Rune Factory 4 Special

 Switch
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 88 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 70 out of 88
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 88
  3. Negative: 9 out of 88
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  1. Nautious
    Feb 26, 2020
    10
    Easily one of my favorite games of all time. The cast is full of charming characters, the game play is very relaxing, yet addictive. I often found my self up until 2 am saying "just one more day before bed".

    The game is most often compared to games like Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, and its parent series, Story of Seasons. If you enjoy farming/life sim games but want a better    Easily one of my favorite games of all time. The cast is full of charming characters, the game play is very relaxing, yet addictive. I often found my self up until 2 am saying "just one more day before bed".

    The game is most often compared to games like Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, and its parent series, Story of Seasons. If you enjoy farming/life sim games but want a better characters and combat than Stardew, this is definitely the game for you.    … Expand
  2. WinterSoldierAM
    Feb 27, 2020
    10
    Rune Factory 4 happens to be one of my favorite games of all time. It is a great blend of life sim, farm sim, and full on RPG. The cast is great and the have more life than any other game in the genre. It focuses around your character, male or female who loses their memory when confronted by a sinister organization. You find yourself a steward of a the land making decisions, raisingRune Factory 4 happens to be one of my favorite games of all time. It is a great blend of life sim, farm sim, and full on RPG. The cast is great and the have more life than any other game in the genre. It focuses around your character, male or female who loses their memory when confronted by a sinister organization. You find yourself a steward of a the land making decisions, raising monsters, cultivating crops, exploring a great story, and even falling in love and starting a family. Rune Factory 4 gives you countless hours of content to explore. Crafting is rich and rewarding, making different weapons and leveling up your skills with them is a great way to spend your time.

    I do want to expand upon the "Special" moniker and what is different between the 3ds version and this port. And honestly, there isn't a ton of change. Some balance changes, some additions to help remedy third act relationship issues, some up-resing of textures and animated character portraits that show up from time to time. There is new dlc, free until sometime in March that adds some stories read by the voice actors that give insight into what comes after the main story. Another DLC is packaged with the special edition of the game, but it is not substantial at all. I would have liked to see some major changes (like the difference between Rune Factory 1 and Frontier), however the game does carry a $39.99 price point, $10 higher than that of the 3ds version. And ultimately I think this Switch version is the best version to experience and a great jump in point for new fans.

    With some luck, and support for this title Rune Factory fans may also see Rune Factory 5 come to fruition.

    TLDR: If you like farm sims, dating sims, and/or rps with anime aesthetics, Rune Factory 4 will give you a great time at a decent price.    … Expand
  3. Mergle
    Feb 26, 2020
    10
    Delightful game wing delightful characters. If you are here debating whether or not to buy it since you're on a tight budget, trust me, this game is worth it. It has a charm that many switch games tend to avoid: ambience. The game is peaceful and leaves you to decide how to progress. It isn't smash where you bang your head into someone else for a couple hours and get an adrenaline high,Delightful game wing delightful characters. If you are here debating whether or not to buy it since you're on a tight budget, trust me, this game is worth it. It has a charm that many switch games tend to avoid: ambience. The game is peaceful and leaves you to decide how to progress. It isn't smash where you bang your head into someone else for a couple hours and get an adrenaline high, but still offers entertainment that doesn't need to be as hype as Smash. If you want to have something to play on your own and relax while losing track of time, get this. Fantastic game with good soundtrack, endearing characters, decent battle mechanics, and a story worth reading.… Expand
  4. Rakzo
    Mar 20, 2020
    9
    Addicting like no other JRPG, this is the perfect game to spend these difficult days in house because of the COVID-19 that is infecting the whole planet. It makes me excited for the upcoming Rune Factory 5 and I'm glad this series is still alive.
  5. firemawile
    Feb 28, 2020
    8
    Rune Factory 4 Special is the definitive way to enjoy this game.

    Personally, I've played since the first game and have clocked in over 100+ Hours into the forth game on 3ds (technically sixth game in the series.) This game is quite difficult to explain to newcomers. It's an jrpg, with elements of a farm and life sim. None of it's mechanics are particularly well done, instead, the    Rune Factory 4 Special is the definitive way to enjoy this game.

    Personally, I've played since the first game and have clocked in over 100+ Hours into the forth game on 3ds (technically sixth game in the series.)

    This game is quite difficult to explain to newcomers. It's an jrpg, with elements of a farm and life sim. None of it's mechanics are particularly well done, instead, the game requires you to change between its different mechanics. For example, if you focus too much on combat and not enough on crafting, you'll have difficulty advancing through a dungeon until you upgrade your gear. That being said, it's easy to get hooked by the gameplay loop.

