Feb 25, 2020Quick Bits
Rune Factory 4 Special was announced what now feels like years ago during a Nintendo Direct. After the initial release back in 2012 on the popular Nintendo 3DS, the game finally makes its way to Nintendo Switch in its most colorful, more polished and best version of it yet.
To celebrate the release of Rune Factory 4 Special XSEED Games has released a colorful launch trailer.
Rune Factory 4 Special features enhanced visuals and a new mode called “Newlywed Mode” in which the player can experience special episodes with a spouse. You will also be able to get special items that can later be unlocked in Rune Factory 5.
Rune Factory 4 Special is now available on Nintendo Switch. You can even still grab your copy of the game via Amazon right here.
The Archival Edition of course includes the main Rune Factory 4 Special game for Nintendo Switch. It also packs a 160 page art book featuring some of the most stunning art from the game.
The collectors edition also comes with the official soundtrack featuring a total of 33 songs you can listen to whenever you want. The Swimsuit Day DLC is also included and when activated all characters will appear in swimsuits.
Feb 12, 2020Quick Bits
Rune Factory 4 Special was announced what now feel like years ago during a Nintendo Direct. After the initial release back in 2012 on the popular Nintendo 3DS, the game finally made its way to Nintendo Switch in its most colorful, more polished and best version of it yet.
Rune Factory 4 Special recently got its western release date making the game available in the US and Europe in addition to Japan.
XSEED Games and Marvelous finally lifted the curtain on the release date for Rune Factory 4 Special! The game will be available on February 25th in North America and only 3 days later on February 28th in Europe!
To celebrate the upcoming release you can watch some new gameplay showing the first 45 minutes of the game!
Hokko Life is a village simulation game inspired by Animal Crossing. Live with animal villagers, furniture creation, fishing, gardening and so much more! Get the latest on Hokko Life here!
If you are looking to play a co-op game with your valentine and/or loved one, check out these wholesome games you can play together right now!
Jan 26, 2020Quick Bits
Only a few days ago XSEED Games announced that Rune Factory would finally be coming to the west! To celebrate the occasion the company held a livestream revealing the first ever English Rune Factory 4 Special gameplay!
For the ones who don’t know yet, Rune Factory 4 Special features enhanced visuals and a new mode called “Newlywed Mode” in which the player can experience special episodes with a spouse – as well as other new enhancements and features! You will also be able to get special items that can later be unlocked in Rune Factory 5!
If you can’t wait for the release next month, then you can watch some brand new gameplay footage below. The one hour stream showcased a good amount of everything you can look forward to when the games lands on the Nintendo Switch!
Jan 23, 2020News
Rune Factory 4 Special was announced almost a year ago during a Nintendo Direct. After the initial release back in 2012 on the popular Nintendo 3DS, the game finally made its way to Nintendo Switch in a more colorful, more polished and best version of it yet. However the Special edition was only available in Japan as of now.
Rune Factory 4 Special features enhanced visuals and a new mode called “Newlywed Mode” in which the player can experience special episodes with a spouse. You will also be able to get special items that can later be unlocked in Rune Factory 5.
XSEED Games and Marvelous finally lifted the curtain on the release date for Rune Factory 4 Special! The game will be available on February 25th in North America and only 3 days later on February 28th in Europe!
If you pre-order the Rune Factory 4 Special you will also receive the exclusive Swimsuit Day DLC. Even better, you can pre-load the game on the Nintendo Switch eShop today!
Take a look at the announcement trailer for Rune Factory 4 Special below!
More related News!If you are an Animal Crossing fans you should check out the latest on New Horizons right here, including a manga series, Garden kit and more!
Story of Seasons for Nintendo Switch is also still in development!
Nov 29, 2019Feature
This list of all PC, mobile, and console games releasing in December is probably my largest one yet! All cute and wholesome games that are slated for 2019 and “Winter 2019” will start having more specific dates as we come to the end of the this year or they may be slightly delayed. However, this is a perfect opportunity to take a look below at what’s coming for perfect holiday gifts, if you haven’t started your shopping yet.
