Rune Factory 5 Review

Game: Rune Factory 5
Genre: Simulation RPG
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam (Windows))
Developer | Publisher: Hakama Inc | Marvelous (XSeed)
Age Rating: US Teen | EU 12+
Price: US $59.99 | UK £49.99 | EU € 59,99
Release Date: March 22th (US), March 25th (EU), 2022

Review code used with many thanks to Decibel PR

To me, the series of Rune Factory combines the elements I’m looking for in a farming game in an excellent way. Sure, I love Story of Seasons too, but farming constantly can easily get a chore in the long run. Rune Factory however combines all I like in Story of Seasons (farming, crafting, socializing) with loads to discover and combat. Fighting monsters in all forms that drop useful items to craft with, that can be tamed to help you out on the farm or to fight at your side. Sure, you need to farm crops to get money and to cook recipes and craft things. But it’s not your main component, so if you don’t feel like farming you can also go out and bash some monsters. Makes for more variety. 

Rune Factory 5 has now reached us (find our guide here), 10 years after Rune Factory 4 was released in the West on the 3DS. That we got a sequel at all was very much thanks to the success of Rune Factory 4, as the fact that its original development studio went bankrupt a year after its release meant it was uncertain for a while. Still, here it is, once again with Yoshifumi Hashimoto in the producer seat and other people who worked on Rune Factory 4 gathered in development company Hakama Inc. Was it worth the long wait?

Sleepy Little Town of Rigbarth

If you have never played a Rune Factory game before, you should know that the background to your hero is always the same. Waking up with memory loss and finding him-or herself in a town full of friendly people. A derelict plot of land to work on, and lots of quests to keep themselves busy and useful to the town.

In Rune Factory 5 you wake up near the sleepy small town of Rigbarth and immediately find yourself in the middle of a threatening situation. A little girl called Hina needs rescuing, and being the hero you are, you immediately spring to action and save the day. Welcomed into Rigbarth you join the organisation SEED as a ranger. The town isn’t as peaceful as it seemed at first glance, mysterious events are unfolding, affecting the runes that govern the balance between humanity and nature. So you’ve got your work cut out for you, keeping the monsters back from Rigbarth’s borders.

Aside from battling monsters, you take up the duty of running the farm near the SEED Outpost. Your captain has assignments for you, to bring in especially rowdy monsters, and the villagers have requests too. These range from catching a certain fish, shipping a certain kind of vegetable to making some dish. Even without an overarching storyline, I could have kept my little YvoCaro busy for many weeks in the game.

A Dragon with Farmland on its Back

Farming in Rune Factory 5 feels familiar. As is customary there is a great variety in crops that unlocks as the game progresses. The daily cycle of watering is needed to make sure your vegetables and flowers grow for a set amount of days. When you harvest your crop, sometimes free seeds are your bonus. Drop weeds and withered grass in a fertiliser bin nearby and it automatically fertilises your fields. Use a hammer and an axe to break up the rocks and tree stumps that encroach on your field and store these in your building material storage.

New to the game are the farming dragons: they unlock during the story, starting out with the Earth Dragon. It flies above the SEED Outpost with a farming field on its back, and as YvoCaro is an Earthmate, she can visit it and farm the fields on there too. It’s a pity that these Dragons don’t represent seasonal farming. They do house the monster barns you can build, where the monsters you tame live. As soon as I could, I tamed a Cluckadoodle that I named Josefine to provide me with eggs, and a Buffamoo I named Clara to make sure I had milk. Monsters are useful for the items they drop for you in the barn, but as soon as you befriend them enough, they will also take over some of your farming chores. Plus, you can ride them!

Many Different Crafting Tables

Crops, materials you find and things monsters drop are used in the various workbenches you can have built. A forge, a chemistry set, a kitchen and more. With these crafting tables you have a means to make your own meals to replenish your stamina (in the HP and RP bar), to make your own weapons, armour and medicine too. It’s a nice balance between on the one hand selling everything you find and grow for more G to manage your farm. And on the other hand to save what you have to use it in crafting to sell it for even more G and use it yourself.

Fighting Alongside Monsters and Villagers

Discovering what the world holds for you and finding a huge variety of monsters is what makes Rune Factory 5 as special as all games in the series. Many different dungeons and geological areas keep it interesting. Meanwhile you can use different kinds of weapons, trying to find what feels best for you. Currently the Steel Edge Dual Blades work well for me in this action-based fighting part. Special link moves are included, as well as one that reminded me of Breath of the Wild: if you press the right button at the right time, the monster you’re trying to best goes into slow motion. Not that I managed it yet: I’m more of a bashing button kind of action gamer.

With a official SEED-issued spell seal you can catch monsters too, persuading them to fight along with you, or take them in when requested. And it’s not just the monsters you can fight alongside with, you can also ask many of the villagers to join you in combat too. Even though I’m all for farming and crafting, this made the fighting part very enjoyable for me.

Interesting Characters

The over arching storyline is nice and the battles aren’t difficult. I played the game on normal setting, but you can also choose to set the game to a higher difficulty. The story made good use of your Ranger role and special abilities like the Spell Seal. I felt the side stories were plenty. The characters in Rune Factory 5 are well fleshed out and interesting, with romance options of course. Everything is depicted in 3D, and while dialogue is delivered, the 2D images of the same characters in the background are shown in front. Personally I liked the design and the colors of the 2D images better, but overall, it looks good.

Emptiness and Jitters

What I am less impressed about is the way the frame rate jitters and items overlap. For example, my monsters in the barn meld together frequently. The streets of Rigbarth are a bit empty. Many of the houses and buildings are rather empty too, aside from some furniture here and there. Rigbarth Outpost looks more complete, but it’s one of the few. Though it’s a different kind of game, I was playing Atelier Sophie 2 when I picked up Rune Factory 5 and I was disappointed about the very apparent difference. A more direct comparison: Rune Factory 4 Special looks better to me.

I can’t help but mention too that placing crafting tables and furniture is really awful. You really can’t place it against any wall, you can’t move them to the right place. The way the menu works to select your farming tools is awfully fiddly too.

Lastly, the background music is an uplifting tune, but it does get very repetitive. Surprisingly, you can choose English voices. Another very nice addition are the voice acting messages of the original Japanse voices that you can find in the starting menu.

Conclusion – Good Gameplay but Disappointing Detail

This is a good entry in the Rune Factory series and I’m sure the fans will welcome it. Expect much of what made Rune Factory 4 great. Good new gameplay features are added with the Spell Seal, being a Ranger with special duties and benefits and the addition of the Farming Dragons. Rune Factory 5 has a good storyline and nice side stories with interesting characters in town. There’s a deep stats and skill system, and it’s fun trying on different costumes and accessories.

At the start of this review I asked: was it worth is to wait 10 years for Rune Factory 5? Honestly, I love my time in the game, but I am disappointed too. Compared to other current-day games it really doesn’t deliver in graphics, attention to detail in the world of Rigbarth just isn’t there. Even comparing it to the lovely looking world in Rune Factory 4 Special, it falls short.

My final verdict is still positive, but a lot more was needed for it to get our highest recommendation. A must for the fans, but if you are new to the series, Rune Factory 4 Special on the Switch feels like an entry point at half the price that is preferable.

Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot