Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Review - Screenshot 1 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Rune Factory’s first entry arrived to a welcoming fanbase almost 20 years ago, and players have signed on for the adventures of a string of amnesiac protagonists, equal parts fighter and farmer, ever since. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma delivers on the promise of the series with another hero mysteriously connected to the land who, despite not having any memory of their life prior, can forge their destiny anew in a charming town filled with a cast of vibrant characters. After the lacklustre reception to Rune Factory 5, developer Marvelous Inc. offers up a totally fresh take on the Rune Factory formula in here that could push the series to even greater heights going forward.

Guardians of Azuma takes place in a brand new location for the Rune Factory series: an Eastern country that draws a lot of aesthetic inspiration from traditional Japanese culture. After choosing between two characters to play as (we picked Kaguya), we enter what is admittedly a pretty long opening sequence of cinematics and tutorials.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Review - Screenshot 2 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Kaguya awakens from a dream, and we learn that she’s been living at a shrine since she crash-landed through the roof six months prior. The village housing the shrine hasn’t fared well since an event called the Celestial Collapse hit Azuma 50 years ago, halting the bloom of the village’s sacred tree. Kaguya is an Earth Dancer—Azuma’s phrase for what Rune Factory normally refers to as an Earthmate—and we’re tasked with restoring the divinity of the god of spring.

The initial plot arc follows the formula of visiting a new village, restoring the power of the connected god, and gaining a new sacred treasure. There are a total of four villages, one for each season, and each brings new characters, side quests, and areas to explore.

One of the most interesting elements of Guardians of Azuma is village management. Gone are the days of the farming and crafting systems seen in earlier entries. You can still plant and water seeds, but you can also construct buildings and decorations for specific areas in each village and assign villagers to complete jobs like farming, fishing, mining, and shopkeeping.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Review - Screenshot 3 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

We weren’t sure how to feel about this at first—what’s a farming sim without farming after all? There definitely is an element of tension lost in the transition to village management over farming, and we felt less tethered to the passing of time and the seasons.

But Rune Factory has always put a bigger emphasis on other RPG elements like combat anyway. The village system helps distance you from the act of farming in a way that highlights exploration and combat. It doesn’t hurt that the building mechanics are so fun and expansive either. It takes quite a few resources to build robust villages, which reinforces a balanced tempo of advancing the main plot and exploring the wild areas in between bouts of pruning building layouts.

Exploration is an element that wasn’t as fully realised in Rune Factory 5 as many would have liked. Guardians of Azuma, on the other hand, seems to have taken a page from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom when it comes to its explorable landscapes, albeit on a smaller scale. Certain areas can only be accessed with the help of the sacred treasures acquired through the main plot, and there are repeating landmarks like frog statues that grant new crafting recipes, small shrines that dole out onigiri, and dragon statues that act as save points and teleportation hubs.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Review - Screenshot 4 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Combat is much the same as other Rune Factory games, with different weapon categories, combos, and power strikes. Each sacred treasure, however, has multiple combat applications, and a brand new set of skill trees allow for gaining new abilities and overall stat upgrades. Plus, three NPCs can join in for combat at any given time and embody different strategic roles like healer, defender, or attacker. It’s not the world’s most complex party system but it’s a step in the right direction.

There are a lot of characters to love in Guardians of Azuma, and anyone who played Rune Factory 5 may be happy to see a familiar friend all grown up. There are 15 possible romance options, many of whom are literally gods, and all options are available regardless of the chosen protagonist’s gender, so the options truly are expansive. Most scenes are fully voiced, and the artwork and character design for each character really add a lot of life to Guardians of Azuma’s considerably large cast. Gifting is now only one of many possible activities that can help raise the bond with a given character, in addition to things like walks, meals, and certain topics of conversation, the success of which varies with each character’s preferences.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Review - Screenshot 5 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

The extra care taken in befriending and romancing NPCs helps make the main storyline feel more impactful, too. Farming sims aren’t exactly known for their rich plotlines, but we were pleasantly surprised to find drama and some semi-dark twists at the heart of the story in Guardians of Azuma. There’s a good balance of charm and intensity, though, which prevents the game from collapsing into melodrama. The theatrical elements are cut nicely by our time spent running around with our quirky gang of seasonal gods that feel straight off the pages of a shojo manga (in the best way possible).

As for performance, Guardians of Azuma ran quite well on the Nintendo Switch overall. Once or twice in higher-level combat, we experienced lag. Performance problems will likely be less common on the Switch 2—we’ll get back to you with our experience of Guardians of Azuma on Nintendo's next console soon.

Conclusion

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma manages to reinvent itself while still maintaining the bones that make the Rune Factory series feel like itself. It takes bold new strides in unexpected directions that thankfully pay off. Guardians of Azuma is a must-play for Rune Factory fans and would be well-enjoyed by newcomers to the series as well.

Related Products

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.