It had been a long time since Harvest Moon had appeared on the scene. Sure, there are games that come out every few years, but the heyday must have been during the console generation with the first Playstation. After that, similar games were quite rare. Where we can take care of our own farm while exploring and making friends in the small town we live in. Then Stardew Valley came along and hit the scene hard. Suddenly the genre had a new life. This made the developers behind the Rune Factory series realize that a new game in the series might be a good thing. In 2019 they released Rune Factory 4 Special (in Japan; 2020 in the West), but it was just a reboot of a game released for the Nintendo 3DS ten years ago. Developers Neverland Co. went bankrupt in 2013, but producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto founded Hakama Studio in 2018 and they are the ones behind this game.
If you’re wondering what Rune Factory is, there really isn’t a better description than that it’s like Stardew Valley (or Story of Seasons), only with all the Japanese RPG characters. Speaking of which, we are immediately offered what RPG creators love to take advantage of, namely the main character’s amnesia. I understand that it’s a way for the player to learn everything about the world at the same time as the protagonist, but it gets pretty boring. Please do something else. Why couldn’t the character have moved there from somewhere far away? Then we start straight into the daily grind. Our character has a small space that he can use as his own garden, but of course it’s full of weeds, logs and stones. It’s about monitoring the plants and watering them every day so they don’t die. Once the plants are ready to harvest, you can sell them or store them as medicine or something similar. However, it’s not a “build your own farm” like Stardew Valley, but rather focuses on the daily life of the city. So the story is much more Japanese and focuses on finding out who you are and why you appeared here and now.
The story itself is not something to hang on the Christmas tree and is a bit weak. But at some point it will start when, among other things, other people with amnesia show up. Overall it’s a pretty good story, but not great. But it’s long. If you just want to go through the main story and skip everything else, allow 35-40 hours. But at the same time you lose a big part of the game. Like becoming best friends with a bunch of weird townspeople.
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To improve relationships with residents, drop by from time to time, perhaps offer a gift, and complete small tasks posted on the bulletin board. Some of these residents are then marriageable if they wish and have a sufficiently high relationship status. One of them is a succubus and I don’t think he wants to know what that relationship will be like. Our character, which can be male or female, saves one of the residents of Rigbarth’s village during the game’s introduction to how combat works. And in Rigbarth we spend our days as we are invited to join Seed, a group of hunters. Each of our heroes has the task of taking care of his growing little garden, helping the residents and fighting the monsters to keep the city in peace. This happens over four seasons, each with four weeks consisting of six days. Things like the weather affect how your crops grow and what the townspeople do. Some characters are in the same place almost every day, like traders, while others move more freely. To keep the city from feeling too desolate, characters were introduced that just wander around. They’re easy to talk to, but other than that, they’re generic characters.
Another great part of the game is fighting monsters. The combat system is nothing new or revolutionary and you can really play it with honest button presses, but the best thing about it is the variety. There are many different weapons that you can craft yourself with the materials you collect, from heavy swords if you want to be the one who goes full blast, to magic wands if you want to feel like a wizard. Various traits or weapon magic can be added to create a character and playstyle that suits you. Speaking of monsters, they can be captured and turned into your very own pets. If you manage to catch a monster in battle, it will end up on your farm, and if you are kinder to it, you can drag it into battle. But it’s also possible that they do chores around your yard to make your life easier. Or why not build it yourself? Everything that is done in the game makes the character level up in different categories. For example, defense increases after you’ve been defeated enough times in battles. Each category improves the character’s skills, so even the most unnecessary ones (like leveling up to sleep) are important.
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Now we come to what I think is Rune Factory 5’s biggest problem: the graphics. Sure, I’m not expecting masterpieces in a Nintendo Switch game, but I still hope it’s not ugly. And Rune Factory 5 is ugly. Sometimes terrible. It’s very blurry and the environments aren’t very well done. In a game with so much content, it’s sad that it’s hard to watch. Especially considering that the cutscenes, done in the best anime style, are really pretty.
Rune Factory 5 tries to pack many different things into one package, but unfortunately none of the parts are exceptional. There are so many better Japanese RPGs out there. Look no further than Stardew Valley for a better farming experience, and I’d almost say Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a better option when it comes to building and maintaining a town. Too many cooks, you know. However, it is a unique game that can be played in many different ways.
