![]() ![]() It’s tough to get through any given day without inadvertently levelling up at least four or five different stats as you go about your business. There’s even a walking stat that goes up just by you going from place to place. Case in point, you gain experience for your ‘Sleeping’ stat, just by going to bed each day. All the expected staples, such as weapon or magic proficiency, are present, but it’s the weirder ones that prove to be delightful. ![]() ![]() There are no right or wrong answers about what you should be doing, especially given that quite literally everything you do will level up some obscure stat or skill. Rune Factory 4 Special is an extremely open-ended experience right from the beginning, granting you almost full control over what you want to do with a given day. For example, the letterbox where you pick up requests introduces herself to you as Eliza, but when you mention this to anyone else in town, you’re treated to funny looks and confused replies. Underlying it all is a welcome sense of quirky humour, too, often playing on how the main character is something of an ‘outsider’. Whether it be the overwhelmingly bubbly personality of the chef, Porcoline, or the strongly disciplined stoicism of the soldier, Forte, there’s a nice dynamic to how all these different types play off of each other, and that’s only deepened as the months roll by and you come to understand them all better. Selphia is populated by a friendly and diverse cast of characters, and each of them are integral in building the cozy and charming atmosphere that you experience throughout your stay. Sure, the story is always there to progress if you so desire, but there is no sense of urgency.Īlthough the overarching narrative is just sort of ‘there’, the real strength of the storytelling is found in the writing. From this point, the plot slowly deepens into a larger narrative that ultimately centres on Ventuswill, but it also somewhat takes a backseat. ![]() It is here that Ventuswill and her butler ascertain that your character must be the Prince(ss) they’ve been expecting, and you’re quickly saddled with the responsibilities and expectations of a ruling monarch. In the ensuing struggle, your character is conveniently struck with amnesia and falls off the ship, plummeting into a castle below. Rune Factory 4 Special opens with your avatar arriving in Selphia via an airship to make a special delivery to the presiding dragon, Ventuswill, but things quickly go awry when the ship is accosted by soldiers. Fortunately, Marvelous has stuck the landing with this one Rune Factory 4 has lost none of the charm that made it a modern classic and the additional benefits of this re-release only serve to improve on this already firm foundation. In anticipation of this forthcoming release, Marvelous has seen fit to release Rune Factory 4 Special – a re-released version of the 2013 3DS title – for the Nintendo Switch, which ostensibly will stand as the definitive version of the seminal outing. This balanced take on farming and combat proved to also be a hit with fans, spawning a sub-series that is due to continue very soon thanks to the impending Rune Factory 5. This new title was billed by its creators as “Harvest Moon where you wield a sword” and it promised to bring in many of the traditional RPG elements that the series had previously eschewed. Many sequels would follow in the coming years, and on the tenth anniversary, Marvelous produced an interesting experiment for the DS called Rune Factory. The Harvest Moon series made quite a name for itself when it first released on the SNES in 1996, trading the typical combat-centric trappings of an RPG in favour of a much more laid-back and slower-paced focused on farming. Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked) ![]()
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