this or RF 5?

[Romane]

Should I buy this or RF 5? and why?

[Fel]

Probably this, if you haven't played either yet on another platform.

This one is a solid 2D game while RF5 is in 3D, but that conversion made many things a bit weird.

On the plus side, RF5's combat is slightly better when it comes to avoiding hits, but magic is handled in a way that makes you stand still for a full second (even if the spell's animation finished long before that), completely breaking the flow of combat.

Flowers also come weirdly late in RF5 nearly locking you out of alchemy as well.

It's not that RF5 is a bad game, it's just that they spent ages making it 3D but the 3D doesn't bring anything and there isn't really anything new to balance the poor optimization.
So it's fun enough if you already had your fill of RF4 but it's hard to recommend RF5 over RF4.

[Mackenzie]

RF4ever!

[Harrix, Heart of Illuminate]

RF5 NS version has low frame rate problem, so Nintendo players don't like it too much. Although I'm sure it can be better on PC, but don't give it too much expectation, performance is just one out of many problem in RF5.

Full-3D dose not give RF5 any advantage over any previous titles, and throw away good features from a 2.5D games.

And I agree with Fel, RF5 is not bad game. It a OK farming and dating game, but it far below the level of RF3&4

[auqustfire]

You can't even use the making it 3D excuse, considering RF5 isn't even the first 3D RF game. Frontier and Tides of Destiny came out a decade ago, on the Wii, and both look better than RF5. 4 is a mix of 2D scenery and 3D models and is still nicer to look at, honestly. Personally, I want to buy both, but mostly bc I love the series and want to support a 6th game, which hopefully will look better. They just need better, more realistic scenery, that doesn't look like Toram Online or something

[kittykat0510]

I think RF5 is a pretty decent game. The framerate issues aren't nearly as bad as people have been making them out to be. Is it annoying? Yes. Is it unplayable? No. You just need to be patient and after about 10 seconds everything is back to normal. RF5 even does a few things better, town events being one of them. No more having to spend hours trying to get the one event you need to marry your favorite character.
I would suggest playing RF4 first and if you love it, you'll probably love RF5 too. Not to mention that it's fun to see the references to past games in there.

[funewchie]

Truth is, no one's quite sure yet.

RF5 just came out on PC, and the final consensus hasn't been made yet.

RF4 is solid enough, and a good pick.
If you don't mind the 2D graphics and RNG-based progression in a lot of things.

Honestly, I've played RF5 on Switch, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'd imagine being on PC would only improve the experience.

[Broseph]

Played a bit of RF5 on switch (the framerate/loading issues were painful, heard it's much better on PC). The problem is the gameplay. I didn't think I was playing fast, but ended up getting like 2/3rds through the story by late spring/early summer.

Also you can't buy flower seeds until you get that far in the game, which is really baffling. RF4 is a great 10/10 game, and RF5 is okay. If you haven't played 4, definitely play 4 first, and if you're really craving more, then jump into 5.

[Endora]

I love RF4 since I played it at 3DS, but I should say I like more some of the RF5 mechanics, from auto-loot to the end of the RNG events (though I read that this issue was solved on the PC version) and some other improvements that made the play stile more friendly.
In my opinion, the history and character's development are better at RF4.
Both are great farming games, and their own issues are not as half as bad on the PC version.