Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Reviews

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is ranked in the 79th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
82 / 100
Jun 3, 2025

Once it finds its footing, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is an engaging romp through a charming and dynamic world.

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Fextralife
Top Critic
Unscored
Jun 3, 2025

I went into this playthrough blind and expected the game to take me roughly 10 hours to finish the main story, I was pleasantly surprised by the length and even more so by the story. Now that I’ve finished the story, the real endgame has begun.

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9 / 10.0
Jun 4, 2025

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma's greatest accomplishment is its ability to pile so many gameplay elements into one big adventure, and to make all of them feel integral and organic. Whether you're farming, fighting, exploring, or romancing, every task-like the game itself-feels like it's worth completing.

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WellPlayed
Jade Stevenson
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Jun 4, 2025

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma does a little bit of everything, and thanks to some very complementary core gameplay components, the whole is remarkably cohesive and a good deal of fun. There are plenty of aspects requiring a bit more polish, though, so don't go into it expecting a masterpiece.

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9.2 / 10.0
Jun 3, 2025

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is one of the most ambitious games in the franchise, offering a solid farming sim and action RPG experience with meaningful improvements and customization.

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8.4 / 10.0
Jun 3, 2025

As a long-time fan of Rune Factory, I was pleasantly surprised by Guardians of Azuma's additions. The beautiful traditional Japanese setting, engrossing village-building mechanics, and increased transparency around relationships all come together to make for a great time. 🌸

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6 / 10
Jun 4, 2025

The truth of it is, you’ll probably have more to do in this game than you’ve had in any previous Rune Factory title. But that comes with the understanding that the journey may not be as fun, and the scripted moments not as emotional. For die-hard fans like me, that can come with disappointment.

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Jun 2, 2025

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a game of two halves. You have the village management where you’re decorating empty spaces and making numbers go up - this is the half that’s generic and shallow. The other half is a more-than-decent action-adventure populated with a pretty great cast.

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Hardcore Gamer
Matthew Mendisana
Top Critic
3.5 / 5.0
Jun 2, 2025

The Rune Factory series continues with more characters to befriend, more locations to farm and more monsters to fight in Guardians of Azuma.

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9 / 10
Jun 2, 2025

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma manages to reinvent itself while still maintaining the bones that make the Rune Factory series feel like itself. It takes bold new strides in unexpected directions that thankfully pay off. Guardians of Azuma is a must-play for Rune Factory fans and would be well-enjoyed by newcomers to the series as well.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jun 2, 2025

For me, it's a brilliant weekend RPG—a laid-back game that will keep you playing "just one more day" for hours. If Zelda plus Stardew Valley sounds fun, I recommend Guardians of Azuma. If that combo doesn't excite you, give it a pass.

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73 / 100
Jun 2, 2025

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma manages to make the sum of its parts evolve a series with several palpable problems. Some of those hurdles remain, but for those looking for a content-packed management and combat game, this is a worthy representative... as long as you can overlook the poor technical aspects.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

90 / 100
Jun 2, 2025

It’s got the many-games-in-one content extravaganza that previous Rune Factory games have had. But unlike Rune Factory 5, this time it really works together and meshes into an addictive and immersive experience.

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6 / 10
Jun 2, 2025

The journey through Azuma is a journey packed with a mish-mash of boring dungeons and weak RPG progression tools, supported by a fun cast of characters and decent story.

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6 / 10.0
Jun 2, 2025

Despite character events being the best they've ever been, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma fails to offer much depth after its opening hours.

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94 / 100
Jun 2, 2025

Rune Factory keeps getting better, making Guardians of Azuma the best series entry yet.

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8 / 10.0
Jun 2, 2025

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma perfectly blends the farming and combat experience with Japanese influences. The result is an immersive cultural experience that you don't want to put down. You actually feel like you are rebuilding villages and restoring prosperity to the land instead of just being a landowner. While it isn't perfect despite several improvements to the formula, it nevertheless delivers a fun experience that you won't soon forget.

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Gamersky
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
Jun 2, 2025

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma might just mark a fresh new beginning for the series. While it doesn't break much new ground, it approaches farming, building, management, and romance with genuine care and delivers each of them as well as it possibly can.

Review in Chinese | Read full review

Jun 2, 2025

This is the strongest entry in a beloved series, and made all the more special because, after the original developer of the series closed shop, it looked like the entire series was dead for several years. This is a pretty good statement that there’s still so much more that it can offer yet.

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8.5 / 10.0
Jun 2, 2025

The farming and construction mechanics are designed for expedience and ease of use, exchanging realism for simplicity, a real bargain given the satisfying main story and likeable characters. Even the helper/partner Woolby ended up growing on me by the time I had rolled credits. Guardians of Azuma may do as much to spoil farming games as invite players to earlier Rune Factory entries, but it's a worthwhile dance that marches to the beat of its own, confident drum, and I'm hopeful we'll see more like it.

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