MysticElodie
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judging RF4S as a remaster, it's... passable. the newlywed mode and another episodes are both cute, but there's not much depth to either of them- they're essentially just some extra romance scenes for each partner, which is fun. there's a decent amount of bug fixes/improvements for mechanics that could be annoying in the original game, but Special also introduces some audio/text issues that weren't present in the original... you get the idea. it's probably the best way to play this game, but not without some caveats.
i'd say the most notable thing is that it just doesn't look very good. the character portraits look great, but it's obvious that the rest of the game's textures were hastily upscaled from the 3DS version without much (if any) manual adjustment. it's something you'll get used to after playing for a bit, and it's mostly inoffensive in the grand scheme of things, but I mean... you can see it in pretty much any screenshot. it's not a pretty game if you look too closely at anything.
reviewing it as a full game, rather than just a remaster, though? oh my god. Rune Factory 4 knocks it out of the park in every area that I think a lot of newer farming sims miss, for me. there's a much bigger focus on character writing and relationships than you'll get with a game like Stardew Valley, and the main story ties those elements in with the game's RPG mechanics in a way that had me pretty invested from the jump. every character in Selphia has enough depth for you to form some kind of opinions on them, and the moment-to-moment dialogue is really fun.
given that Rune Factory's mission statement is "what if a farming sim and an action RPG were grafted into the same game", you're obviously working with a lot of different systems and ideas. the game leans into that very openly by giving you a cartoonish amount of skills to level for things like walking and sleeping, on top of the skills you'd expect. in spite of that, though, everything is streamlined and interconnected enough that it never feels cluttered or overwhelming.
the sum of those parts is a game that's just really, really good. RF4 made me remember what i loved so much about a genre that i've been pretty disillusioned with for a while, now. it's become an all-time favorite very quickly. there are mods if you want to get gay married. i made one of them.
i'd say the most notable thing is that it just doesn't look very good. the character portraits look great, but it's obvious that the rest of the game's textures were hastily upscaled from the 3DS version without much (if any) manual adjustment. it's something you'll get used to after playing for a bit, and it's mostly inoffensive in the grand scheme of things, but I mean... you can see it in pretty much any screenshot. it's not a pretty game if you look too closely at anything.
reviewing it as a full game, rather than just a remaster, though? oh my god. Rune Factory 4 knocks it out of the park in every area that I think a lot of newer farming sims miss, for me. there's a much bigger focus on character writing and relationships than you'll get with a game like Stardew Valley, and the main story ties those elements in with the game's RPG mechanics in a way that had me pretty invested from the jump. every character in Selphia has enough depth for you to form some kind of opinions on them, and the moment-to-moment dialogue is really fun.
given that Rune Factory's mission statement is "what if a farming sim and an action RPG were grafted into the same game", you're obviously working with a lot of different systems and ideas. the game leans into that very openly by giving you a cartoonish amount of skills to level for things like walking and sleeping, on top of the skills you'd expect. in spite of that, though, everything is streamlined and interconnected enough that it never feels cluttered or overwhelming.
the sum of those parts is a game that's just really, really good. RF4 made me remember what i loved so much about a genre that i've been pretty disillusioned with for a while, now. it's become an all-time favorite very quickly. there are mods if you want to get gay married. i made one of them.