    What you need to know about the Switch version is that It feels like an up-scaled 3DS game, and not much more. While the HD textures look very nice on the undocked screen, the models haven't been changed and they look widen and out of place. Not many quality of life changes have been added, but to be fair Rune Factory 4 is very user friendly (Compared to its predecessors.)

    The amount of content in this game is insane. While being very grindy, even on lower difficulties, you'll constantly run into new content even 50+ hours in. The biggest problem the game has however is that it's never properly explained that diversifying your ingame skill is not only recommended, but required. Back in 2014 on my first playthrough, when I got to the third act of the game many hours in, I found myself stuck because I didn't bother investing into magic and into building a party. there are 38 different skills to level up, not counting player and party member level and equipment, so build wisely early on.

    Here's a little advice for new players.
    Weapons Skills: Chose any, but have at lease two different elemental on hand.
    Magic Skills: Best ranged option (And they WILL put enemies out of reach) Pick at lease 2.
    Farming Skills: Don't underestimate your tiny farm, for earlygame cash and flowers for Chemistry Skill.
    Recipe Skills: Cooking and Chemistry are interchangeable early game, but crafting is mandatory unless you hate yourself.
    Life Skills: You can eat on meal per day for eating skill. The rest don't think about it.
    Defense Skills: Paralysis and Seals sucks, bring medicine into dungeons.
    Other Skills: Practice leadership early, Bathing is awesome, and you can level up the Throwing skill by pickup up birds and trowing it at fellow villagers (it's hilarious).

    Be prepared to be overwhelmed by this game, in a good way. Some of the other mechanics include; Animal taming, princely duties, being a shop owner, festivals and minigames, dating and marriage, a very good story, the power to summon typhoons, the ability to change your appearance to almost any npc, you can ride an elephant if you want.

    If you're a Rune Factory fan, you've already bought this game (Let's be honest). For everyone else,
    It's definitely worth looking into.    … Expand
  6. Luigichief
    Oct 25, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Rune Factory 4 Special is a 3DS HD port. This is a spin-off series from Story of Seasons (formerly Harvest Moon). It's a great mix of many different genres and styles of games. I did not play all the routes of the game nor read all possible dialogues, it is a review of my experience with the game (I went on the 'route' of the best girl = Margaret).

    The first arc has a good variety of dungeons, bosses and enemies. The story begins more or less, then there is a twist that ties all the loose ends and mysteries generating a certain urgency / climax. The emotional issue was good in some parts and weaker in others. And why the **** do the credits roll, since there is still 2/3 more of the story to be told.
    The second arc starts well with a twist level on Doug's past, right after that there is action and an objective is established. But the structure of the second arc is much simpler. It is a very basic adventure with a simple objective. The villain of the bow has a certain substance despite being too "stubborn". The final battle is too long unnecessarily. But how they tied the other citizens to the battle was cool. I would say it was much less exciting than the first because the dragon is not present in this entire arc. I also found it unnecessary that ending in which the Dragon disappears, but okay.
    About this 'third arc' I say that the fanbase is wrong, this is not the final arc of the game, it is post-game. The story really ends in the second, nor did it need a third arc. It is true that he ties up some loose ends like the protagonist's past, but this happy ending from Ventuswill ... you could have 'fixed' it at the end of the second arc by not making him die (damn I gave spoiler). In the first 'dungeon' of the third arc there are 2 reused bosses, which even made sense for the story but it doesn't change the fact. And after that comes Rune Prana, which I do disgusting business. It didn't really irritate me, it was worse, once I was in a bad mood after closing the game (before this arc it was always the other way around).

    The game has a mechanic of random events that occur during the year. Which is very interesting in theory but not so much in practice. The number of them is very decent and the ones I saw are cool. They are where most of the development of the characters and their relationships take place. The HUGE problem with this is that some of these totally random events are necessary for certain things in the game. In the original, this was very problematic because even to get ahead in the story it was necessary to be lucky. In the Special edition this was semi-corrected, to advance the story you don't need to be lucky but to get married for example ... I wish you luck.

    The meetings are good. Some very fast and simple but even cool and others longer and with a humble development. But something that caught my attention was the system that deepens the relationship in these meetings (there are 6 levels and some of them are kind of strange but it is already some kind of development in the relationship through something secondary), I found this mechanics interesting.

    On Margaret's 'route' there are 4 events in the city and the event that unlocks the wedding. Three of these events are mild, generating some kind of development and one of them, despite being fast, is very heavy, especially when you discover why. In the final event (which unlocks the wedding) they tie 2 of the events together and make a great deep drama. My only problem was that the resolution of this drama I found weak.

