Rune Factory 5 Review for Steam

It’s watering time!

Rune Factory 5, by developer Marvelous Inc. and publisher XSEED Games, is a farming-dating-fighting simulation. Initially released for Nintendo Switch in 2021, it is now available for download for PC via Steam.

Tutorials

This was my first foray into the Rune Factory universe, which was perfect because it meant I had a lot in common with the main protagonist, a mysterious amnesiac hero-type who appears in the woods outside of Rigbarth just in time to save a local girl from some fuzzy sheep monsters.

Thankfully, the game is set up for first-timers and amnesiacs and features an extensive tutorial at the beginning of the game. 

And when I say extensive, I mean extensive. 

Organized as “missions” for the local townsfolk, the tutorial takes between 3-5 hours of gameplay. That is 3-5 hours just to open up the early areas of the world and start dungeon crawling. Even the first fighting adventure the player goes on is still part of the tutorial since it focuses on teaching the player how to fight using the “dash” feature. 

The tutorial can feel like dragging the player along, for example, when you get asked to buy a bowl of rice to familiarize yourself with the different shop features.

Still, the truth is, there is a ton for the player to do, and having the tutorial to hold your hand when you’re learning the system is really helpful for a first-timer. I think anyone already familiar with the Rune Factory franchise might find it a little tiresome. Also, since the tutorial is built into the game plot, there is no way to skip it. Personally, I think a gamer would have to absolutely love this game to want to do a second playthrough and go through the opening sequences again.

Even with the extensive tutorial, players will still need to consult online resources to figure some things out. For example, after learning how to schedule a Cooking Festival with strange talking head Eliza, I could not figure out how to cook anything until I looked outside the game for an answer. I learned that my level was too low to have learned any recipes, but there were still ways for me to continue participating in the festival. 

There is a huge fan following for this series, so if you ever get stuck, there are plenty of tutorials to help players get unstuck. (Like the fact you have to talk to the shopkeeper Terry THREE times before his shop menu comes up!)

Farming

This game is definitely farming-forward. The player learns how to hoe and plant a field from the beginning. 

Farming can be as straightforward or complicated as a player chooses to make it. I could just do the basics, or I could track weather, analyze soil composition and make elaborate spreadsheets about the best times in the game to plant turnips or toyherbs. 

While farming is the most detailed aspect of Rune Factory 5, I really liked that the game allows the player to choose how much energy to invest in the farming systems.

Fighting

Fighting almost feels like an afterthought for this game, especially when compared to farming.

The controls are basic but a little clunky. Players should rely on the “lock-on” feature, or an attack can miss an enemy. 

Interestingly the game forces the player to put equal time into grinding levels as into forging new weapons/armor. I got to a point where it didn’t matter how strong my attack was; if I got hit by an enemy, it would hurt. Same with weapons. If I didn’t keep my weapons updated, then it didn’t really matter how strong I was, my attack damage would be less, and I would find myself in trouble.

Rather than being frustrating, I found this really enjoyable. It forced me to put all that tutorial knowledge to good use. I never found myself seriously struggling to finish a dungeon or fight a boss. 

Dating

Dating in the game is pretty straightforward. 

There are characters the player can build up a relationship with to act as a companion to dungeon crawl with (my favorite kind of date) or to even marry. 

I was delighted to see that RF5 had the same relationship options whether you played as the boy hero or the female hero. This is a better show of support for LGBTQAI+ than slapping a rainbow on a backpack.

I didn’t put much effort into the dating system, mostly because I was too busy farming. Still, I have my eye on Murakumo, and I will continue my slow seduction of him by giving him some grass every day.

Controls

Probably the worst thing about this game is the controls. It’s evident from the start that this was made to be played on a console. Button mapping seems a little haphazard and redundant. There are different buttons to hold a farm tool/gift/weapon than there are to equip it, and there are two buttons a player can push to stash items in their bag. (Why not one button to equip and one button to stash?!) Thankfully, the game continually prompts players with the button they need to press, so I didn’t need to really memorize how to open up the three different menus.

For some reason, the developers included two cursors…but only on some screens…and only one of them is needed to click. I don’t know why, but it’s weird.

Conclusion

Overall, I had a lot of fun playing this game. Its slow pace and opportunities to obsess make it a lovely place to escape when the real world gets a little too real.

And I’m going to call it a day.

Rune Factory 5 is available for PC for $59.99 via Steam.

Related: Reviews by Michelle Jones

Michelle Jones

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I'm a completionist gamer who just needs to find that one last object and clear that final dungeon. I love all video games, from open world sandboxes on a console to a mindless match three on my phone. In addition to gaming and writing, I am a graduate student working on a thesis about the ancient Icelandic Sagas. Feel free to ask me anything about Vikings.

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