Rune Factory 5 PC Review: ‘Blows away the Switch release’

The excellent blend of RPG exploration, farming, and dating sim makes Rune Factory one of my favorite series. After its creator, Neverland, filed for bankruptcy, it looked like the franchise had reached its end. However, many of the developers from Neverland were hired by Marvelous, which opened a new studio called Hakama under series producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto. It’s from here that Rune Factory 5, the first new title in the franchise in almost a decade, sprung forth.

Basically the same but with same-sex marriage

Did you like Rune Factory 4? Well, Rune Factory 5 is basically the same thing but with same-sex marriage. You’re a chosen one with a green thumb and no memory whom deus ex machinas your way to the village of Rigbarth. You become a SEED, which is suspiciously similar to SeeDs from Final Fantasy 8, and complete odd jobs while looking for a waifu.

Strangely, almost a decade has passed since Rune Factory 4 released, but there’s really nothing revolutionary here. The graphics are the most significant change (which we’ll get into below), and none of the familiar systems are significantly different. Sure, there’s a new item here, or a slightly changed mechanic there. However, you’re still crafting, fighting, capturing monsters, dating, farming, and progressing the story like before.

I’m a bit torn in my judgment here. I love Rune Factory 4, so I’m inclined to be forgiving toward the lack of innovation. However, when a series is revived from the dead, it seems like the devs should go above and beyond, which isn’t the case here. It’s a very safe game and doesn’t compare favorably to its predecessors or peers as a result.

Just because 3D is one number higher doesn’t mean its better

Rune Factory 5 marks the series transition to 3D, and the results are… mixed. The biggest issue is the textures. They’re very low-resolution, which struck me as odd. I could see why they’d be downscaled since the Switch has relatively weak hardware. However, I’m assuming that the originals aren’t nearly as muddled, and it would have been great to get them on PC.

The models themselves aren’t terrible, but they lack the charm of the sprites used in previous Rune Factory games. The series has a certain aesthetic and swapping 2D for 3D definitely detracted from its visual style. Now it has that generic PS2/PS3 JRPG look, and it really feels like a step backward from Rune Factory 4 Special.

Scaling has also suffered as a result. Rigbarth is an expansive village, but there’s just not enough to fill all that space. In Rune Factory 4’s Selphia, for example, each room filled a purpose, and it was easy to go about your routine each day since everything was fairly condensed. Town festivals felt vital there, and the village felt abustle as its inhabitants scurried too and fro enjoying the holiday. The same can’t be said of Rigbarth, which has too few villagers to inhabit all that space.

Barebones is better than nothing

The PC port of Rune Factory 5 blows the original release away when it comes to performance. By all reports, the Switch version performed terribly and was filled with bugs when it was released. That’s not the case on PC. It loads lightning-quick, ran at 120 fps without missing a beat, and I didn’t notice any major glitches during my playthrough.

However, I would have liked to see more PC-specific game adjustments. It’s a very barebones port and sticks most of the PC options in a launcher, so many settings can only be changed when starting the game.

The PC version also, unfortunately, has that extra-large text indicative of every game developed for the Switch that gets ported to another platform. That’s great news for those playing on a Steam Deck (who usually have the opposite issue), but it’s a bit big on a TV or monitor.

Rune Factory 5 PC Review: The final verdict

Rune Factory 5 definitely benefits from being on PC. The Switch version had plenty of issues, most of which are ironed out by jumping to a more robust platform. So, if you were holding out because of poor performance, now’s the time to pull the trigger.

There’s a lot of fun to be had here, but don’t expect something vastly different from the previous games in the series. However, there are no glaring omissions either, which is great.