We're also getting Rune Factory 6

The development teams at Marvelous are certainly keeping themselves busy. Multiple upcoming games were revealed in the developer's game showcase yesterday, including a new Daemon X Machina game and two new entries in the Story of Seasons franchise. Rune Factory is also doubling up in development as Series Director Shiro Maekawa revealed the company is diligently working on two new titles in the series, Rune Factory Project Dragon and Rune Factory 6.

Project Dragon seems to be the one further along in development, as Maekawa provided the first footage of this Rune Factory spin-off. The game is going with a Japanese-styled world as players will explore the?? "Land of the East" for the very first time. And ?it looks like they'll be able to do it while riding Tatsu dragons.

//youtu.be/N4NGndJUuMY?t=1185

It feels like a lot of franchises have been looking to ancient Japan for inspiration over the past few years, from Monster Hunter Rise to the upcoming Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless. To me, that's a good thing. I haven't been able to get enough of the setting since playing Ghost of Tsushima. What little video we see of the new game in the showcase certainly looks alright to me and I look forward to finding out more info (and whether or not the protagonist will have amnesia again.)

Beyond Project Dragon, Maekawa also confirmed Rune Factory 6 is in development. This game will feature a traditional western-fantasy setting on the continent of Adonea. I can only hope the end product is a few ticks above what we got with Rune Factory 5.

As with most of the games in the showcase, there is no information on a release date or potential launch platforms. In the meantime, Marvelous and Xseed Games will release Rune Factory 3 Special in September.

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Add some Steam to the factory

Fantasy farmers will have a new way to mingle and mine in Rune Factory 5 soon. XSEED and Marvelous confirm today that Rune Factory 5 is getting a PC port on July 13.

The latest entry in the Rune Factory series launched earlier this year as a Nintendo Switch exclusive. The Steam version looks to be a similar offering. It's $59.99 for the standard edition (though it's currently on a pre-launch 15% discount) or $69.99 for the Digital Deluxe, which includes the Rune Factory 4 marriage candidates outfit set. Any pre-order also nets two cosmetic outfits and a New Ranger Care Package of ??items in-game.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Edy6Bx_G8

Farming up a storm

If you're new to Rune Factory, it runs in a similar vein to Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley. The key difference is that Rune Factory puts a bit more of a focus on combat and exploring dungeons than the actual fa?rming.

Depending on what you're looking for, that can be a positive or negative. In our review of the Switch launch, Rune Factory 5 s??e??emed to be playing the hits, while not necessarily winning over new hearts thanks to falling into some familiar pitfalls. Things can get repetitive and basic at times too.

What a PC port might offer is a performance boost, which some might welcome. All-in-all, I was a big fan of Rune Factory 4 but stayed away from the next entry after hea??ring some early impressions of it. I'm hopeful the Steam version gives? it enough of a boost to put it back on my radar.

Rune Factory 5 launches for PC via Steam on July 13, 2022.

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Down on Jollity Farm

'Tis the season for bleating about your business successes, and that includes the anime-lovin' boys 'n' gals over at Marvelous. The Japanese publisher has proudly announced that its farming RPG, Rune Factory 5, has achieved an impressive 500,000 shipments and dig??ital sales since its 2021 launch.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq1B5qLpL0k

Originally released in Japan last May, before hitting these shores in March of this year, Rune Factory 5 tasks players with carving out a small niche for themselves within the quaint, sunny village of Rigbarth. As with its predecessors, the sequel combines repetitious farming action with world exploration and social interactions to create a cute, custom, slice-of-life adventure for its players. Rune Factory 5 also features a monster-taming mechanic, allowi??ng ranchers to build? up their own menagerie.

While Rune Factory 5 has clearly been something of a success, many critics and fans were left a little disappointed by this latest iteration. While players praised the title's calming nature, eye for exploration, and attractive artwork, criticism was leveled at the title for its in-game visuals. Some in the Rune Factory commun?ity also expressed frustration at the title's failure to evolve, essentially retreading an almost identical path to the games that came before it.

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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

Last month, I posted a preview of Rune Factory 5 detailin??g its first two hours and the opening dungeon. Mostly, I complained about how that just isn't enough time to really get a feel for how a game of this nature is going to be. This is a franchise where you can easi?ly put more than 100 hours into a single game without seeing everything it has to offer.

I needed more than two hours. Thankfully, after that ??preview went up, I got to spend the next several weeks immersing myself in this world. That's more than enough time to really dig into the experience and unearth the good and the bad buried within.

Rune Factory 5 (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Hakama Inc.
Publisher: Xseed Games
Released: March 22, 2022
MSRP: $59.99

If you’re tired of role-playing games featuring a protagonist with a crippling case of amnesia, I have bad news for you. The series staple trope is back with a vengeance in Rune Factory 5, which sees players exploring dungeons and slaying monsters as they try to save the world, get the guy or girl, and maybe ?build up an agricultural empire. The blonde-headed hero of this tale comes to the quaint town of Rigbarth following a monster attack in the woods. They can’t remember who they are or what their deal is, but it takes no time at all to find out that your hero is an Earthmate. Like with other games in the series, this means they have a special connection to nature and dragons, and stand as Rigbarth’s only hope in saving the town and the kingdom at large from a nefarious villain.

Someone or something is stealing rune power from the world, and that is throwing nature into disarray. As the hero of this tale, it’s up to you to figu?re out who’s behind the madness. But hey, no rush or anything. Saving the day can sit on the bac??k burner as you grow level-10 tomatoes or try to catch that rare monster you so desperately need for your stables.

