Rune Factory 5

Rune Factory 5 doesn’t break the mould but it's still definitely worth your time, for returning fans and potential new ones.

Rune Factory 5 delivers an addictive mix of farming and dungeon crawling. Although it doesn't leave a great first impression, if you stick with it then you'll spend hours exploring memorable dungeons, befriending lively villagers, and growing your crops all year round.

Rune Factory 5 is about as safe and unambitious of a sequel as you can get. It feels and plays a lot like Rune Factory 4, with a different camera angle and new characters. It still contains all of the fun, addictive farming-and-fighting action that the franchise is known for. It's a solid and enjoyable game, and it absolutely scratches the Story of Seasons itch in a very satisfying way. But don't expect Rune Factory 5 to be anything more than a new Rune Factory game.

Even with some technical shortcomings, the charm of Rune Factory 5 is undeniable. It does what the series has always done best: combine the laid-back nature of a farm life sim with the sense of adventure you find in an action RPG, with a lighthearted touch and cheerful tone to tie it all together into something delightfully comforting. A few tweaks to the formula create a more cohesive whole out of those two sides, but at its core, this is the classic, tried-and-true Rune Factory.

Rune Factory 5 plays things pretty conservatively, and it’s the better for it. It’s a comfort food kind of experience, and while this might cost it on store shelves given that it has been released at the tail end of so many excellent, intelligent, innovative, and big RPGs, it’s a game of simple delights and pleasant experiences. Sometimes, that’s enough.

Rune Factory 5 has many features that series veterans have come to love over the years and since each game is a self-contained story, newcomers are welcome to start here too. It’s an engaging, cosy sim game with meaty RPG hooks that players can tackle at their own pace. The transition to fully 3D hasn’t been without growing pains, though. The lag and bad framerate can be unbearable at times, and damage the experience.

There’s a lot to love in the gameplay loop, characters and endearing story, and that’s what ties it together for anyone who can sit through the choppy framerate. For those who have been waiting for another entry in the series, Rune Factory 5 delivers more of what fans love in the brand new fantastic world of farming, taming and romance.

Obviously, I'm not completely satisfied with everything—the relationship mechanics are essentially a gamble, now, and we're straight-up chugga-chugga-choo-chooin' through certain loading zones, but there's a reason that I played 130 hours of this game. At the end of the day, Rune Factory 5 is a fresh and enjoyable new entry to the series, and I really think that fans will come to love it just as much as they have every other title.

Rune Factory 5 is a thrilling, addicting experience boasting countless events and mechanics that will hook you for hours on end. It excels at making players feel accomplished and satisfied with their feats while also providing recurring goals to pursue. Further, its likable, extensive cast aids in the pleasant friendliness of the simulation genre. The over-simplicity of its gameplay ideas and its deficient performance and graphical presentation can disenchant some players. However, if you manage to look past those factors, Rune Factory 5 is a standout Switch release.

I enjoyed my time with Rune Factory 5 and I'm hopeful that its shortcomings will result in an even better entry in the future if we get one. (And hopefully sooner than a decade away, too.) Rune Factory 5 captures what matters most in a farming sim: a charming world and cast, and a cozy experience that will keep you coming back whenever you want to take it easy. [Issue #59 – May/June 2022, p. 76]

Rune Factory 5 certainly has its flaws. But don't we all? At the end of the day, the FPS drops and asset pop-ins were easy enough to ignore, and don't prevent the charm of Rune Factory 5 from shining through. It is still a very solid title on the Switch, and one that I would recommend to any lover of the farming sim genre.

Rune Factory 5 is rough around the edges, but I still loved my time with it. Something about how all the parts work together keeps pulling me to it. Even after completing the main story, I’m still playing, as I have recipes I haven’t unlocked, a romantic journey I’m embarking on, and many upgrades I can still do to the town. It has its flaws, but Rune Factory 5’s enchanting loop of constant progression and discovery helps mitigate a lot of these annoyances, so they don’t sting so much.

A very relaxing hybrid between farming simulator and Action RPG that offers countless options to enjoy it your way, from action-packed battles to peaceful socialization.

