Rune Factory 5 Passes 500,000 Global Sales On Switch

I'm glad RF5 is doing well. I remember only a few years ago we were unsure if we would ever see another RF title. I'm waiting for a sale to pick this one up.

I've got about 140 hours logged, so I'm apparently enjoying it, but I don't know if I would recommend it. There are a number of issues, detailed elsewhere (frame rate, random crashes), but ultimately, this whole franchise feels like a set it-n-forget it, in that it doesn't seem to get much post-launch dev attention.

@agrazioli thanks for your honesty, I was tempted to get this day one but resisted due to the issues. I think I will still pass on it

I liked RF4 and I want to get 5, but this should not cost 60 dollars, 40 max.

Put in a good 60 hours with this and was glad when it was over. I enjoyed my time and got my money's worth, but it definitely felt like a step back from RF4S (shorter story, poor performance, no seasonal fields, tasks took longer) and the move to 3D didn't really add anything. That it's selling well makes me happy, though, because even if this entry was a bit lackluster I'd gladly play another.

This is really great to hear! I've played through every game in the series and RF5 - despite some graphical shortcomings - is probably my favorite, and I definitely think it represents a big step up from RF4 (which I still loved - I guess I'm more into the console entries). I mean, I've already sunk close 200 hours into it and I'm still playing.

For a series that was dead for 10 full years, 500k sales actually IS kind of impressive. I hope it'll be enough to warrant a RF6 <3

I have enjoyed my play through so far and there is a lot to do in the endgame. I just wish the rare drop rate wasn’t so low even with items.

@agrazioli Not really true in this case. Perhaps the NA version won't get very many updates, but there were several during the time it was out in Japan which were baked into the game by the time it was released overseas, with a MAJOR update being that of adding gay marriage. That change alone represented a very large story and gameplay modification, and - while it doesn't exactly effect me, personally, more options are good, and I'm happy for those fans who've been hoping for that kind of option for the entirety of the series.

There were also a number of smaller tweaks. And even though the game still isn't optimized very well, it def runs better than it did when it launched in Japan, at which time the frame rate issues were even worse. And there is datamined code that suggests that there may be a future update that would include two more marriage candidates, as there are files with their marriage outfits and other relationship type text.

As for the performance issue - while some people need huge stable frame rates to enjoy a game, the occasional drops when you first go outside and before entering buildings hasn't at all effected my enjoyment of the game.

Do I wish the game looked and performed better? Sure. But the developer was not given a huge budget, and it was the first game in the series that they've worked on in over a decade. I think the fully 3D environments, the fairly large overworld and the varied dungeons are all a step up from RF4 while the core game play loop from that treasured entry is maintained and in some cases, improved. If RF6 is optimized to run more smoothly, and includes some improved visuals, and a wider array of daily dialog from the townsfolk (that there is less than what there is in RF4, where it feels like they say something different every day was admittedly disappointing), it would be amazing. And hopefully next time around, the strong sales of 5 will afford the devopers a larger budget to work with.

And if it wasn't obvious, I would def recommend the game.

Cheers. Beyond all the fandom and fanloid complaints about the grand comeback's comparatively incremental additions lies one of this year's best JRPGs and overall Switch releases in my book. I had high expectations, but some aspects, including traditional QoL tweaks, surpassed even them. Can't salute the localisation team enough either - from same sex marriage to a full-fledged conlang for Fuuka, they've definitely outdone themselves here. All that's left inbetween the many hours already poured in (before the end of the first year spring!) is to read folks here debate "the merits of the transition to 3D" and laugh one's tush off in Frontier and Oceans.😆

@HenHiro three words, then: Deku Deals wishlist.

That's awesome to see but relatively speaking for a game to be considered really successful on the Switch nowadays it's gotta hit at least 1million+ in sales. *Especially considering this game's sister series - Story of Season's latest game, Pioneers of Olive Town, crossed 1 million.

@nhSnork RF is not a JRPG, it's a Life-Simulation game with Action-RPG elements, it cannot be considered a full-fleshed RPG, since many of these elements are more side features like Monster collecting.

This is not pejorative, I like that the franchise is a mix of a lot of different things.

I stopped playing after a few days...the performance issues are way too bothersome...and it's never being fixed, so...sighs So much for that...

Mines currently still in the mail, I hope to a new future with the RF series!

@HenHiro I mean, it technically is an RPG from Japan. Of course, that's only if one would want to get semantical about it. But, debatable as what constitutes a genre may be (I mean, have you ever seen Nintendo Life's top "Switch RPG" games, wherein at least a quarter of the entries are probably not what most people would consider RPGs??), I think @nhSnork 's broader assessment is clear and irrefutable. Def one of the best games on Switch this year, and - imo - probably deserving to be somewhere among the very best, LTD

Good news and generally deserved. The game's far from perfect but the quality difference with 4 was wildly overstated and it's still wicked addictive even with the technical shortcomings.

4 is definitely better, but 5 isn't bad

@Andy_Witmyer considering RF5 one of the besst games on Switch is disrespecting other games who put really outstanding work in.

RF is fun, but it's also a cheap cash grab, it's not a game made with a lot of effort.

I've never played a game of this saga; should I get RF4 or RF5?

@RodSD64 I asked this very question a couple of months ago and was recommended RF4S, which I can vouch is pretty ace. Apparently 5 is more of the same, but in 3D, with added jank. You might want to pick up 4S for cheap to see if it's for you (I personally had a lot of fun with it, so even if you do end up getting 5, you at least know what you're in for, and wouldn't have missed anything)

@HenHiro "a sim with RPG elements" is how Harvest Moon is often described, but Rune Factory series was built entirely on the premise of injecting said Harvest Moon with pretty much everything that makes up a classic fantasy JRPG. And while hardly the most definitive of the genre's tropes (despite being almost the genre's age), monster collecting is hardly a side feature in RF - it's the only way to obtain livestock and your own supply of related products, after all. Just like the other "elements" are pretty much obligatory in the big picture. The two halves of Rune Factory are inseparable - the impression of a "mix" owes more to the fact that the series also allows casual players to spend as much time on either half as they're in the mood to.

Regarding your later reply - not that we fans are in a position to discuss disrespect anyway, but the effort put into RF5 is evident even before you read it echoed in the staff interviews. If some bugs and performance drops tell you otherwise, then Skyrim sounds like one of the most effortless games in history.😆 And if Marvelous wanted a quick cash grab, what are the odds they would go for a long dormant franchise whose previous entries never broke 150k in sales before the Switch era?

Faulty reporting as those "sales" were just "shipments" i.e. product sent to stores. It's a disingenuous way of claiming a game sold well (which isn't surprising given this is a financial report and you can't tell the investors anything bad).

The reality is this product is going to rot in stores (because the game's bad word of mouth ensures its sell through rate will be terrible) and will no doubt be discounted in the near future.

I'd put a link to the actual financial report but I have a feeling it'd just be flagged as spam.