It’s rather hard to believe, but this July will mark the 10-year anniversary of the initial launch of Rune Factory 4 for the 3DS. Since then, the farm sim genre arguably hasn’t seen much innovation or notable movement, other than the release of a certain indie gem that hardly needs any introduction. Still, it’s nice to see that Rune Factory stuck around and wasn’t another casualty that came with the death of dedicated Nintendo handhelds; we’re happy to report that, so far, this new entry seems like it’ll be every bit as enjoyable as we could’ve hope. On the other hand, Rune Factory 5 also doesn’t feel like a very new game, which is to say that it doesn’t appear like it’ll shake up the genre or series at all.
Rune Factory 5 — which launched in Japan in May 2021 — picks up in the expected way, with your self-insert protagonist arriving in town having no memory of their past beyond their name. In the hopes that you’ll eventually recover, the town’s locals take you in and welcome you into the community, but not without first press-ganging you into joining SEED. SEED is a military unit that handles security around town, and it seems that they’re a little short-staffed upon your arrival.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with the series, Rune Factory 5 is a farm sim game that ultimately lets you do a lot more RPG-esque stuff than the typical farm sim. For the farm side of gameplay, it has all the features you’d expect and then some. Day after day, you have to ensure that your fields stay properly hoed, watered, and clear of any weeds or rocks. You plant various kinds of crops according to the season and then you can either sell off the product or keep some for yourself to bake into various dishes.
One interesting feature that’s returning here is the idea of Soil Levels. The ground itself can be leveled up over time depending on what you plant there and how frequently you do so, with higher levels leading to faster growth cycles and higher level products. We haven’t had too much time to engage deeply with this mechanic, but it seems like it’ll add a welcome extra layer of strategy and depth to the typical cycle of plant-maintain-harvest.
The farming aspect only makes up a little less than half the gameplay, however, with the remainder being filled with more traditional RPG exploits. There are dungeons and regions to explore that are packed with enemies to fight and treasures to seek, and virtually everything you do will build up some obscure stat that bolsters an aspect of your character while raising their overall energy and health. For example, you level up your Walking stat by — surprise! — literally just walking. Waking up in the morning will occasionally boost up your Sleeping stat because you successfully slept.
A lot of these additional stats only seem to exist to add yet another avenue for boosting your health and energy pools, but it’s still nice to have so many ways to build up your character. Hardly an in-game day will go by without you leveling up a handful of stats just for going about the basic daily goals you had set, and that constant feeling of forward progress really gets its hooks in early.
When you’re out exploring dungeons and come across enemies, combat plays out in typical hack ‘n’ slash fashion, with you having myriad weapons and magic spells available to dispose of your enemies. As you fight with your favorite weapon, you’ll level up its specific stat which will then open up more complex and powerful moves for you to unleash on your opponents. Dropped and mined materials can then be brought back with you into town where you can use them to forge new weapons and armor that enable you to safely delve deeper into enemy territory. Sure, the combat system is no Devil May Cry, but it remains consistently satisfying, especially on the more mechanically complex bosses.
So, everything up to this point seems to be in order, but one thing that we noticed was especially poor is the overall presentation. Rune Factory 5 looks like an early PS3 game, and we’re not being hyperbolic. Environments are simple, flat, and rife with jagged and chunky edges. Textures are muddy, grainy, and overall of disappointingly low quality. The town itself, evidently supposed to be a bustling and lively place, feels like it’s in the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic as you can run from end to end and only encounter one or two other people.
Visually, this non-final version of Rune Factory 5 looks underwhelming, then, and this is all made worse by the frankly rough performance of this preview build whether you’re playing in docked or handheld. Loading screens are fortunately quite short, but entering into any new building or locale is usually met with a harsh double digit FPS drop as the engine begs you to give it a moment to catch its breath. Even after that initial hitch in a new area, the frame rate scarcely ever comes close to hitting its 30FPS target as it oscillates wildly even when there isn’t that much activity happening on screen. Of course there's a Day One patch in the works that promises fixes — we certainly hope this area can be improved prior to launch.