    A very common problem in games with this style of relationship system is that your relationship does not affect the story. In Rune Factory 4 this problem also occurs, what affects dialogues in the story is the composition of your party, but your relationship with these members can change at most as they call you. Except that in the story if you have any characters in your party there is even a reaction from them but it is totally superficial, usually 1 to 3 words. However, there is a moment when their relationship interferes, at the end of the first arc, but at that moment I thought it was too soon (unfortunately it was at least). And when you add someone to your party, dialogues could occur during your gameplay.

    The gameplay has several aspects, for being a great mix, I will not go into all of them. The farm system has a very good depth in the right measure, without becoming something widely complex but offering certain 'challenges' and barriers that are broken with your own experience. The combat I found too basic, it has variations of 'gameplay style' but within those styles his variation is very weak (complex), but still, it is almost fun enough. But I liked that you had a 'bigger goal' to make money (planting), which is just getting stronger to be able to advance the story. It is worth noting that the pet system is very interesting.    … Expand
  7. Jinuaga
    Feb 25, 2020
    10
    Reliving this experience on the switch after years of being away from the series brings me joy. I enjoy the jack of all trades master of none type of game this is. You have dungeon-crawling RPG elements, to farming and town managing. You can tame monsters and hold festivals. Also, the new things that they added were great, like the Newley wed mode and the new episodes. It has a little bitReliving this experience on the switch after years of being away from the series brings me joy. I enjoy the jack of all trades master of none type of game this is. You have dungeon-crawling RPG elements, to farming and town managing. You can tame monsters and hold festivals. Also, the new things that they added were great, like the Newley wed mode and the new episodes. It has a little bit of everything and I would recommend giving it a shot. I know when I started with Rune Factory 3 and was hesitant at first but soon I became a fan of the series.… Expand
  8. bladex
    Dec 12, 2021
    3
    this is one of the worst RF they ever made. first ignore all the 5 star FAN boy reviews they are ALL FALSE. poor graphics, button mashing boring battle system way too much grinding needed both in battle and crafting and a crafting system so complicated you need a degree just to understand it late game! farming requires WAY TOO much micro managing especially if you want the max level items.this is one of the worst RF they ever made. first ignore all the 5 star FAN boy reviews they are ALL FALSE. poor graphics, button mashing boring battle system way too much grinding needed both in battle and crafting and a crafting system so complicated you need a degree just to understand it late game! farming requires WAY TOO much micro managing especially if you want the max level items. late game there is one item a little crystal that is absolute torture to acquire... TOD still remains the BEST RF! hope they port that one soon… Expand
  9. Grimsbane
    Sep 23, 2020
    0
    I LOOOVE this game, the mechanics, the events, characters, they're all awesome. The history is kinda bland, so don't expect much in this aspect. It's really cool to tame monsters and fighting is great, If I could rate this any higher than 10, I would.
  10. Retroplayer1987
    Dec 9, 2022
    10
    Genial volver a vivir este juegazo de 3DS en switch, es un excelente port con mejoras visuales. Cientosde horas de adicción, waifus, farming y combates jrpg O_o! te amo run factory
  11. turitz
    Apr 24, 2020
    9
    RF4S is a Fantastic Game, it does a lot right and is much fun to play, but it has some minor flaws.

    Pros +The Core Gameplay overall is great, farming is fun and not to stretch, especially later in the Game farming is done fast so u can move on doing more interesting things. +The Fighting and Leveling are good, but it's not grindy enough for me at least, it's obviously for casual    RF4S is a Fantastic Game, it does a lot right and is much fun to play, but it has some minor flaws.

    Pros
    +The Core Gameplay overall is great, farming is fun and not to stretch, especially later in the Game farming is done fast so u can move on doing more interesting things.

    +The Fighting and Leveling are good, but it's not grindy enough for me at least, it's obviously for casual Gamers but I still find it fun for what it is but I would hope that in RF5 to get more depth.