Rune Factory 5 delivers everything you would expect from a Rune Factory game, though it does so without adding anything new. It moves from a rather rough start into an enjoyable experience which combines quirky characters, a story wrapped in a bit of mystery, farming, fighting and taming monsters, crafting, and consuming unhealthy amounts of Recipe Bread. Fans of the series will enjoy their time in Rigbarth, though the series and its formula are starting to show their age.

Though far from perfect, Rune Factory 5 offers a ton of fun and varied gameplay options supported by a cast of colorful characters and satisfying progression that’s deceptively easy to get lost in.

It makes us very happy to see that Rune Factory still has a lot to offer, considering the events surrounding its original developer a few years back. It may not be the ultimate Rune Factory experience, but it's a nice and enjoyable title.

If you want to refresh yourself and just have a good time without taking your mind off it, Rune Factory 5 is the game for you, even if the boss fights are not incredible and the game suffers from the technical aspect. Its substantial content and the possibility of being a real inhabitant in the city of Rigbarth while allowing you to farm the dungeons or capture the monsters will be strong arguments.

Look, I feel like I’ve been spending a lot of time here bashing Rune Factory 5, and maybe I have. But let me emphasize that I still had a lot of fun with it, and I think other players will too. I might be even a bit addicted to it, honestly. There’s just too much here to not like on many levels. But it’s just missing some finish to its technical aspects, especially the visuals and menus. And it needs some follow-through on all its great ideas to make it coalesce into one great experience. Yes, Rune Factory 5 is many games in one, for better or worse. And if you’re ok with that, you’ll have a lot of fun with it. Now, let’s just hope they fix that menu.

Rune Factory 5 is an ambitious entry in the series that does many things well, but one that suffers thanks to a plethora of technical and structural issues. Despite it building on Rune Factory 4 in some nice ways, Rune Factory 4 Special remains one of the best games in a very long time while Rune Factory 5 feels like it needed more time to reach its full potential.

There was probably no need to fix something that was never broken in the first place, and so we think that Rune Factory 4 Special is still a better game, but nonetheless this fifth episode marks the beginning of a new era of games on Nintendo Switch. Let's just hope that the hard edges of the new graphical engine will be softened out soon.

Lacking in innovation and technical prowess, Rune Factory 5 compensates with a solid and faceted experience that could eat a good chunk of your spare time if you get entangled in its intricate web of different mechanics.

It's been 10 years, but I wish Rune Factory 5 had been delayed for a bit longer. The jump to 3D was inevitable, though more time and polish could have made a significant difference. The cast and daily life are still superb, beyond Rune Factory 4 in some instances, but there's a distinct sense that Rune Factory 5 wasn't finished growing before it was harvested.

I am at a loss for words when it comes to Rune Factory 5. I had a lot of fun, but it comes at a price. In order to truly enjoy the game I have to get over the horrible optimization. It’s not game breaking, but frustrating doesn’t begin to cover it. The RPG mechanics are fun, so is the farming. While not the update to the series I was hoping for, there is still fun to be had for the die hard fans who simply have to play it. Everyone else might want to enter with care.

Aside from that, though, Rune Factory 5 is a solid revival of a franchise without a new entry for the best part of ten years. It pushes the formula forwards thanks to its 3D perspective, and nails the gameplay that made the series such a hit in the first place.

If you haven’t played any Rune Factory games before and are thinking about dipping your toe in, I’d probably recommend Rune Factory 4 Special ahead of this game. It’s more polished, has more content, and is a bit easier to play. But if you’re a Rune Factory fan and have already plowed those fields, you’ll find enough to like in Rune Factory 5 to make it worth your attention. It feels like the seed of a new era for the series, but it’s going to take a bit more nurturing before the harvest is truly ready.

Rune Factory 5 is an ambitious hybrid between farming simulator and action RPG, converging in an experience that is both therapeutic and frenetic. Its execution wasn’t able to fully take advantage of the hardware of a home console, but its qualities overcome any and all technical problems that appear throughout the hundreds of ultra-detailed and enticing content that it makes available to us.

Rune Factory 5 is a good title for those who like the style that addresses elements of RPG, action and simulation, but has some caveats that hinder the evolution that the franchise should have been with a little more care and dedication. Nevertheless, the game should please its fans.

Rune Factory 5 delivers a well-known experience that fans will enjoy, although its new 3D graphics sometimes can end up being a bit detrimental.

Rune Factory 5 is a good game for series fans, but we’d recommend the last entry over it. We found that game was easier to control and preferred the top-down view. But, of course, you can still pass all manner of fun time with this sometimes slow (often choppy) installment.

For all its performance and interface issues, Rune Factory 5 has the same familiar comfort that every game in the series does. It's great to have it back, even if it's not quite right. It's good enough.

If it’s not abundantly clear, I thoroughly enjoyed my five dozen hours with this game. Though I didn’t complete a romance, I look forward to that in the endless post-game. There are definitely some notable issues, and players’ experiences are going to vary in response to those, especially since since they have lingered in the Japanese release, but they never detracted from the core gameplay loop for me. Rune Factory has always been a chill experience with some light action RPG elements to it, and that’s exactly what the newest title delivers.

Rune Factory 5 should satisfy fans and cozy game enthusiasts, but its not quite as friendly for newcomers.

When comparing it to its predecessors, the game feels like a sorely needed update. Yes, it treads old ground, with the same crops, monsters, items, and mechanics to deal with, but you can’t really mess with a winning formula, and the game has plenty of worthwhile additions of its own. To sum it up, playing Rune Factory 5 is a compelling, joyous experience that its fans will devour heartily as if it were a plate full of Supreme Curry.

Is Rune Factory 5 for you? Well, that depends. Do you like RPGs or farm sims? If you answered yes to either or both, then you’re sure to find something you’ll love in this release. Even so, it might be worth waiting for a modest sale before you take the plunge. The relaxing pace, RPG elements, and charming aesthetic make this a compelling experience, but issues with poor performance, disappointing visuals, and sometimes clunky gameplay hold Rune Factory 5 back from greatness. If 3D visuals aren’t a dealbreaker for you, we’d recommend you pick up Rune Factory 4 Special first, as it’s cheaper and oddly feels more modern in some respects. Despite flawed execution, we’d still give Rune Factory 5 a recommendation — if its precise and unique genre blend really clicks with you, you'll forgive many a flaw. Just know that it doesn’t truly excel in any area.

For all of its good and bad, Rune Factory 5 still manages to capture bits from the series that keep it enchanting. It’s rough around the edges in ways that are hard to ignore, but for those who can push through the occasional chugging, there’s a lot to love. Hakama’s latest vision for the series bodes well for future iterations, offering some much-needed change while remembering the pieces that make the series so beloved.

Rune Factory fans will enjoy the game's switch to full 3D. However, it still has a lot of growing pains to get through.

Rune Factory 5 is a refreshing farming RPG that should really appeal to fans of the niche genre…It may not be a perfect or highly innovative game, but Rune Factory 5 is definitely worth the time spent playing.

Rune Factory 5 takes a few missteps, for sure - the clunky framerate and a lifeless town being the biggest of them – but it's the kind of fantasy farming experience I've been clamouring for ever since the last game came out. The routine of tending your farm, clobbering some goblins, and giving your spouse a bunch of gifts is as addictive as ever. Even if this isn't the most polished entry in the series, it's absolutely a welcome return for the series that fans will eat up.

Rune Factory 5 is a good game, but it's hamstrung by a mediocre technical implementation. Fans of the series will be able to find the usual series of bucolic activities to do between dungeons, but those who appreciate nice-looking and fluid graphics will find it hard not to prefer Stardew Valley.

Although its characters are charismatic and its gameplay can be entertaining, aspects of Rune Factory 5 such as its technical aspect or its lack of visual grace make us realise that we are in front of a title mainly focused on the fans of the series that are looking forward for a new adventure in the town of Rigbarth.

The developers from Hakama tried to brush up the series’ formula somewhat and push it more decisively in the direction of serious RPGs, but at the same time they are clinging to old mechanics, even those highly annoying. However, if you can tune out the game’s flaws, you’ll get many hours of decent fun that resembles Zeldas to some extent.

