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For the first time, Rune Factory: Oceans lets you play as both a male and female protagonist. Named Azel and Sonia, you’ll be able to switch between the two characters during the game.
Naturally, both Azel and Sonia will be able to establish and nurture relationships with other characters in Oceans, just as in past Rune Factory and Harvest Moon titles. In Oceans, however, the number of characters Azel and Sonia can marry differs, says the game’s producer, Yoshifumi Hashimoto.
Being the standard male protagonist, Azel has about as many potential women to woo as you’re used to. Since Sonia represents the first time you can play as a lady, the bachelors available to her are a little lower.
Like in Rune Factory 3, Neverland are also tweaking the way characters interact with each other and with the player in the game. Rune Factory 3 introduced the concept of NPC characters being influenced by each other, and Oceans is looking to be a little more dynamic in this regard as well.
For instance, Hashimoto reveals, you could encounter another character simply while taking a walk on a rainy day. There are more events of this sort than ever before, he says.
Rune Factory Oceans is scheduled for a February 24th release on the Wii and PlayStation 3 in Japan. Early buyers will get to grab a beginner’s guide to the series, as well as a set of guest illustrations, along with the game.
