Rune Factory 4

Rune Factory 4 (ルーンファクトリー4) is a role-playing video game developed by Neverland and published by Marvelous AQL for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the sixth game in the Rune Factory series, and the first to be released on the 3DS. It was released in Japan in July 2012, in North America in October 2013, and in PAL regions in December 2014. An enhanced version, Rune Factory 4 Special, (ルーンファクトリー４スペシャル) was released for the Nintendo Switch in Japan in July 2019 and worldwide in February 2020. It was also released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows in 2021.

Gameplay
Features common to previous games in the Rune Factory series, including farming, dungeon exploring, and marriage, return in Rune Factory 4.

Crafting is one of the main features in the series, with which all equipment used by the main character is created. From shoes to many types of weapons, crafting materials of various stats to form new equipment is the key to character progression - more so than the traditional leveling up feature that most RPGs rely on.

Rune Factory 4 adds the ability to make "Orders". As the prince or princess of Selphia, these Orders can range from requesting a town event (such as a harvest festival) to pushing back a storm from wiping out your crops.

Story
The game begins by offering the player two lines of dialogue, and the choice between the two determines their character's gender (male is by default named Lest and female is by default named Frey). It is revealed that the character is traveling by airship to the town of Selphia to meet and deliver a gift to its 'god'. The airship, however, is invaded by rogue soldiers and a fight ensues. During the fight, the character is hit in the head and it is later revealed that they developed amnesia, as has been the case with all previous Rune Factory mobile installments. The player is thrown out of the airship and, after losing their gift, lands in the town of Selphia, where they meet Ventuswill (Venti for short), one of the four Native Dragons, and are mistaken for a member of royalty who was supposed to be showing up soon to help run the town. Although this is quickly revealed not to be the case, the actual prince, named Arthur, who was due to arrive, is happy to let the player take over his job. From there on out, you are to attract tourists, gain trust from the villagers in Selphia, and work around the town to unlock features needed to carry on with the slice of life aspects of the game. At the same time, you will find a mysterious force at work in the nearby dungeons that is in need of investigation, with some monsters turning into humans upon their defeat. You may also date a bachelor or bachelorette, get married, and have one child. There are six bachelors and six bachelorettes, each have their own charming points and back stories which you will learn through series of events before marriage. You can equip other villagers, even your child, with battle gear and have maximum two person to fight alongside you. Characters from Rune Factory 2 and 3, Barrett and Raven, appear as cameos and can be recruited into a players party for dungeon exploration. The game has up to three story arcs:

In the first arc, the player confronts and defeats three monsters, who turn into humans upon defeat and are invited to live in Selphia. The player learns that they are three of the four Guardians created by Earthmates using forbidden magic; the player themselves is also an Earthmate. They are tasked with providing runes, but have become corrupted and have stopped doing that long ago, leading Venti to slowly die from an illness due to her erasing the Guardians' memories of her to ensure that they don't leave her again. She requests for the player to save the last Guardian and find the four Rune Spheres, which is what the player lost at the start of the game, even though this might kill Venti, but a villager named Doug, who opposes Venti, intends to get them before the player does. The player is desperate to save both the last Guardian and Venti. Eventually, after collecting three of the Rune Spheres, they learn that the reason why Doug hates Venti is because he believes that she destroyed his village, but she convinces him that she wasn't responsible, and he gives the player the last Rune Sphere. After saving the last Guardian, Venti restores their memories at the request of one of the Guardians' friends and they apologize to Venti for their actions.

In the second arc, taking place one week later after the first arc, a soldier from the Sechs Empire, whom the player met in the beginning, steals the Rune Spheres and reveals that the Sechs were the ones who destroyed Doug's village and made Doug think that Venti was responsible. After the player defeats a monster that he summoned, they go after him. They encounter Ethelbird, Sechs' leader, who plans to use the Rune Spheres to recreate the Native Dragons and summons a dragon that the player defeats. Receiving advice from Arthur, the player heads to Sechs' territory, defeating another dragon along the way. After defeating a third dragon summoned by Ethelbird, the latter escapes, but not before Doug (who followed the player) steals back one of the Rune Spheres. Following Ethelbird to his floating empire, they fight Sechs tanks and mechanical golem and fights Ethelbird with Venti's help, but he uses this opportunity to merge with Venti to become Ethelwill and stops Doug and Arthur from helping the player. With the assistance from the Guardians and villagers, the player defeats Ethelwill and separates him from Venti. He then disappears into the Forest of Beginnings. However, after returning home, Venti disappears to the Forest of Beginnings as well.