    +Interacting with the Characters is so much more interesting than in any other Harvest Moon like Games, when u want to Marry someone u get to know a lot about ur Partner and cause of that u feel like u rly understand and know her, could have more more depth but I was impressed about it

    Cons

    -I feel like there isn't enough variety between the Characters u can marry, could be more

    -The Story could be better

    Conclusion

    RF4S is a great Game that made me fell in love with the Series again    … Expand
  12. xcJetx
    Jun 27, 2020
    9
    Having played both the original and Nintendo Switch versions I couldn't help but notice the various quality of life improvements, the biggest one being the removal of RNG to trigger a specific questline. The main story is alright, nothing extraordinary within the RPG genre, but, what makes this a worthwhile narrative experience is definitely the interactions between the characters livingHaving played both the original and Nintendo Switch versions I couldn't help but notice the various quality of life improvements, the biggest one being the removal of RNG to trigger a specific questline. The main story is alright, nothing extraordinary within the RPG genre, but, what makes this a worthwhile narrative experience is definitely the interactions between the characters living in Selphia. All of them are memorable and likable; their personal questlines give you an insight on why the act the way they do. There was a specific quest in Margaret's character arc that made me tear up a bit. The only few flaws I can nitpick out of this game are that RNG is still involved in personal quest triggering, the new character animations are only available in newlywed mode, there are some unbalanced difficulty spikes (they can be dealt with Object X/failed dishes, but still), and you can't get some items until you meet a specific requirement, halting your sense of progression.
    Overall, this game deserves lots of love.    … Expand
  13. Polarisao
    Sep 26, 2020
    9
    Hours upon hours with this game. I love its the jack of all trades and does it well. Grinding has been a pleasure. Only faults would be the necessary scenarios to marry. Very annoying but it is an old game so those Kinks I hope are worked out in RF5
  14. Starfree
    May 19, 2020
    8
    Rune Factory has always been a joy! It’s sad that games like Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing overshadow it so much. Because In many Rune Factory is better then those games. It truly is a Fantasy harvest moon but with combat. (Back when harvest moon was good) imo Rune Factory 3 is way better then 4. But Rune Factory 4 is still an amazing game.
  15. FearGBA
    Mar 3, 2020
    10
    This game is absolutely fantastic, jam packed with content spanning across different genres and the characters are very well written with tons of personality. 10/10
  16. LazyLoad08
    Apr 15, 2020
    8
    This is the type of game I love and personally, can't get enough. However, I feel obliged to acknowledge some of its shortcomings.
    Some assets have been upgraded, but some, like the background, seem to not have been, and are just stretched out on the background. This seems out of place. The controls and things like inventory and character management feel dated and probably haven't been    This is the type of game I love and personally, can't get enough. However, I feel obliged to acknowledge some of its shortcomings.
    Some assets have been upgraded, but some, like the background, seem to not have been, and are just stretched out on the background. This seems out of place. The controls and things like inventory and character management feel dated and probably haven't been touched (haven't played the original)? Also, I didn't enjoy too much some of the characters being kinda cliché, but that's just my preference.
    However - this game has tons of content and a well-written, rather long story split into several arcs. There is so much to do and all is fun. Farming, combat, talking to the NPCs, it's just done well. The music is enjoyable as well and one can clearly see how this game was a great inspiration to Stardew Valley.
    I recommend getting this game to anyone who likes the genre or enjoyed Stardew, and just can't wait for RF5, which should hopefully be freshened up to the modern system!    … Expand
  17. cheongzewei
    Apr 11, 2020
    10
    To play a rune factory game, it is like tasting a bucket of ice cream. You can have it in scoops, in spoons, or even in buckets, but each day that passes is a satisfying one.

    I Give high praise to the cast of townsfolk whom rarely repeats themselves whom have their daily lives and speak of events that happen around them. While the story is very lighthearted cliche, it is the execution    To play a rune factory game, it is like tasting a bucket of ice cream. You can have it in scoops, in spoons, or even in buckets, but each day that passes is a satisfying one.

    I Give high praise to the cast of townsfolk whom rarely repeats themselves whom have their daily lives and speak of events that happen around them. While the story is very lighthearted cliche, it is the execution of the great dungeon gameplay and farming that settles it as one of my favorite games.

    Eagerly waiting for RF5.    … Expand
  18. Mistoltean
    Apr 12, 2020
    8
    I played Rune factory 1-4 and 4 special. I wanted to like and give them full score, but there are flaws that prevent me from doing that.
    1. Most additional contents, e.g. new stories, are DLC. Why you make a remake and put the new contents behind the extra play wall?
    2. The remake version does improve graphics but does not tackle the most annoying problem such as random town events    I played Rune factory 1-4 and 4 special. I wanted to like and give them full score, but there are flaws that prevent me from doing that.
    1. Most additional contents, e.g. new stories, are DLC. Why you make a remake and put the new contents behind the extra play wall?
    2. The remake version does improve graphics but does not tackle the most annoying problem such as random town events leading to marriage. They did fix the randomness of main event though.
    If I give the score for total series: RF1 = 8, RF2 = 8, RF3 = 9, RF4 = 8m RF4S = 8
    RF4S gets the same score as RF4 due the reasons I mentioned above. It is a great game, but the remake leaves more things to be desired.    … Expand
  19. Anonime
    Jul 10, 2020
    9
    Great game in the series, and highly recommended if you like the genre.

