Final Fantasy III & Rune Factory go head-to-head in Japan

by James Ransom-Wiley { Aug 10th 2006 at 1:45PM }

On August 24, Final Fantasy III and Rune Factory: Shin Bokujou Monogatari (Harvest Moon spinoff) will be released in Japan fo DS. While FFIII certainly has the brand edge, both titles look to boost the DS's credibility as a viable RPG platform. Famitsu recently published its reviews for the two games, suggesting that FFIII is slightly superior:

Final Fantasy III (Square Enix): 9/8/9/8 - 34/40*
Rune Factory (Marvelous Interactive): 8/9/7/9 - 33/40

Keep in mind that, back in March, Children of Mana scored even higher than FFIII, earning a 36/40, and will be released in the US on October 30. FFIII will land stateside in November (hopefully). Rune Factory: Shin Bokujou Monogatari has not been confirmed for release outside of Japan, but Harvest Moon DS is scheduled for September 12.

*C3 News notes that Famitsu's score for the original FFIII (NES) was 35/40.

Tags: Children of Mana, ChildrenOfMana, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy III, FinalFantasy, FinalFantasyIii, Harvest Moon, HarvestMoon, Marvelous Interactive, MarvelousInteractive, Neverland, Rune Factory, RuneFactory, Square Enix, SquareEnix

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

spoo @ Aug 10th 2006 1:57PM

@ORANGE

4 reviews on a x/10 format. 4*10=40

Tesla @ Aug 10th 2006 2:02PM

November is going to be sensory overload (as well as wallet emptying) month .... new consoles and lots and lots of great new games.

biL @ Aug 10th 2006 2:03PM

#1 jap?

that was seriously unecessary.

chris w @ Aug 10th 2006 2:08PM

please biL, shut your sensitivity trap. this isn't the 40's, get over it.

Niel @ Aug 10th 2006 2:08PM

The only thing that could make this better was if Golden Sun was coming out(cluthes my Sol blade and hopes).

tactics @ Aug 10th 2006 2:16PM

ff3 looks pretty good... i've been waiting for an rpg to take advantage of the touch-screen in the way that this title does. tap on a command, and tap on an enemy to execute it. looks dreamy :)

-"superfan" tactics.

Pal @ Aug 10th 2006 2:18PM

@ biL: You see, it was OKAY in the 40s. You got it all wrong.

Being half Japanese and American, I'm embarassed to hear such remarks. But it's okay, because Japan makes all the games in this news post.

Back on topic...

This might breathe some life into my DS. I've been on a PSP binge lately, haven't touched the DS in a while. Never played FFIII, and Rune Factory sounds interesting. Never was a bog fan of action RPGs in general, so I think I'll pass on the SoM.

Pal @ Aug 10th 2006 2:19PM

Bog? Big.

darkjedimatu @ Aug 10th 2006 2:24PM

@ chris

That Jap comment wasn't cool, so screw YOU!

@ Pal
I hear ya.
I just picked up a PSP for Tekken and I bought Wipeout and Lumines. PSP is getting love for being new but my DS still gets play from Bleach (import) Metroid, Mario Kart and Meteos which I still enjoy more than Lumines.

Nintendo is getting most of my money this christmas between Wii and DS.

Ethan Thomas @ Aug 10th 2006 2:30PM

"Harvet Moon spinoff"?

....did you mean Harvest Moon, or have I just never heard of that Harvet game?

...and if I'm right, how 'bout a star? :D

Seven @ Aug 10th 2006 2:31PM

Why oh why would you make a comment like that number 1?

what goes through your mind?

ZildjianKX @ Aug 10th 2006 2:43PM

Is Xenosaga 1&2 ever going to hit hte US for the DS?

wichenroder @ Aug 10th 2006 2:49PM

@ORANGE
It'd be great if you'd try not to be such a dick. Even if you're 12.
I understand though, difference can be frightening sometimes, can't it.
Hang in there.

Draco @ Aug 10th 2006 3:10PM

This is what the DS needs, some real RPG's :D no more mario rpg games :P

p.s. I am happy to see Orange's post deleted :) completely worthless racist comments

Ethan Thomas @ Aug 10th 2006 3:33PM

Sooo....you fixed the typo..but no star or props for the guy who pointed it out huh? I see how it is. :P

djsyndrome @ Aug 10th 2006 5:27PM

"Is Xenosaga 1&2 ever going to hit hte US for the DS?"

No. Which is a good thing, because all reports point to it being a terrible game.

Seiken Densetsu DS did relatively well, almost 300,000 copies to date. I'm excited to see it and FF III in the states. Now we just need GBA ports of SD3 and Chrono Trigger to round out the collection :)

All Your Lost Socks @ Aug 10th 2006 5:49PM

Aw, poor Ethan. *draws you a star* :)
I can't wait for FFIII - and I didn't even know about Rune Factory until just now. I hope that gets a release date over here, even though I'll be getting Harvest Moon DS the day it comes out. I love that series :)

Brad Lee @ Aug 10th 2006 6:24PM

I imported Children of Mana. It's pretty good. I wouldn't say 36/40 good, but then again I wouldn't say Nintendogs is 40/40 good either (Famitsu is goofy sometimes). The animation sequences are excellent, and the graphics are gorgeous. I can't rightly comment on the story, because I don't speak Japanese (working on that though). However, the gameplay can be very repeditive. I find myself pressing the same attack button over and over again to beat hordes of dummy monsters.

I'm kind of interested in FFIII. At first I thought Square was remaking FFIII the American 3 (which from my understanding is 6 in Japan). FFIII (american) was my favorite FF game, so I was a bit disappointed it wasn't the same game. I still might get it though.

Until now I never heard of Rune Factory.

Ethan Thomas @ Aug 11th 2006 12:06PM

-All Your Lost Socks

Aww sweet! Thanks :). Glad to see SOMEONE cares...lol.

olhado @ Aug 11th 2006 12:46PM

I'm super excited about Rune Factory, I found it on IGN when I was looking for stuff about Harvest Moon DS. I was hoping for some online lovin' but I guess I'll just have to settle. If it doesn't get released in North America... well, my school teaches Japanese.