Has anyone played this? I just ordered it for Nintendo Switch. It looks like something I'd like. I'm a fan of the Story of Seasons games and also the adventure part/monster battling and taming sounds fun. Just interested in what other's experiences with it are, I've never played a Rune Factory game before.
Rune Factory 4
- Thread starter Autumn247
- Start date
IonicKarma
Wishful Phoenix
Very biased opinion since the Rune Factory series is one of my favorite series of all time but...
I absolutely adore Rune Factory 4! It's one of my favorite games and definitely favorite of the series Until Rune Factory 5 comes out at least
It's very much a part farm sim and part action RPG game. You have all the typical farming simulation experience that you see in Story of Seasons games. You manage a farm, grow crops, raise animals, find someone you like to date and marry, etc. The game also have a great sense of progression for crops so that you slowly work your way towards more valuable crops, gained by quests for shipping a certain number of crops or certain quality.
Animals are not actually bought but captured in the wild, but otherwise work just like animals in Story of Seasons expect you can take them on your adventure as well.
Farming is actually quite in depth too, theres ways to raise the level of the crop, the speed it grows, grow large crops, etc.
As for the actual RPG side, the game has a very in depth crafting system, allowing you to create and upgrade weapons with unique abilities. This is especially ture for staves, which you can add monster abilities to the charge attacks. Very fun!
Story wise, its nothing expectational, pretty cliche, but everything else about the game is so amazing that I don't really mind.
I absolutely adore Rune Factory 4! It's one of my favorite games and definitely favorite of the series Until Rune Factory 5 comes out at least
It's very much a part farm sim and part action RPG game. You have all the typical farming simulation experience that you see in Story of Seasons games. You manage a farm, grow crops, raise animals, find someone you like to date and marry, etc. The game also have a great sense of progression for crops so that you slowly work your way towards more valuable crops, gained by quests for shipping a certain number of crops or certain quality.
Animals are not actually bought but captured in the wild, but otherwise work just like animals in Story of Seasons expect you can take them on your adventure as well.
Farming is actually quite in depth too, theres ways to raise the level of the crop, the speed it grows, grow large crops, etc.
As for the actual RPG side, the game has a very in depth crafting system, allowing you to create and upgrade weapons with unique abilities. This is especially ture for staves, which you can add monster abilities to the charge attacks. Very fun!
Story wise, its nothing expectational, pretty cliche, but everything else about the game is so amazing that I don't really mind.
.: Meri :.
the grass is always green but it's not easy
I play RF4 Special from time to time and I really enjoy it! ^^ I've never played any of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games and it's my first Rune Factory game as well, but I didn't have a hard time getting into it or anything. I found the characters and setting to be very charming, and the storyline's definitely got that sort of "cozy/comfort food RPG" vibe to it. For me it's definitely the sort of game I can keep coming back to—I doubt I'll consider myself finished with it for a long time, even though I'm mostly through the main story (on Arc 3!) on my main playthrough.
If you decide you like it, you should totally look into Rune Factory 5! c: It'll be coming out in English in March 2022.
If you decide you like it, you should totally look into Rune Factory 5! c: It'll be coming out in English in March 2022.
Thank you for the replies, I'm looking forward to playing it 
I'll definitely check out Rune Factory 5 once that comes out, I just watched the trailer for that, it looks really good. I should be pretty far in 4 by then.
I'll definitely check out Rune Factory 5 once that comes out, I just watched the trailer for that, it looks really good. I should be pretty far in 4 by then.
I can’t get into it no matter how hard I try. I keep reading and watching guides on how to upgrade equipment properly, but it all goes right over my head. All I’ve figured out is how to level up my forging and level up equipment up to level 10. I’m stumped on the rest. I tried to play through the main story without bothering, but now the boss enemies knock me out in less than a minute, even on the lowest difficulty.
I really want to get into this game though. The farming is really well polished and I love all of the characters. It’s the rare farming simulator where I actually don’t know who to marry (normally I know right away). If anyone could point me in the right direction I’d appreciate it. I really want to make the most of this game.
I really want to get into this game though. The farming is really well polished and I love all of the characters. It’s the rare farming simulator where I actually don’t know who to marry (normally I know right away). If anyone could point me in the right direction I’d appreciate it. I really want to make the most of this game.
Heya, I think I can help you out! You mentioned you've raised your forging and you know you can upgrade your equipment to level 10. What you should look for, then, is the materials for the stats that they provide. The level of the materials do matter a bit to make better equipment, but not enough to warrant farming forever for the highest level you can manage to loot unless you just want to.
For example, a decent early to mid-level material to use on weapons is a Strong Vine. If you look at its stats, it'll provide some magic damage and about 10% seal attack. That is very nice to have against casters, as it will prevent them from casting their magic. Another decent material is Pretty Thread, which I believe also provides some magic damage but also I believe a 25% chance to paralyze your target which is crazy good against any monster aside from boss monsters.
Boss monsters have the best materials, so if you want their materials, you'll have to farm them a bit so they drop. Unsure if you know this but if you upgrade your weapon with a rare can, it'll increase rare drop chances so you're more likely to find the rarer materials and more items in general when defeating monsters.