In the third arc, the player attempts to find a way to bring Venti back and with the assistance of the Guardians, they travel to Leon Karnak and enter the Rune Prana. Here, they battle many monsters. After defeating a monster called Ragnarok, the player recovers their memories, locates Venti, and returns her to Selphia.

Once all three story arcs are finished, the player can freely choose to do what they wish, marry one of the bachelors or bachelorettes, and have children.

Characters
Rune Factory 4 features many characters residing in Selphia. If playing as the male protagonist, the player can choose to marry one of the following female characters: • Clorica: An apprentice butler who is quick and competent at her work but often does so in her sleep.

• Margaret: The kind and hardworking elf who plays music at Porcoline's restaurant.

• Amber: An innocent girl with butterfly wings who loves sunny weather.

• Dolce: A girl who is frequently accompanied by the ghost, Pico. Her manner is blunt but she is genuinely kind.

• Xiao Pai: A hardworking and cheerful girl at the town inn. Her clumsiness leads to numerous mistakes.

• Forte: The serious and honest knight of Selphia. She's protective of her brother, Kiel.

If playing as the female protagonist, the player can choose to marry one of the following male characters: • Vishnal: An apprentice butler training to become a full-fledged butler.

• Arthur: A prince from the capital. His passion for trade and negotiation leads to him working more than the average person.

• Dylas: A man with horse-like traits. His quiet and antisocial nature results in him being misunderstood.

• Doug: A hot-blooded dwarf who works at the general store. He has a large appetite.

• Kiel: An innocent young man who loves to read in the hopes his knowledge will benefit the townspeople.

• Leon: A mysterious man who enjoys teasing people but also keeps them at a distance.

Other characters that appear in the game consist of:
 * Bado: A blacksmith drawf.
 * Blossom: Doug's grandmother, who also runs the general store alongside her grandson.
 * Illuminata: A detective girl who runs a flower shop.
 * Jones: The town's doctor.
 * Nancy: A nurse who works at Jones' clinic.
 * Lin Pa: Xiao Pai's mother who owns the town inn.
 * Porcoline: Margaret's adoptive father and a restaurant owner.
 * Volkanon: A butler who works for Ventuswill.
 * Pico: A ghost girl who accompanies Dolce. She deeply cares for her.
 * Raven: A returning character from Rune Factory 3.
 * Barrett: A returning character from Rune Factory 2.
 * Eliza: A talking request box.
 * Ventuswill: One of the four elder dragons of Norad and the protector of Selphia.
 * Ethelberd: The evil ruler of the Sechs Empire who seeks to conquer the world. He previously appeared in Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon.

Development
Producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto said that the main theme is "passionate love, sweet marriage". This led him to greatly expand the types of dating events and their dramatic nature, and creating scenarios where players can go adventuring with their families. This was done to create a world that is not purely combat or farming driven, but gives players a choice. Another focus of development was to make farming, though repetitive by nature, a satisfying experience for a player. Drawing inspiration from games such as Pikmin, where Captain Olimar would pull Pikmin from the ground with a pop, and DokiDoki Panic, he decided to make the game's framerate run at 60 so that character responses to controller input would be felt immediately. It was announced in January 2013 that publisher Xseed Games would be localizing the game for North American audiences; they had previously localized Rune Factory Frontier for the Wii.

On September 12, Xseed Games announced that the game would have a release date for the North American audiences, which was announced to be October 1, 2013. Xseed would later release the game in Europe and Australia via the 3DS eShop on December 11, 2014. An enhanced version of the game for the Nintendo Switch, titled Rune Factory 4 Special, was released in Japan on July 25, 2019, in North America on February 25, 2020, and in Europe and Australia on February 28, 2020. This release features a new opening theme, another difficulty option, and uses Live2D technology for the additional Newlywed mode. This version of the game was also released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows on December 7, 2021.

Reception
Japanese sales exceeded 150,000 copies, becoming the best selling game in the Rune Factory series, eclipsing Rune Factory 2, which had the top sales prior. Profits were well above expectation for game publisher Marvelous AQL. Due to the game's success, the game caused an upward revision of profits by 106.7% for the second financial quarter of 2012.