Rune Factory 4 review: Till soil, slay monsters, get married?

Try summarising Rune Factory 4 (RF4) in one line and you’re definitely going to find an element that doesn’t fit. Farming, adventuring, monster-slaying, dragons, romance, and marriages!? This formula somehow works, as Rune Factory 4 is the sixth game in the series, and the fourth Rune Factory game published for the Nintendo DS/3DS. But I’m not sure if it’s a game for just anyone.

Rune Factory 4 is a jack of all trades and a master of none. Entrusted with making the town of Selphia prosper, you have to be on top of many things in addition to caring for your own farm, because that’s what princesses do, apparently.

Like all Rune Factory games, Rune Factory 4 sees you losing your memory at the very beginning of your adventure. Since you have no idea who you are, the kind folk of Selphia decide to crown you the royal visitor they’re expecting; until of course, the true prince himself turns up. He is, however, in no hurry to have to live up to his birthright, and so you’re stuck with playing princess.

As princess, you’re expected to earn princess points by successfully performing tasks. These tasks include tilling the land for harvest, running small errands, befriending the townsfolk, and even clearing dungeons of monster threats. Princess points, once earned, can be used to order festivals, upgrade bag size, or take tests for licenses.

Your other princess-y obligation is — as with all slice of life sims — to find a spouse. There are six eligible singles that you’ll be able to entice by giving them their favourite items. Sure sounds like you’ll be living an adventurer’s dream, won’t you?

That’s where Rune Factory 4 starts to slip. Outwardly, it seems like the perfect combination of everything people love in a game. Dating sim + hack and slash + farming = win, right? But Rune Factory 4 pours far too much care into certain features while neglecting others.

Farming

Farming in Rune Factory 4 is fine. It ties in well with the adventuring feature. You can’t go to a shop to pick up cows and chickens in RF4, so you get your livestock by taming wild beasts you meet on your travels. As you venture forth into the wilderness, you also sometimes come across fertile plots of land that you can claim for yourself. The only thing that irks me is how tilling the land somehow equates to being a princess.

Adventuring