Rune Factory

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This article is about the series. For the first game in the series, see Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon.
Rune Factory
Runefactorylogo.png
The logo used in Rune Factory Frontier
Genre(s)Simulation, action role-playing
Developer(s)Neverland, Hakama
Publisher(s)
Artist(s)Minako Iwasaki
Platform(s)Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 3, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
First releaseRune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
August 24, 2006
Latest releaseRune Factory 5
May 20, 2021

Rune Factory (ルーンファクトリー, Rūn Fakutorī) is a role-playing simulation video game series developed by Neverland, and later Hakama, primarily for the Nintendo video game consoles. It is a spin-off of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons video game series. It is described by Yoshifumi Hashimoto, producer of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons series, as "Harvest Moon where you wield a sword."[1]

Common gameplay elements[]

The gameplay of the Rune Factory series is similar to that of Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons. For every one real-world second, one in-game minute passes. The player can grow crops, using upgradeable farm equipment. However, the Harvest Moon game mechanic of purchasing animals has been replaced by defeating and befriending monsters in dungeons. If a monster is tamed, it can help the player in battle, produce goods, or help to tend the crops. The game's combat is in the action role-playing game style.

Like most Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games, the player is given a limited amount of stamina, in the form of "Rune Points", or "RP". Rune Points get depleted as the player performs tasks at the farm or fights using a weapon or skills. The player is given hit points as well. The player can attack with no RP by sacrificing HP. The player can replenish RP by using Runes created by fully-grown crops or potions, while HP can be restored using medicine or healing abilities. The town bathhouse restores both HP and RP. If the player runs out of HP while working on their farm, they will collapse and be rescued; however, in Rune Factory and Rune Factory 2, dying outside the town causes game over. In all other games, the player will not die while fighting in the caves or ruins.

Crops can be planted in different areas to sell for gold; other activities include mining for metal and minerals, fishing, or collecting food such as milk and eggs from befriended monsters. The player can then spend money and material to buy a variety of upgrades for their house, weapons, and tools.

In addition to their open-ended gameplay, the games possess a linear storyline, which can be furthered by exploring dungeons and defeating certain monsters. Just like in the Harvest Moon series, the main character's relationship with the other villagers increase by talking to them or performing actions that please them, like giving items they like as presents for example. Some of them can even be married if their relationship improves enough. Some games of the series require the protagonist to get married as part of the storyline.

Games[]

Title Platform Release date
Japan North America Europe Australia
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon NDS August 24, 2006 August 14, 2007 February 13, 2009 March 12, 2009
Rune Factory 2 NDS January 3, 2008 November 18, 2008 October 8, 2010 November 18, 2010
Rune Factory Frontier Wii November 27, 2008 March 17, 2009 April 1, 2010 N/A
Rune Factory 3 NDS October 22, 2009 November 9, 2010 September 30, 2011 (UK only) N/A
Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny PS3 and Wii February 24, 2011 October 7, 2011 May 25, 2012 (released as "Rune Factory: Oceans") June 13, 2012
Rune Factory 4 3DS July 19, 2012 October 1, 2013[2] December 11, 2014 December 11, 2014
Rune Factory 4 Special Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Windows July 25, 2019[3] February 25, 2020[4] February 28, 2020[5] February 28, 2020[5]
Rune Factory 5 Switch May 20, 2021[6] 2022[7][8]

Development[]

According to Marvelous' managing director and Harvest Moon's creator, Yasuhiro Wada, Rune Factory 2 does not borrow the Harvest Moon(Bokujō Monogatari) name for the Japanese release. This was done in order to grow Rune Factory as an independent series and Marvelous will continue to do this with all future installments including Rune Factory Frontier.[9] Despite this, Natsume applied the subtitle A Fantasy Harvest Moon to Rune Factory 2 and Rune Factory 3.[10][11]

Rune Factory Frontier was announced during an interview between Cubed3 and Yasuhiro Wada on June 6, 2007, and was fully revealed on June 4, 2008 in the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu. On July 11, 2008, Marvelous Entertainment USA and Xseed Games announced that they were both bringing Rune Factory Frontier to North America.[12] Rune Factory Frontier released in the North America region on March 17, 2009.