Tools Up is a cooperative game about renovating homes. Paint walls, lay some tiles, move a bit of the furniture around in some pretty weird places. Developed by The Knights of Unity and published by All in! Games, Tools Up is releasing on December 3rd, 2019 for Steam, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.
Raccoo Venture is a 3D platform adventure game with playful aesthetic and a retro style of the 90s gameplay. Take control of Raccoo and awaken Sacred Force to face enemies and solve puzzles while exploring the 5 regions of Verta, discovering magic items that will help in this journey in search of the Relic’s Parts. Raccoo Venture will be releasing on Steam Early Access on December 11th, 2019.
Explore enchanting storybook worlds as a cat-witch and collect magical ingredients to craft costumes in Unfamiliar, a beautiful fantasy game coming to Steam on December 13th, 2019!
Wattam is developed by Funomena, published by Annapurna Interactive, and created from the imagination of Keita Takahashi (creator of Katamari Damacy). Play solo or same-screen co-op to help Mayor rediscover the joys of friendship on December 17th, 2019 on Epic Games Store and PS4.
Lost Words is a multi-award winning narrative game set inside a diary. The game is developed by Sketchbook Games and Fourth State and will be releasing December 2019 on PS4, Xbox One and Steam.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, developed by Edelweiss, and combines side-scrolling action with deep crafting and farming simulation. The game is releasing on PS4 and PC this winter along with a newly announced Nintendo Switch version.
After an unintended accident involving supernatural abilities, the boys flee from their home and away from the police. Together they travel from Seattle to Mexico. You have to make decisions as Sean, the older brother, which will have a direct impact on both of their lives. Now you can play all 5 episodes of Life is Strange 2 as of December 3rd, 2019 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Pretty Princess Magical Coordinate allows you to live the life of a princess and essentially become one as well. Decorate 20 rooms in the worn down castle and restore it to its former magical glory. You can download the free demo from the Japanese Nintendo eShop starting today, from anywhere as it is region unlocked, and try it out before the full release of the game on December 5th, 2019.
WAKU WAKU Sweets is a cooking game where you will need to master the expertise of pastry making. You can roll, mix, bake and create more than 100 recipes. It released in North America on the Nintendo eShop last year and now it’s getting a physical edition for the Switch on December 5th, 2019!
Riverbond is a charming voxel hack-and-slash dungeon-crawler developed by
Cococucumber. Play cooperatively and locally with friends and complete missions, find treasure, and defeat monsters and bosses. Riverbond released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC June 9th, 2019, and now is coming to the Nintendo Switch on December 10th, 2019!
Dragon Quest Builders 2 will be the first in the DQB series to launch for PC, and will be available on Steam starting December 10th. Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a cute open world game where you can build anything you can image with harvested materials. The game was released earlier this year for Nintendo Switch, and was very well received.
In this expansion pack you can indulge in daily college life, make friends, and find classes to attend. As you move to the university of your choice, you will be building and decorating up your dorm room to give it that personal touch! The Sims 4 Discover University will release on PC and Mac on November 15th, console players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will have to wait until December 17th.
This farming simulation RPG has been one of my favorite games to play on Steam. The developers at Bitten Toast Games expect to have a bit of a delay for the Switch release as they are adding a new island, more animals, and more quests to the game beforehand. However, they currently feel they can still release by the end of this year.
Rune Factory 4 Special is a Nintendo Switch remake of the much beloved 2014 Nintendo 3DS title. You can even purchase the ’Archival Edition’, is a beautifully crafted collection including an art book commemorating the work on the entire Rune Factory series by character designer Minako Iwasaki, as well as new illustrations for the premium box and art book cover by the artist. The game is slated for release in Winter 2019.
If you missed last month’s list, you can check it out here: Most Wholesome Game Releases in November. I’d like to hear from you which games you are most excited to play!
Sep 9, 2019News
Rune Factory 4 Special is a Nintendo Switch remake of the much beloved 2014 Nintendo 3DS title. The game slated for a release this fall is now also getting a beautiful Archival Edition!
