This is amazing for a spin-off!! I'm really hopeful for what's in store for Rune Factory 6 after playing this new one.

There's 4 different villages you can decorate, and a fully voiced story. It's way longer, and I think better than the other RF stories! The voice actors chosen for this were outstanding. It makes you like the characters even more than you thought you would have before!

It's sort of like Genshin Impact, without the gacha elements. Plus, the protagonist gets to talk a lot more! Woolby isn't interrupting you all the time. He always lets you speak, even though he seems to always be there by your side.

There are SO MANY bonding events. I was actually surprised by how many hours worth of scenes there are in this game. I thought it would surely be a short story, considering it's a spin-off. But I actually think I liked Guardians of Azuma more than Rune Factory 5! And speaking of bonding, I want to mention that you can gain friendship with the townsfolk by doing activities with them! That's right. Say goodbye to gift spamming! It's easy to get their bond levels up if you do something they like, or love, every day. This is a great addition, and I hope that future RF's have these activities as well. I remember how long it took to get the ingredients I needed to make 50+ copies of the same dish for my friends previously.

The combat is as fun as always! I have nothing more to say than I just love it. All of the different weapon types make it even better than it would be with only a sword. We got a bow in this one! Something that was never there before. Talismans are also new. I like those more!

It's not as focused on farming as all the other games are, but that's okay with me. I'm happy with having something different for a change. I treated it more as an RPG, while the others were more of a mix. I love Rune Factory for that! I always will.

The sacred treasures. Did I forget to mention the sacred treasures? All of them are amazing! I always used the Sacred Fan for combat. Parasol was my second favorite. They were a lot of fun to use!

I think that's all I have to say for now. Happy to say that I'm optimistic about the future of Rune Factory!

I really wish there was a 'mixed' recommendation option.

I'm not a veteran Rune Factory player so my opinion is solely based on someone who's very new to the series. I bought it as someone that typically enjoys 'cosy' games with a mixed element of combat (and it's got romance options too, woo!) so I really thought this would be for me. And taken at face value, it really is! But after 30+ hours and about half way through the main story, I simply don't care enough about the story, the characters, anything to continue it further.

The characters are designed to be half the appeal of the game and, sadly... they're just not appealing. Not a single one of them appears to have more than a singular personality trait (I'm looking especially at you Murasame) and it's quite simply tedious and dull to go through their side stories. I came so close to really liking Kurama's character but, again, one-tone personality that got boring fast.

However, for the first 20 hours or so it was genuinely pretty fun. Unlocking the villages and setting up how they all looked was great and I wasted tons of time simply organising my lil farms and shops. But as soon as you unlock the last village, the appeal's worn off.

I don't even know where to begin with talking about the combat. It's boring. It doesn't feel like what a modern game made in 2025 should be like. Rinse-and-repeat, clunky animations and button mashing til you win. It feels like it wasn't made to be an important part of the game and yet there's a ton of it anyway. I was right in the middle of a dungeon when I decided, that's it, I've had enough, after 20 minutes of clearing the same pack of mobs in a straight line over and over.

The only part of the game I downright *hated* (and I mean hated) was the NPC party dialogue. The same lines. Over and over and over. Yes you can turn them off, but then you'd miss some of the cuter interactions between certain party members. But please for the love of everyone's sanity, add more than 3 pieces of dialogue per NPC. ESPECIALLY for Woolby at the cooking stations.

Speaking of Woolby... I wish there was an option to mute him entirely. I'll be hearing his voice in my nightmares. (That and "little onigiri...". Urgh.)

All in all I would not outright say 'don't ever buy this'. Buy it when it's on sale (for like... half price) and give it a shot.

My first Rune Factory game, enjoying it a lot.

Cozy, simple and entertaining.