Rune Factory 5 was said to be expected at "some point in time", according to series producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto.[13] In November 2013, Neverland Co. filed for bankruptcy, leaving the future of the series in question at the time.[14] However, in February 2014 it was revealed that the Rune Factory development team had been hired by Marvelous AQL, and that they were developing the Nintendo 3DS simulation role-playing video game Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven. In February 2019, during the 13.02.19 Nintendo Direct, Rune Factory 5 was once again confirmed to be in development by Hakama, a new studio founded by Hashimoto.[15] In September 2020, during a Nintendo Direct Mini presentation the game's release date was slated for Spring 2021 in Japan and later in the same year worldwide.[7] Another trailer was released in a Japanese-exclusive Nintendo Direct mini in October, revealing a limited edition "Premium Box" and an expected release date of May 20, 2021 in Japan.[16]

Media[]

Rune Factory 2 has had multiple manga series to help promote the game, in such magazines as Dengeki Nintendo DS, Monthly Wings, Dragon Age, and Dengeki Maoh. If players pre-ordered the game in Japan, they would receive a free CD with three mini-dramas as well as an 18-page art book. Sometime after the release of the game in Japan, a CD with all the background music, three mini-dramas, and the two theme songs was released with a novel based on the game following sometime after. The American pre-order bonus was a plush Chipp, a monster in the series similar in appearance to a squirrel, that was included in the box when ordered from participating websites.[10][17]

Reception[]

Aggregate review scores
Game GameRankings Metacritic
Rune Factory 79% [18] 78% [19]
Rune Factory 2 81% [20] 77% [21]
Rune Factory Frontier 82% [22] 79% [23]
Rune Factory 3 79% [24] 77% [25]
Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny 55% (PS3) [26]
78% (Wii) [27] 		55% (PS3) [28]
Rune Factory 4 79% [29] 78% (3DS) [30]

81% (Switch) [31]

The Rune Factory series has been well received.

Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon received an 8.4 rating from IGN's Mark Bozon. Bozon commented that the art style was "amazing", and that it was "the Harvest Moon you've been waiting for".[32] 7/10 from Nintendo Power, and 4/5 from X-Play.

IGN rated Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon at 8.4/10, commenting on its similarity to the original.[33]

Rune Factory 5 debuted at #1 in the Switch digital sales charts in Japan.[34]

References[]

  1. ^ "Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon". IGN. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
  2. ^ "Rune Factory 4 Gets Official Release date" Game Informer. Retrieved 9-13-2013
  3. ^ "『ルーンファクトリー４スペシャル』| Nintendo Switch™". ルーンファクトリー４ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-02-19.
  4. ^ "Rune Factory 4 Special". XSEED Games. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Rune Factory 4 Special". Marvelous Europe. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  6. ^ "Rune Factory 5 launches May 20, 2021 in Japan; new details, trailer, and screenshots". Gematsu. October 28, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b CJ, Andriessen (17 September 2020). "Rune Factory 5 looks like a colorful return to fighting for the farm". Destructoid. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Rune Factory 5 delayed to early 2022 in the west". Gematsu. June 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "C3 Interview with Yasuhiro Wada". Cubed3. 2007-06-06. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "Natsume's Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon for DS Goes Gold". IGN. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  11. ^ Anthony Gallegos (December 6, 2010). "Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon Review". IGN. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  12. ^ "Marvelous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games join forces to announce E3 lineup". July 11, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  13. ^ Isshan (2012-09-28). "Rune Factory 4 Sales Cross 150,000 in Japan". Siliconera. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  14. ^ Engen (2013-11-30). "Rune Factory Developer Declares Bankruptcy". Escapist Magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  15. ^ "Nintendo Direct 2.13.2019". 2019-02-13.
  16. ^ Sato (2020-10-29). "Rune Factory 5's Japanese Release Date Is May 20, 2021". Siliconera. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  17. ^ "Amazon offers Rune Factory 2 squirrel preorder". News. Gamertell. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  18. ^ "Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon". GameRankings. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  19. ^ "Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  20. ^ "Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon". GameRankings. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  21. ^ "Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  22. ^ "Rune Factory Frontier". GameRankings. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  23. ^ "Rune Factory Frontier". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  24. ^ "Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon". GameRankings. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  25. ^ "Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  26. ^ "Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny". GameRankings. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  27. ^ "Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny". GameRankings. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  28. ^ "Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  29. ^ "Rune Factory 4". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  30. ^ "Rune Factory 4". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  31. ^ "Rune Factory 4 Special". Metacritic. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  32. ^ Bozon (August 17, 2007). "Rune Factory Review". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  33. ^ "Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon Review". IGN. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  34. ^ "Rune Factory 5 is currently top of the Japanese Nintendo Switch download rankings". Nintendo Enthusiast. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

External links[]

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