Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma was provided by Marvelous USA for review. Thank you!

I first got into the Rune Factory series with the third entry, when it released on the DS in 2009. It was one of the first memorable farming simulator JRPGs I played, and it got me hooked on the series. This continued with Rune Factory 4 on the 3DS, which further deepened my enjoyment of the games. However, I didn't have a chance to play Rune Factory 5 when it was released, which changed things somewhat. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, the newest entry in the series, takes the series in a different direction than I expected, which I ended up liking, even if I missed some of the old ideas.

The most surprising element of the game that still sticks with me is the story and characters. You play as a protagonist who finds out they are an Earth Dancer after having a dream about dragons. You meet one of the dragons in your dream, who takes the form of an adorable sheep-like creature, and set off to save the land from the Celestial Collapse.

It starts off a bit slower than I would like, but the narrative ramps up the longer you play, which is where I was shocked. I expected the story to be more predictable, going from different season-themed villages to resurrect the gods of each and build up your power, but there were some more memorable moments later on that I didn't expect. I won't say much more about the story, but it's worth it to keep playing, even if it feels too slow.

The cast of characters in Guardians of Azuma is outstanding as well. The protagonist has more personality than I expected, and the people you can bond with are quite enjoyable to get to know. The game features a bonding system, where you can spend time getting to know each character and growing closer, with there being options for some romance and marriage down the line. Not everyone you can bond with is romanceable, but there are enough options to feel fulfilled, and I enjoyed getting to know almost everyone.

As you bond, their bond level goes up as well, which unlocks a sheet that gives details about their personal preferences and some bonuses you get as you level them up. This is another great motivator to take the time to bond with each person, but in all honesty, I found myself enamored with the process and didn't need much more to spend my time getting to know them.

One thing I do want to commend is the English voice acting. I always get worried about English dubs for games or anime coming from Japan, but I feel they did a great job here. The protagonist is fully voice-acted, as well as most of the cast that you come across, and I found myself taking my time in each conversation to listen in on what everyone had to say.

The gameplay mechanics are where I felt most conflicted, giving me both a sense of satisfaction and a longing for the older systems of previous entries. The combat and exploration have more of a focus in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, which feels rewarding most of the time. It's very simple, with your main weapons having basic attacks, artifacts that can trigger stronger elemental attacks, and a second ranged weapon. There are different weapons to try out, but it's still very basic.

Even still, it feels satisfying to an extent. Dodging at the right time slows time down to get in more damage, and using the right elemental attacks can devastate enemies. I do miss the more in-depth mechanics we see in other games, like complex combos and customizable abilities, but I wasn't bored. You can also bring up to three others to fight with you, unlocking more people to choose from as you bond.

A lot of this will happen in dungeons and in the open-ish world, where you will find enemies to fight and resource nodes. Apart from some bland textures and some uninspired dungeons, I love how vibrant and colorful the world is. It reminds me of Genshin Impact's aesthetic, with some slightly rigid models here and there. Still, I enjoyed running through the world regardless.

There are also a solid number of spots in the world that provide some good benefits, and it can feel rewarding to explore and find them. I enjoyed exploring the nooks and crannies of the many places we got to discover, and I felt like there was always something to find that could be useful.

Outside of combat, we also have farming, crafting, and foraging for materials, which takes a bit of a backseat in this entry. The game will very quickly put you in charge of villages, which allows you to assign villagers to different jobs, which can automate material collecting and farming. On one hand, it does take away some of the monotony of these systems, but on the other hand, part of that was something I found charming in the series. Still, I would say it's not the end of the world.

While I like the village system as a whole, I did feel restricted with the land I was able to build, farm, and put decorations on. I like that putting these decorations and buildings actually gave me different stat boosts, like increasing HP or RP, but I wish I were able to expand the land more. There are other plots that can be unlocked, but it doesn't stop me from feeling limited.

However, I do enjoy the progression systems in Guardians of Azuma. Almost everything you do in the game gives you skill points for its corresponding skill tree, whether that be with the weapons, sacred treasures, or mundane activities like cooking, constructing, and social activities. All of them provide upgrades and abilities for their corresponding theme, as well as stat boosts that can be helpful no matter what you are doing. It felt like every activity I could do in-game had meaning outside of that activity, which I liked a lot.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience, especially on the Steam Deck, even with some compromises that are needed.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma - Steam Deck Performance

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma was also released on the Nintendo Switch, so I wasn't too worried about playability on the Steam Deck, and there won't be much to worry about. The majority of areas in the game are very playable and run quite well. However, there are a few very open spots that can cause issues when running through, and in the end, it was enough to have to modify settings to make it playable.

Recommended Settings

I thought long and hard about the settings I would personally recommend, and in the end, I had to make concessions. I love how the game feels when it's smooth, but I also wanted to maximize the visuals. This isn't necessarily hard to do, but these open areas are much more difficult to manage. But, with a 40 FPS lock, Medium visuals with High textures, and TSR upscaling on Balanced, we can keep everything stable with battery drain a bit smaller in most areas.

The biggest problem for performance here is Mesh quality. At Medium, the details for models pop in when getting close, and it's very noticeable. I really wanted to keep it on High to eliminate pop-in, but unfortunately, it took away too much performance, and even with everything else on low, it would drop under 30 FPS. So, we have to keep it on Medium.

I also found that I preferred TSR upscaling over FSR. While image quality is around the same, with FSR looking a little sharper further away, the ghosting around yourself when fighting and enemies is much more noticeable, and I found it distracting. The performance is slightly better with FSR, but it is minimal compared to the visual issues, so I went with TSR.

The battery drain ranges around 12W - 16W on average, with the larger areas being capped at 19W with a TDP limit of 12. It's a solid balance on all fronts, and I can't complain!

60 FPS Settings

If you want a solid 60 FPS throughout the game, it is possible, but it requires more compromise. We have to lower the Shadows and Mesh quality to Low, go to FSR on Performance mode, and have no TDP limit. But if we do this, we can get 60 FPS throughout the game. The open areas do have some minor drops here and there, but it should stick strong in combat where it's needed. I wish the game looked a bit better here, too, but unfortunately, we need those sacrifices for 60.

Quality Settings

For the quality settings, my main focus was to get rid of upscaling altogether and try to keep the render resolution at 100%. This is going to be possible, but it comes at a slight cost. We will have to lock to 30 FPS while keeping Mesh quality down to Medium. But with everything else on High and no TDP limit, we can get a nice, stable framerate with a gorgeous picture.

This also keeps battery drain down more than I initially expected, making this a great battery saver build as well. I still personally prefer the smoothness of higher framerates, but this is nice too.

Accessibility

In the settings, we can change text speed and toggle non-essential subtitles, change the difficulty, toggle screenshake, vibration, skipping repeated text, change party chatter frequency, change camera speed and inverted controls, remap keybindings, and change volume settings.

There isn't support for 16:10 resolutions, but we do have controller support and cloud saves. There are no HDR settings.

Conclusion

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a great entry in the franchise that hits more highs than lows. The story and cast of characters are fantastic, while the world is great to look at, and the combat, while basic, is enjoyable. I like the automation that comes from villagers and enjoy the progression systems, though I do miss doing things manually every now and then. I wish there were more land to farm and build on, since it sometimes feels a bit limiting, but it's overall quite enjoyable to play around with.

The Steam Deck's performance is solid, even with some compromises, and I can't complain. 40 FPS feels great with the game looking nice, while TSR upscaling helps keep higher framerates and lower battery drain when in closer areas. This is a wonderful game to play in general, and it feels right at home on the go.

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.