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Rune Factory 5 - What We Know So Far

The Rune Factory series is releasing a new title after nine years. Here are all the details about the new Harvest Moon spin-off game.

The most recent installment, Rune Factory 4 Special, was released on the Switch in 2020, 8 years after the game was released in Japan. After introducing Switch players to the Rune Factory series, Nintendo announced the development of Rune Factory 5, and we've been waiting for a release date since.

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Similar to the popular farming sim, the Rune Factory series has gameplay that includes farming through the four seasons while befriending townsfolk, building relationships, and even starting a family! There's also combat, and players are able to explore the dungeons and areas around the town where the game takes place. You can also befriend these monsters, harvesting items like milk and eggs.

Other features of the games include crafting, fishing, mining, cooking, smithing, and level-up systems for various tasks, including walking and socializing. The Rune Factory games have something for every type of RPG gamer!

What is the release date for Rune Factory 5?

There's not an exact release date for North America from Nintendo yet, but what is known is that it will be sometime in 2021. 

In a Nintendo Direct Mini on Sept. 17, 2020, it was announced that Rune Factory 5 would be pushed back to a 2021 release due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally, the game was set to release before 2020 ended, but game releases across the globe were pushed back as publishers dealt with changes in the work environment. 

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According to the Nintendo Direct Mini from Nintendo Japan, the game is set to release on May 20, 2021 in Japan. The video clearly writes out the release date, along with highlighting new gameplay clips. The previous Rune Factory games were released months before coming West, so it's expected that Japan has a release date and North America and Europe don't.

In fact, Rune Factory 4 took years to be released to Europe, but Nintendo has already announced that Rune Factory 5 will be released across the globe before the year comes to an end.

Is there a trailer for Rune Factory 5?

You can view the official gameplay trailer on Nintendo's YouTube channel. This is the same video that was released during the Nintendo Direct Mini from Sept. 2020, and it's the last time we've seen any footage of the game itself.

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Before the gameplay trailer was released, Nintendo had teased the development of Rune Factory 5 at the end of a Rune Factory 4 Special presentation in a Nintendo Direct Mini in Feb. 2020. However, that trailer contained no gameplay or images from the game itself, only the reveal of game's main title.

While the trailer doesn't show much, it does offer a little bit of information about the gameplay players will experience. The visuals look to follow the console games, meaning you'll walk around a 3D world and see various views of the town instead of the birds-eye view that the other handheld Rune Factory games show.

What is the plot of Rune Factory 5?

The West hasn't seen a whole lot of new information crop up about the plot of Rune Factory 5, but Nintendo Japan has released a lot. According to translations provided by Gematsu, the player ends up in a town with no memories and joins a group that's goal is to keep peace within the town.

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The protagonist, both male and female, are kind people who struggle ignoring when others are in danger, which is why they each join The Seed, the proposed name for the peace group.

Nintendo America has released a small bit about the game on its store page. In addition to the features we've seen in previous Rune Factory games, and a new battle mechanic is being introduced. Rune Factory 5 will introduce the ability to perform combo attacks with your allies, a feature that the games haven't seen before now.

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