The newest trailer for Rune Factory 5 was released recently and showed a number of new details surrounding the ARPG-influenced farming simulator. With two months to go before the Japanese release, the new trailer showed off story details, new mechanics, and returning characters. Although a Western release date has yet to be announced, there’s plenty of new additions for fans to get excited about.
The Rune Factory series initially gained popularity as a spin-off to the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons series with a focus on RPG mechanics together with the farming simulator elements. Players are able to fight and tame monsters, craft items, explore dungeons, and level up while they tend to crops and befriend villagers. With Rune Factory 5 looking to improve the formula once again, it could shape up to be the best Harvest Moon spin-off game.
It’s no secret that the Harvest Moon series has suffered from criticism from veteran fans since its split with the Story of Seasons franchise. With outdated graphics and awkward mechanics, many players have instead looked to Harvest Moon’s spin-off games for alternatives. As the farming simulator genre grew in popularity, more Harvest Moon spin-offs saw massive success due to their ability to introduce unique mechanics and gameplay elements. The Rune Factory series is one spin-off that manages to push the envelope of the Harvest Moon franchise by introducing a surprisingly complex battle system alongside farming simulator elements.
While the Harvest Moon series has been divisive among fans, the Rune Factory franchise has only grown more popular thanks to its in-depth farming and RPG elements. Though the more recent Harvest Moon games have been criticized for clunky mechanics, Rune Factory improves upon the farming elements by streamlining the process and linking it together with RPG mechanics. As a result, despite the rise of other Harvest Moon spin-offs, Rune Factory remains the only one to truly offer an in-depth RPG experience along with the farming aspects.
The biggest appeal of the Rune Factory series lies in its action RPG elements balanced with the farming simulator aspects. Beyond just growing crops, tending to a farm, and developing relationships with NPCs, players have the ability to explore dungeons, fight bosses, and craft items like a standard RPG. Moreover, the combat system has a surprising amount of depth, as players can use a variety of weapons, spells, and items to clear dungeons.
Similar to other RPGs, Rune Factory games have a levelling system for everything a player does, from combat to farming, to even sleeping. As they level these skills up, the players gain bonuses which can help them grow stronger or more efficient in their daily activities.
An interesting aspect of the Rune Factory series is how the RPG systems are directly linked with the farming simulation systems. For example, instead of purchasing animals like in most Harvest Moon games, players must defeat and befriend monsters in dungeons in order to tame them. Once tamed, these monsters can help out the farm in a variety of ways from tending to crops, producing goods or joining the player in battle.
Players can also find crafting materials from monsters in the wild which can be turned into valuable weapons or equipment. While other farming simulators like Stardew Valley feature RPG elements such as fighting monsters or exploring dungeons, they don’t integrate the two systems as well as Rune Factory does.
In order to balance these two systems, the Rune Factory series streamlines the farming simulator aspects in order to allow players more time to explore the world around them. The core farming loop only takes a small portion of the day, given that players have fast animation speeds on their tools and can hold down a button to have a larger area of effect. Many of the daily farming activities can be automated through tamed monsters later in the game, which gives players the freedom to spend their day exploring without losing out on farming efficiency.
With the Japanese release date of Rune Factory 5 set to be May 20, 2021, fans are excited to see what new changes will be arriving for the newest mainline game in a decade. As revealed in the newest trailer, it seems that Rune Factory 5 will depart from the 2D style of Rune Factory 4 in favor of full 3D models with a third-person camera. Although it deviates from older Rune Factory games, the developers have assured fans that camerawork options will be expanded with different speeds and perspectives that can make it feel more like its predecessors.
One of the new features is the Seed Circle, which will allow players to hold and restrict enemies in one place while looting exclusive items from them. Players will also be able to temporarily connect with monsters while they are held by the Seed Circle, allowing them to become allies.
The trailer also indicates that combat has been improved, as players will once again have the option to wield a variety of different weapons and spells to fight enemies. Moreover, it appears that players will be able to engage in special attacks with their allies emphasizing the importance of social bonds in Rune Factory 5. Side activities like fishing or mining also appear in the trailer which means cooking and forging will likely reappear as well.
The dungeon exploration elements will be upgraded as players will be able to tackle a difficult dungeon like the Sharance Labyrinth from Rune Factory 4. The developers have also confirmed that the farming elements have also been improved together with a main story that is comparable in size to Rune Factory 4. Players will also be able to import their save data from Rune Factory 4 to get a cameo appearance from Doug and Margaret along with extra costumes of Lest and Frey. With all of these exciting new changes coming, Rune Factory 5 is shaping up to not only be the best game in the series, but one of the best in the entire Harvest Moon franchise.
Rune Factory 5 releases in Japan on May 20, 2021 for the Nintendo Switch. No western release date has been announced.
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