I'm not sure what else I can say because I'm unsure exactly on where you're stuck in the crafting, but I will try my best to point you in the right direction if you're still struggling. I will say that it seems the game wants you to use certain weapons at certain parts in the story (heck, there are some monsters that just won't take any physical damage and you need magic to progress). I've found that I had to craft a weapon I wouldn't otherwise use just because it had the highest stats and I couldn't craft the next tier of the weapon I typically used because I didn't have access to the materials it needed. You'll find yourself learning recipes that you can't craft yet because you haven't got far enough in the story to get the materials needed to craft them.
Mimi Cheems
gonna watch it burn! ♡
Bumping this to say,,,, I just picked this game up. A friend gifted it to me because I had mentioned wanting to play it. I'm in love with this game!!!
Compared to what I played of RF5, RF4 definitely takes the cake for me. It feels a lot easier to play, personally. So far, I really like Vishnal and Doug.. >_> I feel like Vishnal is going to be super difficult to romance, as most of his favorite gifts are kind of hard to obtain. ;w; But I REALLY like him, so I'm going to do my best to marry him! ^_^
Compared to what I played of RF5, RF4 definitely takes the cake for me. It feels a lot easier to play, personally. So far, I really like Vishnal and Doug.. >_> I feel like Vishnal is going to be super difficult to romance, as most of his favorite gifts are kind of hard to obtain. ;w; But I REALLY like him, so I'm going to do my best to marry him! ^_^
I’m sleep deprived so please excuse any grammatical errors.
It is Doug who will be harder to woo. At some point in the story, he will stop gaining love points due to reasons. It won’t resume until you start the third part of the game. A way to find out if you are in that time-out zone is if he just responds with “…” whenever you talk or purchase something from him.
With that said, Vishnal and Doug are wonderful characters. You’re right that getting the curry rice recipe is a bit of work, but keep grinding the requests if you want. I’m not sure if cooking a high level recipe with failed dishes will still yield lots of cooking exp. It did in RF5.
Vishnal is my favourite! He’s so sweet and always tries his hardest even if it often results in failure. I married him in the 3DS version of the game and I plan on marrying him again once I get back to the Switch version. He’s not too hard to romance. Sure his fave gift is hard but he has other gifts he likes well enough to get him to like you without too much trouble.
Mimi Cheems
gonna watch it burn! ♡
Thank you so much for your input! :> I want to cook more, but when I go to cook higher RP recipes,,, I fail. Do you know how to increase your RP in-game? :3
Thank you Holla! I was also told there's more bachelors the further into the story/further into the game you get, so I'm really excited to meet ALL the characters!
Sorry for the wait. I read your question wrong. There are two ways to increase RP.
1. Naturally: Level up any skill. Walking, eating, sleeping, times you got a cold, times poisoned, times used water magic, a sword and so on. It will add 1 point (I think, dunno the exact number) to your max RP.
2. Food: Look at the effects section of a recipe, if it says something like “RP 20%”, then that means that it will temporarily increase your max RP number. That way you can craft more RP-consuming recipes. The problem is that the benefits will be gone once you eat another food or object.
Off the top of my head I think that Prelude to Love and Pineapple Juice have this effect. However, those are high level recipes to begin with. I remember making a lot of hot milk and boiled eggs in the beginning of my playthroughs, because they only need one ingredient.
Cooking is a tedious process, especially at the beginning. But keep at it!
Mimi Cheems
gonna watch it burn! ♡
Does anyone have any good strategies to beating the Thunderbolt Horse 
I'm level 16 and I'm on easy mode. I'm using the rod + fireball in my E slot.. but I die every time T^T I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if I'm just underleveled? ><
I'm level 16 and I'm on easy mode. I'm using the rod + fireball in my E slot.. but I die every time T^T I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if I'm just underleveled? ><
I don’t think that you’re under leveled. Wiki shows that he is at level 11. Unfortunately, the only way to beat him is by memorizing his move set; and hit and run.Does anyone have any good strategies to beating the Thunderbolt Horse
I'm level 16 and I'm on easy mode. I'm using the rod + fireball in my E slot.. but I die every time T^T I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if I'm just underleveled? ><
I usually fight the horse with short swords and water magic. I would do three hits and then run around. Hit more when he’s dizzy.
Maybe bring Forte along as well. Wiki says that she starts at level 12. Make sure that you have plenty of hp potions for yourself.
kilusion2011
"Will you go on to victory...or defeat?"
My best strategy with any bosses (or enemies) is hit them a few times before backing off so they can attack. Like Bluelady said, the best thing to do is memorize the attack pattern (or moveset) and being a buddy. Forte is able to join your party right away and she's your best partner. If you want others to join you, you'll have to raise their friendship by two levels.Does anyone have any good strategies to beating the Thunderbolt Horse
I'm level 16 and I'm on easy mode. I'm using the rod + fireball in my E slot.. but I die every time T^T I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if I'm just underleveled? ><
I personally use Dual Blades for my main weapon and the wind spell for my attacking spell (I also have a healing spell equipped too). I wish you the best of luck with Thunderbolt!