    Giving us the option to choose sex, which entails different love routes (not lgtbi unfortunately) with very different characters and each with their own story, some deeper than others. Citizens also have their own charisma, although in all cases they are a bit of a cliche. Playable is very good. You have a lot    Great game in the series, and highly recommended if you like the genre.

    Giving us the option to choose sex, which entails different love routes (not lgtbi unfortunately) with very different characters and each with their own story, some deeper than others.
    Citizens also have their own charisma, although in all cases they are a bit of a cliche.

    Playable is very good. You have a lot to do (Farm, fight against monsters, raise levels of many things, cook and eat to upload stats, hunt monsters that help you ...) and on top of that it has 3 story arcs, with a difficulty that increases significantly.

    As for the extras of this version, I must say that I ended up very happy with them. You have more chunks of stories told like a visual novel, and also shorter playable stories as spouses. The latter is something that is missed in the original game, since you get married and practically nothing changes.

    In conclusion: A game that can be improved, yes, but that complies very well with everything that is proposed, without being an outstanding one, it will hook you and give you hours and hours of entertainment, which ultimately causes you to love and hate this world.

    Highly recommended.    … Expand
  20. Thaiphlosion
    Nov 26, 2020
    10
    I've spent thousands of hours and a lot of years in this game, and it still manages to surprise and endear me to this day. It's a farming game that quickly introduces you to arpg combat, then continues with its memorable characters and romances. There's an uncountable number of dialogue lines and events in this game, all meant to make the npcs really give you the feeling like they'reI've spent thousands of hours and a lot of years in this game, and it still manages to surprise and endear me to this day. It's a farming game that quickly introduces you to arpg combat, then continues with its memorable characters and romances. There's an uncountable number of dialogue lines and events in this game, all meant to make the npcs really give you the feeling like they're alive. Even the farming is easy at first glance, but has some of the most in-depth mechanics to it when you're ready for it.
    It's an amazing game that I'd like to see more of and more like in the future.    … Expand
  21. anythingbelow
    Dec 11, 2020
    10
    Rune Factory 4 is one of my favorite games of all time and while it was made in 2012 and the graphics betray that, it has deep crafting systems and wonderful postgame that let you spend hours and hours playing.
  22. victorz19
    Dec 17, 2020
    10
    Best childhood game ever. The storyline and everything is so well fleshed out, and I have so many fond memories of it. So glad and proud of its return and well-deserved success.
  23. SuperRobot9
    May 4, 2022
    9
    My one personal gripe about this game is that the town is more city-like and not very natural as the previous entries, and that the farm is expanded in to segments instead of just increasing the size of one farm. However this Rune factory game has a lot to offer, a lot more content then previous entries, and as a series staple, it always improves the experience with some Quality of lifeMy one personal gripe about this game is that the town is more city-like and not very natural as the previous entries, and that the farm is expanded in to segments instead of just increasing the size of one farm. However this Rune factory game has a lot to offer, a lot more content then previous entries, and as a series staple, it always improves the experience with some Quality of life editions. The combat however mostly remains the same as Rune Factory 3, which could still use a bit more improving.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

47
#47 Best Switch Game of 2020
53
#53 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Gamer Escape
    Jun 10, 2020
    90
    Overall, whether you should pick up Rune Factory 4 Special comes entirely down to whether you played the original 3DS version or not. There’s a few new features: some things added to the trophy room to celebrate the series, new cutscenes, and a New Game + mode where you start off married. Plus, it being on the Switch instead of the 3DS allows for a higher resolution and a larger screen whether docked or in handheld mode. That said…there’s not a whole lot of actual content added.
    Read full review
  2. RPGamer
    Jun 5, 2020
    80
    Rune Factory 4 Special is an easy recommendation to any RPGamer who enjoys farming and life sim games, as well as for those casual Stardew Valley fans that wished for more variety in the combat aspects. It’s been long enough since the 3DS release that this game can be enjoyed fresh again, and for those who missed it the first time around, now’s the perfect time to give it a try. I thoroughly enjoyed my time back in the land of Selphia, and seeing everything that made Rune Factory one of my favorite portable game series work so well on the Switch has me even more excited to see what’s ahead for the series now that we’ve sadly left the dual-screen period of gaming behind.
    Read full review
  3. Nintendo Force Magazine
    May 1, 2020
    75
    For an updated 7-year-old game, Rune Factory 4 Special does hold up fairly well. [Issue #46 – May/June 2020, p. 73]
See all critic reviews »