XSEED Games and Marvelous surprised fans with a special unveiling of the Rune Factory 4 Special Archival Edition today! The beautiful package featuring some of the gorgeous Rune Factory 4 Special art will include a bunch of goodies and will be sold for $59.99.
The Archival Edition will of course include the main Rune Factory 4 Special game for Nintendo Switch. It will also pack a 160 page art book featuring some of the most stunning art from the game.
The collectors edition also includes the official soundtrack with a total of 33 songs you can listen to whenever you want. The Swimsuit Day DLC is also included and when activated all characters will appear in swimsuits.
The Rune Factory 4 Special Archival Edition will be released in North America and Europe alongside the main game later this year! XSEED also mentioned that pre-orders will open soon, we will be sure to update this post once pre-orders open!
If you are new to the Rune Factory franchise you can check out this guide and learn everything you need to know about these popular games! Rune Factory 5 is currently also in development for Nintendo Switch and the latest teaser makes us want to play the game even more!
Check out everything included below!
Rune Factory 4 Special ’Archival Edition’ is a beautifully crafted collection including an art book commemorating the work on the entire Rune Factory series by character designer Minako Iwasaki, as well as new illustrations for the premium box and art book cover by the artist. Full contents include:
– Physical copy of Rune Factory 4 Special for Nintendo Switch
– 160-page art book measuring 5.8” x 8.2” featuring the works of Minako Iwasaki from Rune Factory 1 through 4, Rune Factory: Frontier, and Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny
– Official soundtrack CD consisting of 33 tracks from the original release, plus 3 new tracks
– ‘Swimsuit Day’ DLC that adds an option to have characters appear in their swimsuits
– Premium custom box with original illustration by Minako Iwasaki
Aug 5, 2019News
The first Rune Factory game came out in Japan in 2006. When localized in North America in 2007, it was called Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon. If you haven’t played any Rune Factory games, you may wonder what ‘a fantasy Harvest Moon’ entails.
Those of us who are already fans of Rune Factory know the answer to these questions. However, the niche series came to the attention of a much larger group of people when it was seen in the February 2019 Nintendo Direct. People who had never even heard of it before were then asking “Rune Factory? What’s that?”
That question has even been asked by fans of the Bokujou Monogatari series (Initially localized as Harvest Moon in English but renamed to Story of Seasons when the localization team changed from Natsume to XSeed.) What does it mean that it is a ‘fantasy Harvest Moon’? Is it the same game, except in a fantasy setting? Today, we’re here to answer that question.
Rune Factory started as a spin-off and does have many of the same elements as Bokujou Monogatari (often abbreviated as Bokumono). It too is a life simulation game where you run a farm, and can build relationships with townfolk and even get married and have a child. But being in a fantasy world with magic and monsters is not the only difference between the two. Because Rune Factory has magic and monsters, and because you play a set character rather than creating your own, the gameplay is actually quite different.
In Rune Factory, you don’t create your own avatar character. Rather, you play a set character…the protagonist of the story. In the first Rune Factory, you played as Raguna. Each game has its own protagonist, and though you can choose to change their name at the beginning, you can’t change who they are.
Rune Factory 4 on 3DS marks the first time in the series that you had an option between a male or a female protagonist on start-up, but they, too, are set characters, with the default name of the male version of the main character being Lest and the default name of the female version being Frey.
Being unable to create your own character is because, unlike Bokumono…where the idea is some variation of coming to own a farm and making it a success, sometimes revitalizing the whole town in the process… Rune Factory is based on a larger plot.
Farming isn’t the only thing you’re there to do. To set right anything that has gone wrong in the world, you must also fight monsters, navigate dungeons and win boss battles.
To do this, you’ll need a broader range of skills than you do for farming alone. You will also need to hone not just your combat skill in your chosen weapon styles (you can change your weapon style at any time), but also your blacksmithing, cooking and magical abilities, as well as many more. For the most part you make use of your own weapons, armour, accessories, health potions, and so on. You start at level 1 in each skill, but can level up to 99 in all of them.