As a whole, I struggle to say that Rune Factory 5 was worth the 10 year wait. You’d expect such a sought after title would show some development since it’s previous title in 2012, but I can’t say this game delivers. There are definitely elements which are thoroughly enjoyable. The more time you put into the title, the more fun you’ll have. If you’re bored of every other farming sim and release from Rising Star, maybe this game could suit what you’re looking for. But if you’re searching for something a little more groundbreaking then you may want to keep looking.

Rune Factory 5 is more of the familiar, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It makes enough small improvements that it does feel newer, but if you are looking for something leaps and bounds different from the last game, you will be disappointed. The game has a lot of charm and love put into it, but the abysmal frame rate does make it hard to recommend, even though I thoroughly enjoyed it. With some future patches addressing the game’s framerate issues and input delay, Rune Factory 5 could easily turn into a wonderful game.

Rune Factory 5 can be a lengthy and deep entertainment if you overlook its insufficient graphics, compromised by questionable artistic choices. This country life may not be as idyllic as it sounds, and the combat system is really basic in uninspired dungeons.

Featuring a cast of captivating characters, decent combat system and some interesting gameplay mechanics, there's enough here to appeal to long-running fans. However Rune Factory 5 disappoints when it comes to its visual performance, even to the point of harming the gameplay experience, while its exploration can quickly become repetitive. The result is a game that could have been much more enjoyable had these elements been treated differently.

All in all, this was actually a very bittersweet review for me. I am a huge Rune Factory fan and have been excitedly waiting for this new entry in the series. Unfortunately, I can’t say that it met my expectations. The good news is Rune Factory 5 is a familiar experience for those who are used to the genre. The love interests are a bit cringy, and it has god-awful graphics, but if you have a bit of patience and don’t nitpick as much as I do, it will be a mostly enjoyable experience. The combat is easy enough to get into, there are a ton of things to do, and some of the supporting cast will make you smile. I clocked about 64 hours into this game and I’m pretty sure I could have done more, so it’s at least a bang for its buck if anything. I’m just hoping that if Marvelous Inc. makes us wait another ten years for a new entry, it is of a higher quality.

Long time fans of the series will feel at home with Rune Factory 5. It’s a well developed farming sim with lot of things to do and some well crafted jrpg elements. An intriguing story will let you meet some interesting characters, and even marry one of them. The problem is that the game is marred by some nasty technical issues that in some sens ruin overall experience. Low frame-rates, hitches, lags and stuttering are very frequent and some textures are rendered at very low quality. If you love these kind of games maybe you can overlook these issues, but we feel the game lacks the polish we saw in the previous entries of the series.

I do like Rune Factory 5. It has a great cast, a wealth of activities, and much of the farm sim experience I love. But every time I found myself smitten with the game, something would come along to point out just how underwhelming it is as a whole. For those who are already fans of the Rune Factory series, I imagine any complaints I’ve listed above might be easy to overlook. For everyone else, you may want to try your hand at a previous entry in the franchise to see if you even like Rune Factory’s combination of farming and fighting before giving this one a go.

Rune Factory 5 is entertainingly chewable fodder thanks to the soil fertilized by its predecessors, but its attempted leap to a 3D world leaves it struggling with lots of frustrating technical issues.

Rune Factory 5 is a good fit for longtime fans of the Rune Factory series and could be a fun way for slice-of-life gamers to combine enjoyable combat with the relaxation of farming.

Long-time fans of the series might be disappointed, but it is at least check the same boxes that all of the other titles in this niche genre do. More casual players will probably just want to pass on this entirely, as the pros won’t outweigh the cons.

Every one of its features you will find in better games elsewhere - with a strong emphasis on the plural, since Rune Factory 5 tries to cram in so many different genres. [Issue#371, p.116]

Rune Factory 5 is, without a doubt, a game that succeeds in destroying the positive vibes and the status the previous games in the series have managed to establish. It is a title that is only good at importing the gameplay mechanisms from its predecessors, yet delivers them in a way that feels rushed, mediocre and deserving of a mobile rather than a console release.

If you need a farming-and-fighting fix, Rune Factory 5 is an option. It just isn’t the best one out there. It’s living in the shadow of its far superior siblings.

While not wholly deviod of quality, that Marvelous released Rune Factory 5 in it's current state, is pretty shameful.