All told, Rune Factory 5 is shaping up to be a satisfying entry in the genre, but perhaps not one that validates the near-decade-long wait. Mechanically speaking, this very much feels like Rune Factory 4 with a fancier camera and somewhat better graphics. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but so far it feels like more could have been done to take advantage of the extra horsepower of modern hardware to deliver an evolved experience.
Perhaps we’ll uncover more interesting and advanced improvements as we pour in more hours, but just be aware that in this Rune Factory 5 thus far feels like a very ‘safe’ sequel.
Rune Factory 5 launches on Switch on 22nd March.
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Comments 42
This just sounds like a game where it's perfect if you didn't play RF4. Luckily for me, I didn't.
I only played about 5 hours of RF4 Special and enjoyed it well enough so opted to grab this when it dropped, the addition of LGBTQ options is great
SEED huh? Is Squall in this as well?
Sounds like exactly what I wanted: a safe sequel that does what it should. I also skipped 4, so this should be perfect!
Good preview. From my checking into this it does look like it streamlined a few things like picking up rocks and wood without being chunks of 9. You can also have a bigger team while temporarily "charming" a monster and doing dual attacks with your buddies. The biggest gripes I've seen are related to its fps, less challenge, no shop where you get to sell items to townspeople and the flower shop not opening until later in the game.
Still very excited to play this game!
It's taken soooooo long. I'm sad it's a little rough, but I'm glad that they're still making good.... Wait....
....
This is a new company that took over the series after Neverland keeled over....... Crap. At least I know it'll have a good translation.
Looks pretty enough for me.
IDK.
RF: Frontier was an amazing experience for me. I'd had a major hand injury and was able to play it and it was very healing to my mental well-being at the time.
It was the perfect game at the perfect time for me.
RF: Tides of Destiny was ok. But not quality.
I thought RF4 on 3DS was easily the most accessible of the 3 I'd played when I picked it up on day 1. I loved taking villagers out with me, but around 30 hours in I just lost interest, and honestly, I just don't know if I want more.
The journey of discovery is over, I've been there, loved it, and the minor changes in each new version aren't enough to make the journey feel new again. Mostly I just get nostalgic for Frontier. The experience of playing it was one of the best I've had in all my years of gaming.
All the previous Rune Factory flagships noticeably improved upon the ones before them. None of the previous Rune Factory flagships came out almost a decade after the parent studio going under. Already preordered this one which doesn't happen often and is my first since... yeah, RF4 special two years ago (which was a double-dip to boot).
@Kieroni Marvelous hired Neverland folks after the studio's demise, and the "new studio" aka Hakama unit is led by Hashimoto himself. They handled RF4 Special, too.
Rune Factory 5 Feels Comfortable And Familiar, But Is That Enough?
Yes.
The fact that it exists is enough. Let's not sound whiny and entitled here.
It’s weird that it’s rough from a technical perspective despite having been released a year ago in Japan. I feel like the kinks should be worked out over this year.
Yeah that’s enough for me. I put literal hundreds of hours into RF4 due to the exceptional cast and there being just lots and lots to do.
I'm fine with things like the visuals but the framerate issues do sound like they could be a big turn off for me.
looks better than arceus for sure, lmao
For some reason I am ok with it being a safe sequel. I have preordered the limited edition (I have a massive weakness when it comes to physical artbooks and cds) so I am looking forward to the game still.
I haven´t played any in the series, so for me, the lack of innovation isn´t a bad thing. However, I really hope they fix those framerate issues with the day 1 patch! If they get it, I´ll buy it for sure.
I would certainly prefer it if it's more like Rune Factory 4 and less like Stardew Valley. Pioneers of Olive Town doubled down on the Maker concept, to its detriment. Rune Factory 4 but with fancier graphics and new content is exactly what I want.
All love to anyone/everyone who loved RF4, I put like 20 hours into it and got nothing out of it and wound up selling it. This unfortunately looks like one of those "we made a 3DS game and just blew it up to Switch" deals. I hope fans are happy, though!
