The Rune Factory franchise originated as a spin-off of the farming simulator role-playing game Story of Seasons (formerly known as Harvest Moon), in celebration of its tenth anniversary. Rune Factory’s first entry, which is subtitled A Fantasy Harvest Moon, won over gamers with its combination of ancestral farming and social interaction mechanics with dungeon crawling and fantasy elements.

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As fans keep their fingers crossed for news of another installment in the franchise after the divisive Rune Factory 5’s release and the more positively received Rune Factory 3 Special, let’s revisit the franchise's previous entries. While not every game is of the same level, the JRPG sim series is generally quite consistent, with most projects offering something of value. That said, which is the best Rune Factory game?

Updated January 8, 2024 by Mark Sammut:Marvelous' Rune Factory has amassed a dedicated following over the last two decades, and the series has enjoyed a fairly active few years. Since the start of the decade, Rune Factory 5 and Rune Factory 3 Special have been released, both of which are more than capable of satisfying a craving for relaxing action RPGs with farming sim elements. How does the future look for the series?

7 Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny

Metascore: 55

Rune Factory’s first spin-off entry and the second to feature 3D graphics, Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny ventures the farthest from the franchise’s roots. Rather than kicking things off with an amnesiac main character, the game’s two protagonists are suddenly whisked away from their island home and become stuck together in one body. On top of an intriguing plot and fresh aquatic setting, the title is also credited with having the best combat system in the series.

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However, Tides of Destiny's abysmal farming system and its lack of Rune Factory’s iconic character portraits drown out the game’s better qualities. This spin-off is difficult to place since it falls well short in one of the franchise's main appeals: farming. Rune Factory's holistic genre-blending approach is among its strongest features, allowing players to indulge in various mechanics rather than focusing exclusively on one or two aspects. Tides of Destiny does not quite deliver that experience.

6 Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon

Metascore: 78

As the game that started it all, there’s no way not to look back on this title fondly. Without it, all the Rune Factory titles fans know and love today would not exist. But nostalgia aside, Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon is easily the roughest title in the franchise as Rune Factory began figuring itself out.

It is by no means a bad game, but it serves best as a launching pad for the rest of the series rather than being one of its gems, its successors all making improvements and adding ingenious spins to its delightful formula.

5 Rune Factory 5

Metascore: 74

This game, unfortunately, disappointed many fans upon its highly anticipated release. Its biggest letdowns are its graphics and an unstable frame rate resulting in lagging gameplay and longer loading times. Although past Rune Factory titles had explored 3D graphic styles, Rune Factory 5’s attempt fell flat. While its character models are lovely, the exterior world is far too sprawling and lacking in detail which gives the game an empty, sparse atmosphere in sharp contrast to its formerly rich and cozy aesthetic.

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All of its negatives aside though, Rune Factory 5 still delivers the fun gameplay and charming characters the franchise is known for. It also added many quality-of-life mechanics and was the first entry to allow players to marry romanceable characters of the same sex. In this day and age, this release is among the better gateway options for newcomers to the series, even if it is not quite fantastic.

4 Rune Factory 2

Metascore: 77

Rune Factory 2 marks the moment that Rune Factory truly became its own franchise, independent of Story of Seasons, with the references to the origin series that feature in Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon being dropped. Rune Factory 2 remained quite similar to its predecessor, with the exception of its integral children mechanic and its inclusion of marriage rivals.

Having children is an established element of the franchise but this entry requires bearing a child to trigger the second half of the plot, wherein the protagonist’s child takes over as the main character. These additions remained the most dynamic mechanics related to offspring in the series.

3 Rune Factory: Frontier

Metascore: 79

Rune Factory: Frontier acted as a direct sequel to Rune Factory 1 and the franchise’s first foray into the realm of 3D design. Visually, the game is one of the most stunning in the series and is everything that fans wish Rune Factory 5 was. The dimension and depth of 3D graphics are achieved while maintaining the lush and ornate trademark quality of the franchise’s usual 2D settings.

Despite its fondly regarded beauty, Rune Factory: Frontier is dragged down by its new Runey system, which is the bane of many players’ existences, as well as a lackluster story.

2 Rune Factory 3/Special

Metascore: 77 (Original)

Despite being one of the older entries in the series, Rune Factory 3 features what is arguably the franchise’s coolest gameplay mechanic, the ability to transform the protagonist into one of the monsters that players usually battle against. This unique mechanic is a major aspect of Rune Factory 3’s plot which revolves around uniting the worlds of monsters and humans together, creating a game that was innovative and entertaining in both its story and its gameplay.

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Rune Factory 3 also showcases some of the best character designs and outfits in the franchise, partly thanks to the fictional town’s zany fashion designer. In further affirmation of its exceptionality, a remastered Rune Factory 3 Special was released for the Nintendo Switch, and it was also well received. If a new player is planning to pick this entry up, they should go with the Special edition.

1 Rune Factory 4/4 Special

Metascore: 81 (Original)

Originally released in 2012 as Rune Factory 4, a remastered version of the title was released as Rune Factory 4 Special in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. The revamped game managed to revitalize the Rune Factory franchise, leading to the release of Rune Factory 5 just a few years later, a game that fans never thought would come to fruition. With such a significant role in maintaining the series, it’s no surprise that the game is the best of the bunch.

Of the character-oriented franchise, Rune Factory 4 is the entry that offers the longest dialogue script and the most opportunities for character interaction, with the cast of the game constantly having special dialogue triggered with NPCs and the protagonist. The title was also the first to massively expand on its romance components, expanding on dating and post-marriage mechanics. It is the epitome of heartwarming, cozy gaming.

Rune Factory's Future

Marvelous has confirmed that two Rune Factory projects are in development. Unsurprisingly, one of them is the next mainline entry in the series, Rune Factory 6. Almost nothing about the game has been revealed by this point, with its existence being the only available information. At the very least, this reveal showed that Marvelous plans to double-down on the franchise, so fans won't have to wait almost a decade for a proper sequel like they did with Rune Factory 5.

Perhaps more interestingly, the company also announced Rune Factory: Project Dragon, the franchise's first spin-off game since 2011's Tides of Destiny. Even if the latter is polarizing, the series has a fine track record when it comes to spin-offs, and they tend to provide an avenue for exploration or expansion. Project Dragon will have a Japanese aesthetic since it will be set in the Lands of the East.

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