​

Hakama is still hard at work on the latest Rune Factory entry, with publisher Marvelous Interactive offering another look at the game, and giving fans a glimpse at some of the new townspeople you'll run into, along with information on how the combat will be like. These screenshots show each of the weapons, which include one-handed swords, two-handed swords, dual blades, axes, hammers, fists, spears, and magic staves, as well as elemental Rune Abilities. The Japanese press release--translated courtesy of Gematsu--explains that like in previous entries, you'll level up each weapon stat through usage, and that you'll be able to use a Seed Circle, which lets you capture enemies to turn them into allies for a short time. Various townspeople can be recruited to take into battle, too, and they can be levelled up, too.

■ Townspeople

Randolph (voiced by Pile Volcano Ota)

An old man and honest baker. Always smiling and kind in his response. He loves his wife Yuki. He wants to make a new type of bread.

Yuki (voiced by Naoko Watanabe)

An old woman who runs a bakery with her husband. She has an innocent personality, without any preconceived notions or fears of others, and takes things as they come.

Heinz (voiced by Takumo Miyazono)

A man with an ever-so-innocent look an his face. He runs a shop, but wants to entrust it to someone else so he can do something fun. He never looks people in the eyes when talking to them.

Doug (voiced by Hirofumi Nojima)

A Dwarven blacksmith who always treats customers with sincerity. He still seems unable to find equal footing with the town ladies, who know him from his young, inexperienced days.

Palmo Crasi Viviage (voiced by Takahiro Fujimoto)

Not your average carpenter—he is a famous architect whose voice can be heard from the royal palace to the regions beyond the sea. He constructed most of the buildings in Rigberth.

​

Currently, Rune Factory 5 is planned for release as a Nintendo Switch exclusive in Japan on May 20th. A localization has been confirmed, but the western release lacks any details outside of sometime in 2021.

Source

 

[BitMasterPlus]

Looks kinda neat, although this is from someone who hasn't played a title in the series before so other people who are experts may know better.

 

[MikaDubbz]

Looks kinda neat, although this is from someone who hasn't played a title in the series before so other people who are experts may know better.

Yeah, this is exciting. Rune Factory is Fantasy Harvest Moon (literally started as a Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons spinoff) mixed with dungeon crawling and monster collecting and raising, and having them battle alongside you. For me it's my favorite series of the Harvest Moon genre, even more so than Stardew Valley which is fantastic in it's own right. I've been looking forward to a potential Rune Factory 5 for a loooong time.

 

[LeyendaV]

Frontier was one of the best games on the Wii. Tides of Destiny, while a good game, was no match for its predecessor. The portable entries are good, but we've been waiting for another high quality, mayor entry on a home console for over 10 years now.
At this point I'm so hyped, I'm literally checking several times a day, waiting for any kind of update.

 

[MikaDubbz]

Frontier was one of the best games on the Wii. Tides of Destiny, while a good game, was no match for its predecessor. The portable entries are good, but we've been waiting for another high quality, mayor entry for over 10 years now.
At this point I' so hyped, I'm literally checking several times a day, waiting for any kind of update.

I think 4 narrowly edges out Frontier for me. Frontier was fantastic, but a lot of the mechanics were streamlined by 4 in a more satisfying way, coupled with a graphical style that still worked well for the series.

 

[LeyendaV]

I think 4 narrowly edges out Frontier for me. Frontier was fantastic, but a lot of the mechanics were streamlined by 4 in a more satisfying way, coupled with a graphical style that still worked well for the series.

The graphical style is iconic at this point. But, for a home console, I want to see another full 3D world and not a 2.5D world scaled from a portable device.
Plus, making the game with the Switch in mind since the beginning will give the developers a lot of freedom to come up with stuff that was impossible before.

 

[MikaDubbz]

The graphical style is iconic at this point. But, for a home console, I want to see another full 3D world and not a 2.5D world scaled from a portable device.
Plus, making the game with the Switch in mind since the beginning will give the developers a lot of freedom to come up with stuff that was impossible before.

Oh I'm absolutely ready for 5, I'm just saying, I ultimately had a more enjoyable experience with 4 over Frontier, but Frontier is still my second favorite entry in the series so far.

 

[r5xscn]

The Japanese version will be available this Saturday. Hopefully, someone can make the English patch like the SOS Olive for the rest of the world.

I can't wait to play this game!

I think 4 narrowly edges out Frontier for me. Frontier was fantastic, but a lot of the mechanics were streamlined by 4 in a more satisfying way, coupled with a graphical style that still worked well for the series.

