We liked Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma a lot. So much so that Miguel said,”It reinvigorates the Rune Factory formula on every level”. I also like it a lot, but I’ve been checking it out on Switch 2, where it’s joined the launch lineup in addition to the release on original Switch and PC. It’s not an exclusive, then, but it is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s a brand-new title, launching almost simultaneously with the other platforms, and in a launch lineup without a whole heap of new things; that’s an important shot in the arm. Secondly, this is a game that’s relatively taxing on the original Switch, pushing it to its limit, but makes clear use of all that extra headroom on Switch 2. There’s also a small number of Switch 2-specific improvements that might just make this the best version of the game to own.
Rune Factory 5 Guardians of Azuma drops you into the shoes of an amnesiac Earth Dancer – an individual capable of wielding mystical weaponry and reviving the land. You first arrive in Spring Village after falling off your dragon – hence the amnesia – and it soon becomes apparent that the village has suffered some form of calamity, it’s local deity having gone missing leading to the trees and blossoms all wilting away. Because you’re a helpful sort, you are tasked with reviving the village, releasing the deity, and clearing the village of blight. You do that through crafting, collecting materials and turning them into new buildings, farming, and through hacking monsters into little pieces. It’s a brilliant mix, and one which you’ll be glued to.
The Switch 2 version then is a great performer, but the handheld experience is not as strong as you might expect. The key upgrades are a higher resolution, improved framerates, and the ability to use the Joy Con 2’s mouse abilities, each of those features making it a clear jump above the Switch 1 edition.
If you bought the original Switch version of Guardians of Azuma, you can upgrade to the Switch 2 version for the £10 difference in price – it’s £60 on Switch 2 instead of £50 on Switch or PC. That’s a bit rich for us in the UK, as they’re making £10 equal to $10 and €10, so this upgrade fee is pricier for us than the £7.99 Breath of the Wild Switch 2 Edition, but then there’s also Fantasy Life i, where that game’s upgrade upgrade from Switch to Switch 2 is just $2.59 / £2.04. Your save from the original Switch will carry over, so if you’re holding off for the new console, you can carry your adventure over when you’re ready.
When playing docked, the Switch 2 version of Guardians of Azuma looks crisp and clear, though not potentially as crisp as you might hope. That’s the same story when playing handheld, with a further reduced resolution clearly helping performance, but impacting on image quality. It’s not as blatant as we’ve seen on original Switch over the years, or of the Switch 1 version of this game, but there’s a fuzziness that we’d hoped could be relegated by the new hardware.
Performance when docked is fantastic though, and feels incredibly smooth, especially when you’re out in the expanded worlds, fighting off the different monsters. The art direction and design is great here, particularly for the engrossing characters, and all in all, this is an attractive game that looks and performs great on Switch 2 when docked.
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- Switch 2 Docked
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- Switch 2 handheld
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- Switch 2 Docked
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- Switch 2 Handheld
That’s a slightly different story in handheld mode. Combat and exploration are very smooth and respnsive, but there are points where you can make the game work a little too hard for the Switch 2’s lower power mode. Frame rates will drop, either when using fast travel to go to a new area, or when you’ve built up a very complicated village with lots of buildings and decorations. It’s still very playable, happening at slower points in the action, but as a showcase for the new console, I was just hoping for a little more.
Some of the best moments in Guardians of Azuma are when you’re customising and crafting your village, and it’s here that Maximum have added some mouse functionality, allowing you to place items or get your farming done just that little bit easier.
It feels mildly tacked on, but there are times where the development zone action is frustrating with a pad, because you want a level of precision that the controller can’t quite give you. That’s completely solved here, letting you place multiple tiles down, water your fields and sow your seeds with unrivalled speed; it’s a true proof of concept and I hope more games make some use of the feature. It’s a real shame it’s limited to this area though, as you can play through the game focusing on ranged weaponry, and being able to use the mouse would make life easier when aiming.
So, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a great game, and an amazing experience if you’re playing on Switch 2, but it isn’t quite perfect. Hopefully, a few patches will iron out the issues completely.
