On Saturday night I've tried out the newest game of the Harvest Moon (HM) Franchise. It's called Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (ルーンファクトリー -新牧場物語). The game is only available on the Nintendo DS.
Storyline from Wiki:
The game takes place exclusively in Kardia, a small city on the eastern tip of the Adonia continent that is surrounded by farmland. The game opens with the protagonist Raguna, wandering into town. Starved and dehydrated, he collapses in front of the house of a landowner named Mist. With no idea who he is or where he came from, Raguna suffers from amnesia.
Mist discovers him outside her home, fetches him food and water, and because he doesn't know his name, they both decide to name him "Raguna" (changeable). Afterwards, Mist offers Raguna a house on her land if he promises to work the farm. Raguna accepts, and this is where the game begins.
From then on, the game is very open ended. The player can work on the farm, fish, or explore the caves in the wilderness around Kardia. The player can propose to some of the eligible girls in town, capture monsters, and expand the player's house. The game's plot mostly revolves around the monster-infested caves and mountains around Kardia, which the goal is to fight through them and defeat the bosses at the end of each cave. As the story progresses, more and more caves open up, and the player gradually learns more about who is causing this influx of monsters.