That’s because Rune Factory 5 employs an open-ended structure where you’re free to take the game at your own pace. If you don’t want to do some dungeon diving, you don’t have to. Those dungeons ain’t going anywhere, so you might as well take your sweet time and get yourself prepared for the challenge ahead by engaging in the wide array of side activities. From growing crops to catching monsters to crafting new tools and armo?r, there are very few doldrum days in the town of Rigbarth.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq1B5qLpL0k

For veterans of the series, or even those hopping over for the first time from Story of Seasons or one of the other farming sims out there, none of this will be a surprise. The farming genre is very much about making your own schedule. If you’re coming into this game cold turkey, however, you might inadvertently go about proceeding through Rune Factory 5 in a less than ideal way. That’s because there’s nothing here that says you need to properly divide your time between farming and fighting, and it is possible to blow through most of the story before you ever see the first day of summer. Obviously, that’s not the ideal way to play the game. But it is a possibility, especially if you’re the type who likes to focus on a more structured game experience rather than an open-ended one. Your first few days in Rigbarth feature a slew of short tutorials that teach you about the many different aspects of the game. But with so much knowledge thrown out in such a short time, it’s really up to the player to sift through it and figure things out. And? there is a lot to figure out here.

One of the first things you should learn in Rune Factory 5 is how to level up your skills. The good thing is, nearly everything in this game contributes to character growth. Even something as simple as walking or going to sleep at the end of the day will help you skill up. And those skills carry real results. Bathing at the bathhouse, for instance, is a skill that will increase your health points, rune points (action points), and vitality the more you do it. If you want to see greate?r benefits from love spells, you’ll need to increase your love skill. Fishing, chopping wood, talking to neighbors, watering crops, tending to your monster livestock, and opening treasure chests are just some of the everyday activities you’ll perform that’ll slowly ready your hero for the task at hand.

Building up your skills outside of battle will ultimately aid you when you do decide to dive into some dungeons. With increased health points and rune points, you’re more likely to survive the swarms of monsters awaiting you. However, as I found out the first couple of days of playing the game, even if you neglect all your activities outside of combat, you’re probably not going to have too much trouble getting through Rune Factory 5.

The dungeon-crawling side of Rune Factory 5 is extremely basic in its execution. The one-button combo combat doesn’t lend itself to much experimentation, and when you’re not smacking down one or two foes with a succession of strikes, you’ll likely be dodging attacks coming at you from off-camera. Unlike most of the games in the franchise, Rune Factory 5 does not have a fix??ed camera. Its position to the main character is close enough that it can be easy to take hits from enemies you can’t even see. And some of these hits can kill you in one shot. It’s annoying, but it's workable, which is more than I can say about the auto-targeting system.

Rune Factory 5 just might have the worst auto-targeting system I have ever experienced. Truly awful, it is pretty unpredictable in not only which enemy it will target initially, but also which one it’ll shift to if you hit the right control stick. Will I target the monster in the center of my screen or the one closest to me? It’s honestly a crapshoot. I had rooms where I’d hit the auto-target button and it would lock onto a monster clear on the other side of the room with plenty of creatures standing between us. I only died a couple of times playing through the game–and Rune Factory 5 has a generous save system that’ll let you skirt death if you don’t mind restarting–but nearly all of those deaths ca?n be attributed?? to the targeting system’s failure to focus on the appropriate enemy.

Equally as annoying in battle is what I'll call the SEED savior system. For much of your adventure, your character is a member of SEED. The organization is responsible for investigating what’s ha??ppening with the rune energy as well as protecting Rigbarth from monster attacks. In the back corner of the Rigbarth SEED Outpost, a nondescript SEED officer stands at the ready. If you talk to them before you go exploring, they’ll agree to come aid you should you need their help. This means if you’re stricken with a status effect like sleep, they’ll pop in and restore you. They’ll also come to your aid if your health falls too low, and this is where I have a problem.

Because this SEED recruit has a lengthy recharge between rescues, I want to do my best to hold off the need for their aid until the situation is dire. However, they will pop in anytime my health falls below a certain point. And it’s not even a low point like I’m sitting there with only three health points remaining. I can still have a decent measure of HP left, but if it’s below this threshold, they’ll barge in. N??ot only is it annoying to lose this last-second save when I don’t need it, but the unpredictability of their arrival can actually throw me off my rhythm, leading to me taking some damage I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.

These two elements of combat can combine for a particularly frustrating experience, especially when playing on a harder difficulty level. But that’s pretty much the only way to see a consistent challenge from the game because most everything ?here doesn’t pose much of a threat. The dungeon bosses are big and bold, but there isn’t much variety between them. If you’ve recruited monsters or townsfolk to fight on your side, you can easily just let them do all the work while you lob spells at the beast from afar.

It’s actually kind of insane how much damage recruited monsters will do as they level up, and they can level up quite quickly. There is one dungeon in the game where I was joined by the first three monsters I captured. At the beginning of it, they barely posed a threat. By the end, they were doing more damage individually than I was with my strongest weapon. Inviting monsters and townsfolk along on your quest is obviously encouraged by the game’s design—and a central element in Rune Factory 5’s roman??tic ventures—but it pretty much breaks the combat, especially in those boss battles.

Because of this, as well as the repetitive nature of the dungeons and their far-too-simplistic puzzles, I didn’t really enjoy the combat half of this game. The hack ’n�?slash action works decently enough, but most battles just boiled down to me repeatedly dodging offscreen attacks and healing my companions as they took a brunt of the damage. Suffice to say, I had a better time with the farming sim half of the Rune Factory equation he??re, but even that side has its issues.

