Rune Factory 5 Release Date Finally Confirmed For Next Year

I'm just pleased players can have same-gender romances in this one!

I didn’t realise there was gay marriage in this one, a very welcome change. Rune Factory 4 is possibly my favourite 3DS game so I’m mega hyped for this.

Here's hoping that this gives them the opportunity to patch the big performance drops.

Damn, not only did they add in same-gender romance, but the trailer makes it clear they've updated the anime cutscenes too. I'm impressed and excited to finally try out this series!

I'll wait for footage and reviews. The game launched in rough shape last year.

@nessisonett Yeah, Xseed’s localization blog says they pushed for the option even before actual localization work began and coded proper pronoun choices ahead of time once work started. Then, when they got the affirmative that it would be implemented, they had the jump start on having NPCs respond accordingly. So happy they made the efforts to see it implemented into the game. Just wish it wasn’t a 6 month wait for it…

@ShikabaneHime13 I’ll take a longer localisation time if it means they’ve put in all that work!

Lmao the only thing I ever ask about this game is if you can be gay. And now you can! 🙌🏻

@nessisonett Fair! In the meantime, I’ll enjoy my Japanese copy but it’s probably going to be closer to the Western launch when they patch in the same-sex relationships for the Japanese version

Man the footage from the direct yesterday looked rough

@nessisonett there actually wasn't (which is why the original release doesn't have it yet), but XCEED outright pitched it when preparing the localisation and Marvelous agreed. They even produced additional animated cutscenes for the extra couples, the amount of work that some had once believed to have been a production hurdle in the option's way to begin with (since SoS FoMM apparently had it from the start). The western release should thus have it since launch, but a patch is in the works for the Japanese version, too.

And XCEED has actually clarified that all of this DIDN'T delay the localisation [noticeably] - it was already meant to take quite a while as they're doing the French and German translations as well.

Same sex marriage pushed this from a wait for sale to within launch window for me (first 3 months of release). I'm still cranking away in Olive Town but I should be done by then.

Bugs, texture issues, and an empty feeling town, but hey freedom of marriage choice and gender presentation!

Sounds EXACTLY like the latest HM/SOS games to me. But if it is, don't worry, they'll fix the performance six months later AND liven up the town with DLC that will only cost you another $25!

(/jk, you guys, you know I'm still going to buy this.)

This looks choppy to me, the fighting parts look like 15-20 fps max and town feels dead.

I feel like Stardew Valley has opened Pandora's box. This game would be so fun with multiplayer!! I really wish they would patch it in

Finally, the confirmation I've been wanting. Now I'll definitely pick this up close to launch since I no longer need confirmation on gay marriage

@CharlieGirl I'm glad to see all the positive comments in here about the same-sex romances! I'm planning to cover it in more depth next week, and I hope we can get the same kind of positivity then too

I've been looking forward to this game since they announced it. Can't wait!

Don’t care about same sex marriage as a priority. If they actually fix the performance then I’ll buy because it was a mess when it launched in Japan awhile back.

Can't wait! Another awesome game. Japanese footage looked great.

People said this was a little rough in the Japanese release (I keep reading that but footage looks mostly okay to me) , hopefully it's smooth by March. Looks like a really fun game.

Edit: Nintendo uploaded a new trailer last night and it looked great. I see why people like the series because it looks VERY action-heavy in the dungeons/mines/whatever they are!

@IronMan30 I’m currently playing it and, while certainly a little rough frame rate wise at times, it runs well enough that I don’t find it overly jarring.

Heard the Japanese version had major framerate issues. Hopefully they can address the performance issues for the Western launch (a la SMT Nocturne)

@KateGray Yea, this is a franchise where most of the fans are pretty open minded.

Off-topic: (always wanted to say😋) That's an awesome avatar picture 😅👍

@ShikabaneHime13 well, that's good news. I will probably get this game, as I said before, it looks really fun.

This romance/marriage news is so exciting! I was already going to purchase day 1 and now I'm looking forward to it even more. I loved RF4 and played as female so I could woo all the bachelors. It will be so nice playing a male this time and doing the same. Hopefully some of the performance issues are ironed out before western release!

@KateGray I'm polishing my armor as we speak.

The optimism that making an article about same sex marriage in a game won’t be a dog whistle for the ones that camp out just to crap on articles like that is very sweet. I’ll jump in when it’s posted and do my happy dance but I will be leaving the site for a few days right after. My ignore list is already bursting at the seams.

I'm so happy gay marriage is included. I'll actually buy this now

@Ryu_Niiyama It's going to be an absolute horrorshow, just like every other time somebody showcased LGBTQ+ issues in video games.

My body blocklist is ready.

It looks like an YS game with farming and dating mechanics (and gay marriages on top of that!), I'M SOLD, can't wait to date all the bachelors

I've been a fan of rune factory games for years. I just hope they add more to the adventure on their like they did with rune factory 4 special.