My ranking would be 4 > Frontier > Tides of Destiny.
But I liked the opening for Tides of Destiny more than the others.

Haven't played the other titles (2, 3, etc), so can't comment on the others.

 

[console]

That's why I want this Rune Factory 5 game to release out on PS4/PS5/PC. It should release on Xbox too. But I'm not fans of Xbox because of Microsoft. I hate Microsoft.

That's why I don't buy Nintendo Switch because of weak processor and graphic card. Instead I have to wait for Nintendo Pro or Switch 2 instead from Switch / Switch Lite. PS4 have more powerful CPU and GPU than Switch / Switch Lite and can play 1080p at 60 FPS smooth in games without choppy/laggy/slow, etc.

PlayStation and Nintendo for me.

 

[AkiraKurusu]

So what do you do in Rune Factory?
Produce stone-carved glyphs on conveyor belts all day long?

 

[Rioluwott]

So what do you do in Rune Factory?
Produce stone-carved glyphs on conveyor belts all day long?

This is what you can do in Rune Factory 4(its a really extensive text...but i may forgotten a thing or two anyway)
You can farm vegetables that can be sold for money or used to craft food that can be used to recover HP and RP or give you a temporary stat boost
You can explore dungeons and fight various monsters those monsters can be tamed and used as companions and help you in the farm or defeated to get materials that can be used to craft better gear or upgrade your existing gear giving it various boost depending on the item from atk/def up to status/magic resistance and status inducing if you upgrade/forge your weapon using those items they can also be sold for money
You can forge 6 different types of gear that you can wear: headgear, footgear, shield, weapon/tool, bodywear and an accessory those items can be forged or upgraded using any item in the game and every item gives you a different boost up to 9 times per item. this gives you a lot of options in what gear you want with some hidden mechanics in the game to give you some bonus or could help you while farming
You craft medicine or cook food using different appliances to both sell and to help you in battle.
You can also mine for different materials that you can use for forging or to sell at some price.
There is also dating sim mechanics in this game that leads you to marriage and having a children that(like all the important characters in the game) can be used as companions while exploring the dungeons and talk to them every(in game) day, i think the charm in this game is all the different dialogues each character has depending on how much you talk to them or how high your friendship with each one of them is with a different dialogue each day and some events involving various characters at the same time giving you a glimpse of each one every day life, those characters also give you request that you can finish or just ignore depending on what are you feeling like doing since there is no time limit for anything you can take your time in the story and focus in what you like the most. Everything you do helps you in some way and nothing you do is pointless
The story that involves all the villagers that its quite large and enjoyable(i though that i finished the game at some point but my friend asked me about something in the story and it surprised me there was more since the story had concluded or so i though) with a lot of content and some hidden things here and there so i think everyone should give it a try since its a really good game and my favorite 3DS game of all the time, but it has a little fanbase compared to other games that made the company declare bankruptcy like 7 years ago and getting Rune Factory 5 after all this time feels like a dream.

 

[AkiraKurusu]

This is what you can do in Rune Factory 4(its a really extensive text...but i may forgotten a thing or two anyway)
You can farm vegetables that can be sold for money or used to craft food that can be used to recover HP and RP or give you a temporary stat boost
You can explore dungeons and fight various monsters those monsters can be tamed and used as companions and help you in the farm or defeated to get materials that can be used to craft better gear or upgrade your existing gear giving it various boost depending on the item from atk/def up to status/magic resistance and status inducing if you upgrade/forge your weapon using those items they can also be sold for money
You can forge 6 different types of gear that you can wear: headgear, footgear, shield, weapon/tool, bodywear and an accessory those items can be forged or upgraded using any item in the game and every item gives you a different boost up to 9 times per item. this gives you a lot of options in what gear you want with some hidden mechanics in the game to give you some bonus or could help you while farming
You craft medicine or cook food using different appliances to both sell and to help you in battle.
You can also mine for different materials that you can use for forging or to sell at some price.
There is also dating sim mechanics in this game that leads you to marriage and having a children that(like all the important characters in the game) can be used as companions while exploring the dungeons and talk to them every(in game) day, i think the charm in this game is all the different dialogues each character has depending on how much you talk to them or how high your friendship with each one of them is with a different dialogue each day and some events involving various characters at the same time giving you a glimpse of each one every day life, those characters also give you request that you can finish or just ignore depending on what are you feeling like doing since there is no time limit for anything you can take your time in the story and focus in what you like the most. Everything you do helps you in some way and nothing you do is pointless
The story that involves all the villagers that its quite large and enjoyable(i though that i finished the game at some point but my friend asked me about something in the story and it surprised me there was more since the story had concluded or so i though) with a lot of content and some hidden things here and there so i think everyone should give it a try since its a really good game and my favorite 3DS game of all the time, but it has a little fanbase compared to other games that made the company declare bankruptcy like 7 years ago and getting Rune Factory 5 after all this time feels like a dream.

