Part 62: The End

The End

Music: Winter


Now it's actual New Year's Eve!



It's not a race...

You know, Link hasn't taken a single bath since beating the game. And he's not going to take one in this update or the next. Pia must be so disappointed.


Since we're wrapping things up, I guess I can start giving my final thoughts on these lunatics. And the handful of not-lunatics.

Wells would be 100% forgettable if he wasn't plot-necessary as the only person in town who was still actively racist towards monsters. But are the mayor characters in these games ever memorable? (The God Dragon Mayor of RF4 doesn't count)

As you've probably deduced over this LP, I'm not a fan of Shara. She'd be bland and inoffensive in a vaccuum, but it's so obvious the writers really really wanted you to marry her that I just get annoyed by her instead. Although I'll admit that getting married to someone else and then having the reprise of the opening cutscene immediately start with Shara was kind of hilarious.



What?
A New Year's gift...can I expect one?
Ha ha...maybe if you're good.
Yay.

Adults giving a gift of money to kids on New Year's is a thing in Japan and in some other Asian countries. It's not just Monica being weirdly greedy.

Speaking of Monica...she's the token kid. She's vaguely cute and is mostly memorable because of the (honestly pretty short-lived) biting gimmick. Not much else to say about her.



With yelling at Karina.
Th-that must have been tough...

Hazel's alright, I guess. I like her character more when she's not busy complaining about Karina. Too bad she spends 90% of her time complaining about Karina.



I worked too much. (I tried too hard...)
What?!

And got so far, and in the end it didn't even matter.

>Any resolutions?

Not to work too much. (Less than last year.)
Seems difficult...

I'm honestly not sure what the appeal of Karina is supposed to be. She's unrepentently lazy as fuck, her story arc doesn't resonate with me at all, and she has terrible taste in fashion since she likes Evelyn's horror outfits. If you're just looking for someone who's relatively not crazy, there's better choices than her.

She did get more than zero votes in the marriage poll, so she obviously appeals to some people, just not me.


Hey look, it's the best non-marriage-candidate character in the game. He even gets a shoutout in RF4 when Raven(she shows up there as a traveling merchant) mentions he's like a dad.



I see...

I like Raven. Sure, her plot twist could be seen coming a mile away, but it was nice to see the writers do a bit more with the game's themes than what the plot mandated.


I've also been poking around people's houses one last time, and found something I missed.

I'm not a fan, you want any?


This would have been nice several seasons ago.



Everyone growing up all around you.

Marjorie is a cool old lady. Too bad she lets Marian run wild and terrorize the town.



I'm looking forward to seeing you jump into the lake in celebration!
I won't!

>I'll be tired.

That's too bad...then how about some tea?
Th-thank you.
Oh wait! That was sleeping medicine.
?!

I've made my thoughts on Marian abundantly clear. That said, I respect that every video game needs an antagonist, and she fills her role expertly.



I hope we can continue to do a lot for each other next year.
Yes!

Kuruna's cool. Unfortunately her character gets a bit boring after racism is ended forever, but she's still a solid villager. It's a shame they bothered coming up with a name for the flame spirit on her shoulder and never did much with it other than one or two throwaway lines, though.



Do you like characters that revolve entirely around food and abusive friendships? Then Collette is the bachelorette for you! But seriously, I have no idea why she'd be friends with Marian at all. Or why anyone would be friends with Marian.


Blaise would be right at home in most Harvest Moon games and in the first two Rune Factories. That means he's an incredibly boring and forgettable character here, and basically exists as a recipe bread dispenser. They don't even let you buy a random selection of cooked dishes from him, which seems like a big oversight.


Rusk would also be boring if not for his vegetable-hating gimmick, a gimmick so powerful it forces Link to try to trick Rusk into eating his goddamned vegetables. I respect it.



To escape reality...

Pia's hilarious, and the thread thought so enough to make me marry her. Unfortunately the things that make her hilarious are also things that make me not want to marry her, since I can't quite parse her as a romantic interest in any way, shape, or form. But it's okay, because I never would have gotten to see her hilarious post-marriage dialogue otherwise.



It reminds me of my finances...
Oh...!
Too late?

Sakuya's one of those characters I forget exists after not playing for too long. She's not bad, but she doesn't really stand out at all. The most interesting thing about her is her monster hatred, but that gets handwaved away with a 'oh, I Just hate monsters that get in the way of business!'. She also has the dreaded Can't Cook And It's Hilarious Because She's A Girl character gimmick, which is one of my least favorite things in Japanese media.



Well, we could end with a stand-up routine.
All done!
...
See, I'm already standing up.
What? Oh! I see!


You can't marry Shino, resident ninja mom, and that's a crime.



Because I get New Year's presents!
Oh, Monica.


Carmen exists, and is creepily close to her brother. That's my entire opinion of her.


Carlos has a bit more of a personality, but is still pretty forgettable. It doesn't help that neither of the fishing siblings really interacts with the other townsfolk.



That's the spirit!
No, it's not.
No, I think Karina's fine the way she is!
I can't figure out WHAT anyone's resolution actually is...



Good luck with that!

Sofia is a terrible character who's dreadfully boring to interact with. I honestly forgot how hilarious she is later on when I first started this LP.


I like Daria a lot, and she was actually my marriage choice when I first played RF3. She's insane, but it's such a cheery and mostly-benign insane.



Thanks, you too.

Zaid: Boring 99% of the time, so aggressively dumb the other 1% that even Link calls him on it. I'm not sure if I love it or hate it.



Ondorus, of course he wouldn't.
Then what about you, Zaid?
Of course not!
You might want to think about it...

