/f/ - Fandom Generals

My favorite entry is 4!

I struggle to choose a favorite cause I like all of them even if 5 was a little lackluster, there’s still stuff I enjoyed about it, but probably tides of destiny. I didn’t hate the lack of farming because I liked how the game felt like a typical jrpg. Also the festivals were peak in that game. I want the lucky lotto and masquerade to come back so bad.

As much as I wish GoA will be as fun as ToD, I have my doubts. The protagonists being unique give me hope. Also I hate the dlc stuff they’ve been putting in the games. Pretty pissed that Cuilang is dlc only.
>>4002
I love the dungeons and crafting in 4 so much. I was super autistic about making ultimate weapons and gear to go through the hardest level seed dungeons and the Sharance maze. I want a bunch of the mechanics of 4 mixed with the low rp cap so making rune factories can come back. It kinda irks me that the game is called rune factory but they haven’t had such a mechanic since the second game. Technically the third game still lets you make rune factories, but they are useless because of rp healing items galore.

>What’s your first/favorite game?
My first game was III, but my favorite is IV.
>Favorite character(s) or protagonist(s)?
Off the top of my head, my favorites across the series were Gaius, Rosalind, Sofia, Max, Arthur, Raven, Forte, Kiel, and Doug.
>Any ships?
I thought Gaius should've been an option for Micah in III, although I don't know if it's fair to say I ship it because there isn't much of a community, but a lot of their dialogue read as unintentionally flirty.
>How do you feel about the latest game coming out?
Sadly, I haven't gotten to play it due to a lack of time, money, and motivation. Even if I had the time, I'd probably replay IV for the third or fourth time because I love it so much. None of the bachelors in V really appealed to me, so playing it has not been a priority. I know there's another game coming out soon, but I haven't seen much information about it. I'll probably wait and see what consensus on it is before buying it.
>Any commentary on the fanbase or creators?
I've always been sad there's not much of an active fanbase for this series, particularly when it comes to the earlier titles. I remember trying to learn more about the lore after playing the earlier games, and I was so upset that there wasn't much discussion online. I also remember being so pissed back when the fourth game came out because most of the players liked Dylas the most, and I really couldn't stand his ass. I don't even remember why I hated him, as he wasn't horrible when I replayed it more recently kek.

On another note, I'm also bitter Max De Sainte-Coquille from the second game never got popular. He was so funny, and I remember obsessively stalking him when I played the second game. Maybe I couldn't make him and Kyle date, but I was DETERMINED to make them best friends to compensate for it.

>What’s your first/favorite game?
The first one I played was 2 but my favorite is 4

>Favorite character(s) or protagonist(s)?
Max in RF2 is really fun since he's the spoiled rich boy archetype. I also used to really like Arthur he's very genuinely sweet and megane.

>Any ships?
Oh how I wish I could have Lest and Arthur kiss.

>How do you feel about the latest game coming out?
Azuma looks interesting but I'm not sure if I'll pick it up right away. I think the Japanese inspired setting looks fresh compared to the other entries so I hope it's good.

>Any commentary on the fanbase or creators?
It's wild that this series has so many games and yet the fandom is so small. It's such an accessible series I don't get it.

>>4013
Fellow Max lover!

> I also remember being so pissed back when the fourth game came out because most of the players liked Dylas the most
He's cute nonna especially the blushing sprite.

>>4013
>Gaius should've been an option for Micah
He was definitely the most flirty guy in 3. Although I think all of the guys: Carlos, Zaid, Rusk, and Ondorus should've been an option. Zaid has especially funny dialogue with Micah because it really seems like Micah is so done with his shit.
>None of the bachelors in V
God I feel this so hard. They need to go back to the older art too. All the guys in 5 felt soulless compared to the older games.
>I really couldn't stand Dylas
He definitely grew on me. When I played 4 for the first time I ended up marrying him despite the fact that I was planning on marrying Doug. He just snuck up on me.
>I remember obsessively stalking him when I played the second game
Lol, I did the same thing with Jake. What a coincidence! I just wanted stinky onion elf boy to like Kyle.

>>4014
>I wish I could have Lest and Arthur kiss
Bro just could not stop flirting with my guy Lest. I mean they all flirted hard with Lest but Arthur just layed it on so thick. I wish there were more Arthur/Lest fics.

Also yeah I agree it sucks that this game has no online presence. And like >>4014
said, it's accessible so I don't see why it isn't more prevalent online. You'd think 4 would've garnered a fanbase like Awakening did for Fire Emblem, but it never hit as hard. And I see people talking about the games online, but none of the older ones, just 3, 4, 5, and GoA.

>>4015
>Zaid
Totally forgot about him, but he was another character I liked. He kind of felt like a precursor to Doug in a way. I remember seeing a theory that he and Doug were part of the same tribe because of their eye colors.
>They need to go back to the older art too. All the guys in 5 felt soulless compared to the older games.
I'm so glad someone said this because I was thinking the same thing. II is where the art peaked for me. I've always cited it as one of my most favorite art styles ever. Something also changed with the female characters. Their designs were so distinct in I and II especially. Bianca, Julia, Rosalind, and Melody are my favorite designs, but I can't place what makes the characters in V look so different. III and IV had character designs I didn't like as much as the older games, but they still felt like they fit into the world. Some of the designs in the newest game feel too cluttered or something?

