Rune Factory / YMMV

Anvilicious: This game isn't subtle at all about its Green Aesop, to the point where it's worrying. The doctor disapproves of science and machinery, despite the many obvious issues working without them would cause.
Base-Breaking Character:
- Some fans think Mist's cute. Others think she's annoying. The fact that she's supposed to be part of the Official Couple hasn't helped at all...
- Tori is similar. Fans are divided regarding whether she's cute or creepy due to her awkward, strange behavior and heavy use of the Dramatic Ellipsis (even in writing!). She also has one of the most tedious marriage conditions in that you'll end up reading the same library passage every day to raise her LP, as nothing else short of festivals will work.
Complete Monster: Ethelberd, as explained on the series' YMMV page.
Fridge Logic: You need permits to enter any dungeon. However, how do the other villagers manage to enter the caves without needing them?
- Perhaps they have permits already?
Funny Moments: The opening movie to the first game has a moment where Raguna faces off against a dragon while armed with just a hoe to protect Mist. After a cutaway, he decides to grab Mist and run like hell.
Game-Breaker: Mining borders on this. While mining in Harvest Moon games is a decent (but not completely reliable) source of money, the profits you can make here are almost ridiculous. After upgrading your hammer at least once, charging it before using it improves the chances of finding a higher leveled stone, and the selling price of an item is its base price multiplied by its level (the game outright tells you this).^* The Mining skill level also affects the chances, and you raise it by using the hammer. From Toros Cave onward there are a lot of valuable stones. With the fully charged Silver Hammer after raising a few skill levels, it's easy to find precious stones on Level 5-10, if not higher. And unlike later Rune Factory games, all mining stones are restored when you leave a dungeon and come back. As a consequence, in a few days of mining properly, you can get an amount of money that would take you weeks to get by farming. This makes so much money that if the player focuses on nothing but mining and collecting lumber (just get and upgrade the respective tools as soon as possible), it's possible to pay for the house upgrade (200000G and 2000 lumber pieces) as early as Spring 15. Naturally, this was nerfed in later games.
Scrappy Mechanic:
- Mei requires you to propose to her with a Level 80+ Lover Snapper before she will marry you. It is not possible to obtain this through normal play even with a fully upgraded rod, so you have to beg someone else with a copy of the game to trade the item back-and-forth, which will raise its level by 1 each time. And now that the DS Wi-Fi has been shut down, you have to do this in person, which is easier said than done since the game is nowhere near Pokémon level popularity. It doesn't help that Mei is already one of the hardest girls to woo over, since festivals are the only viable way to do so.
- Misty Bloom Cave is only open in the winter as it's surrounded by a lake that freezes over. Since it's very possible to have completed the previous four dungeons before the end of spring, this can potentially leave the player with a very long stretch of in-game time before the plot can be progressed. This is also a time sensitive dungeon as if you don't complete it by the end of winter, then you have to wait until winter of the NEXT YEAR. More than one player has dropped the game entirely upon discovering this.
Toy Ship: Nicholas and Cecilia. Sadly, this ship gets sunk in Rune Factory 2.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: You have the option of marrying Lynette, the primary antagonist who was responsible for erasing Raguna's memory in the first place, after she joins the village. You'd think marriage would be a good opportunity to reveal his past, but she's treated like any other bachelorette.

YMMV / Rune Factory

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