Is Rune Factory 5 like Harvest Moon? the next big farming simulator

Rune Factory 5 is a role-playing simulation video game developed and published by Marvelous for the Nintendo Switch.

Is Rune Factory 5 only for Switch?

The first entry in the Rune Factory series since 2012’s Rune Factory 4, it was released in Japan in May 2021 and worldwide by Xseed Games in March 2022.

Rune Factory 5

Rune Factory 5 is so wonderfully open-ended and unconcerned with time constraints, these pacing blips didn’t matter much in the long run.

As with previous games in the series, gameplay features the ability to farm and tame monsters. Players can also form social connections with the game’s townfolks, including ones with bachelors or bachelorettes leading to marriage.

Rune Factory is a franchise of fantasy role-playing simulation games

The games are developed by Hashimoto’s studio Hakama, taking over from Neverland after they ceased operations in 2013. The series began as a spin-off to Marvelous’ flagship franchise Story of Seasons (formerly Harvest Moon).

Rune Factory 5 Launch Trailer Nintendo Switch

The stage is set, and the curtain rises on an exciting new adventure in Rune Factory 5!

Fight, farm, and find true love in this epic new installment of the legendary Rune Factory series, available today on Nintendo Switch!

Rune Factory

The Story of Seasons references were subsequently dropped starting with the second installment, in order to become its own series.

With the first game published in 2006, the property consists of five main-series games, two spin-off titles and numerous manga adaptations.

Rune Factory 5 Review

There’s a disappointing trend going on right now with the classic trio of farm life sims – Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, and now Rune Factory all having a rough time making the jump from handheld to console.

Last year Story of Seasons made the leap best, if imperfectly, while Harvest Moon’s attempt around the same time was utterly mediocre.

Rune Factory 5 has fallen somewhere in the middle, with the series’ first dedicated Switch game largely clinging to the depth that has earned it praise in the past.

Unfortunately, it can’t manage to translate other elements like “looking nice” or “running well” in its move from Rune Factory 4‘s top-down perspective to a 3D world, leaving it in a fun but frequently frustrating spot.

Rune Factory 5’s abrupt opening sees a young amnesiac hero dropped via portal just outside the backwater town of Rigbarth, where a community service-oriented organization called SEED takes them in as the newest ranger – basically a scout crossed with a monster cop.

As a SEED ranger, the protagonist can tend a massive farm and grow tons of different crops, capture and raise a wide array of wild monsters for resources and combat assistance, run various errands for the villagers, or fight off monsters that threaten the town.

Their community service quickly takes a cheesy if enjoyable turn into a winding mystery involving powerful creatures, more folks turning up with amnesia, dragons, and plenty more pleasantly extra anime protagonist fluff.

Farm sim games are rather difficult to mess up

Give players a welcoming town full of friendly residents, a field that they can till to make ridiculous sums of money, and a few side activities like fishing or mining to fill in any gaps, and you’ve pretty much got the basics covered.

Rune Factory games have always nailed all these elements, but they’ve built their reputation on how they throw in other gameplay elements like exploration and combat to bring things more in line with a typical RPG.

The good news is that Rune Factory 5 meets expectations and does everything its predecessors did. The bad news is that it pretty much only does what its predecessors did.

The story picks up with your nameless protagonist blowing into the town of Rigbarth and quickly joining the ranks of SEED, an elite military unit that maintains peace in the region.

Trouble is brewing as people have begun disappearing and you’re told that the rune energy flowing from sacred places is weakening, so of course the local captain deems this mysterious stranger as the best person to solve the problem.

Aided by supportive friends and allies, you thus set out on an adventure to get to the bottom of what’s been causing all the ruckus and maybe learn something about your veiled past. We appreciate the attempt to give Rune Factory 5 a little more of a story than is featured in the typical farm sim, but it must be said that a ‘fate of the world’ plot like this feels a little out of place.

Is Rune Factory 5 on PS4?

Rune Factory 5 will be exclusive to the Switch when it launches for the West in 2022.

