Rune Factory 5 Reviews
The occasionally enjoyable combat cannot make up for the unreliable farming controls, repetitive music, poor performance, ugly visuals, and lifeless world. One or two of these shortcomings could have been forgiven if Rigbarth was a world worth soaking in, but it's simply not. The mountain of issues amounts to Rune Factory 5 being lesser than the sum of its faults and one of the year's biggest disappointments so far.
The change to 3D and other changes introduced in Rune Factory 5 are well intentioned but poorly executed. Asides from some new quality of life features, I’d only recommend this game if you’re a fan who’s already exhausted all the content of Rune Factory 4 and just wants more Rune Factory, and if you haven’t played the fourth one already then you definitely should.
While not wholly deviod of quality, that Marvelous released Rune Factory 5 in it's current state, is pretty shameful.
The Rune Factory is back. But much quicker than it should.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Rune Factory 5 manages to deliver a lot of content, offering a barrage of classic elements, but delivering them along with a collection of mistakes and oversights. Performance issues, structural game design flaws and lack of politeness end up ruining the potential of this long-awaited continuation of the classic franchise.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
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. Even if patches fix all of the technical issues, it would still feel uneven.
I have a love-hate relationship with Rune Factory 5. I love the relaxing atmosphere and simple daily life activities, straightforward combat, and the Rigbarth citizens. My experience was unfortunately muddied by questionable enemy design, an absurd difficulty spike, and numerous issues and bugs that found their way into the final product. I think if you’re a longtime Rune Factory fan you might find something to like. However, if you’re a newcomer, I cannot recommend buying the game at its $59.99 retail price until they fix some of the issues I mentioned earlier. If the game is on sale, and the game is updated, I say knock yourself out. The best way to play the game is on PC, and I guarantee you’ll at least love the characters and simple farming life.
Rune Factory 5 marks the first new chapter of the simulation RPG series after a long hiatus and this new arrival on the Nintendo Switch brings very appealing characters, a good combat system and some interesting gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately its biggest weaknesses are difficult to overlook, namely when it comes to its performance and poor graphics, as well as to repetitive spaces to explore. While it is possible to get used to these shortcomings, they remain impossible to understand and in several cases make the experience less enjoyable than it should be.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Although somewhat fun when not disturbed by the problems described above, Rune Factory 5 is the first fully 3D title in the franchise and a step in the right direction for the saga (if sequels exist after the developers' bankruptcy). The already traditional Rune Factory systems such as combat, farming, and the famous interpersonal relationships are intact to some extent, but it is sad to see that the visuals come across as too simplistic for such a large-scale transition. With the controls making life difficult for players, I recommend first acquiring Rune Factory 4 Special and, if you like it, moving on to this fifth iteration.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
"A sword in one hand, a hoe in the other."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Most of Rune Factory 5 is fine. There are minor issues with everything from the story to the graphics to the gameplay, but only a few of these issues will negatively impact the experience in a meaningful way. The bigger problem is simply that so little about Rune Factory 5 stands out. So many of the minor issues present here could have been overlooked if the core experience was exceptional and really moved the series forward, but instead, the development team spent nine years making a new Rune Factory, only to put out a game that feels like a minor step forward at best and in some ways feels like a step back. If you’re a massive fan of the series and need more of it, you’ll have a fun enough time with Rune Factory 5, but everyone else should proceed with caution.
Rune Factory 5 may have one of the franchise's most involved storylines, but its overly ambitious graphics overshadow that effort with ease. By giving the game a 3D makeover, the franchise's customary charms are harder to make out in this new release. Still, at its core, Rune Factory 5 excels at the everyday tasks it asks characters to complete. From farming to fighting, everything is much the same here as it was in previous games. This time, though, Rune Factory's stale mechanics are easier to notice thanks to its flimsy visuals. Fans new and old will be left wondering where the series' allure snuck off to.
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.
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.
Aside from the new additions to gameplay, I feel the title still played it too safe as there wasn’t too much to separate its overall experience from past titles. The familiarity and reuse of certain gaming mechanics may be fully welcomed by fans who have waited so long but I feel more is needed to differentiate the overall experience.
Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.
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.
If you're a follower of the series, Rune Factory 5 is a solid choice. In terms of gameplay, it's an excellent choice for individuals who want to unwind in peaceful, cheerful, and vivid surroundings and those who like being swept up in a deluge of content. However, despite its potential and the story's intriguing premise, Rune Factory 5 falls short compared to comparable titles.
WORTH CONSIDERING - A lack of innovation, boring exploration, and disappointing graphics make Rune Factory 5 a game you could probably skip over unless you’re a super fan of the series. Newcomers might find enough to like here, but might be better served waiting for a price drop just to make sure.