Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Preview – Building a new action-adventure

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The Rune Factory series, initially launched back in 2006, has had a lengthy lifespan. With around two decades having passed since its launch on Nintendo DS, it’s now ripe for a fresh installment leveraging today’s technology and significant advancements for the series. In line with this, Marvelous is preparing to unveil Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma on May 30, available on both Nintendo Switch and PC. This new chapter presents an entirely different journey, set in the eastern nation of Azuma – a region never before delved into within the Rune Factory universe.

Lately, we personally experienced playing Guardians of Azuma. This provided us with an initial feel for numerous innovations in the game, such as village construction, new skills and weaponry, along with an enhanced romantic interaction system.

In Guardians of Azuma, you’ll find yourself immersed in a tale revolving around two central characters – Kaguya and Subaru. During gameplay, you’ll choose one character to control, while the other will significantly influence the storyline. Even though we didn’t start from the beginning of the game, we began by outlining the key aspects that players will experience as they progress through the story – essentially, the core components of the gameplay cycle.

The initial aspect revolves around the farming and settlement construction. Tending to the farm has consistently been a key feature in Rune Factory, but the introduction of more intricate village-building options brings about a fresh element that broadens the simulation beyond just resource management.

During the demonstration, we joined one of the four seasonal villages, specifically the Autumn Village. Our goal was to build an entire village from scratch, if you will. The process is primarily influenced by the size of the land allocated, and you can also remove obstacles like rocks and clutter using tools provided to your character.

After completing that task, simply press a button to access the Village Builder Mode, where you can choose what elements to place within the grid-like areas shown on the map. Among the choices offered, you might decide to put in a pathway or a waterway, but for this demonstration, we opted to establish a Carpenter’s workshop to facilitate the construction of additional buildings and embellishments in the future.

Once the building is set up, the following action is hiring staff for it. This is done by navigating to the main menu and choosing the ideal Villager, who can then be given a role depending on their inherent Skills such as Woodworker Hobby. After that, you can build structures and decorations by interacting with the villager you’ve positioned; keep in mind that everything requires gold and resources to create, which are indicated next to each item.

In this part of the game, we experimented with some extraordinary weapons called Sacred Treasures. Unlike regular swords, each one possesses unique powers that come in handy both during battles and while constructing in Guardians of Azuma. For instance, you can use the Sacred Fan to clear cursed ruins within the village. There’s also a Sacred Drum that accelerates crop growth when time is tight, and the practical Sacred Sword for instant large-scale harvesting.

What stands out is the user-friendly nature of all these tools, and they seamlessly integrate to create a compelling reason for players to lose track of time while engaging with the life simulation aspect of Guardians of Azuma.

Moving forward, let’s examine the action combat system used by Guardians of Azuma. We then traveled to a coastal region and demonstrated some of the game’s diverse elements, including a dungeon as well.

In many modern role-playing games, battles in Guardians of Azuma occur in real-time directly within the open environment. This means there’s no separate battle screen, and enemies can attack at any moment they come across you. Similarly, you can retaliate instantly, along with your CPU-controlled party members.

In this game, regular attacks are assigned to one button and you can switch between two weapons that you have equipped, like a bow and arrows or a dagger. Additionally, your character has the ability to wield their Sacred Treasure, such as the Sacred Sword, to inflict significant damage at a minor expense.

Since our character belongs to the Earth Dancer class, they possess distinctive skills that can be employed effectively in intense fights by utilizing the Sacred Treasures. These special attacks are activated quickly, and based on the brief glimpse we’ve had so far, it appears that Guardians of Azuma will offer a wide range of playstyles, catering to the preference of various weapons.

In Guardians of Azuma, the final segment allowed us to engage with the game’s crucial romantic system. A significant element of the daily life involved cultivating relationships with a variety of characters, regardless of gender, and there were no restrictions on who could potentially be romanced – even the other playable protagonist you didn’t control.

The characters you can explore the game world alongside are highlighted on the map. Spending time with them through dates or regular interactions will lead to extended storylines that reveal more about their backgrounds. Nurturing these relationships can be deepened by talking with them, exchanging gifts, and engaging in activities they enjoy.

This version maintains the original meaning while using simpler language and a more conversational tone. It emphasizes the idea of exploring the game world together and developing relationships over time through various interactions.

The gameplay we’ve experienced merely scratches the surface of Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, but it’s an enticing beginning. Its cel-shaded visuals, complete voice acting, and expansive gameplay mechanics make it worth keeping an eye on as we approach mid-year. Although we didn’t delve deeply into the storyline, it’s evident that Marvelous is putting in a lot of work, and it’s certain that fans of Rune Factory and simulation RPGs will find something fresh to engage with when the game launches in a few months time.

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2025-03-21 16:26