It’s been a long time since we heard anything from the Rune Factory series, but that changed back in February during a Nintendo Direct where Marvelous revealed Rune Factory 5 for the Nintendo Switch. Today, the company has reaffirmed that the game is launching in 2020, which came in the form a brand new teaser trailer. The video itself doesn’t show any actual gameplay, as it’s more of a tribute to the series as a whole, but we did get a bit of a tease for the protagonists at the end.
For those who don’t know, Rune Factory is a spin off series to the popular Harvest Moon franchise. However, the main difference between the two is that in Rune Factory you have actual battles with monsters in dungeons, and in some cases, bringing them to your side for various tasks. These include assisting you in future fights, farming crops, or producing goods for you to sell. Think of it as an RPG dungeon crawler, where you also maintain a farm while building relationships with the local townsfolk.
Originally developed by Neverland Company, Rune Factory got its start on the Nintendo DS in 2006. It’s sequels, Rune Factory 2 and 3 followed suit, while 4 was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012. Unfortunately Neverland filed for bankruptcy soon after, and the future of the franchise was questionable at best. The publisher of the series, Marvelous, came in and took over the development process, and has since announced Rune Factory 5.
Hopefully we’ll get more information as the year goes on, specifically a full release date. Rune Factory 5 launches sometime in 2020 for the Nintendo Switch. You can watch the teaser trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zee5-T4EFqs
