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The last time we spoke to Rune Factory series producer, Yoshifumi Hashimoto, he gave us his thoughts on what he envisioned the future of Rune Factory on the Nintendo 3DS would be like.
"There are certainly a lot of different things I could think of wanting to add,” Hashimoto had said to us. “Since it’d be in 3D, I’d want to make it feel as if you are actually walking through this fantasy world. I’d want to make farming a more realistic, 3D experience. Dating would have scenes entirely in 3D.”
That’s more of a visual upgrade, however. What about upgrades to Rune Factory staples like interaction with the townsfolk and bringing the world to life? After all, Hashimoto believes that one of the pleasures of Rune Factory is being able to “live” in a fantasy world, as opposed to just “battling” in one. This was a question we posed to Hashimoto once again, with regard to the future of the series.
“There are certainly a lot of things left that I want to do,” Hashimoto admitted. “Stuff like making gameplay more dynamic, brisk, and familiar. Fleshing out characters more so that they’re more lifelike is another.”
“I don’t mean making characters look photorealistic,” he clarified. “I mean giving them a sense of life and personality, so it’s as if there really is a person here with a life to live in the Rune world. Then taking it a step further and having them shape events in the game dynamically.”
Hashimoto also told us a funny story he heard from a Rune Factory fan in Japan.
“In Japan, I heard from one user who entered an agricultural high school because of Rune Factory,” he revealed. “I’m not going to say that he’s made the right decision because of me or the game, but it certainly makes me feel happy to hear it.”
