Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Reviews
Overall, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a very solid spin-off of the franchise. It does a good job of capturing what makes the Rune Factory games enjoyable while throwing enough twists and turns into the mix that it doesn't just feel like Rune Factory 6. The town building is engaging enough that I worry that a Rune Factory without it might feel lacking now. The combat is solid but simple, and the cast is likable but not super special. Only the general poor performance drags down the game somewhat, but fans of the Rune Factory franchise should find a lot to like.
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. 🌸
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a surprisingly strong addition to the franchise, with an engaging story and meaningful town management mechanics—though occasionally overwhelming—solid performance despite some technical limitations, and strong visual and audio presentation, making it a must-play for farming RPG fans seeking more depth and responsibility.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Combining classic farming simulation elements with a more fluid combat system, new customization options, an engaging narrative and a cast full of charismatic characters, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma stands out as a great game and marks a significant step forward for the franchise. Even though it doesn't belong to the main numbered series, the title manages to generate plenty of excitement about the future of the series.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is the series’ most ambitious entry yet. From its well-told story to its surprisingly deep village-building system, it’s a game that fully embraces the joy of planting turnips at dawn and saving guardian deities by night. For longtime fans and newcomers alike, Azuma is a harvest of everything Rune Factory can be when it dares to dream big.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma takes bold gameplay risks with mostly positive results. Despite AI quirks and weaker combat, its engaging story and lovable cast make it a worthy time sink.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is the evolution to the franchise that I expected for the transition from handhelds to consoles, but Rune Factory 5 failed to do it.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a really cool spin-off for the Rune Factory series, and it's an overall good game that'll tide you over until the inevitable sixth numbered entry.
Rune Factory 4 is my favorite entry in the series, and Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma feels close to being its equal in some ways.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is perfect for anyone looking to enjoy a heartfelt adventure with meaningful relationships and creative opportunities.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma feels like a great blend of cozy and grindy while still finding its narrative way. While there is definitely some experimentation going on with the streamling of certain areas from the general Rune Factory series, the game play loop is still very true to its origins. Those who enjoyed previous entries will mostly likely find themselves enjoying this as long as they don’t miss complex crafting. For those who want the in-depth crafting and complexity that required spreadsheets of data, yes, this will feel too simplistic to you. The complex crafting from Rune Factory 3 and beyond is removed for streamlined play and possibly a way to introduce new fans into the series. If you haven’t played a Rune Factory game, you can jump right into this entry and enjoy.
Marvelous totally changed direction, and I can say I love it. They kept the essence of farming, exploring, and romance and put a new twist on all of it. Adding a management element into the mix by taking care of various villages and workers is brilliant; it takes away what can ultimately become a tedious chore. To me, the fighting is more difficult, but then I’m never a big fan of action fighting. But by adding story mode, it is very much doable. There really is so much to tell about Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, I could fill many pages detailing all there is to do in the game. For now, though, I’ll add my verdict to this review.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a farming game with very little farming, but the combat and exploration more than make up for it.
The best life sims make it fun to hang around in their worlds long after your main objectives are done, and while I can’t say for sure this one will pass that test just yet, Guardians of Azuma is easily the best game of its kind I’ve played in years. I can see myself passing time in its vibrant world for a long time to come.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma absolutely smashed my expectations, delivering one of the most robust and feature-rich games in the farming/cozy/life sim genre while also being no slouch at its action RPG elements either. This game puts its best foot forward when it starts its sprint and doesn’t slow down anytime soon. I am still locked in and can’t wait to play even more of this gem, it stands shoulder to shoulder with some of my favorite similar games like Harvestella. Fans of the series and first timers, this is not a game to miss out on.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a fresh take on the farming sim Rune Factory series providing players with a new and intuitive base building system whilst retaining farming, cooking and interacting with a new and varied cast of characters who all have their own charm which we've grown to love the series for. It has a battle system that is fair and engaging and the most in depth story to date making it feel in line with a more traditional JRPG.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is the most fun I’ve had with a Rune Factory title yet. It’s certainly not perfect with quite a few little issues holding it back, but the core experience is so fun that it didn’t stop me from enjoying every moment. There’s just so much to enjoy here that it makes it easy to recommend.