First and foremost, this is not really a pretty game. There is some interesting art direction, namely in the boss character designs and a few spots on the overworld map, but everything here looks a few generations old. There’s one corridor you’ll frequent on the northeast side of Rigbarth that honestly looks like it fell out of an early bargain bin Dreamcast game. The framerate never seems to hit a consistent 30 fp??s and will routinely take a dive every time you walk through a door. Elements in th?e world can take a long time to render in and it can sometimes feel as though the game is about to crash, but thankfully, that never happened with me. The worst error I ran into during my playthrough was when everyone in town started talking about a hurricane that was supposed to arrive tomorrow and it didn’t get there until two days later.

Rigbarth itself is pretty underwhelming. It feels as though the developers had a few ideas they wanted for this little burg but couldn’t figure out how to connect them in a natural way. The town is sparse and spread out with most? of it remaining pretty dead for a good chunk of the calendar year. Special events and holidays will bring focus to certain parts of town, but these too are underwhelming. Artistically, most holidays don’t do anything more than paper the screen with confetti as the townsfolk stand around in a location outside their normal haunts for a dozen or so hours. Occasionally, you’ll have a mini-game or contest that’ll eat up about 30 seconds of your time. I was really disappointed when I reached my first Beach Day expecting some type of fun in the sun. Sadly, nobody was playing volleyball or surfing or any kind of activity that would require a unique animation. Instead, they just stood or sat around until the sun went down.

As disappointing as some of these holidays can be, it is worth getting out there and exploring Rigbarth every day as you might come across a unique cutscene that’ll bring you closer to the cast. The denizens of the town are a real bunch of winners in Rune Factory 5 and I have to complement the localization team for doing such a good job giving these characters some unique and dynamic personalities. One thing the game does well is it really gets you to learn about the people who populate this village, with little scenes that play out from time to time that reveal a bit more ab??out each of them. If you’re ever around town and see a big red?? dot on the map, it’s marking the spot that’ll either advance the story or advance your relationship with the townsfolk.

The marriage candidates this time around are a pretty good bunch too, though you may want to hold off pursuing a partner until you’ve cleared a good chunk of the dungeons. As you advance through the story, more characters will arrive in town and some of them are better marriage material than those who initially call Rigbarth home. Getting to know these characters and beginning your romantic pursuits provides what I think are the best moments of the whole game. In fact, this is the first time I've played a game with a marriage option where I didn't make an immediate beeline for my initial crush. I played the field a bit and the experience was all the better. Eventually, I settled on settling down with Reinhard, though it was a toss-up between him and wolf-man Murakumo. Rune Factory 5 is the first game in the series to include same-sex marriage, and you better believe I ga?yed it up whenever possible.

Feel free to take as much time as possible to meet your mate because you have a long road ahead of you. Each day in Rune Factory 5 takes more than 30 minutes to get through, which means you’re realistically looking at a 60- to 70-hour playtime to mak??e it through a single calendar year. Obviously, that much time on the clock is good when you want to explore a dungeon or tend to your farm. However, on days where you’re supposed to stay up until a certain time to advance the story, it can be mind-numbingly slow.

The best way to pass the time on the days like this is with farming. Growing crops and tending to fields works as well here as it has in any other Rune Factory game. There is a lot for players to keep track of, including soil quality and seed level, but you’ll learn best by doing. Your farming area will expand as you advance through the story, unlocking farm dragons where you can keep the monsters you recruit. Those monsters can be assigned to farm duties once you hit a certain relationship threshold with them, making it pretty easy to keep an efficient farm running. Just make sure you have enough fodder to feed them, something the game really doesn’t stress as much ??as it should.

If it sounds like I’ve hammered down too much on how little information the game gives you, it’s because I believe Rune Factory 5 is inadequate in providing the necessary knowledge to the player. The little bits of info you can access are too sparse and some of the requests you take from villagers don’t give enough information for new players or those, like me, who may need a refresher on everything after not playing a Rune Factory game for nearly a decade. Like I said above, there is a lot to keep in mind here with all the different aspects of farming, fishing, fighting, and raising monsters, and I just ??wish the game included a more detailed glossary to assist players who may need some extra help.

I also wish this game didn’t have so many weird and outdated design choices. Like, at the SEED Outpost, there is a magical talking box dol?l named Eliza who you can speak to when you want to schedule festivals for the town or change the game’s difficulty. With those types of options, you’d think Eliza would also be capable of handling name changes and giving you information on your monsters. But that isn’t the case. Instead, the developers constructed a house in the town and created two NPCs whose sole existence is to perform those two tasks. That just seems like a waste of time, space, and money for something that could have easily been taken care of by the magical talking box.

That’s just one example, but there are a lot of elements I came across throughout my adventure that I just wish would have been given more time and thought before the developers settled on the design they did. I’m talking about things like furniture placement lacking a grid for precise placement or recipe bread really restricting how many recipes players can learn every day or having to craft several different cooking surfaces to account for all the different cooking styles instead of just repeatedly expanding the same one. The L pocket, which gives yo??u quick access to your bag, is not nearly as intuitive as it could be, and while time does stop when searching through your things, you may find yourself scrolling relentlessly to find the one item you’re looking for.

There’s more, but I don’t want to bog down this already too-long review with nitpicking. If you’ve read through what I’ve written and are coming away with the idea that I don’t like this game, that’s not the case. I do like Rune Factory 5. It has a great cast, a wealth of activities?, and much of the farm sim experience I love. But every time I found myself smitten with the game, something would c??ome along to point out just how underwhelming it is as a whole.

