Rune Factory 5 Release Date Finally Confirmed For Next Year

Last night's Nintendo Direct was full of news, surprises, and long-awaited release date announcements, among which was the March 22nd launch date for Rune Factory 5.

The farming, fighting, and friendship game is extremely popular among fans of the life-sim genre, and has become even more so after Harvest Moon's poorly-rated games and Story of Seasons' disappointing latest game, Pioneers of Olive Town. Many players are hoping that Rune Factory 5 will pick up the torch, especially as the game has been out in Japan since May 2021, garnering positive reviews.

You'll be playing as Alice or Ares, who both handily have amnesia, and get recruited into SEED, a band of peacekeeping rangers. From there, it's all farming, fishing, swords, and cooking. You know the drill.

This latest incarnation of the massively successful Rune Factory series introduces 12 new romanceable characters, as well as adding several quality-of-life updates like better inventory management, fast travel, and a Monster Hunter-style bounty hunting mechanic.

However, player reviews of the Japanese version detail bugs, framerate issues, and low-quality textures, as well as the town feeling "empty". With a year of extra development time, and multiple patches already out, it's not yet clear if this will be the case for the Western version.

Source: Nintendo Life.