>>3998
>What’s your first/favorite game?
Four. I never tried out the earlier games cause I wasn't interested in having to play as a guy with only female love interests.
>Favorite character(s) or protagonist(s)?
Leon in 4 and Ryker in 5.
>Any ships?
Off the top of my head my fujo radar didn't go off for anything but it probably has to do with how for games like these my brain focuses more on Player x NPC than NPC x NPC.
>How do you feel about the latest game coming out?
Like I said in the other thread the japanese setting really appeals to me. I'm also a sucker for kemonomimi so I'm already hyperfocused on Fubuki. In 5 I didn't go for the kemonomimi guy cause I'm not into older-looking guys.
>Any commentary on the fanbase or creators?
I've never really interacted with the community aside from following jhiendacnl on tumblr. Looks like there's been no activity since 2017 so wherever this person is I hope they're doing well.

>>4017
>precursor to Doug
Lol I never realized how similar they were until you said this. I knew about the silver eyes theory, but the similar personalities never clicked before.
>II is where the art peaked for me
Whoever they got to translate Iwasaki's concept art to portraits after the second game didn't do as good a job as the ones that did the portrait art in the first two games. And you're right, 5 felt cluttered with a lot of designs. The only ones that I felt fit within the Rune Factory world were Cecil, Martin, and Lucy. But their portrait art significantly downgraded them, especially Cecil. Also afaik Iwasaki didn't come back for Azuma which is probably why the characters look even less like Rune Factory characters imo.

>>4018
>I wasn't interested in having to play as a guy with only female love interests
Understandable. I imagine if 4 was my first game I'd not want to try the others. 4 is the best in the series as much as I like the other games. Tides of Destiny has 4 bachelors, but you can't play as the girl until you beat the game. You can still do a few events with three of the bachelors before then. And 2 has a second generation girl protagonist, but you can't marry because you're a child and your bachelors are children. One day I will figure out how to romhack ds games and make a romhack that allows you to romance the guys in 1.
>Fubuki
He was the only one I was interested in until Cuilang was revealed. I also don't like the older-looking guys and I hate that the fanbase on reddit praises them. I wanna go back to when bishounen was the oldest a bachelor-like guy could be.
>jhiendacnl
Oh shit they translated the Rune Factory 4 magazine manga. Thank you for mentioning this. I always wanted to read it.

BTW I completely forgot that this japanese wiki has a bunch of comments expressing their grievances with 5. I know there's a lot of complaints about the homosex, but I forget they had a version where the characters must've had lines specific to each protagonist like how 4 did (although the glitches in 4 caused some actual romance lines to slip through). But there's other complaints too like eventually they get into how the shops could've been better. I think they even speculate on drama within the development team. Just change the 1 in the url into a 2 or a 3 to get more recent complaints.
https:// wikiwiki . jp/rf5/愚痴・妄想/コメント1

Have the lifespans of dwarves, half-monsters, half-elves, univir, and Earthmates ever been established? I didn't get around to the fifth game, but I know Meg and Doug show up. I'd always kind of assumed dwarves, humans, univir, Earthmates, etc. didn't live for centuries, as the elf characters' angst about their lifespans felt like a very species-specific thing. I guess Doug's appearance in the new game throws a wrench in that idea. I know Cecilia shows up in the first and second games, so we can assume she ages more slowly than humans.

I'd always had different headcanons for most of the species we encounter throughout the series, but I think most of my ideas were refuted. Now I'm curious what the difference between elves and dwarves even IS, aside from dwarves being good at blacksmithing and having slightly smaller ears.

>>4054
I think they definitely retconned dwarves. I’m sure they would’ve used a male elf character for the cameo instead had there been one in 4. I don’t think they even needed to suggest that 5 is meant to be set way farther in the future from 4 (in the Japanese text that I’m pretty sure was patched out at some point). Maybe they just wanted a fresh start? Also I don’t think that much time actually passed between 1 and 2. Raguna left Kardia pretty soon after he arrived which for young Cecilia would probably have felt like it had been forever ago. Also Ethelberd is a normal human and still alive by 4. And I know it’s not really canon but a slightly older Candy meets Frey in the rune factory 4 manga which was approved by the creator. I know it’s just fanservice, but back then it seemed like Neverland was a stickler for keeping the timeline proper. Although I’m pretty sure it’s been established that half-elves definitely have a shorter lifespan than the full ones but longer than regular humans, I don’t think Cecilia is that old in 2. Also if half-elves had a significantly longer lifespan than humans and full-elves were even longer, I’m sure the potential half-Earthmates, half-elf children all the mc’s can have would’ve been mentioned at some point as a flavor text at least. Then again, maybe being an Earthmates cancels out elfyness seeing as Orland can be 1/4 elf and still gets the elf ears while Aria and Aaron never get a hint of elf if you marry Cecilia. But then Micah isn’t a confirmed Earthmate. There’s too much unconfirmed information to be conclusive.