For those who are already fans of the Rune Factory series, I imagine any complaints I’ve listed above might be easy to overlook. For everyone else, you may want to try your hand at a previous entry in the franchise to see if you even like Rune Factory’s co??mbination of farming and fighting before giving this one a go.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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It'll probably still be better than Rocky V

There was a brief period of time where it looked as though the world might never see another Rune Factory game. Neverland, the developer of the popular spinoff series, declared bankruptcy in 2013 following the release of Rune Factory 4 for the Nintendo 3DS. In fact, it would be nearly six years before we got any news on a continuation of the franchise when developer Marvelous announced Rune Factory 5 was in development for Nintendo Switch. Three years and some change later, the game is about ready to hit store shelves in North America, ??but you may want t?o temper your expectations.

Rune Factory 5 takes place in the town of Rigbarth, where your amnesiac hero is welcomed to join the team known as SEED until they get their memory back. SEED is responsible for the town’s protection, and as a soldier of SEED, it’ll be up to you to defeat monsters and complete quests for townsfolk while also growing crops and making friends with the locals. It’s everything you’ve come to expect from the Rune Factory s??eries, just with more were-people and the curious feeling that Marvelous and Xseed Games are about to release another farming game with slipshod production val?ues.

Last year, the developer released Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town as part of the 25th-anniversary celebration of the Bokujō Monogatari franchise. While it was extensively patched following its release, the game at launch was something of a letdown in a variety of ways. Two hours with Rune Factory 5, and I can’t help but shake the feeling we have another game that’ll be a lot better after it’s seen a couple of updates, even if I know?? ??not everything can or will be fixed.

And let me just make something clear: I am well aware that the worst part of any Rune Factory or Story of Seasons game is its opening two hours. Nothing exciting happens in these games in that timeframe. For the most part, that’s the amount of time it takes for the game to teach players the basics while also having them complete menial tasks like “put a turnip in the shipping box�?or “introduce yourself to everyone in town.�?Rune Factory 5 doesn’t rock the boat in ??thi?s regard, as the opening two hours are as slow and monotonous as any prior game in the series.

Because I’m restricted to talking about these opening hours only, I don’t really have a lot of nice things to say about it. Character movement is pretty loose, villagers haven’t had a chance to make any sort of an impact beyond their opening introductions, the farming is still in its elementary stages,? and I’m still getting used to the controls and menus, which unfortunately are not as intuitive as they should be. Switching between your different farming tools requires too many button presses, though maybe I just haven’t figured out a shortcut for everything yet.

Combat is, at the moment, nothing more than a simple one-button hack’n’slash. It works fine for what it is, especially given the ease of the game's first dungeon, but far more interesting is the potential of the rune actions. These are special abilities that can supplement your standard attacks. Unfortunately, I only gained access to one of these rune actions in the first two hours and it was for a style of sword I chose not to equip. If you have played any past Rune Factory game–or paid attention to the trailers issued by Xseed in the build-up to this game–you know there is much more to the combat. Unfortunately, that's all beyond what I'm ??allowed to talk about here.

What I can talk about, however, is just how chintzy everything feels here. The first Rune Factory for consoles, Rune Factory: Frontier for the Nintendo Wii, had its issues, but it also had a world that felt authentic with little details that added to its charm and warmth. Rigbarth lacks any sense of warmth or charm. Despite its bright colors and heavy strokes of pink, it feels more like a set than a pl?ace that's lived in. Looking beyond the low-quality textures that are found all over the place, I'm just not vibing with how everything was put together here. It feels very first draft in its design. There are framerate issues, but they’re not as bad as what I’ve seen made out on social media with the original Japanese release.

But that’s just my feeling after the first two hours, which, as I stated above, I am already aware are the worst hours of any Rune Factory game. There is a great deal left ahead of me with more monsters to defeat, more crops to grow, and more guys to pursue romantically. Plus, there’s the whole mystery of what my character’s deal is. Hopefully, the next several dozen hours I’ll be spending with it will have me looking at the game in a better light. And if you?? need some sort of positivity to take from this impression, know that I'm really digging the music I've heard so far.

Rune Factory 5 releases in North America on March 22, 2022??, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.

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Time for a new harvest

Virtual farmers have a lot to be happy about, here at the end of the year. ConcernedApe has announced their next game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting farming, and now, Rune Factory 4 Special is headed onto new platforms, including PC.

XSEED had previously confirmed the Switch-exclusive update of Rune Factory 4 would eventually head to other consoles, and today we got a date. On Dec. 7, Rune Factory 4 Special w??ill launch for PC,?? PlayStation 4, and Xbox for $29.99.

This remaster of the Nintendo 3DS farming-life RPG includes extra content like "Newlywed Mode," a Hell-level difficulty, and Another Episode DLC. All of i??t comes packed in with the digital version.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aDA0K5k8UM

Rune Factory 4, as part of the greater Rune Factory series, puts more of an RPG spin on the usual farming-life activity you'd see in Harvest Moon or Story of Seasons. While there are fields to plow, crops to harvest, and townspeople to chat up, there's also a lot of? combat.

It was this entry that, back on the Nintendo 3DS, got me into the Rune Factory as a whole. And as much as I love the portability of my ??Switch, a PC version ??of this game sounds pretty tempting. After playing it on a handheld the first time around, I'm ready to blast ahead with way too much hardware power.

And luckily, it sounds like Rune Factory 4 Special is a solid update to the original game. While we're a bit wealthier in farming games now than we were back in 2013, there's still plenty of reason to revisit Rune Factory 4, especially as Rune Factory 5 looms on the horizon.

Rune Factory 4 Special arrives dig?itally for PC, PlaySt??ation 4, and Xbox consoles on Dec. 7, 2021.

