Rune Factory 5 Live Stream To Share New Info Ahead Of Next Week's Japanese Release

First!! I cant wait to buy that deluxe physical edition.

Never had a chance with the forth, I wanted to wait for 5 so.

Hurry, someone teach me Japanese!

Hoping it'll scratch that fantasy life itch I've had for ages.

...I bought 4 Special on Switch on launch and barely played it...ugh.

I mean, yeah I've beaten it and seen everything on the original 3DS version...but...still. xD

Has same-sex marriage been confirmed yet? I've been unable to get confirmation from other sites

140h played on 4 special. I'm getting this one for sure unless it really sucks.

this looks great. another great title coming to the switch. all these great games coming this year. I also found out that one of my all time favorite games, Zombie Ate my Neighbors is coming to switch . I saw this on Nintendo everything. 2021 is going to be a banner year for switch games. and we still have E3 announcements!!

Hundreds of hours spent on 4. Hopefully this is a step up!

I have the 4th but i just couldn't get invested into the game. Should i give it another chance?

I'm really hoping the english release date gets announced at E3 or something. I'd be sad if we had to wait for a year or more, but...

I didn't get RF4 for the Switch as I put in hundreds of hours on my 3DS. But I am waiting very impatiently for this one, especially after experiencing some disappointment in PoOT.

@Loon_Call Fantasy Life was something special

@RogueSpyke I’m 90% sure it won’t happen since each wedding ceremony has an animated cutscene and I doubt they’d make special ones for ss marriages. We can probably expect, at most, a post game sprite swap like in rf4 but I hope I’m wrong.

I totally got Rune Factory 4: Special Edition. Aside from the first one, it was the only one that I hadn't played through to the "end" (and by that, I mean the main story). So yeah - as a result of it being re-released on Switch, I was finally able to rectify that sorry state of affairs. And yes, I thought the game was quite good. I wish that the graphics had seen a bigger upgrade, but it wasn't a big deal.

In fact, in my (possibly unpopular) opinion, RF4 was a massive improvement over RF3 and it definitely stands out as being the best non-3D iteration of the series.

As for the other entries?

Well, in theory, my favorite Rune Factory would be Frontier on Wii. Even with its infuriatingly broken Runey system, the game was just charming to the Nth degree. Everything - from it's aesthetics, music, writing and characters - it was just really great. Good enough to transcend the hellish Runeys. Heck, I even enjoyed the game's occasionally Engrishy translation, as it usually only added to the charm.

RF: Tides of Destiny was, I guess, something of a controversial entry. I think fans mostly frowned upon its decidedly streamlined/simplified farming mechanics. But, I dunno - after the aforementioned Runeys - I had no real problem with the game's silly premise of "Ima plant stuff by saving around a magic stick". I actually found it very relaxing. Like, aside from its unforgivably generic main dungeons - I thought Tides of Destiny was actually pretty great. I think it has arguably some the best writing in the series and the music is just phenomenonal, as it perfectly fits the island's setting. More marriage candidates would have been appreciated, but...c'est la vie. It's definitely, in my view, the most criminally underrated entry in the series.

Rune Factory 2 was just ok. It was fun but also kind of a slog. The school system was a pretty cool idea. I actually found it to be much more engaging the (nonsensical) "Recipe Bread" thing that the other handheld entries all seem to be so enamored with. But, alas, even the schooling elements were somewhat half baked. And while I'm not super obsessed with graphics...this game was certainly not a looker. Overall, I'd say it would rate as a solid 6 out of 10.

Rune Factory 3 was also just ok. I've noticed among many fans, it stands out as being perhaps the best game in the series, but - even though I really liked its surprisingly deep crafting system and the beautiful aesthetics of its setting - I found the game to be mostly frustrating.

Initially, I liked the idea of time always moving but - in practice - it made me feel rushed. If the days were longer, it would have been good, but that wasn't at all the case.

Similarly, the game's uniquely dynamic "It could randomly rain at any point during the day, sometimes for a couples hours and sometimes for a couple minutes" weather concept seemed neat on paper - but only on paper. Unlike how in other entries, rain was an all day thing - a day off from watering, as it were - storms in RF3 come and go, often in the blink of an eye. This wouldn't have been a problem except that in this game, it takes time for all of your crop tiles to become damp. Even when it would rain 2 or 3 times in a day (which was surprisingly / laughably often), since each storm usually only lasts for a couple minutes - which is not nearly enough time to soak everything - I would still, at the end of the day, more often than not need to water at least half of my crops by hand.

This ended up being obnoxious to me that at some point in time in year 2, I essentially stopped farming altogether. I think the game also took the idea of having super quirky / humorously one dimensional characters way, way to far to the extreme.

As for OG - Rune Factory 1 - I only played it on a friend's DS for an hour or so, and that was it. I really liked what I played of it (I love Raging), but unfortunately, I never got around to buying it. It would be awesome if they'd ever do a remake for it. I mean, Frontier was all but a direct sequel and - as stated above - I loved that game. If they would update the original to look like Frontier, I'd be a happy cropper.

