This is NOT a post about Family Farm Seaside. Every other post is about Seaside and I have extensive posts about the Cloud Farm amd its Garden.
Last updated on 28 August
Post in progress... for a friend and any one else who wishes to explore a fabulous world and tale. It is the latest release in the Rune Factory series and was made for the Switch and new Switch 2. One can play it on the small handheld Switch Lite as well.
What is interesting to me and I understood this when I wrote strategy guides for this series long ago, is how starting a new game after playing for awhile shows how it all works. This is a beautifully crafteed multi-layered game. Advancing in one aspect affects other aspects. In m6 originql gqme, I just accepted progress without really investigating it. Now I actively study how to raise Village levels. This is first noted by me in early Summer in the Summer Village where Matsuri's quests dovetail now with Village level. I will start another game at some point for more detail but what occurred first was an announcement that I could organise contests. I was unable to do it, however initially. In the Summer Village I was able to choose a Contest and a date for it only a few days ago. Matsuri now wants to organise a Bon Festival. The Village Level now can be raised to 6 with an announcement finally that I can place a Chemist in the Volcano Chemist Shop. I am paying more attention to the villagers who come after levels are raised. In my first game, I just forged ahead rather blindly. I can state, with honesty, however, that even without knowledge, matters progressed. The game is as complex or as simple as you want it to be! You will get there in the end no matter what you do or fail to do.
Organising Contests:
Strangely enough, there is a separate little board for this at every God Shrine. It is NOT the same wooden board where you call the God for help nor the Request Board.
To make matters more complex, you cannot raise the Village Level by calling the God to appear at the Shrine. You must encounter the God naturally anywhere in the Village when the Village Level gauge at the top right of the screen is full and he or she then will declare more power has been restored and raise the Village Level then.
At the same time Matsuri's personal quest brought up the idea of the Bon Festival, I activated the Main Quest of the second meeting of the gods. Kurama, by the way, would have preferred I answered his invitation with the second option, a question about what refreshments I should bring rather than telling him I always would be happy to attwlend any event if he were part of it. He actually accused me of 'empty flattery'. I do not think his friendship level decreased hut I saved in a different file in case I wish to confirm that.
THE NATURE OF QUESTS:
Real progress runs on the Quests. There are three different types of Quests. The Main Quest is what creates true progress. The Gold Pin will show you where you need to be for the Main Quest and sometimes it requires simply that you go to bed!
The second type of quest is the Personal Quest of any character. This is a story in itself. The personql quest can be part of the bqckground or even progress in the main narrative. It is the second page in the Quest Menu.
The third type of Quest appears on the Request Board as Emu Quests. Completing these can give you all sorts of items and points. Some appear temporarily and involve defeating specific monsters or trading specific trophies from Monsters for specific rewards.
Many of these give you materials like Lumber and Material Stone that always are needed for construction.
INTRODUCTION
Although this is my site for Family Farm Seaside, I wanted to give a quick guide here for any one interested in a splendid game that combines farming with combat and some of the most beautiful graphics in any virtual world. Also friendship and romance!
It may become my favourite game. I always loved Rune Factory but found the versions made for the Switch difficult in terms of navigation. This game is very user friendly and offers more helpful information within the game itself than others that preceded it.
PHILOSOPHY OF RUNE FACTORY
The entire Rune Factory series is founded upon two fundamental premises:
1. Friendship
2. Restoration of the Land
Both drive the narrative forward. Both are requirements in terms of Quests.
FRIENDSHIP
Friendship is advanced by daily or at least regular interactions with the characters. In older games, heart or friendship levels were raised by giving gifts the individual liked or loved. In this game, when you choose the option to interact further by choosing 'Hang Out', giving a gift is the first option but there always are three others.
If it is the individual's birthday, you obviously should choose to celebrate the occasion. Other options, however, can prove to be negative or positive. For example, for the swordsman Murasame, taking him to visit the Waterfall reminds him of a bad event from his past. For most others, however, it results in a pleasant bathing event and a bathing costume will be added to that character's wardrobe.
Even the negative options will give you insight into the character, and the effect will be added to his or her profile.
Note that, in the first couple of days, you only option after bring introduced to a character is to 'Talk'. You must interact repeatedly with the little girl Suzu to unlock the gift-giving option as well as the interaction Menu that offers four choices.
As a matter of fact, your first encounter with a character often is part of a Main Quesr event. When that is complete, the character actually will introduce himself or herself to you again. That is when friendship becomes an option.