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22 is also the number of frames per second this game appears to be running at

There were so many announcements in today's Nintendo Direct that it's easy to forget everything that was shown off. I mean, when you end with Bayonetta 3, that'll pretty much dominate all sectors of your brain for the next few hours. However, many other upcoming titles also got their moment in the spotlight during the presentation, and that includes Rune Factory 5. The next entry in the beloved farm'n'fight series has been a few years in the making, but thankfully, there are only a few more months fans in North America will have to wait to get their hands on it. As revealed today, the Rune Factory 5 release date is March 22, 2022.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z2xyRBxzwc

Rune Factory 5 will cast players in the role of an amnesiac who's recruited to help protect the land from monsters as a member of SEED. Like with past Rune Factory games, players will split their time between managing their farm, fighting monsters, and wooing one of the 12 available marriage candidates. For the first time in the series, Rune Factory 5 will include a local co-op option for its cooking ??gamepl??ay.

If you want to find out more about the localization process for the game, Xseed has started a localization blog over on its website. Rune Factory 5 will launch in North American nex??t year exclusively for Nintendo Switch, but if history is any indication, I wouldn't be surprised if it shows u??p on PC before the end of 2022.

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More farming to go around

Xseed Games had a couple of announcements tucked away in Sunday's Future Games Show. The biggest of which is probably the confirmation that the (as of right now) Switch-exclusive Rune Factory 5 will arrive in North America in early 2022. The game launched last month in Japan, and unlike this year's Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, it d?oesn't seem like there is any rush? to get this over to our shores.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD7NvYbO79k

That was not the only Rune Factory news to be had in the show. It was also confirmed Rune Factory 4 Special is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC this fall.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRL-2jdcHuQ

On top of that, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is ju??mping over to PS4 and Xbox One this fall as w?ell.

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Ee-i-ee-i-oh

During the Japanese edition of yesterday's Nintendo Direct Mini, publisher Marvelous finally revealed a release date for Rune Factory 5 in Japan. The horticultural sequel will launch on Nintendo Switch on May 20,? 2021, with a western release to follow ?sometime later in the year.

Alongside the new trailer, Marvelous also announced a special Rune Factory 5 Premium Edition. Retailing for ¥9,980, (or roughly $95 USD), this edition includes a copy of Rune Factory 5, a DLC bundle featuring costumes from Rune Factory 4, a 60-page artbook packed full of character and scenery illu??strations, and a 15-track OST CD, all housed in exclusive pa??ckaging.

Marvelous is yet to announce whether this set ??will?? be released in the west.

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Seriously, these colors are bright

It has been more than a year since we first got word that Rune Factory 5 was in development for Nintendo Switch, and during today's? Partner Mini Direct, we were given our first look at the 2021 title. All the staples of the spin-off series are here. There are ?still crops to grow, monsters to fight, fish to catch, and partners to woo. 

In Rune Factory 5, you play as an amnesiac who's asked to become a peacekeeping ranger and tasked with keeping the local town safe from the various monsters that roam the expansive world. You can tame these monsters, or team up with the townies to take them down. In one of the features new to Rune Factory 5, you'll be able to perform combo attacks with your allies. According to a press release from Xseed, that'??s just one of ??the new features in store for players.

Rune Factory 5 will? launch exclusively for Nint?endo Switch next year with Japan getting its hands on it first next Spring.

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Meet your potential mates

It was almost a year ago today that Marvelous announced it would be porting the wonderful Rune Factory 4 to Nintendo Switch as Rune Factory 4 Special. This re?ma??stered port will feature new artwork and cutscenes, a new opening video, a "Veteran Mode" for returning players, and the anticipated "Newlywed Mode," which will let players explore married life with their waifu or whatever-the-male-equivalent-of-a-waifu-is of choice.

If you played the original game back on the 3DS as I did, you probably have ?a good idea of which of the townsfolk you'll be wanting to?? shack up with. But if this is your first visit to Selphia, Xseed has published these videos detailing the bachelors and bachelorettes waiting for you to woo them.

Rune Factory 4 Special releases exclusively for Nintendo Switch on February 25, 2020. Rune Factory 5, also coming exclusively to Switch, is currently in ?de??velopment.

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I'm expecting a mad dash before Animal Crossing drops

Rune Factory 4 Special is going to be a hell of a good ??time on Nintendo Switch. Who's w??ith me?

The wait for this game – an expanded remaster of a 3DS favorite – won't be too much longer now. XSEED Games has set Rune Factory 4 Special's North American release for February 25, 2020. Just?? a few days later on February 28, the role-playing simulation title will launch in Europe and Australia.

There's a $40 digital version on the Switch eShop, a standard physical edition that'll fetch the same price, and also a $60 limited-run Archival Edition that comes with a 160-page art book and soundtrack. If you pre-order, XSEED will toss you a bonus: Swimsuit Day DLC "decreeing that all marriage candidates wear their swimsuits." I don't know about all that, but the game mechanics – the real draw – are bliss.

In Rune Factory, you can raise crops, raid dungeons, tame monsters, craft gear, make fr??iends, and get hitched. This new Switch version has a Newlywed Mode with "self-contained adventures" to take on after you settle down, a harsher "Hell" difficulty setting, and Japanese and English audio options.

"Additionally, the 'Anoth?er Episode Pack' DLC, which contains 12 new storybook-style episodes narrated by the game's marriage candidates, will be available to all players as a free download during the first four weeks following the game's release," accor??ding to the publisher. "After this promotional period, the Another Episode Pack will be available for purchase for $4.99 on the Nintendo eShop."

"Even without downloading the DLC, a??ll players can view a special 'Another Episode' story starring Selphia's lovable guardian dragon Ven??tuswill by selecting 'Another Episode' on the game's title menu."