"A game feels comfortable and familiar.... BUT IS THAT ENOUGH?"
That's the dumbest thing to really question.
I'll pass. Still haven't gotten around to RF4 yet!
Unfortunately a major part of RF games are the girls/guys you want to romance/marry and I found 5’s selection very inferior especially on the female side compared to 4. Lot of the good 5 females are NPC only
It's been years since RF4 to the point I don't remember it, so RF5 sounds like an excellent way to revisit the excellent gameplay in a new place.
I'm worried about the framerate though. 4 worked on a 3DS and ran beautifully. If this one has terrible framerate as everything on Switch does these days, it's going to bother me. A lot.
After what SoS and Harvest Moon came up with, this is all I'm asking for
Looking forward to it.
@NEStalgia
the article mentions "a day 1 patch which promises fixes" but going by the rest of it that could just mean bug-fixes or issues specifically to the western release since the game has been out in japan for a while.
the article mentioning double digit framerate drops in a game which has trouble keeping 30fps is concerning, im not worried about the visuals themselves (i dont mind the quaint early ps3 look,) but i do hope they get the game to run well since im glad the series was able to return.
@nhSnork Ah well that's good. I'm definitely wanting to get it. It's been on my calendar for two years, dangit! Poor Kirby will have to wait.
Farming* games are supposed to be comfy, and being formulaic isn't bad as long as the formula is sound.
*obviously there is a lot more going on than just farming in rune factory.
I picked up Rune Factory 4 on Xbox a couple of months back but haven't really made the time to try it out yet. Dunno if I'll manage to get into it but do hope so, would kind of like some other farming game that scratches the same itch for me that Harvest Moon 64 and Back to Nature / Friends of Mineral Town do but isn't quite as familiar of ground as those are at this point.
I have tried and I just do not remotely care for Stardew Valley.
I don't even want to marry with the bachelors over there.
None of them have looking I want to be with him as my husband.
It's been out since May 21 yet still needs a day 1 patch on the western release, surely any kinks should've been ironed out by now... I think I'll still get it but frame rate issues will bother me
@antisumo I wouldn't expect it to run perfect, but as long as it isn't a total slideshow most of the time, I'll be content. These games always have terrible performance.
Is the soundtrack as good as previous games? That alone could swing my decision!
I don't know that Rune Factory is a series that could change or innovate very much and still maintain its personality. There's certain boxes that have to be checked and if they're not then I believe the game would become a different experience altogether. The series has certainly evolved over time and this is the first entry to be fully 3rd person. Frontiers was a fantastic game on the Wii and all of the games in the series since then have been solid. I do hope, however, that the performance issues the game appears to be suffering from can be ironed out before release.
I like playing the Rune Factory games and they're my favorite in that genre but I'm still waiting for them to put Runes and Factories in the game for me.
I really really want to play this game. I don't mind if there is no innovation or some grand new mechanic. It's a farm sim with a mix of fantasy into it.
I will say that I am a bit bummed with the consistent frame drops and pop in that occurs. I wish the developers spent some more time on this. May wait a bit to pick it up and see if their is any updates to the game that improves the game.
@Xylnox Yeah, it’s not like runes or runeys are even present in the games.. lol
I've had this preordered for a while now, and I'm okay with it being a relatively safe sequel. It's got a fun cast of characters that I can't wait to get acquainted with, and as long as the farming and crafting aspects are done well, I expect I'll be happy.
@ArchRex Maybe the devs mean "Runs" instead of "Runes" because you runs all over the place in the game. And the devs prolly meant "Factory", like your character must factor all kinds of things when farming and fighting etc. So, the game must actually mean "Runs Factors 5". Hehe
I still have to get back to RF4 on 3ds, so I will definitely pass on this one.
SO hype for this game omg. Too bad their Wooly keychains are sold out on the site, along with their Earthmate & Standard Editions. Luckily, I could still find the special edition on Best Buy!
I've only played a few hours of RF4s and that made me feel confident I'll love RF5 despite the, frankly, terrible graphics. I even splashed out on the Earthmate edition. No point in being shy about it, right?
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