Thanks for that breakdown, but are there any "factories" or "runes"?

 

[Rioluwott]

Thanks for that breakdown, but are there any "factories" or "runes"?

The Farm itself its a Rune Factory since it is stated that each time you grow anything you make "runeys" that sometimes can be seen on screen there, you also use RP or Rune Points as your stamina that sometimes can be restored while picking up a fully grown vegetable

 

[DarkCoffe64]

For someone that has never played a RF game, anyone that has done so can recommend me which game to start with, or like the best one to check out? Don't think these games are linked with a story or what, right?
I remember wanting to try the series out, I somewhat enjoy farm sims, but also do get quite bored quickly of them aswell, and thought one mixed with a rpg-dungeoncrawler or what might make things a bit more interesting.
I downloaded the first one for the ds, started the intro and all... and immediately dropping at at, like... just couldn't stand how the first game's excuse for giving you the farm an all.

You begin as some amnesiac dude, one random gal finds ya and is all like "oh, you lost your memory? I've heard that farming might help with that, so, you can have my farm!"
Just... no. I usually close an eye to situations of the sorts when its nothing super major or happens way deeper into the game, but beginning like that? This time I just couldn't stand it. I hope the other games don't begin the same?

 

[Rioluwott]

For someone that has never played a RF game, anyone that has done so can recommend me which game to start with, or like the best one to check out? Don't think these games are linked with a story or what, right?
I remember wanting to try the series out, I somewhat enjoy farm sims, but also do get quite bored quickly of them aswell, and thought one mixed with a rpg-dungeoncrawler or what might make things a bit more interesting.
I downloaded the first one for the ds, started the intro and all... and immediately dropping at at, like... just couldn't stand how the first game's excuse for giving you the farm an all.

You begin as some amnesiac dude, one random gal finds ya and is all like "oh, you lost your memory? I've heard that farming might help with that, so, you can have my farm!"
Just... no. I usually close an eye to situations of the sorts when its nothing super major or happens way deeper into the game, but beginning like that? This time I just couldn't stand it. I hope the other games don't begin the same?

im sorry to disappoint you but most of the games start with an amnesiac MC(even the upcoming game will start like that) and after that starting giving you hints on your past as the story goes on, i recommend starting with 3 or 4 if you are not interested in playing them all, but going backward to 1-2 will be difficult since the games get a lot of QoL improvements and new features each game that will make you play past entries a pain but all of them are good on its own
3 is shorter compared to 4 but its a good starting point and in my opinion 4 is the best since it was the most polished one, the stories aren't linked and have their own stories so you don´t need to know the past games but you may get a cameo from past characters here and there.

 

[Freyjadour]

I'm more hyped for this than the new sos game.

 

[Bladexdsl]

oh it looks like the same gameplay from tides of destiny. i'm IN

 

[AlexMCS]

I've only played RF4 Special, and it has definitely blown my mind away. Put over 200 hours on that, it's a really fun and addictive game.

Too bad the heavy grinding at the endgame turned me off, but I've pretty much done 92% of what the game has to offer and I'm looking forward to this newest entry.

 

[Skelletonike]

Frontier was one of the best games on the Wii. Tides of Destiny, while a good game, was no match for its predecessor. The portable entries are good, but we've been waiting for another high quality, mayor entry on a home console for over 10 years now.
At this point I'm so hyped, I'm literally checking several times a day, waiting for any kind of update.

Well... Most of the players of these types of games shifted to portables, which is why not many are released in consoles these days.
The reason it's being released exclusively for the switch well, it's obvious since the switch is pretty much a portable system.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

That's why I want this Rune Factory 5 game to release out on PS4/PS5/PC. It should release on Xbox too. But I'm not fans of Xbox because of Microsoft. I hate Microsoft.

That's why I don't buy Nintendo Switch because of weak processor and graphic card. Instead I have to wait for Nintendo Pro or Switch 2 instead from Switch / Switch Lite. PS4 have more powerful CPU and GPU than Switch / Switch Lite and can play 1080p at 60 FPS smooth in games without choppy/laggy/slow, etc.

PlayStation and Nintendo for me.

Better get ready for not seeing lots of RPGs not coming to Playstation, as they kinda given up on Japanese market and given up on portables, wich is a shame (I loved the Vita).