Square Enix saw Rune Factory and said "I can do that, but much better" and they really did ! In my opinion, it's a farming sim with a good action combat adventure on the side, not a mid ARPG with some farming.

There are a lot less characters than RF however, their personality and backstory takes more than a paragraph each, miracle ! Actually they each have a ten-step story line.

And for those who say that farming is boring and repetitive, you know you can just farm minimally for a while, focus on the adventuring side until you get yourself some sprinklers, right ? It's a game, you don't have to do anything you don't want to ! Shocker ! Me ? I think farming and fishing are some of the best parts of the game. It's a little tedious at first, but you quickly get upgrades to make it about as smooth as your field size should need.

I think the graphics and music are some of the best I have seen in a recent game, period. Especially the water dungeon music.

Also one of the few games that handled mystery well in the ones I have played.