Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma - Discussion Thread

[Kikki]

Ooo, I forgot a thing.

This game is coming out on my birthday, that's been established. Generally, nothing of merit or any kind of interest EVER happens on my birthdate (I try to ignore the implications of that being when I was born, lol), so that was fascinating to me and I latch on to anything that seems cool that happens on May 30. So I'm inclined to think of this game as sort of 'mine'. In a way.

The thing I forgot is...my workplace gives you a paid day off every year for your birthday. Now, I don't celebrate my birthday. Never have, not once...nor has anyone else in my family. We just don't do birthdays. However...I'm still gonna take a paid day off, you betcha. And now that I've thought of it, that 'free' money is like a present. It'll cover the cost of the game easily.

I dunno, it just feels like the world intends for me to play Guardians of Azuma, and right on release day, thank you please. So I'm just going to assume the best about it and hope it doesn't fall flat. I already like the game mechanics I've seen quite a bit with all the town-building stuff, so I'm fairly comfortable thinking I will at least like the game. (Really can't tell if it'll be on a 'love' level...it doesn't look special enough for that, or story-rich enough, but I guess we'll see in about 3.5 months.)

As for love interests...they aren't dazzling me. At the moment I think the most appealing one is actually the male MC, but as in Tides of Destiny, you can romance whichever MC you aren't playing, so if I still like him best once I meet all the others, well hey...I can go for him.

[Kross lover/fan]

Wow I completely forgot about this game since it’s first announcement and now I had a lot of catching up to do. A few bachelors look pretty good (esthetically speaking) to me but until I know how they are in game, I don’t know who I’ll go for. Or who knows, maybe I’ll go for the same « Chicken Hugging »

Didn’t o look at too much to the storyline since I didn’t want to get spoiled too much but seems like the mc has amnesia like always. I kinda wish they’d do something new but it’s also kinda nice they are sticking to tradition lol idk. Sounds like mc might actually get their memories back which I think is something new (only 4 had that I think???)

Other than that, I’m worried that the customization of shops right at your farm and sacred instruments will make the game too easy at some point but I guess you can choose not to use it :/ we’ll see how they balance that out if you get those options right away or if you have to work for it.

[Milo]

Didn’t o look at too much to the storyline since I didn’t want to get spoiled too much but seems like the mc has amnesia like always. I kinda wish they’d do something new but it’s also kinda nice they are sticking to tradition lol idk.

That would actually be breaking the pattern. So far, the defining difference between numbered sequels and non-numbered spinoffs is that protagonists in the main series always have amnesia, while protagonists in the spinoffs don't.

(The protagonist of Frontier is the same person as the protagonist of 1, so it can be argued that he technically has amnesia since he hasn't recovered the memories he lost at the beginning of the first game, but he hasn't forgotten the events of the first game, so he doesn't have new amnesia. Or anyway, his memory seems to be fine aside from that he forgot he's married...)

Sounds like mc might actually get their memories back which I think is something new (only 4 had that I think???)

2 had the protagonist remember his mission, although that's right when he stops being playable and you switch to playing his child (who never had amnesia, but also doesn't have a lot of memories yet).

Weirdly, however, even though the protagonist recovered his memories eventually, 2 didn't explain how he lost them in the first place, which I know at least 1 and 3 do actually reveal at some point.

[Kross lover/fan]

@Milo: Ah thank you for the reminder! I played all the RF games but it’s been so long that I’ve forgotten a lot of the details, especially about RF2. Not that it matters much for me because I usually get bored with the games around/shortly after I get married.

It’s true that amnesia is a staple at this point so I guess to change it would be sacrilege lol.

[Kikki]

Bachelor's Trailer, from Marv Europe (found it on YouTube):



EDIT: Oops. I wondered if they posted a bachelorette one as well, and it turns out they put them up at the same time, ten hours ago:

[Allie]

Happy Valentine's to us RF fans!! I'm happy and surprised that these two trailer videos were a good amount of new content and not just simply compilations of the 16 intro videos from this past week or so. Very fun to get all of this in such a short time!

And speaking of those separate intro videos, I don't see them linked here so if any non-twitter users do want an actual compilation, here's one on youtube for extra content of everyone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIGT5q9EVRM

I will say that Kai lovers in particular will want to check out his intro, especially the part at the end lol

[Kikki]

Um, so...it appears that Marv USA posted a video yesterday. I've no idea if it's new. But you can see for yourself:

[Solar Wind]

Hate HATE these close-up shots. It's so weird seeing characters get emotional, but their faces are completely unchanged aside from generic mouth flaps and maybe slight changes to their eyes.

I prefer the old way of showing 2D artwork. It was simpler, but those pictures were way better at conveying emotions. It weirdly didn't take me out of the scenes as much. Hopefully this is something that I'll just get used to over time.