A spinoff of the Rune Factory franchise, which is in turn an offshoot of the Story of Seasons franchise, Guardians of Azuma blends action-RPG, town building and farming sim elements into a single experience. But does it prove to be a compelling experience, or does its odd blend of elements just become a mess?
Story of Seasons (formerly known as Harvest Moon) is a series I'm familiar with, though not overly; it began as a late-era release on the SNES, and after finding success there, has since had a long string of sequels and spinoff games, mostly on handheld platforms. Once Marvelous took over localization for the series in 2014 they rebranded it to Story of Seasons, which is the title it continues to use today. Rune Factory is a more fantastical offshoot of the franchise that works elements of dungeon crawling into the format, making powering up your character just as large a component of the overall gameplay.
Guardians of Azuma (apparently a spinoff rather than a numbered sequel, though I'm unsure why that's the case) is the first Rune Factory game I've actually played, so I went in with only a vague idea of what to expect. The general concensus I found was that these kept the farming gameplay of the parent series, just mixing in elements of action-RPGs and dungeon crawling.
That's pretty much what I got with Guardians of Azuma, though it also had quite a bit more going on than I anticipated. In fact the farming element is largely de-emphasized in favor of other pursuits. Each weapon, subweapon and skill (farming, smithing, cooking et al) has associated skill trees, with each earning exclusive points through use. Completing tasks during the day also earns you "All-purpose Experience" when you rest that can be spent on anything.
Combat in the game isn't especially deep, but is well-polished and fun. In addition to your main melee weapon (which can also take the form of shortswords, greatswords, talismans, etc), you also have a bow for ranged attacks, as well as subweapons like your drum (which heals your allies and damages enemies) or a sacred sword that burns away corruption as well as dealing heavy damage. Perfectly-timed attack dodges give a couple seconds of slowed time a la Bayonetta, and special moves run off of "RP", which slowly regenerates on its own or can be restored by food items. One can also access special moves that run off "spirit bars" which fill gradually as you inflict damage with weapons or take damage yourself.
Farming does indeed function as it usually does in these sorts of games - plant and water seeds, harvest the crops to sell, get more seeds to plant, et cetera. However, it also ties into a larger town-building element. There are many quests to complete in each town, and doing so raises your village level. As your level increases, more types of buildings and decorations can be placed and more villagers arrive, allowing you to staff buildings to provide services and automate tasks like lumber harvesting, mining and even farming. Each unique building type placed also increases your character's stats. Villagers all have a random assortment of traits which make them more suited to certain tasks than others, though this has a pretty minimal effect overall.
Finding crafting recipes is another major trope for games like this, and Guardians of Azuma has no shortage. Most enemies drop materials, one can chop wood and mine spaces on the map to gain other types, and and hunting down frog statues in the field earns you food recipes (unlocking more as you report back to Croakie in town).
Another trope of these games is building bonds with named NPCs, and indeed, it's no different here. Giving gifts, spending time and completing requests earns affinity levels that also unlock story scenes; not completely unlike the Persona games. (It seems every RPG is doing Persona better than Persona these days.) Of course per series tradition, marriage can follow if you raise affinity high enough with particular characters; and yes, same-sex marriages are allowed. Most named NPCs can also accompany you as you head into battle, and keeping them in your party (and hearing their interactions) will also raise your affinity level with them. Their AI also surprisingly good, though they do have their own HP and RP meters to keep track of, so keeping them in good shape with your extra items will go pretty far in helping you build bonds and clear dungeons.
Perhaps most surprising is how engrossed I found myself with Guardians of Azuma's narrative. It incorporates surprisingly well into the theme of passing seasons and prosperity, and its cutscenes contain quality voice acting, emotive characters and even a surprisingly decent sense of humor, which is something I didn't expect.
So yeah, I was pleasantly surprised with Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma. You can still see the Harvest Moon roots, but only just; at its core is a fun title that feels a bit like a blend of Dark Cloud and Ys, with quite a lot of content to see and some substantial replay value if you want to see all the romance options. It may not be one of the genre's best or even a super deep game in general, but I was just after a fun RPG to play on my Switch 2, and it fits the bill quite nicely. A fun way to spend a month while I wait on year-end releases like Ghost of Yotei, Dragon Quest 1/2 HD-2D Remake, Metroid Prime 4 and Outer Worlds 2.
Developer: Marvelous
Publisher: Marvelous
Released: 2025
Platform: Switch, Switch 2, Windows
Recommended Version: I have only played the Switch 2 version but it runs flawlessly on there; no slowdown, stuttering or other issues.
