Project Dragon: Rune Factory Discussion Thread

Covering Innocent Life (PsP/Ps2), Rune Factory 1 (DS), Rune Factory 2 (DS), Rune Factory 3 (DS/Switch), Rune Factory Frontier (Wii), Rune Factory Tides of Destiny (Wii/Ps3), Rune Factory 4 (3DS/Switch/Steam), and Rune Factory 5 (Switch/Steam).
Daisuke Tsubasa
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Alright, the dust has long since settled and I thought I'd make a thread about what we know so far to separate it from the RF6 thread.

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Name: Ryu no Kuni / Dragon Country: Rune Factory (Tentative ENG name: Project Dragon)
Platform(s): TBA
Release Date: TBA
Genre: JRPG / Life Sim / Action RPG / Open World (?)
Character Designer / Artist: ???
General Producer: Tsukuda Kenichiro (Armored Core 2, Armored Core 3, Daemon x Machina)
Producer: Fujii Hisashi
Director: Shiro Maekawa (Current Chief Director of the RF series; served as Assistant Producer for Rune Factory 4 Special, Project Manager for Rune Factory 5)
Composer: ???

Blurb from XSeed:
Series Director Shiro Maekawa joined Marvelous president and CEO Suminobu Sato to reveal the first footage of a new spinoff in the Rune Factory series, Project Dragon. Building upon the central theme of “East and West,” Project Dragon is set in the “Land of the East,” which has long been referenced but never shown in the series, where Earthmates will explore new lands and communities with Japanese-styled design influences.
Misc confirmed details
-Shiro Maekawa dodged the question as to whether or not the new protagonists would be amnesiacs.
-PDRF will be radically different from previous entries but aspects such as adventure, life simulation, and romance will be preserved for the new title.
-Maekawa mentioned in the Marvelous stream of this entry taking on a different art direction compared to previous entries but it does not debunk Iwasaki's involvement. The artist for Project Dragon remains unknown.
-Project Dragon Rune Factory is the "east" to Rune Factory 6's "west".

Misc speculation
-Open world Rune Factory? The trailer has a feeling reminiscent of titles such as The Legend of Zelda BotW/TotK (Nintendo) and Genshin Impact (Hoyoverse).
-The artist may or may have not changed. The art direction is different but there is no confirmation on this either.

Links
Marvelous Game Showcase 2023 Archive:
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Terranigma Freak
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So this is a spinoff of a series that was a spinoff of another series.
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I am SO excited for all the SOS and Rune Factory games they announced! They look amazing already! :) :heart:
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Terranigma Freak wrote: May 27, 2023 3:21 pm So this is a spinoff of a series that was a spinoff of another series.
Not really. They called it a spinoff but if anything I'd compare it more to Rune Factory Frontier and Rune Factory Oceans / Tides of Destiny. All three are titles that deviate from the main numbered entries but keep core aspects of the series' core gameplay and mechanics. We don't know how Dragon will handle farming but Oceans did it differently from 1-5 while Frontier kept it simple.

Although if it does successfully or if they commit to it, we could see a subset of Dragon Kingdom sequels (ENG translation for Ryu no Kuni, which is the official and final name in Japanese but Project Dragon is a tentative localization name). Maybe a Ryu no Kuni RF2 set in another region in the East maybe. Perhaps a region bordering the more Chinese aspects e.g. where Xiaopai and Linfa from 4 came from.

Additionally, I'd like to see a spinoff entry set in the Nation of Elves.
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Daisuke Tsubasa wrote: May 30, 2023 3:50 am
Terranigma Freak wrote: May 27, 2023 3:21 pm So this is a spinoff of a series that was a spinoff of another series.
Although if it does successfully or if they commit to it, we could see a subset of Dragon Kingdom sequels (ENG translation for Ryu no Kuni, which is the official and final name in Japanese but Project Dragon is a tentative localization name). Maybe a Ryu no Kuni RF2 set in another region in the East maybe. Perhaps a region bordering the more Chinese aspects e.g. where Xiaopai and Linfa from 4 came from.

Additionally, I'd like to see a spinoff entry set in the Nation of Elves.
I would love that! Both seeing more of Ryu no Kuni, and a spinoff more centered on the elves.
I always enjoy getting more lore and world building for the franchise, so I hope they do more games set in different parts of the world in the future. :)
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Shortybread wrote: May 30, 2023 4:57 pm
Daisuke Tsubasa wrote: May 30, 2023 3:50 am
Terranigma Freak wrote: May 27, 2023 3:21 pm So this is a spinoff of a series that was a spinoff of another series.
Although if it does successfully or if they commit to it, we could see a subset of Dragon Kingdom sequels (ENG translation for Ryu no Kuni, which is the official and final name in Japanese but Project Dragon is a tentative localization name). Maybe a Ryu no Kuni RF2 set in another region in the East maybe. Perhaps a region bordering the more Chinese aspects e.g. where Xiaopai and Linfa from 4 came from.