In the meantime, Rune Factory 4 Special launches for PS4, Xbox One and PC this Fall. A remaster of the 2012 Nintendo 3DS classic, it features HD visuals, new cutscenes via Newlywed Mode and Veteran Mode for even more content. Stay tuned for a proper release date in the coming weeks.

Rune Factory retains the farming and social simulation portions of the Story of Seasons games

but integrates it into a fantasy setting and introduces dungeon crawling elements into the core gameplay.

The basic premise of most Rune Factory games is to play as a hero who has lost their memory, but must save the land from peril at the hands of an evil enemy, while uncovering their memories.

The title of the series refers to the recurring game mechanic of “rune points” and runes that can be earned by completing a variety of tasks, such as growing crops, crafting items and leveling up skills.

The games in the franchise have seen both critical and commercial success, with Xseed Games, the North American publisher of the series, declaring it as their best performing franchise in 2020.

Rune Factory 5 tries to be the next big farming simulator

On the surface, Rune Factory 5 has everything: giant dragons that let you ride them, dungeon crawling, farming, a butterfly boy who dotes on you when you give him chocolate bars.

The game aims at being the next large farming simulator — and, true to form, it’s a fully 3D, third-person RPG with a massive slate of activities. But in trying to do so much, the systems are spread thin and end up feeling half-baked, adding up to a game that doesn’t feel all that great to play.

Developed by Hakama Inc. and published by Marvelous (Xseed), Rune Factory 5 is the latest installment of the 15-year-old RPG franchise, and is available now on Nintendo Switch.

You play as an Earthmate, part of a group of people who have a special connection to the Earth, and to the giant dragons that live in Rune Factory’s world. The story starts when the protagonist rescues a young girl named Hina from monsters, and then passes out after the rescue.

You wake in the town of Rigbarth, to find you’ve been taken in by SEED, an organization that protects the town from monsters — but you’ve lost your memory.

Players must make a life in the quaint town of Rigbarth, and help SEED protect the town. This involves loads of tasks.

You can befriend and romance townspeople, go dungeon crawling in a variety of environments, fight monsters, catch and tame them, cook, craft, fish, and farm.

Days have a similar rhythm to Stardew Valley, where you play through a set daytime, and use up stamina to fight and farm. Oftentimes, you need to fight and complete a dungeon to advance the story, but food and potions are in plentiful supply from earlier on — allowing you to easily balance fighting while maintaining the crops.

Rune Factory 5 Shows That Series Shift To 3D Has Come At A Cost

Straight up, Rune Factory 5 on Switch was my most anticipated game of 2022.

I loved how earlier games in the Harvest Moon spinoff series seamlessly incorporated fantasy worldbuilding into a farming simulator.

Obtaining milk from weird-looking monster cows and harvesting leather off goblins was always a lot more interesting than thinking about more true-to-reality, likely smellier portrayals of farm life.

It’s a shame, then, that Rune Factory 5, in shifting the series into the realm of 3D, open-world games, seems to have forgotten what made this series so fascinating to begin with.

Rune Factory 5 is mechanically the same as previous chapters. You play as an amnesiac ranger in SEED, an armed force that protects the town of Rigbarth from monsters.

Most of your days will be spent growing crops, battling monsters, crafting items, fishing, befriending local villagers, and fulfilling requests. You can tame monster companions to help with farming, or mix special fertilizer formulas into the soil to increase the productivity of your farm.

How many hours is Rune Factory 5?

Each day in Rune Factory 5 takes more than 30 minutes to get through, which means you’re realistically looking at a 60- to 70-hour playtime to make it through a single calendar year.

Who is making Rune Factory 5?

Developed by Hakama Inc. and published by Marvelous (Xseed), Rune Factory 5 is the latest installment of the 15-year-old RPG franchise, and is available now on Nintendo Switch.

Is Rune Factory 4 worth it Switch?

There’s something here for everyone in Rune Factory 4 Special, but its greatest strength is how it ties together everything into one thoroughly enjoyable package. Varied gameplay, strong writing, and an emphasis on progressing at your own pace make this one of the best farm sim games available on the Switch to date.