Like many other elements of the game, Rune Factory 4 SpecialвЂs story is charming, but nothing to write home about. The game also forces you to pace yourself between dungeons, so when you finish a difficult dungeon, you get a nice break before the next one advances the story. In many cases, your gear is going to be more important than your level if you havenвЂ™t been keeping up with your crafting, you may have a lot of trouble with late-game dungeons even if you are above its recommended level.ДЄlthough there isnвЂ™t much depth to the dungeon crawling, itвЂ™s serviceable enough that the combat wasnвЂ™t a turn-off for me. Frustrating encounters are made worse by each dungeon having a recommended level that can goad you into it before youвЂ™re ready. The game offers limited recovery frames, so itвЂ™s easy for one or two stray hits to snowball into a death in crowded rooms. Most of the time it feels like you can get by with button mashing, and when you canвЂ™t itвЂ™s often because a room is loaded with environmental threats and enemies. The dungeon crawling in Rune Factory 4 Special is nothing special. Combat is simple, but new enemies can keep you on your toes with attack patterns you arenвЂ™t familiar with. After the tutorials, you generally have access to a straightforward attack button, as well as a couple of spells and weapon abilities that you unlock as you play the game.

You always control the main character, even if you bring party members with you. Combat plays out like a top-down hack and slash.

Dungeons are where Rune Factory 4 SpecialвЂs action combat system is introduced. Typically, you get a request to clear out a dungeon, finish it up, and then spend a few days relaxing and farming until you are ushered to the next one. Outside of town, there are several dungeons, each associated with the events of the story. Making use of the crafting system is essential if you want to tackle the harder dungeons without grinding.Д®ach area has a different theme and unique monsters to match. All of these tasks produce items you can give as gifts, but for the most part, I did these activities in the service of dungeon crawling. Depending on the gender you choose at the beginning of the game, youвЂ™ll also be able to date some of them.Д«eyond interacting with NPCs, I spent a lot of time cooking, crafting armor and weapons, and fishing. NPCs can give gifts back, offer new items at their store, or follow you on adventures. By offering gifts and befriending NPCs, it quickly becomes apparent that they have more to offer than just idle chatter. Even at the end of the game, characters I regularly interacted with had new things to say. The first thing I did was get to know the NPCs around the town.ДЄll the NPCs in Rune Factory 4 Special have distinct personalities and loads of dialogue. Whether you take care of your farm yourself or recruit monsters to do it, farming will generally just take part your morning each day, leaving you all afternoon to explore everything else the game has to offer. Players more interested in the other portions of the game shouldnвЂ™t fret too much, though, as a lot of the farming process can be automated by capturing monsters to sow and water seeds. While it may sound tedious initially, managing your crops is a quick affair, and by the end of the game I enjoyed the sense of calm brought about by the routine farming. This is the main way youвЂ™ll make money, which funds all the other activities youвЂ™ll want to tackle. You spend at least a portion of almost every in-game day buying seeds, tilling fields, and watering crops. Despite some of these ingredients coming out undercooked, Rune Factory 4 Special combines its mechanics into an overall experience that is much more than the sum of its parts.ДЄt its core, Rune Factory 4 Special is a farming RPG. threw in a smorgasbord of RPG ingredients - town building, dungeon crawling, dating, fishing - and wrapped them up in a massive progression system that applies to almost any action you take (seriously, there are levels for walking, sleeping, and eating). Rune Factory 4 Special is the crockpot dinner of RPGs.

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