Rune Factory 5 Review - Another Solid Jrpg Entry
Starting a New Jrpg Experience Can Be a Daunting Thing. You'll Often Unassumingly Boot up the Game, Unaware of Just How Many New Mechanics, Characters, and Events You'll Need to Get to Grips With. Especially for a Jrpg Newcomer, That Can Be a Whole Lot to Take In, but Rune Factory 5 Does a Good Job of Orienting New Players, While Also Giving Loyal Fans a Follow-up That Absolutely Does What It Says on the Tin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sowing the Seeds
Of Course, the Bread and Butter (Ahem) of Rune Factory 5 Is Farming. It's a Multi-Faceted and Deep Gameplay Mechanic, Where You Care for Each and Every Part of Your Fledgling Garden in the Same Vein as Games Like Stardew Valley. Luckily It's Hugely Enjoyable, as You Hoe the Land, Plant Seeds, and Tend to Your Crops with Water. Finding a New Array of Seeds, and Partaking in Menial Work Like Clearing up Weeds and Stocking up Your Fertiliser, Is Surprisingly Fun.
Welcome to Rigbarth
The Good News Is That Those Quests in Question Are More Than Enough to Keep You Busy, as Rune Factory 5 Has a Plot That's Interesting Enough to Justify Ploughing Through. It Starts off in Familiar Jrpg Territory, as You're Amnesia-Addled Protagonist (Either Ares or Alice by Default) Arrives in the Sleepy Town of Rigbarth After Saving One of the Townspeople. You're Then Introduced to the S. E. E. D. Initiative: a Group of Rangers Tasked with Protecting Rigbarth from Outside Threats, Dealing with Monsters, and Ensuring the Runes That Preserve the Realm's Balance Remains in Safe Hands.
Fight for This Love
This Isn't to Say That the Combat in Rune Factory 5 Is Disengaging, but Actually Quite Tight. Your S. E. E. D. Ranger Has a Vast Arsenal at Their Disposal, from One- and Two-Handed Swords to Even Hammers, to Take on Enemies in the Wild. They Range from Cutesy Sheep Who Can Barely Harm a Fly to Two-Headed Dragons, So There's Always a New Combat Challenge to Take On. the Camera Perspective Is Very Reminiscent of Open-World Nintendo Titles Like Breath of the Wild and the Recent Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Though Rune Factory 5'S Combat Is a Bit More Focused on Button-Mashing.
Running on Empty
Unfortunately, the One Glaring Problem with Rune Factory 5 Is Its Performance on the Nintendo Switch Hardware. It's Not the Most Powerful Console on the Market by Any Means, but Previous First-Party Titles Like Super Mario Odyssey Have Proven the System's Prowess at Rendering Sprawling Game Playgrounds. This Game, However, Is Unable to Utilise That, with Consistently Bad Performance Results in Both Docked and Handheld Modes.
Verdict - 7/10
Overall, Rune Factory 5 Is a Very Competent Jrpg That Genre Fans Will No Doubt Lose Themselves in for Hundreds of Hours. from Its Rewarding and Interactive Farming Mechanics to the Engaging Npcs, You'll Truly Lose Yourself in Rigbarth Life Due to the Quality of Writing and Range of Characters. the Plot Is Equally Serviceable, Though It Isn't One You'll Be Writing Home About Any Time Soon.