As far as gifts are concerned, every one accept cherry blossoms happily. Once you restore any cherry tree to life with your sacred drum dance, you can stand in front of it and press A to knock cherry blossoms and lumber from it. What you receive ftom any tree is random so it is a good idea to collect as often as possible.
Friendship levels also determine the different interactive options you are given. Going to lunch together at Iroha's teahouse is a favourite with many, but it is a Level 3 option. If you try to invite the character before Level 3, you can raise friendship sonetimes but may actually meet with a curt refusal for your arrogance in assuming the bond you have is close enough. In other words, it is a bit of a gamble.
There are no time limits in this game. By talking to the individual as often as posdible and giving cherry blossoms when you unlock the option to give a gift, increase in friendship may be slow with some but it will be steady.
MOST FAVOURITE GIFTS
If cherry blossoms are a favourite gift, a little red heart will appear on the item in your inventory so you need not write everything down as I once did. I will include here a list of the Easiest Favourite Gifts for quick reference. Give that gift once and the heart icon will be added whenever you have that item in the future.
LIST OF EASIEST MOST FAVOURITE GIFTS
There is more than one item any character loves rather than merely likes but some are easier to obtain than others. Here are some of the easy gifts that will be displayed, once given, with a red heart icon:
Murasame: Onigari
At Level 4, he gives you Murasame's Pauldron Recipe.
Mauro: Cherry Blossoms
At Level 3, he gives you the Adventurer's Cap Recipe
Kurama: Sandwich, all types of Mochi
Cuilang: Iron
Fubuki: Grilled Salmon, all Meats
Ulalaka: Cherry Blossoms
Matsuri: Hibiscus Flower
Pilika: Honey
Iroha: Dango, Tri-colour Dango
She gives you the Maid Headband Recipe at Level 3
Hina: Strawberry Milk was given a Red Heart icon
Yachiyo: For Preserved Bonito on her birthday: How did you know I loved these? You are such a peach!
Suzu: Dango
Speaking to her will unlock the ability to interact four different ways
Zaza: Blade Shard, Iron
Sakaki: Pickled Turnips
Takumi: Iron
Kusatsu:
Strawberry Milk
On 10 Summer: 'Today's my birthday. I hope folks at least acknowledge my existence for once!'
And then celebrating his birthday with Strawberry Milk as a gift: 'I've never ever gotten this much attention before!' He then kind of ruins it with a lame joke to the effect that I must be 'head over heels' in love with him but quickly adds that is a joke. Poor, awkward chap.
GOLD PIN AND QUESTS
As far as the Story is concerned, the game is linear for the most part. Follow the Main Quest prompts and access the Map in the upper right corner of the screen by pressing the + button and then move your character towards the gold pin to make progress.
I lost valuable time initially by trying to move instantly towards the gold pin. It can be far more useful to use the round control on the right side of the Switch to be able to stand still but look in all directions before moving anywhere. My other mistake was not using the Map! The Map always appears in the upper right corner of the screen but when you actually open it, you can see all characters currently near you as well as many other helpful details including Dragon Save Points, Frogs, Wayside Shrines and important buildings. The current location of your character is displayed on the map by an arrow. Make certain you are turned in the right direction before you actually move towards the gold pin!
FORAGING
Even on the first day, wherever you see something glittering on the ground, press A to collect it. Whenever you see a wooden crate, press X to smash it and collect the contents. In Rune Factory, every item, from Weeds and Withered Grass to Diamonds, has its value and uses. There are many construction projects that require Weeds and most medicines require the coloured Grasses you find everywhere.
I therefore advise players neither to ship nor sell construction materials or basic ingredients. You will need vast quantities of Lumber and Material Stone.
In most Rune Factory games, you should ship one of each item to complete your 'collection'.
There are achievements as well that are based onnthe total number of any specific item, especially crops, that are shipped. Early in the game, you may wish to hold back some of the crops you harvest for use in cooking.
RECIPES AND COOKING
Recipes are obtained in a few different ways. Primarily, you will obtain most of your recipes when you stand in front of any Frog Statue or Wayside Shrine and perform the Dance of Bonds. Less often, a new Recipe may be given when you reach a certain Friendship Level with a character.
Note that completing quests early in the game unlock important new shopping options as well as new locations and Sacred Treasures.
Note also that when you receive the Fire Sword in a dream, you immediately can return to the Spring Region to clear a large blight with your Fire Dance to reach the Wayside Shrine area
With a Dragon Save and a Wayside Shrine that gives you the Exorcism Earring Recipe. Every blight is associated with an Element and you need the right elemental force to clear it.