Additionally, I'd like to see a spinoff entry set in the Nation of Elves.
I would love that! Both seeing more of Ryu no Kuni, and a spinoff more centered on the elves.
I always enjoy getting more lore and world building for the franchise, so I hope they do more games set in different parts of the world in the future. :)
Same. It did shock me a bit that the name of Norad's Royal Capital was revealed to be Palermo in RF5. Because it shares the same name as Palermo Shrine, a major location in RF2; which makes me wonder if the Royal Family was also responsible for sealing Fiersome.
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Daisuke Tsubasa wrote: May 30, 2023 6:21 pm Same. It did shock me a bit that the name of Norad's Royal Capital was revealed to be Palermo in RF5. Because it shares the same name as Palermo Shrine, a major location in RF2; which makes me wonder if the Royal Family was also responsible for sealing Fiersome.
Ohh, that is interesting!
I haven't played RF2 (I'm hoping they'll make a Special edition in the future so I can!) but the name Palermo did sound familiar, so I must've heard about Palermo Shrine at some point. The building in the RF6 logo looks very grand, and I wondered if it could be the capital - maybe we'll get to learn more about that connection in 6?

I hope that Project Dragon has lots of nods to the other games in some form or another. :) I do think it would be really cool to see some of our established characters in the PD art style, if they want to bring any of them back. That would depend on when in the timeline this game is taking place, of course —
Spoiler:
except maybe in the case of a character like Mei. :lala:
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Shortybread wrote: May 30, 2023 9:20 pm
Daisuke Tsubasa wrote: May 30, 2023 6:21 pm Same. It did shock me a bit that the name of Norad's Royal Capital was revealed to be Palermo in RF5. Because it shares the same name as Palermo Shrine, a major location in RF2; which makes me wonder if the Royal Family was also responsible for sealing Fiersome.
Ohh, that is interesting!
I haven't played RF2 (I'm hoping they'll make a Special edition in the future so I can!) but the name Palermo did sound familiar, so I must've heard about Palermo Shrine at some point. The building in the RF6 logo looks very grand, and I wondered if it could be the capital - maybe we'll get to learn more about that connection in 6?

I hope that Project Dragon has lots of nods to the other games in some form or another. :) I do think it would be really cool to see some of our established characters in the PD art style, if they want to bring any of them back. That would depend on when in the timeline this game is taking place, of course —
Spoiler:
except maybe in the case of a character like Mei. :lala:
Mei would be easy to place because she's implied to be cursed with immortality, going by her dialogue in RF1 and titbits from the RF Official Memoirs that releases in 2010. If that is the case, it'd be tragic listening to her dialogue lmao

"You're an Earthmate too, huh? I knew one... many decades ago."

I'd estimate the timeline to be around RF5 if they want to put in another cameo from that game. Maybe an older/adult Hina who's decided to travel back to the East. Given the other-worldly feeling we've seen in Project Dragon's setting, maybe the East is where the Weremonsters come from and there, they're known as Yokai.
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Daisuke Tsubasa wrote: May 31, 2023 12:04 pm
Shortybread wrote: May 30, 2023 9:20 pm
Daisuke Tsubasa wrote: May 30, 2023 6:21 pm Same. It did shock me a bit that the name of Norad's Royal Capital was revealed to be Palermo in RF5. Because it shares the same name as Palermo Shrine, a major location in RF2; which makes me wonder if the Royal Family was also responsible for sealing Fiersome.
Ohh, that is interesting!
I haven't played RF2 (I'm hoping they'll make a Special edition in the future so I can!) but the name Palermo did sound familiar, so I must've heard about Palermo Shrine at some point. The building in the RF6 logo looks very grand, and I wondered if it could be the capital - maybe we'll get to learn more about that connection in 6?

I hope that Project Dragon has lots of nods to the other games in some form or another. :) I do think it would be really cool to see some of our established characters in the PD art style, if they want to bring any of them back. That would depend on when in the timeline this game is taking place, of course —
Spoiler:
except maybe in the case of a character like Mei. :lala:
Mei would be easy to place because she's implied to be cursed with immortality, going by her dialogue in RF1 and titbits from the RF Official Memoirs that releases in 2010. If that is the case, it'd be tragic listening to her dialogue lmao

"You're an Earthmate too, huh? I knew one... many decades ago."

