Down on Jollity Farm
‘Tis the season for bleating about your business successes, and that includes the anime-lovin’ boys ‘n’ gals over at Marvelous. The Japanese publisher has proudly announced that its farming RPG, Rune Factory 5, has achieved an impressive 500,000 shipments and digital sales since its 2021 launch.
Originally released in Japan last May, before hitting these shores in March of this year, Rune Factory 5 tasks players with carving out a small niche for themselves within the quaint, sunny village of Rigbarth. As with its predecessors, the sequel combines repetitious farming action with world exploration and social interactions to create a cute, custom, slice-of-life adventure for its players. Rune Factory 5 also features a monster-taming mechanic, allowing ranchers to build up their own menagerie.
While Rune Factory 5 has clearly been something of a success, many critics and fans were left a little disappointed by this latest iteration. While players praised the title’s calming nature, eye for exploration, and attractive artwork, criticism was leveled at the title for its in-game visuals. Some in the Rune Factory community also expressed frustration at the title’s failure to evolve, essentially retreading an almost identical path to the games that came before it.