When you receive the Sacred Fan, you can clear the Blight in the Spring Village that opens a second and larger development area.
SAVE POINTS AND DANCE OF BONDS
All Save Points are in the form of Dragon Statues. There is one in every Dragon Shrine and one at the entrance to a new area on the Map. A dragon statue must be activated by performing the Dance of aBonds before you can use it as a Save Point.
Activating every Dragon Statue you encounter becomes even more vital after you have the power to warp from one location to another. A Dragon Statue always exists as a Warp Point on the map. If it is not activated, you cannot return to it using your warp power.
Energy is denoted by HP and RP. HP is ordinary energy and RP is the sort of energy required to heal or perform other sacred actions. Sleep restores both. Go to sleep by midnight, however, or you will lose energy at an alarming speed. None of this is that evident until you begin to fight 'monsters'.
Eating also restores energy and every irem you can eat has unique values in terms of energy.
Before you go into the wilds, it is a good idea to place one or two of your items that offer the hoghest Energy Recovery in your Inventory. Now, it is importsnt to understand that although this game gives you access to your Storage in certajn circumstances, like choosing a gift, youbwill not have that access when you engage in combat. There are cooking fires next to most Save Points. Not only can you cook there, but you can access your storage there as well. One of the Menu options there will take you to your storage.
VILLAGE LEVEL
The basis of the plot is the desolation of the lands caused by the loss of its runes. When crops and trees die, villagers abandon their homes to move elsewhere. One of your tasks is to increase the Level of each Village. Planting Crops and shipping them, constructing buildings and decorations and placing those all encourage the return of the villagers. Go to the Goddess to receive an official increase in the Level of the village.
You also need to build shops and hire experts to run them.
Here is an important tip: Village Levels, even if you add buildings and decorations amd clear blight, will not increase until you speak to the local Goddess. I forgot about this briefly when I was trying to reach the end of the Autumn Mechsnical Maze. I had built more buildings and placed more decorations in the Summer Village, but did not speak to Matsuri afterwards. When I finally spoke to her, it unlocked more items as well, including a larger menu at the Flower Cart. Some of the items unlocked included the seasonal flowers with elemental associations, and the Hibiscus that is one of her favourite gifts.
I discovered, however, that these items only became available in the Summer Village Flower Cart. It was only when I experienced the Sakaki devastatiom of Crops event with Ulalaka and then went to the shrine for her blessing, raising Spring avillagw to Level 6 that the items were added to the Spring Flower Cart and Emery Flower as well.
QUESTS
This game has such helpful menu options that it basically is not necessary to create a step by step quest guide. Be that as it may, however, understanding where a quest fits in the general scheme of things sometimes helps determine which task to complete first.
Rescue Takumi the Carpenter. He has become a boss monster at the Abandoned Shrine.
The next rescue is the Blacksmoth. You will be given a recipe to build a smithy. He was transformed into an ordinary monster so easy to defeat.
After you see the request, place a total of 5 buildings in the Development area.
Go see Takumi and he will fix the broken bridge and you will offer to go to the Guardian Shrine for special lumber. You now have unlocked the ability to add three characters to your party.
After crossing the repaired bridge, you will see some trees that need to be restored. There you can rescue a villager by talking to him.
You will be asked to investigate broken homes that are abandoned. You need to perform this act and trigger a little eveny before you can go to Sakuraya Construction to find a new option in the menu: Repair Broken Buildings and then: Repair the Dragon Shrine. This will not occur either until you have defeated the truly horrible Tree at the Guardian Shrine to collect a piece of Guardian Timber, one of the materials needed for the repair.
STRATEGY TIPS:
In early Spring, when money is tight and you need to earn enough to pay your villager employees and support their needs, it is helpful sometimes to ask the Blacksmith and Carpenter to make items and then sell them back to the maker immediately. You do need the materials required, but it will give you sufficient profit to make the item again and have a bit of cash left afterwards.
Where the Blacksmith is concerned, however, instead of selling weapons or equipment you yourself no longer need, look at the weapons and equipment of other Characters to see if they could use them. They actually can be helpful to you in battles but only if powerful or protected sufficiently to withstand damage. Remember also that you can use your Drum Dance to heal even in the midst of battle.
