmosphere you must be back in youre room to rest before 5am each day to rest or drop dead from exhaustion. food maintains your health. capture and train monsters. mix and alchemise gems and metal ores to create new or upgraded armor and weapons. a decent cast of characters and real time hack n slash battle play make this game as fun or as complex as you want. if you like Jrpgs this is one of the few available on ps3 and worth looking out for.… Expand
  7. BeanToss
    Nov 12, 2013
    10
    This game does not get enough hype, it is amazing, characterd are great, gameplay is awesome, controls are good but nobody seems to see it! I really enjoyed it am I hope everyone who tries it does!
  8. WaDisMaD
    Oct 8, 2016
    8
    This game keeps you busy! And that's a good thing. Get the people to like you, look after the monsters you coughed, look after you farms, fight in dungeons, craft your own weapons, make your own food, medicine and furniture (all with stuff you picked up in the dungeons or from your farm. You get skills for every thing, jumping, fighting, fishing, talking, making things, sleeping and loadsThis game keeps you busy! And that's a good thing. Get the people to like you, look after the monsters you coughed, look after you farms, fight in dungeons, craft your own weapons, make your own food, medicine and furniture (all with stuff you picked up in the dungeons or from your farm. You get skills for every thing, jumping, fighting, fishing, talking, making things, sleeping and loads more. You've got so much to do that you must plan your day accordingly. They also took away that annoying rune system from the previous game Frontier. Story is not to bad, it keeps your attention enough to want to finish the game. Graphics could have been better, but it is colorful, crisp and clear. The dialog is also limited, you will need to read most of the time. Since this is basically a Wii port, I think all these limitations comes from the Wii game with limited disc space and power. If you are looking for a RPG that is totally different from anything you've ever played, and that's going to keep you busy, try it. I think you would like it.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
55

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 12
  3. Negative: 3 out of 12
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Jul 17, 2012
    50
    Best left on the bargain bin's seabed. [Aug 2012, p.113]
  2. Play UK
    Jul 10, 2012
    51
    Showing its age both mechanically and visually, there's still fun to be had here if you've got the patience and the right mindset. It'll send everyone else to sleep, however. [Issue#220, p.79]
  3. 4Players.de
    Jul 6, 2012
    76
    The story is not noteworthy and visually the Wii heritage shines through. But nonetheless the mix of conquering uncharted territory, collecting rare materials, finding treasure, recruiting monster comrades and taking care of your property is motivating.
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