To speak in anthropomorphic terms (as if the game were an actual entity, and not the product of a few weeks' work by a team of developers), Rune Factory: Frontier can't seem to make up its mind whether it wants to be a farming RPG, Animal Crossing, or a traditional RPG. While it's nice to have the option to move through the game at your own chosen speed, Rune Factory: Frontier has an unfortunate tendency to crawl along at a snail's pace instead. It takes several hours of logged gameplay before you can get all the tools out of the villagers necessary to begin playing the game per se.
While experimentation and cross-genre hybridization is to be encouraged and supported in most or all areas of life, this game ultimately represents a testament to just how badly a poorly considered admixture (however well intentioned or amusing it may sound on paper) can fail.