EASY MISTAKES TO MAKE
First, it is best to activate a quest before you perform any new action. Murasame's abirthday is on 4 Spring. If you have unlocked the option to celebrate birthdays, you still ought to wait for the Quest to appear on the board, go to the board and accept it BEFORE you interact with Murasame on that day. Every one will tell you it is his borthday. I found him at once and chose the celwbration option. It was only afterwsrds that I saw the Quest on the board. I had to wait for Tsubame's birthday to complete it.
This brings up another easy mistake to make. When any Quest appears on the board, you actually need to accept it and make certain the box is ticked before you perform the action or it will not count towards completion of that Quest.
Another mistake I made was to think I could do better where a Quest asked me to place a General Store and Teahouse in the Simmer Village. Instead of of building and placing those specific items in one of the rather small Development areas, I thought I could open existing abandoned shops on the High Street instead. The quest remained incomplete. Completion of this Quest is the key to progressing to the Autumn Village, so that was delayed.
No mistakes really prevent anything ultimately. There are no time limits, so you can make an error and simply learn from it.
BLIGHT AND SACRED TREASURES
Blight is elemental and the cplour if the Blight shows the element that both generated and continues to power it.
Your Saved Treasures are used to destroy Blight but it is important to understand that even the right Sacred Treasure will be ineffective if it has not reached a high enough Level or been empowered by the right skill. This is where the Skill Nodes are vital. If the icon of a red flower appears nect to a Skill Node, you should activate whatever new nodes are available.
Autumn Village:
After chasing the huge bird and defeating it, you will be asked to take on the duries of chief. You are given the ability to tame monsters and a barm ecists that will house four. You are told to tamr a Buffamoo. They like Crops. I gave a Potato. I then tamed a Wooluly with an Apple and a Cluckadoodle with Rice.
Return to the Autumn Village and speak to Kotaro. You now are given recipes to create waterways, paddy fields and some rice to plant. Do all of this and Lord Kurama gives you new Recipes, including the Windmill Recipe.
Kotaro has a quest on the board to tame a Cluckadoodle. One of the rewards is Sandwich Recipe. This is a favourite gift for Kurama.
Restoring Winter Village:
You receive the Chemist and Udon Cart recipe from Zaza after you agree to act as Village Chief
Autumn Village Level 5
Recipe for Large Barn, Support 18 Villagers, 30 buildings, 90 Decorations
Taming Monsters:
You cannot tame any Monster until you experience an Event wherein Kitaro misses the Monsters who once were his playmates and his mother tells you there is an empty barn and you can tame monsters to fill it again.
To tame a Monster, forst use your Plum Branch to pergorm the Dance of aBonds in fronr of it. A smiley face icon will appear above the Monster's head. You then need to defeat the Momster before you can Interact it.
Note that a Party can interfere with the process. If any member of your Party defeats the Monster instead of you, it will be dispatched instantly to the Forest of Beginnings without any option to Interact with it. It therefore can be helpful to disband your Party and go in alone. Note that a Party cannot be disbanded once you enter the wilds.
Rules of gifting: what is odd is that the most effective gift might be something the Mpnster drops or akin to that rather than the logical real life item. I have noticed that you have a total of three potential interactions before the Monster simoly goes off back to the Forest of Beginnings, so even if it show a little liking for the gift, but then is not happy, you can get it wrong only twice.
Buffamoo: Milk, Weed, Withered Grass
Cluckadoodle: Rice, Sticky Rice, Corn
Horse: Strong Fur
Wolf: Strong Fur
Bee: rejected Honey but loved and accepted an Emery Flower
Blights
Windmill Area in Autumn Fields: Climb the various platforms to hit the Blight Targets. In one case, you can leap over the Blight and hit it from the inside.
Forgotten Grove: Making a note of this because I did it once before and forgot! Trying to find a way to clear the blight on the main path is useless. The traget point is in the path to the far right! Destroy that without any complicated gymnastics and you can race up the main path to fight the most tenacious Monster so far: the Cursed Tree.
For the hell of it, my game journal:
Internal dialogue:
Kurama loves Sandwiches. I know OlI made multiple sandwiches late last night but cannot find them. 'And I suppose of I marry you, I will have to make a Sandwich for you every day. Not exactly elegant dining. He wears that gorgeous robe but lives on sandwiches and commercial white bread at that! It is hard enough putting out dinner for real people every day. Now I have all this cooking going on for all these characters. I find all the Sandwiches finally but they are not grouped together. I surmise they are separated by level and think: 'I'll give him a Level 1 Sandwich. They are the oldest and no doubt out of code now. Probably going rotten so best use those first.'
