People tend to write off Rune Factory as just Harvest Moon with slight role-playing-game elements. Anyone who says that likely hasn't seen the complexity and variation in both the farming and dungeon exploration. Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny combines traditional Rune Factory gameplay with an island exploration mechanic that's reminiscent of the Etrian Odyssey series.

You play as Azel as he commands the island-raising golem Ymir through the ocean surrounding his home. Raising islands reveals new monsters, items, and dungeons to explore as you quest to save Sonia, a girl whose soul is trapped inside Azel.

Tides of Destiny is by far the most action-packed Rune Factory yet. While the farming and crafting aspects remain, the emphasis is on battle and discovery. Accepting quests from people around the village sends Azel through the unexplored ocean. Searching for sunken treasures slowly maps the area around Finis island much like dungeon exploration in Etrian Odyssey. Thankfully, searching the world on Ymir is much less complicated and dangerous than sailing around in Etrian Odyssey, but you will encounter fiendish beasties lurking in the sea. When large monsters attack, you control Ymir in a Godzilla-like fight with a limited set of commands.

Traditional mechanics like monster wrangling and farming feel much grander when you expand your farms onto the numerous islands you discover. Each land mass has a different environment suited to raising a certain kind of crop, including growing minerals and gemstones.

Tides of Destiny isn't a true departure from the Rune Factory series, but it breathes new life into a model that sometimes feels a little repetitive. If all you want to do is rear sheep-bunnies and find a wife, that option is still available to you but isn't as crucial to the story as it once was.