Which rune factory should I buy?

[kirokito]

As title says I have been wanting to dabble into this series and seeing its on sale is giving me that push but I am not sure which one to buy.

Thanks!

[:<]

Rune Factory 5 is disappointing. The developers seem to have abandoned it as well. Very easily-noticed glitches in early game haven't been patched after 1.5 years after release.

I would recommend you to choose either Rune Factory 3 Special or Rune Factory 4 Special. (or both!)
Here are some differences:

Story/Quest Lines:
RF4 has a much longer main story than RF3, but RF3 makes up for this with better NPC character stories and their side quests. In RF4 you will likely be following the main quest line, but in RF3 you will very much be spending way more time with town people and getting to know them one by one. The themes are also different. In RF4 you are a princess/prince living in a castle dealing with princess/prince stuffs, but in RF3 you live in a small town with friendly town people.

Farming and Crafting
RF4 definitely has more in-depth farming and crafting system. There are lots of things for you to experiment with.

Map Size and Dungeons
RF4 has more areas for you to explore, and most areas are larger and more complicated than those in RF3.

Difficulty
Boss monsters in RF4 are fine, but they are extremely powerful in RF3.
Difficulty increases drastically when you unlock a new area in RF4 (especially in later parts of the game), and forces you to stop, craft better gears and level up. Difficulty in RF3 has a much smoother transition.

NPC and Romance
There are 6 bachelors and 6 bachelorettes in RF4, and 11 bachelorettes in RF3 (RF3 only has bachelorettes).
Romance is completely optional in RF4 (you can totally ignore it or friend zone everyone), but it is necessary to marry someone to clear RF3 main story quests.

Choice of Player Character
In RF4 you can choose to play as Frey (girl) or Lest (boy). In RF3 you can only play as Micah. However, writings in both RF3 and RF4 are mostly neutral (and Micah himself is interesting IMO), so you don't have to worry much about not being able to pick character in RF3.

[emma stone butthole sniffer]

I'm trying to jump back into 4 atm. It's a slog for the first few hours.

[kirokito]

Thank you all very much! I am going to actually start with 4 because its included with my Playstation plus subscription which I had no idea

[Whiskers]

Buy Rune Factory 5 The game is great and it’s in 3D.

[Red Mantis]

Runefactory 4: special edition is also on xbox gamepass so if anyone wants a jumping off point into the series that's a good place to start

[Tia1230]

None I don't like that everything you do has a level.

[Whiskers]

Originally posted by Red Mantis:

Runefactory 4: special edition is also on xbox gamepass so if anyone wants a jumping off point into the series that's a good place to start

Good to know :) Thanks

[Whiskers]

Originally posted by Tia1230:

None I don't like that everything you do has a level.

Isn’t it great that you can level up by sleeping and eating? xD

[Red Mantis]

everything has a level but the best way to level up your skills is by farming, yes farming will increase your sleeping skills as well