It’s been a while since there’s been a Rune Factory spin-off game, but Marvelous is bringing that idea back with Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma. This installment features a new setting, new gameplay elements, and a whole new region that feels inspired by Asian cultures. To learn more about what to expect from this installment, Siliconera spoke to Producer Fujii Hisashi about Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, its development, its world, its characters, and what it’s like to romance a love interest and have children.
So when did development on Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma begin?
Hisashi Fujii: Development started in September 2021.
How did the different regions and cultures in Japan help shape depictions of the regions in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma?
Fujii: Specific examples aren’t coming to mind, but there are, of course, areas in the game that were inspired by specific areas in Japan. And, I’m sorry, just to help clarify, while there’s undoubtedly influence from Japan, it’s not intended to be Japan. It has a lot of Asian influences. It isn’t meant to be one-to-one with Japan.
In the case of the monsters, how did you ensure that the new ones would fit in with the new region while still blending in with existing Rune Factory monsters from past games that make an appearance here?
Fujii: Regarding the monsters that are new to the game, many of them were inspired by classic yokai from Japanese folklore, such as the kappa and the karasu tengu, the crow tengu. And so that’s kind of where the inspiration for the new monsters came from.
Are there any regional variants of returning monsters? Like, is there a new version of the Buffamoo based on the new locations in the game and the new seasons? Or is there just one type of Buffamoo, one type of Wooly, and that kind of thing.
Fujii: It’s a mixture of both. There are monsters in the game, such as the Woolys, that are, essentially, globally the same between Azuma and the world of the previous Rune Factory games, and then there are some monsters that have slight variations based on being in Azuma, such as color variations or slight appearance variations.
In Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, there’s a really big city management and building element. How did you come up with that idea? What kinds of challenges did you face when implementing that and keeping it balanced with all the other farming and fighting elements?
Fujii: Regarding the village building elements in the game, a core theme in the Rune Factory series is the idea of the Earthmate using their power to restore the Earth. And a big part of that, and part of the reason why we created this feature, is because we wanted a part of that to be not just restoring the Earth, but restoring the villages that the characters live in. Also to give players the ability to restore them as they see fit or to customzie them to their liking. So that was the impetus for creating the feature.
A number of the bachelors and bachelorettes of Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma are gods and goddesses. How did mythology shape their specific designs, abilities, and personalities?
Fujii: There are marriage candidates who were inspired by existing Japanese myths and gods, but that’s really not all there is to it. There’s really a lot of influence in various elements of their design. To give one specific example, the god of summer Matsuri. Her outfits are inspired by traditional Okinawan outfits, and her motif is the Okinawan hibiscus flower.
In the Rune Factory series, there are always a lot of romance options and opportunities to have relationship events when you’re starting to get together, when you’re dating, and when you’re married. Is that going to happen with Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma where there will be romance events continuing to happen even after you make a commitment?
Fujii: Pre-dating and post-dating, the scenarios are clearly divided. Before you start dating, you have the events to build your bonds with various characters. And the way of building these bonds is different from after you confess and actually start dating. And once you start dating, you’ll have date events. So that’s clearly demarcated within the scheme. And then also, of course after you get married, there are events around having a child. But there’s not a specific post-marriage scenario outside of just living together, having a child, and sort of the daily interactions.
Speaking of having a child, considering how you can assign people to work in town, can you put your child to work when they grow up and come of age in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma? Since you can have multiple people with you going into dungeons now, can your child become one of your allies? Can it be like a whole family trip?
Fujii: You can have up to two children in the game. The children can’t be put to work in town. You can’t assign them tasks, but you can bring them on adventures with you as party members. And as with the other major NPCs in the game, you can raise your bond level with your children and through interactions and gifts. And also, bringing them with you will raise their bond level. As their bond level goes up, there will be certain skills that are unlocked that they can use in battle. And that’s true of all the NPCs you can bring with you.
I noticed when you have your allies in battle, there can be party banter. Are there going to be romantic rivals for the player in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma if there are characters who seem like they kind of get along like in older Story of Seasons games’ rival marriage?
Fujii: There is no rival marriage in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, but as you noticed, there are many different variations on battle dialogue that can play depending on which characters are accompanying you into battle. If a character has a good relationship with another character within the game setting, then there may be a very specific dialogue that will play between them in battle. So we think that really players of the game can enjoy experiencing just how many kinds of variations on these battle dialogues there are.
Also, which characters are friends with other characters is something that’s set within the game. It’s not something that the player can necessarily influence.
How did Rune Factory 5 feedback shape Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma?
Fujii: As the development team, we took the feedback we received from users on Rune Factory 5 very seriously and made our best effort to improve some elements in Guardians of Azuma.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma will come to the Nintendo Switch and PC on May 30, 2025.