Rune Factory 5 Nintendo Switch Details And Gameplay Footage Revealed

Nintendo spotlighted a variety of upcoming third-party Switch games during its latest Nintendo Direct Mini broadcast. In addition to big surprises like Monster Hunter Rise and Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, the video presentation gave us our first look at Rune Factory 5, the next entry in Xseed's fantasy sim series.

In a departure from previous installments, which primarily featured a top-down viewpoint, Rune Factory 5 lets players explore a full 3D world. The game casts players as an amnesic hero who recently arrives in a small but bountiful town called Rigbar, where they are recruited into a band of rangers who help keep the peace.

Like Story of Seasons, the series from which it was spun off, farming plays a major role in Rune Factory 5. In addition to defending the town from monsters, you'll be able to tend crops, go fishing, and get married. The battle system also has a few new wrinkles; you can now team up with other characters to unleash powerful combo attacks.

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Rune Factory 5 does not yet have a release date, but it is slated to launch on Switch sometime in 2021. You can check out the first screenshots and gameplay trailer for the game above.

Rune Factory 5 is the first new entry in the series since Rune Factory 4, which originally launched on 3DS back in 2013. An enhanced version of that game was released on Switch this past February.

There was a lot of other news out of Nintendo's presentation. In addition to Monster Hunter Rise, we got our first look at Monster Hunter Stories 2, a sequel to the series' 3DS RPG spin-off. You can catch up on all the biggest announcements from the presentation in our Nintendo Direct Mini recap.