I'd estimate the timeline to be around RF5 if they want to put in another cameo from that game. Maybe an older/adult Hina who's decided to travel back to the East. Given the other-worldly feeling we've seen in Project Dragon's setting, maybe the East is where the Weremonsters come from and there, they're known as Yokai.
Ohh, yeah, the dialogue would be heartbreaking, and RF loves to tug at those heartstrings LOL
Aww, I would love to see Hina all grown up, that would be so cute! More Weremonster lore would be very welcome, too. I know info-dumps are unpopular with most people, but if they wanted to have some optional lore dumps in the form of books or something in Project Dragon I would eat that up! :lol:
I rarely read stuff like that in video games unless I'm already really invested in the game, but suffice to say - after playing all but 2 of the games in the franchise - I'm invested enough in RF to read whatever they give me.
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Shortybread wrote: May 31, 2023 8:41 pmOhh, yeah, the dialogue would be heartbreaking, and RF loves to tug at those heartstrings LOL
Aww, I would love to see Hina all grown up, that would be so cute! More Weremonster lore would be very welcome, too. I know info-dumps are unpopular with most people, but if they wanted to have some optional lore dumps in the form of books or something in Project Dragon I would eat that up! :lol:
I rarely read stuff like that in video games unless I'm already really invested in the game, but suffice to say - after playing all but 2 of the games in the franchise - I'm invested enough in RF to read whatever they give me.
I just want them to differentiate what separates a half-Monster like Micah or (I know RF3 is like, 14 years old at this point but better safe than sorry)
Spoiler:
Raven
...from a Weremonster.

None of this is confirmed but my take is that half-Monster refers to any entity or being that mates with a monster (which sounds weird on paper, I know). While Weremonsters are their own unique sub-species.
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Daisuke Tsubasa wrote: Jun 01, 2023 2:32 am I just want them to differentiate what separates a half-Monster like Micah or (I know RF3 is like, 14 years old at this point but better safe than sorry)
Spoiler:
Raven
...from a Weremonster.

None of this is confirmed but my take is that half-Monster refers to any entity or being that mates with a monster (which sounds weird on paper, I know). While Weremonsters are their own unique sub-species.
Yeah, I'd guess something similar! Maybe half-monsters could even be the result of a weremonster and a human/elf/dwarf having a child? But I'm not sure if there's been something in one of the games to refute that possibility or not - there's a lot of random lore bits scattered throughout the series that can be easy to overlook. :lol:
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Out of every RF spin-offs so far, this one seems the most different to me. It was really unsettling how different it looked for a RF game but when the Wooly showed up, it sorta all clicked together. :lol: It looks promising, just needs to be done right. There's nothing much I can say gameplay wise but I like that they've promised to keep the core elements of the RF series and introduced bows. Graphics wise, it's gorgeous. The character models can be compared to Genshin but the graphics remind me more of something you'd see in the latest Pokemon titles honestly. But overall I'm glad we're getting a graphical upgrade from RF5 (even though I'm not too crazy about graphics). Harvestella's addition as a competitor probably got them to put much more efforts visually. I hope the scale is right this time around though, RF5 felt too expansive, slow and empty.

I really like this shot of what seems to be the town of this game. It looks good to me personally, not too crazy but the large tree definitely stands out and adds a lot to the town which is nice. Somewhat reminds me of Sakuna here.
Spoiler:
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I agree with what justabeautifulguy said about Harvestella being introduced as a competitor. This probably forced them to up their game as far as graphics, story, combat, pretty much every aspect. I think everything looks beautiful so far, and I’m so looking forward to meeting the characters. I can see myself getting obsessed with this one.
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There's usually a September direct, I wonder if this game will finally get a release date on the Direct or not. If not, it was definitely an interesting choice to tease the game this early. I'm personally expecting a Holiday 2023/Spring 2024 release for this one.
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RodCopper Fishin wrote: Jun 16, 2023 6:45 pm I agree with what justabeautifulguy said about Harvestella being introduced as a competitor. This probably forced them to up their game as far as graphics, story, combat, pretty much every aspect. I think everything looks beautiful so far, and I’m so looking forward to meeting the characters. I can see myself getting obsessed with this one.
This is why I honestly want Harvestella to continue as a series. It's gonna force RF devs to step it up every time with a new title. Though, the sad reality is that Square Enix just announced they will focus more on their AAA titles rather than mid-sized titles like Harvestella from now onwards so there's a high chance a sequel might never see the light.

I'm still excited for this one. I think it really helps that it looks so different from everything we've had so far.
Meowie wrote: Aug 01, 2023 3:38 am There's usually a September direct, I wonder if this game will finally get a release date on the Direct or not. If not, it was definitely an interesting choice to tease the game this early. I'm personally expecting a Holiday 2023/Spring 2024 release for this one.
I really hope it comes in Summer 2024 at earliest so the game is fleshed out but it might come out earlier. I'm pretty sure Marvelous' shareholders weren't happy with RF5's reception so they might be trying to put this out as early as possible to show there's still potential for this series.
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