REVIEW : Rune Factory 4 Special (XBOX Series X)
We’re approaching the tenth anniversary of Rune Factory 4 Special, and while it’s still a good time on the Xbox One, it’s starting to show its age. Other titles in the category have arguably surpassed it. I enjoyed seeing my favourite characters again and returning to the farm, but it’s past time to move on.
You’re on your way to make an important delivery on an airship when a couple of bandits approach and try to steal your load. While you fend them off at first, your lack of focus causes you to be tossed off the spacecraft. However, you appear to be lucky as you land on one of the game’s four elder dragons, who believes you must be royalty and offers you a residence in their castle in Selphie. The error is swiftly corrected, but not before everyone has grown accustomed to the arrangement.
Soon, you’ll be getting to know the other Selphia residents and feeling perfectly at home. However, mysterious beasts begin to appear in the area, and Venti, the elder dragon you landed on, will invite you to investigate. When bosses start turning into humans after being defeated, presumably due to your Earthmate abilities, a mystery emerges that is worth investigating.
The tale in Rune Factory 4 Special is good, but it’s not enough to make you want to visit Selphie. The charming cast you can befriend, adventure with, and eventually date, marry, and establish a family goes even farther, but the game’s biggest feature is the diverse range of activities. Rune Factory is a game that combines the gameplay of Harvest Moon (now Story of Seasons) with action RPG combat.
Both sides of the coin are well-represented in Rune Factory 4 Special. Combat has a wide range of weapons and foes, and the difficulty of the enemies increases over time. Dungeon exploration is a lot of fun. Combat isn’t the most sophisticated of any action RPG out there. Still, you’ll receive new equipment, magic, and a slew of new tactics to regularly combat a growing number of adversaries. Boss fights are difficult, and make fantastic use of your numerous powers.
However, it is back in the town where Run Factory 4 Special shines the brightest. I was usually most eager to engage in a fight to obtain resources for use in crafting back in the hamlet. You can utilise the points you earn from completing missions to enhance yourself and the town through an order system. There are many ways to spend your points: host festivals, grow your storage, and construct new structures. You’ll also need to obtain licences, which will allow you to purchase better crafting materials and construct an increasing number of goods. Weapons, accessories, food, and much more may all be made. If you wish to advance, you’ll have to do so.
Farming is straightforward and lacks the depth of a game like Story of Seasons dedicated to it. Still, the base is good, and it’s short and well-developed enough that you can do it in a single in-game day while still having time to explore and do other things. You’ll never run out of things to do if you capture monsters, date people, give gifts, or go fishing.
It also takes an excessive amount of time for things to get started. The first several hours of Rune Factory 4 Special are spent fulfilling fetch quests, completing extremely simple tutorial objectives supplied through talking mailbox, and acquiring a feel for the game. I understand why the devs wanted to ease gamers into such a large game. Worse, many of these tasks are so simplistically presented that they don’t truly teach you anything. So, why are we wasting our time with them? There’s some new content here for those who last played the game on the 3DS, such as a new Newlywed mode that allows you to do more with your chosen partner after getting married. Still, it’s not substantial enough that I’d recommend most players who have already invested a lot of time in the series return for it unless they’re huge fans.
In practically every sense, this game is great. The characters are delightful, and they never seem to run out of new lines to say. Seriously, I’ve been playing for several in-game years and have yet to encounter any daily speech that is repeated, which is incredible.) The tale is gripping, and nearly every part of the game is extremely immersive.
It’s a little too immersive at times… This brings us to the crux of my RF4 criticism. The crafting, farming, and battle mechanisms are all quite complex, and it can take hours of grinding to get to where you need to be late in the game, and it takes even longer to understand the mechanics effectively due to their intricacy. Furthermore, several late-game aspects depend entirely on luck – obtaining the requisite goods and activating the game’s final storey arc and the genuine ending might take YEARS.
Overall, I’ve spent countless hours playing this game on my 3DS, and I intend to purchase the Switch version. I’m also keeping an eye out for RF5. Needless to add, my criticisms in no way diminish the beauty of this game. It’s fun to play. Seriously. Just go for it. Farming, crafting, and combat systems are all extremely detailed—just when you think you know everything there is to know about this game, you’ll learn something new! Not to mention the fantastic tale and the meticulous attention to detail in how the NPCs interact with the character in the town, engage in speech bubble dialogues with other villagers, and participate in the numerous town events. My only criticism is that effectively using this game necessitates a level of information that is difficult to acquire on your own, such as the farm’s magnifying glass data. However, you may still enjoy this game without being concerned about the intricacy that compensates for this. This game is five stars, and you should buy it right now. I enjoy the game and the series. If you’re considering it, now is the time to jump into this amazing world and buy anything. Don’t panic if you don’t have a 3DS or a Nintendo Switch; the game will be released on other platforms soon.