The latest game, Rune Factory 4, has over 30 individual skills. Raising them not only makes you better at that skill, it will also provide benefits to your base stats, such as making you physically or magically stronger, tougher, or more enduring. As you raise your skills, you will find yourself able to make better weapons (and food and armour, etc) out of better ingredients dropped from higher-level monsters and crops.
You can also tame the monsters you meet by petting and feeding them. Once tamed, you can keep them as companions, training them to fight at your side. Each monster has its own skill set, and you can add them to your party in a similar way to how you can add your fellow villagers to your party. (If you have a spouse and a child, you can even add both of them to your party and go out and fight as a family!) Some will do physical or elemental damage to your enemies, some from close range and others from a distance.
You can even tame boss monsters, like huge dragons. Some can be harvested for great ingredients every day, like milk, eggs, and honey. You can also reap crafting ingredients like fur and fangs. Keeping a variety of monsters and taking good care of them to raise their affection for you can be a huge help in winning battles as well as in crafting. You can even enter your monster friends into some festivals.
Like Bokumono, you do also farm (and have some magical crops in the mix!) and cook and socialize, and get married, too, if you want to. If you want to make a name for yourself as a farmer, you can! But you can also concentrate more on being a smith or a fighter. It’s your choice what to excel in. The pacing of a Rune Factory game is like Bokumono in that you’re in charge of how fast you progress. You decide what you want to spend your time on. You will need to be able to fight efficiently, but there are many ways to win battles. Maybe you’re a close-up fighter, or a distance fighter , or even a magic user. Or maybe you’d rather have the strongest companions, who can do most of the damage for you.
Nope! Rune Factory games are not directly connected. They all take place in the same ‘world’, but not in the same region, and most involve completely different casts of characters. You should feel free to start with Rune Factory 4 Special, even if you’ve never played any of the previous games in the series.
It isn’t a straight port. It’s a remaster with some added content. The graphics have been improved so that they will look great on your television. RF4S is listed for release in North America sometime in 2019 (‘this winter’ for Europe) and is already out in Japan. Several Japanese-speaking spud-sympathizers have been asked about their experience playing RF4S and say they’re surprised just how good the game looks on the television screen.
A ‘Honeymoon Mode’ has also been added to the game, where you will be able to experience new scenes with marriage candidates. So even players who have completed RF4 in the past will have some new content to look forward to in RF4S!
We at myPotatoGames are a little envious of those of you who haven’t played Rune Factory 4, yet. It would be wonderful to be able to experience all the amazing content of RF4 (with the additional content and improved graphics of RF4S) for the first time again. All of the potatoes in this patch are eagerly awaiting the upcoming release of Rune Factory 4 Special so that we can dive back into a favourite game yet again.
And some of us can’t even speak coherently about how excited we are that Rune Factory 5 (the game that officially brings the abandoned series back to life under the hand of the original creator!) is set for Japanese release in 2020. Can it possibly live up to RF4, when that is a game that many of the series’ fans feel is not just the best the series has ever seen, but is even a contender for their favourite game of all time?
With 7 years of waiting under our belts so far, we sure want to find out! We want to so badly that we even had to compile a lists of games we can fill our time with in the meantime.
Aug 1, 2019News
Rune Factory 4 Special is a remake of the original Rune Factory 4 on Nintendo 3DS. It was released on July 25th in Japan and fans were hoping for an English release in the west, Marvelous just confirmed exactly that!
Marvelous is handling publication for Rune Factory 4 Special in Europe, while XSeed Games handles this in North America. Marvelous has finally announced that Rune Factory 4 Special will be translated into English and released in Europe this winter! To go with the reveal we also got an exciting new trailer, check it out below!
Even though the game is not officially confirmed to be coming to North America, it is safe to assume that Xseed Games will release the game here at a similar time. Keep in mind that the Nintendo Switch is region free, so you can download games from any region specific eShop.
The Nintendo Switch game now features an exciting “newlywed” mode and upgraded graphics making it a great replay for any fan of the original, as well as for new players first exciting new step into the Rune Factory franchise.
If you are curious about the sequel, make sure to check out the latest and newest Rune Factory 5 Teaser.