@yeso#8463 I agree. I played through it mainly on my lunch breaks, and that worked pretty well for me.
The “Communication” in Shigeru Miyamoto‘s “Communication Game” came directly from playground rumors, and how friends would discuss video game secrets all through the 80’s and 90‘s. The first animal crossing is chock-full of invisible, untelegraphed, and secret features. Not to mention that letter system. It was ahead of its time, everything is so different now. Communication defines the current generation. Looking back, I find Animal Crossing interesting for its roots as a Zelda-like take on “communication”. I wouldn’t really consider Chulip or Harvest Moon to be a communication game, especially nowadays where the most communication you have to do to figure out the game is reading a guide on GameFAQs.
When BotW released, I got the same playground rumor feeling, discussing with my friends on LINE messenger every day, and seeing so much content posted to Twitter, revealing all sorts of wild tricks and secrets. The twitter culture surrounding game releases is quite a comparison, the more restrictive character limit back then kept each tweet to about the length of a single tip/secret! I‘ve since left twitter though. It spoiled me on stuff I’d rather find on my own way too many times.
The Rune Factory games certainly fall into this genre. It‘s more of an RPG than Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon and doesn’t really have “complicated themes”, however there is a lot of depth that isn‘t immediately visible. The game loop is getting to know your neighbors, dungeons, farming, crafting, sidequests, and dating sim elements. It’s a lovely of slow-paced game that wants you to savor it. Rune Factory 4 Special is a great jumping off point for the series, and it was just announced to be coming to every system and pc in a couple months.