Ondorus is cool, but also suffers from having very little daily dialogue variety. Yes, this game has spoiled me that much on it.


With everyone out of the way(except Sherman & Evelyn, who I apparently forgot I hadn't talked to), there's nothing left to do but wait until midnight.


Look at these spells I can technically say I've used now!


When midnight hits, something...special happens.

You don't get to see any fireworks, but boy can you hear them. And they're terrible. For the fully authentic experience, keep that playing until Link goes to bed.


More importantly, now everyone has something new to say.


It's not always riveting.



This town has the Sharance Tree. I'm sure it'll be a good year.


We did save her from a god dragon this year, that sure merits a thank you in my books.



Happy New Year. Please humor my family again this year.
...

God bless Evelyn for letting me dress Link in increasingly-goofy outfits.




Final ranking of De Sainte-Coquilles across all four Rune Factory games: Porcoline>Jasper>Sherman>Herman. Jasper bumped up a rank for wanting to eat a tank, Herman at the bottom for not having any insanity whatsoever and also for not having a hat. Sherman's so low because he has shamefully small dialogue variety in the game notable for having most characters have something completely new to say every day for several seasons. I really have been spoiled on that.




A year where I never have to talk to you is a pretty good one, I have to admit.



Yes...

>Thank you.

...
I'm sorry...


Incidentally everyone starts heading back home after midnight hits. I had to savescum a bit to make sure I talked to everyone before they started going to sleep.




I know it's an artifact of this being a game and all, but it's kind of weird that we go directly from snow to flowers at the stroke of midnight. I blame whatever magic keeps each dungeon the same season year-round.



Look! Grandpa got me a New Year's gift!
Oh. Looks like you got a lot.
Heh heh. Jealous?


I...kind of forgot this Wooly was here as part of Shara's questline.

Well, I hope she enjoys her new housemate.






I can't talk to Carmen and Carlos at all because their store's locked and they were inside before midnight hit.


Moving on.



I don't think you understand what "literally" means...


On New Year's Day, most of the older characters will give you money. If you've been doing anything then money should be trivial by now, but here's what you get:

Sherman : 50,000
Shino : 15,000
Marjorie : 10,000
Wells: 10,000
Blaise: 5,000
Hazel: 5,000
Ondorus: 5,000



Ha ha...




I definitely needed the help.



Well, you were...
Something like that? (Just kidding.)
What?!
How distasteful...
What?!


...thanks, Sherman.




I think I'll pass on that gift...



It smells like baths!
Perfect for washing money!
Huh? Why would you need to do that...?



No, not "pom-poms"...
Are these jokes supposed to be...funny?
Uh, yeah! Real knee-slappers!





...I don't think that's how prayers work, Evelyn.




Be thankful you didn't have to see this screenshot 30 times in these past two updates.


Back to being a hibernating hermit while we wait for the baby.


Pregnant women are supposed to eat raw fish, right?



You know, the taste is so important!
You haven't changed one bit...



Sakuya said that it's important to practice stand-up.
Oh, that's why.
Yes. She said we should get you to join our group.
What's the deal?





Don't you mean Mom?
Oh, that's right! Shino is Mom!
Heh heh. Family is great!

>Brothers.

What?! You were my brother?! Oh!
But, we got married! Wh-what should I do?!
Um, I didn't think you were going to believe me...

Link is the worst husband.



I feel like I never have to return to the sea again.
After meeting you, I feel like I can be myself.
So, thank you!
Well, thank you too.

OK I take that back.

Finally, on Spring 9...



W-what?! What is it?! Wait...really?! Oh no, we need Marjorie to come see you!





Whoa...! Pia, it's born!

No shit, Link.

What a great smile. Looks just like you, Pia.
Oh hey, Fishy!
Hm?
We made a kid.
Huh...?! You didn't want a kid?
No, no. You said it before, Fishy. That people can't make someone.

This is the most confusing post-birth conversation. Did we even say that at any point? Because I sure don't remember it.

Oh...
But this is our child.
Yes.
Say hi to Daddy!
Hello there! Um...


As usual, the default name for our kid sucks. But I'm sticking with it because .


At least Lala will be very well-bathed.

Lala, who are you going to meet in the future? How will you change?




An entire year passes after your kid is born, with a new season happening in each of these bits. It doesn't affect your crops or friendship decay or anything, not that you're likely to care at this point.


I'd complain about how lazy the newborn's non-sprite is, but you only see it for about a minute, so...







(Thank you...)
What?
No, it's nothing.




And then the game proceeds as normal. Your kid will hang around your house all the time. And that's all they do.


You can talk to them, but they only have a few lines they cycle through. Apparently each gender of kid has a few random personalities they can have, which effects what set of lines they get.



Here's both of their full sprites, just because. They very conveniently only take after Link.



Oh, okay! Happy birthday, Lala!

The game does track your kid's birthday, but it doesn't do much. You can't even give gifts to them.


Pia never changes.


She's also, uh, a bit late on the town news. Especially for the tree she's living in.


And...that's it. The end.

I really enjoyed LPing this and getting to expose you, the reader, to this den of insanity. It's a shame the Rune Factory series seems to be dead now, because RF3 and RF4 are both great games that are the peak of the HM-alike formula as far as I'm concerned. The dialogue variety is great, the character events keep you feeling involved(although RF3's quest system is way better than the weird random event system of RF4), and the combat's pretty engaging even though I didn't show it off too much in this LP. My only complaint is that the game doesn't really have enough content to justify playing even one entire in-game year, although after seeing the...interesting...pacing of RF1 & 2, maybe the game going by too fast is a blessing in itself.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see some of you in my next LP.