Rune Factory..1, 2, and 3.

Do these need to be played in order for the continuing story? Or are they seperate stories ? Thanks for any help on this.HoustonTX224

Each of the Rune Factories have separate storylines and are set in different times and places. As such, you don't need to play them in order. In fact, I played RF 2 before playing RF 1 myself.But! You will see some references to the previous games show up here and there. For example, in RF 2, there's a character named Cecilia. She was a little girl whom the Protagonist in RF 1 rescued form a cave. She also mentions in the game that she was that little girl. Also, In RF 2, a merchant named Yue lives there, she' appears in RF 3 but she's now much younger.In summary, there really is no definitive plot connections between the games.Hope this helps!

^ What he said, LOLL