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Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon is the second installment of the interesting RPG series set in the Harvest Mooniverse. Already released in Japan this past January, it's hitting stores Stateside in November, and in the UK in October (PAL packshot shown to the left)!

A bunch of high-quality artwork and no-quality screenshots were released today, so hit the jump for them and the latest press release, detailing the announcement of the October 8th PAL release.

Thursday 9th September 2010: Leading Japanese video games publisher Rising Star Games has today confirmed that Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon will be released exclusively on Nintendo DS on 8th October 2010.

The Rune Factory series takes all the elements from Harvest Moon and injects a hefty dose of RPG gameplay. Gamers can start a family with a choice of the female villagers they encounter, with over 12 potential wives to pick from. Gamers can play through two generations within the game, firstly as the father and then the son or daughter. There are also four huge dungeons to hone fighting skills and cultivate crops in, plus monsters can be tamed to help out on the farm too.

Reviews have been positive in the US and Japan, with scores averaging 80%, including 8.4 from IGN: "The Rune Factory design is full of depth and options, with so many things to see and do that you could easily find yourself playing it for 20 hours or more."

"Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon picks up where the last game finished," says Martin Defries, managing director, Rising Star Games. "It's full of farming, fighting and families - the winning Rune Factory combination that will have fans clamouring to get their hands on this."

Rune Factory 2 will be released on 8th October on Nintendo DS courtesy of Rising Star Games.