Rune Factory 4 Special should be a breezy point of entry into the series for on-the-fence-sitters who crave this sort of RPG-meets-simulation experience on their Switch, and the situation is made even sweeter for long-time fans knowing that Rune Factory 5 is moving forward after all these years.

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Can never have enough farming in my life

3DS-to-Switch ports are something I never thought I wanted in my life, but when the wait for the next great game in your favorite franchise is months or years away, they're actually wonderful stopgaps, reminding you of exactly why you love a series so much to begin with. Case in point: Rune Factory. The action-RPG spin-off of the Story of Seasons franchise hit big out of the gate, spawning three handheld sequels, one fantastic Wii game, and the so-so Tides of Destiny. 

We know Rune Factory 5 is on the way, possibly coming to Japan next year. In the meantime, there's Rune Factory 4 Special, an HD port of t??he 3DS game. Published by Xse?ed Games, it's set to launch in the west later in 2019. This week at E3, I took the Switch port for a spin and found that life as a farming princess never gets old.

Like the original game, Rune Factory 4 Special casts players in the role of a prince or princess, as decided at the beginning of the game, who rules over the town of Selphia while also tending to the garden, completing requests from townsfolk, and adventuring out into the wilds around town. The E3 demo cut out most of the opening narrative, letting me choose the gender of my protagonist and giving me free reign of the game. Immediately, I ran to my garden and started cleaning?? it up, harvesting crops, tilling the soil, and sowing some seeds.

The controls are a bit loose but nothing vastly different than what I remember on the 3DS. The quick select button for my tools and inventory is a godsend throughout my play session as it makes farming a snap and combat a breeze. I'm not able to do much adventuring outside of the walls of Selphia, but what I am able to experience is the type of solid gameplay that has made the Rune Factory series so revered by fans. Also, the ability to?? quickly teleport back to my bed at the end of the day when I'm nearly out of energy is a real time?? saver.

Fans of the game should be happy to know that so much of what made Rune Factory 4 so wonderful on the 3DS holds up on Switch. The art direction is stunning in HD, even if the character models lack the detail found in other games on the console. I was worried it might be hard on the eyes??, but it is anything but. The character portraits look absolutely crisp in high definition and the town of Selphia is a beautiful mix of eye-popping colors and gorgeous architecture. While I still love the look of it on my New Nintendo 2DS XL, there is no way I can go back to it after seeing it on Switch.

As for what's new in this port, Rune Factory 4 Special will feature new story cutscenes, a "Newlywed Mode" that'll allow players to strengthen their relationships after they've tied the knot, and a "Veteran" mode for returning players. Even without those additions, it's been so long since I've had Rune Factory i??n my life that this is just what I need to satisfy that uni??que mix of farming and combat I crave. 

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Scaly love denied

As part of a recent broadcast of the Rune Factory channel, publisher Marvelous spoke a little about the new features coming to Nintendo Switch remaster Rune Factory 4 Special.

The revamped edition of the Nintendo 3DS title will now include "voice comments" recorded by a team of 15 actors. These appear to be snippets taken from the recording booth, where the cast reflect on their characters, the Rune Factory series and other matt??ers of interest?? to fans of the series.

Rune Factory 4 Special will also include a feature known as "Another Episode." Details were slim to none, but it's expected to add new dynamics to the story of the original title, giving some of the cast a little more depth. Speaking of which, it was confirmed that players will not be able to marry dragon character Ventuswill in thi?s new edition. Although such an option was teased in a previous broadcast, it was ultimately decided it wouldn't work within the confines of the game's story.

Rune Factory 4 Special launches on Nintendo Switch in Jap??an July 25. A western release is scheduled for later this year.

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Time of the Season

It was quite the surprise for Rune Factory fans when they received news of a new sequel during February's Nintendo Direct presentation. But it seems that budding fantasy farmers shouldn't quite get the tools out of the shed just yet, as this new e??ntry is still some time away.

During a recent financial results briefing, publisher Marvelous noted that Rune Factory 5 will not see launch, eve??n in its home territory of Japan, at least until the next financial year, which begins April 2020. Even then, there has been no official localisation announcement, so western fans might have to wait longer still for the new game to cross the pond, if at all.

At least the Rune Factory fellowship can take heart that there is a new title in development, even if we could be well over a year away from its release. Rune Factory 5 is currently in development. In the meantime, Rune Factory 4 Special will release ??for Nintendo Switch worldwide later in 2019.

Rune Factory 5 not due out before April 2020 [Gematsu]

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Save data will unlock special goodies

During a recent live stream, Rune Factory 5 publisher Marvelous! revealed that a bonus will await players who jump into the fantasy farming title with save game data from the upcoming remaster Rune Factory 4 Special.

Unfortunately no further information was forthcoming, other than the bonus would be "a really good thing". So unsurprisingly they didn't say "This bonus will be proper awful" or anything like that. Marvelous! also recently revealed a limited edition set for Rune Factory 4 Special, although there is still no word as to whether this "Memori?al Box" will be headed?? west.

Rune Factory 5 will be the first mainline series sequel in some eight years. No doubt fans will be eagerly awaiting its arrival on Nintendo Switch, scheduled for sometime in 2020. In the meantime, Rune Factory 4 Special launches in Japan July 25, with North America an??d Europe to follow later this year.

Rune Factory 5 will include save data bonuses [Gematsu]

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Live stream planned for April 4

Marvelous! has revealed details on a nifty special edition coming to Japan for the upcoming Nintendo Switch remaster of 2012 3DS title Rune Factory 4. The set launches alongside the standard edition on Japan on July 25, though the west is ye??t to receive a specific release date.