As for Rune Factory 5? I am cautiously optimistic. Some of the things I've seen of the game so far look great, but other things perhaps loom, well, potentially less than great. For instance, I think the visuals are strange. They're colorful, but also somehow bland - and surprisingly empty, especially inside of the buildings. But, I won't judge a book by its cover. Unless it's widely panned across multiple sites, I can't imagine in not being a day one purchase. I can't wait!

What do you guys think of the series as a whole? I assume we're all fans here.

This will be my first Rune Factory game. Really excited to play it later this year!

With how lackluster farming games have been recently hopefully RF5 can deliver.

Same with others, this will be my first Rune Factory. It looks great, and kinda reminds me of Fantasy Life, a game that I absolutely adore. So yeah, I can´t wait! Let´s hope we´ll get a release date soon (but not for July, please XD)

Hopefully, they'll include gay marriage. My gut tells me they won't though.

I really enjoyed Rune Factory 1 and 2 on the DS, but the "farm simulator" game I played the most was Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town in GBA. Different times back then, still a kid/teen in school, could spend the whole day chilling on the hammock with my portable system... Oh the memories! xD

I don't know if the now adult me will have the time available to enjoy this entry, but I'll keep an eye on it.

@Andy_Witmyer "Even when it would rain 2 or 3 times in a day (which was surprisingly / laughably often)" well, I present you the weather in Normandy, France xD

My most anticipated 2021 Switch release so far (assuming they'll bring it to the west this year, of course). And yes, I outright preloaded RF4 Special last year, despite having the 3DS version and still being variably busy with all the three previous flagships. We're talking one of my top favourite game franchises here. I haven't played the home console entries yet but might indulge in the future - at least my laptop proved to stomach Dolphin pretty well last weekend (even Sin and Punishment 2 with everything that fills its screen at a time), so I guess I'm not entirely without options here. Ports would be better, but for now it's already huge that the series is getting a new flagship after al these years.

Not quite holding my breath for same sex romance, though - as others have pointed out, that would potentially bloat the workload on the confirmed wedding cutscenes, even if some things are recycled. With any luck, the sprite swap may return with more NPC feedback adjustments instead. If you guys want gay marriage, maybe try the RF-inspired My Time At Portia for now - a solid game in its own right overall.

Still waiting for that Western release (date). Played 1 to 4 with 3 and 4 being my favorite story wise. I honestly hope that 5 will just as good.

Any info about an English language release?

@Andy_Witmyer Honestly I have seen way more mentions and praise for Rune Factory 4, which is the first and only one I have played and easily the only one of these types of farming sim games that I have loved to the point of becoming one of my favourite games ever. Before I tried it, I remember checking for a long time opinions about it since it didn't look that great to me but everyone kept recommending it and saying that the other entries were quite inferior gameplay wise.

About the "time" thing, personally I simply made what I could and mostly what I also wanted, accepting that the day might not be long enough to do everything that I had in mind. While some events and festivals might pressure you into rushing, the game is usually meant to be relaxing and enjoyed at your pace so there aren't many negative consequences and usually they don't determine anything as you'll have other chances to do or get whatever you missed. At least that was my experience with Rune Factory 4.

@RogueSpyke It's the same people who make story of seasons which has had gay marriage for two games now so if they don't I guess we'll know which series is better at least.

Great! I'm super excited, as I enjoyed Rune factory 2,3 and 4 (special edition is great to).
The first one was okay but I tried playing it after 2 and 3 so the older controls and such just didn't vibe with me.

I love the Rune Factory series and I cannot wait for RF5.

Please let me be gay.

@Synecdoche You have my blessing.

@Synecdoche

@roy130390 Yeah, RF4 is definitely praised a lot. I should have said RF3 is the fan favorite of the series prior to RF4 (although I don't think it deserves that praise).

Rune Factory 4's time mechanics are perfectly fine and well-suited for the game. I have zero complaints about it. And it's by by far my favorite 2D/overhead entry in the series.

Now, the problem with RF3 (and it's the only game in the series that does this) is that time continues to tick away even when you're inside of buildings, or buying/selling stuff, etc - this is very, very different from the other entries insofar as it never feels like you have time to just lounge around in a building with the locals. Every second of the day had to be more thoroughly and meticulously managed, as it was very easy to waste it. And while this mechanic is technically more realistic in the sense that time stop for no one, I found that it took away from what should have been the more relaxing elements of the game.

Don't get me wrong, RF3 is an okay game. I beat the main story, got married and got my crafting levels ridiculously high. The game was fine...but I'm definitely not in any rush to play it again any time soon haha.

@Lugazz HAHAHA. I hail from America, but I can believe it. I've never been to France, but I've spent a considerable about of time in Ireland, and the UK and...yeah, it definitely rained there a lot. In fact, probably like Normandy, it was a pretty common occurrence to sit through a huge, drenching storm only to go out a half hour later and see a nice sunny sky; with rainbows in the sky and in the dewy drops of water everywhere. This phenomenon could happen multiple times a day, and it often did! I imagine Normandy is pretty similar, then?

@Andy_Witmyer Hahahahahha exactly! Here we say that we have a great weather several times a day xD