Rune Factory 4 Special was announced during a Nintendo Direct earlier this year alongside a first gameplay trailer. At the same time the developers also announced that Rune Factory 5 is currently in development and slated for a release date in 2020. Nintendo Dream, a Japanese magazine has recently sat down with Yoshifumi Hashimoto, the president of Hakama as well as Marvelous game designer / planner Shirou Maekawa.

In the interview the reason behind remastering Rune Factory 4 for Nintendo Switch has been revealed, according to Maekawa “…we thought it was a good opportunity, and we created “Rune Factory 4 Special” as a means to reintroduce what “Rune Factory” is as a series, and for the fans who are looking forward to “5”. We feel that the Nintendo Switch is a great way to show off the amazing fantasy lifestyle and gorgeous heroes and heroines…”

Maekawa also went into detail about the brand new “Newlywed Mode” mode which players of the game are extremely excited about. He mentioned “In “Newlywed Mode”, you can marry your partner and play together. It focuses on your newlywed life with your new spouse, and there are even new scenarios to enjoy with each character. In “Newlywed Mode”, you can really learn all about the spouses you weren’t introduced to before and realize the true charm of each character.”

Rune Factory 5 was also part of the interview and while Maekawa continues to be very vague about any specific details. He shares his excitement about the current progress and he states “We want to make something special with “Rune Factory 5” that will live up to all of the fans’ expectations! We’ve still got some time before it releases, but the development team is all in high spirits after seeing everyone’s amazing responses from the announcement.”

Rune Factory 4 Special will be heading to Nintendo Switch later this year and will feature all new graphics and the Newlywed Mode. If you haven’t already make sure you check out the adorable and stunning first Rune Factory 4 Special gameplay trailer.

Big thanks to our friends at Nintendo Everything for translating the interview.