The "Memorial Box" includes a copy of Rune Factory 4 Special for Nintendo Switch, a Memorial Book featuring notes and artwork from the Rune Factory series, a double-disc "Kyun Secret Private CD" set, and finally a download code for an additional event, which is none-too-subtly titled "Everyone in Swimsuits". Don't ask me. The Memorial Box costs around ¥9,500,?? or roughly $85 USD, and is available to pre-order from Japanese retailers, there's no word on whether it will be made available in the west.

In related news, Marvelous! will host a special live stream tomorrow, April 4, entitled "Rune Factory Channel: New Fantasy Life Support Special". Scheduled to take place at 20:00 JST, the stream can be watched over at the publisher's YouTube channel.

Rune Factory 4 Special launches on Switch in Japan July 25, with North American and European releases expected to follow late?r in the year.

Rune Factory 4 Special Edition revealed [Gematsu]

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Farming and Families

[Update: Rune Factory 4 Special will launch in Japan July 25. Rune Factory 5 will launch in Japan in 2020. No western dates have ??been confirmed as o?f yet.]

During today's Nintendo Direct presentation, Marvelous! announced two editions of the fantasy farming title, Rune Factory - a remaster and a brand new entry - are headed to ????????????????????????????Nintendo Switch.

Rune Factory 4 Special is a remastered version of the 2012 3DS title. Journey forth, harvest your crops, maybe even meet someone special? It was also announced that an all-new entry, Rune Factory 5 is currently in devel?opment for the hybrid console. This is great news for franchise fans, who've been waiting for?? quite some time for a sequel, to say the least.

Rune Factory 4 Special is coming to Nintendo Switch later in 2019.

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Yay!

Rune Factory 4's journey to Europe has bee??n a long and wi??nding road.

At one point, when developer Neverland went bankrupt an?d closed its doors, it looked like the role-playing game might never release in PAL territories. Luckily, though, this story appears to be moving toward a happy ending.

Today, XSEED and Marvelous?? Europe announced the long-awaited farming title will finally 'crop up' in Europe and Australia next week. It will be available exclusively via the Nintendo 3DS eShop starting December 11 for £25?/€30/$50 AUD.

Rune Factory 4 is the latest Bokujo Monogatari spin-off, the publishers note, reminding everyone Story of Seasons is the new Harvest Moon -- not that new thing Natsume is peddling.

In our review, Dale North called Rune Factory 4 "a charming time sink??," fusing farming sim and classic RPG elements into something pla??yers will find to be "an absolute delight."

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XSEED publishing 3DS RPG as a digital-only title

It seems Rune Factory 4's trip across the pond was postponed more so than cancelled, and the role-playing game will be turning u??p on European shores fairly soon.

Speaking with Siliconera, XSEED vice president Ken Berry confirmed the company plans to publish the title across Euro??pe in th?e near future. It will be a digital-only release in the region.

XSEED was cagey about announcing the localization too soon. Berry said "fans in Europe have suffered enough with one cancellation already, so we didn’t want to announce anything until the game passed c??ertification."

A different team is handling the programming for the European release, as the original developer Neverland went bankrupt and closed its doors late last year.

Xseed Are Tr??ying To Release Rune Fa??ctory 4 In Europe Via The Nintendo eShop [Siliconera]

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This is why region locking sucks

As far as we knew, Rune Factory 4 was heading to European shores at some point this year, but as of this week, the localization has been canceled. Marvelo?us AQL confirms, "while we have made every effort to secure the title’s release for thi??s territory, it is, unfortunately, not possible to do so at this time." This follows the news that the developer, Neverland, filed for bankruptcy.

That's disappointing to hear because I actually enjoyed the game quite a bit. It's not perfect, but for those of you who want a little more "action adventure" in your Animal Crossing simu??lation genre, it's pretty much everything you could want.

Rune Factory 4 European release cancelled, publi?sher con??firms [VG24/7]

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Neverland calls it quits after two decades in the business

Rune Factory developer Neverland has closed ??its doors, according to a statement on the company's offici?al website.

The studio c??eased operations today and announced plans to file for bankruptc?y in the near future. Struggling with mounting debt, the company found itself backed into a corner after attempts to secure outside funding were unsuccessful.

Neverland was founded on May 7, 1993. Later that year, the fledgling developer's first effort, Lufia & the Fortress of Doom, landed on the Super Nintendo. Two decades afterwards, Rune Factory 4 arrived on Ninten?do 3DS. The studio's swansong is reportedly the most successful entry in the ?franchise to date.

Though fans can take sol?ace in knowing the series will likely live on under the aegis of publisher Marvelous AQL, our thoughts go out to the members of the de??velopment team and their families. 

Neverland [Neverland via Siliconera]

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A charming timesink

Some have compared Rune Factory to Animal Crossing. There are a few similarities between Nintendo's charming world and Natsume's flagship title. For one, they both suck you in and manage to somehow entertain with their seemingly endless supplies of ordinary tasks, including farming and talking to weirdos. But Rune Factory 4 has several aspects that Animal Crossing: New Leaf does not, including a storyline, action-RPG gameplay, dungeo?ns to explore, and even mates to da??te and eventually marry.

Look, I love the Animal Crossing franchise, but if you want to get lost in a world, Rune Factory 4 has so much more to offer. 

Rune Factory 4 (3DS)
Developer: Natsume
Publisher: XSEED
Released: October 1, 2013
MSRP: $39.99

You are literally dropped into the world of Rune Factory 4 after falling out of an airship -- an accident happens on the? way to delivering an important item. The hero's (a boy or girl, your choice) body doesn't suffer, but their memory does. No worries, though, as you fall into a pretty nice situation. The town you land in, Selphia, just happens to be protected by one of the four legendary dragons, Ventuswill.

