I don't know if it is a testament to my own quirkiness or not, but my favorite game of E3 '07 wasn't some next-generation console title brimming with flashy graphics due out sometime next year, but rather a game for the Nintendo DS due out next month. As part of the 10th Anniversary of the Harvest Moon franchise, Natsume is gearing up for the release of Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon on Nintendo's handheld on August 14th. Take all the crop growing, harvesting, fishing, and courting you'd normally find in a Harvest Moon title, and then add in a healthy dose of hack and slash dungeon exploration and you get Rune Factory, described by producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto as "Harvest Moon where you wield a sword."

The game begins, as many other RPG titles do, with a young amnesiac. The hero of the game awakens in an unfamiliar village where a young lady named Mist helps him build a new life of farming, fishing, and macking on the local ladies. It's just like your average Harvest Moon titles, only this time around your stamina bar is replaced with a rune points meter, which depletes as you use tools or fight monsters.

Yes, monsters. Caves are opening around the land, filling with machine generated monsters for some mysterious purpose that is up to you to discover. Delve into the various caves to defeat monsters and face an end boss in traditional action RPG fashion, using weapons and magic at the cost of rune points and eventually your own HP. Luckily the dungeons contain parcels of land ripe for farming, and a well managed crop can mean the difference between life and death, a message I am sure is wholly supported by farmers associations everywhere.

It isn't all about killing, however. You can also befriend monsters and raise them much like livestock on your farm. Treat them well and they can act as companions in battle, suppliers of raw materials, or even help maintain your farm while you are out and about killing their friends and family.

Rune Factory features a robust crafting system where you can create all the tools you need to keep your farm in top condition and the monsters you face in dead condition. Players will even be able to trade items with their friends over the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. Is a dungeon kicking your ass? Have a friend send you a badass weapon to help even the odds. It's a very nifty way to foster a community of players ready to lend a helping hand.

The game looks beautiful in motion, easily one of the prettier DS titles I've seen. The 3D characters animate very smoothly against some beautiful 2D scenery. The world of Rune Factory is as rich and detailed as you would expect from developer Neverland, the creators of the Lufia RPG series.

I have always been intrigued by the Harvest Moon series, but I never could find the hook that would keep me playing long after my brief passion for farming subsided. This is that hook. Released in Japan last year, the game garnered a score of 33/40 (9/8/7/9) from Famitsu, and proved so popular that sequels are planned on the DS as well as the Nintendo Wii. If a Harvest Moon game has ever gotten you so frustrated you just wanted to kill something, this is your chance.