And afaik there’s never been a connection between Elves and Dwarves, but I know Kuruna and Ondorus mentions the link between Elves and the Univir. It sucks that some of the original people working on the first games are no longer working on Rune Factory so we’ll probably get quite a bit of retconning from the next two games probably unintentional reconning due to things that are easily forgotten from the older games and interviews and other media.

>>4056
These are all great points. I think they definitely must've retconned parts of the first two games' lore.
>Also I don’t think that much time actually passed between 1 and 2.
It's been a long time since I played the first games, but I kind of assumed there was like a 20-30 year time difference, and once you factor in the extra years from Aaron/Aria growing up, I was thinking Cecilia had to be at least 40 by the end of RF2. Again, it's been a long time since I played it, so I'm probably misremembering details. It's probably also colored by my bias in assuming that all elves/half-elves age more slowly.
>a slightly older Candy meets Frey in the rune factory 4 manga
I did not know about this! I'd never read the manga, so that's very interesting. It probably hasn't been that much time, relatively speaking. I never assumed it had been, like, centuries between the first 4 games because of stuff like Ethelberd's reappearance, reoccurring characters, etc. I definitely assumed it had been a few decades, though.
>Then again, maybe being an Earthmates cancels out elfyness seeing as Orland can be 1/4 elf and still gets the elf ears while Aria and Aaron never get a hint of elf if you marry Cecilia. But then Micah isn’t a confirmed Earthmate.
I kind of assumed Micah wasn't an Earthmate, but instead, just a half-monster, which let him be good at the farming stuff. Even if he were 1/2 Earthmate, that would throw a wrench in the "cancels out the other species" theory, considering he still vhas the monster traits. I always thought it was weird they never mentioned if Micah was one, though. It's also strange because Raven is a half-monster and has elf/dwarf-ish ears, but Micah doesn't despite them basically being the same species. I know this is all super trivial and nitpicky on my part. The thing with Aria/Aaron and Orland really bothered me (doubly when we consider that Micah and Daria's or Lest and Meg's kids would be 1/2 elf and still don't look like it), but I personally just attribute the inconsistency with the kids to limited character portraits/in-game assets rather than a definitive statement on lore.
>And afaik there’s never been a connection between Elves and Dwarves
There isn't! I'm sorry if my post was unclear. I meant more, like, if dwarves and elves live for centuries, age at a similar rate, look pretty similar, and have pointy ears, then that kind of eliminates (in my mind) what makes them distinct from one another. I guess I was just complaining about how it makes the elves' situation feel a little less unique, as it makes dwarves feel more like blacksmith-flavored elves rather than their own thing. It made sense in my head when I wrote it.
>It sucks that some of the original people working on the first games are no longer working on Rune Factory so we’ll probably get quite a bit of retconning
This is very disappointing. I'm worried about the newer games losing even more of the "vibe" of older titles in the series.

>>4067
I know it came out at some point that the developers gave the characters in 5 ages and Fuuka was 14. I wouldn’t be surprised if that logic was there from the beginning of the games. Like in 2 especially, even the first generation bachelorettes are awfully young, not just by looks but personality. Julia and Yue give off the oldest vibes, while the rest make me think they are still very new adults (Alicia and Rosalind) or even adolescent (Mana and Dorothy) even their rivals match with Ray and Max acting more mature than Jake and Barrett who both act like angsty teenagers. Mana’s a special case. But I genuinely think she’s meant to be super young seeing as Douglas acts like you’re cradle robbing and it’d be weird to act that way if both Kyle and Mana were 18+ imo. Also Dorothy is definitely young and acts even younger than Amber from 4. This all combined with the Fuuka is 14 data mined stuff makes me believe that the characters in 2 are actually meant to look young to reflect their age and not just for chibi style. With that said I think the time between the end of 1 and start of 4 is about 20 years. Ethelberd looks about 40 in 1 and he’s still pretty spry in 4 but clearly older so 60 would track. I feel like 70 would be too old for him to be kicking around that much unless he’s younger than 40 in 1. Which isn’t impossible but that’s a rough 30s if that’s the case.
>just a half-monster
Also I forget Micah is a half-monster. But you’re right, he’s got normal human ears and if Earthmate canceled out halfness, he’d probably not be one anyway. Still annoys me that the halfness wasn’t addressed in 2 or 4 which had ample time to address it seeing as you only have 1 kid in those and it could be a simple flavor text about half(?)-Earthmate children.
>I'm sorry if my post was unclear.
Oh no I meant it more like the developers are connecting them by making dwarves a different flavor of elves.

I was absolutely devastated to learn that Iwasaki, the character designer, didn’t work on GoA. I hope she returns for 6, but I have my doubts. I’m really hoping they’ll at least do more cameo characters in 6 from the older games like Tabatha, Minerva, or Mei returning. Or even the forgotten Marco.