As luck would have it, Ventuswill really likes yo?u and sees something in you, even with your total lack of memory. She mistakes you for royalty that was expected to visit the town. But when that royalty, a prince, does show up, it turns out that he's looking for some time off. The prince lets you act as royalty in his place while you work to get your memory back. Ventuswill gives you a home in her castle, the prince lets you use his name, and your servants are there for anything else needed.

Wow, I need to fall out of an airship some time!

Those that have played games from Natsume's other top franchise, Harvest Moon, will instantly feel familiar with a lot of Rune Factory 4's early gameplay. Players are immediately introduced to the garden behind their castle home, where they'll plant and tend to crops, selling them for profit. And later on, capturing monsters as pets to keep in your farm is not unlike ranching. Natsume's oddly adorable farming simulation gameplay is fully intact here in RF4, and is engrossin?g enough to feel like a ?game on its own.

But then there's a whole other side to Rune Factory 4 with its action-RPG gameplay. Fans of games like Secret of Mana will likely enjoy the fast, accessible swordplay. It's a no-frills slash-and-run type of affair. A magic/skill system lets you pick any two acquired skills -- anything from fireballs to?? super uppercuts -- to be assigned to face buttons, letting you use them as long as you have points available. From battles players will earn gold and gather items to build up their equipment. Victories bring more skills and power to play with -- pretty standard action-RPG systems, really.  

This battle system is light and enjoyable, matching perfectly with the other aspects of the game. It's far from complex, but this goes a lon??g way towards keeping things fun. My advice? Don't think too hard about it. Just jump in, sword a-swinging. I'??ve put dozens of hours into exploring maps and dungeons, and have yet to tire of taking down baddies. Dungeon bosses are a nice challenge, though they can be a bit tough/cheap when you have the difficulty on its highest setting. 

Dying comes with a high penalty. If you're done in, you'll awake in a doctor's office, slammed with a bill that feels unnecessaril??y high. On the har??d setting I've lost my entire fortune countless times!

It's a????lso more than happy to tell you about your progress -- I've seen so many level and skill-up notifications in the past week that they started to go to my head.

A quest giver gradually introduces players to the almost countless number of other gameplay diversions in Rune Factory 4. Through these simple quests, players will learn the basics of skills like cooking, fishing, and flower growing. Lat??er, crafting and chemistry come into play for more advanced skill exploration. The brilliance here is that all of these aspects intertwine. For example, you could take up fishing to try to capture the biggest pike or squid ?for recognition, and then maybe take the squid back to the kitchen to make squid sashimi. The pike could be sold, or entered in a fishing contest. It's up to you -- there's no right or wrong. 

And let's not forget our princely (or princess-ly, for female characters) duties as the pr?ince's stand-in. Players will use acquired royalty points to do things like upgrade the town's shops, or add buildings to their farms. The main goal is to increase tourism in Selphia, so working up enough points to host town events, like cook-offs and festivals, is advised, and keeps things lively around town.

Even with all of this, there's one more gameplay aspect that, at least for me, eventually overshadowed the rest: relationships and dating. I think that if you boil all of the varied gameplay aspects down, what you're left with is flirting with townsfolk. It starts as small talk, which hopefully leads to dates (they call them adventures), relationships, and even marriage. Every townsperson has a gauge? that you'll work to level up through ??your choice of actions. The girl I'm into (I'll never tell!) likes fresh fruit, so I bring her apples when I come across them. The one you fancy may like to beat up monsters, so you should do that together. It's on you to learn what the apple of your eye likes. Again, there's no right or wrong -- you'll have to figure out how to lay on the appropriate type of charm on your own.

Players will likely fall into a sort of daily grind with all of these things to tend to. My daily rotation had me tending to my garden in the morning, meeting townsfolk and running quests in the afternoon, venturing out into dungeons in the evening, a??nd offering wares for sale in the evening, all before hitting the sack to do it again the next g??ame day.

Somehow, story segments seem t?o magically weave their way into your daily grind, which has ??their tale unfolding in a very natural way. Often, I was surprised by story progression segments, totally unaware that I flagged them. It's not the deepest story, but it's certainly fitting for the game's world, as well as interesting enough to keep me tuned in.

But, depending on your tastes, that story may not be enough to keep you going. The issue some may have with Rune Factory 4 i?s that it offers next to nothing in the way of guidance. There's nothing there to tell you how to play or what to? do next, let alone the deeper aspects of the crafting or combat systems. You're own your own; it seems that they're hoping you'll find something you enjoy doing.

Unfortunately, those that don't find something to enjoy aren't going to feel fulfilled by running around trying to find it. If you're the type that needs to have some kind of idea of what's going to happen next, you may find RF4 frustrating with its very loose structure. On the other hand, if you're perfectly content in carrying out the day-to-day chores that the game has you doing, you'll be fine. I think fans of Animal Crossing will be more than pleased.

I can't tell you how many times I completely lost track of time while playing Rune Factory 4. I'd get hung up on one particular thing, like, hunting down an ingredient for a dish I wanted to prepare, and?? then I'd look up a?nd see that it was 2:30 a.m. 

Learning all of the game's various systems i?s a bit of work, but once I had them down, I could get directly to doing what I wanted to do most: win my girl's heart. There's rarely a dull moment with the lively townspeople and countless quests. It sounds like a lot to handle, but you are free to do what you enjoy, skipping anything you don't find fun. That's what I enjoyed most about this game. 

Rune Factory 4 isn't the d?eepest or most structured game out there, but it more than makes up for it with its charm and wide-open freedom. If you are willing to put in the time to learn its varied systems, I think you'll find that this game is an absolute delight.

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