STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar
Searching for a peaceful farm life, a fresh mountain breeze, and your own market stall? Look no further than the friendly community of Zephyr Town! Here you’ll grow crops and raise animals, get to know the locals, and sell your wares at the town's bazaar to restore it to its former glory.
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Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma on Steam
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Welcome to the eastern nation of Azuma! In this fresh take on Rune Factory, use your powers as an Earth Dancer to restore the land, its people, and even its gods. Along the way, battle corrupted monsters, rebuild seasonal farms and villages, and form bonds with the colorful locals.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a jrpg, life sim and dating sim game
developed by Marvelous Inc.
and published by XSEED Games, Marvelous USA, Inc. and Marvelous Europe.
Released on June 04th 2025 is available only on Windows.
It has received 3,672 reviews of which 3,249 were positive and 423 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.5 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 59.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 25.13€ on Eneba.
The Steam community has classified Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma into these genres:
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System requirements
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Windows
- OS: Windows 10 and 11
- Processor: Intel Core i5-10400
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 20 GB available space
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User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
This is my first and only Rune Factory game, and I was pleasantly surprised at how fun this farm/dating sim with RPG combat elements is. Overall, I recommend it as someone who is a fan of the OG Harvest Moon games. Here are my notes for Guardians of Azuma! Pros: - The music and setting are beautiful. I like the traditional Japanese aesthetic, and the game has a cohesive design. The UI feels modern and is easy to read and use. - Fishing is one of my favorite activities. It emulates the thrill of real-life fishing very well, but is simple enough to be enjoyable. All you have to do is find a fishing spot, point your rod to where the fish are, and press a button to reel one in at the right time. You'll be fishing a lot since most of the festivals are related to it! - Combat took a bit for me to get used to, but I enjoy it. So many RPGs these days overcomplicate their combat systems, so it's refreshing to have something easy to pick up and play. And I actually don't mind having the sacred relics as "trump cards" in my back pocket just in case I get in real trouble with an enemy. - Farming is my favorite activity. I chose pretty early on in the game to do all the farming in all four villages manually since the overhead mode makes it a snap. I also love the cute "pop pop pop" sound that crops make when you harvest them! - I loved the characters and the details you notice that make them feel alive. For example, you can sometimes catch the "foreigner" characters such as Mauro and Clarice using a knife and fork to eat their meals. And the interactions between certain characters when you're out in the non-village areas (and even when you're fishing) are a fun touch. - I appreciated the dating sim elements as someone who enjoys otome games. The hangout system is great because of the little cutscenes, and it's fun trying to guess what activity each character will like. The romanceable characters have a surprising amount of depth to them - I usually don't go for bad boys like Kai, but he turned out to be my favorite character from his romance story line. Cons: - Player character customization is lacking. You only get to choose from a few outfits and headpieces/shoulder armor for your character. I even find myself wanting more options for the romanceable characters (like taking that darn eyepatch off Murasame's face while he's in the village!). - There are far too many cooking recipes. I got tired of scrolling through the menus to decide what I wanted to cook, and since I am a completionist who needs to have at least one of each meal, searching them in the inventory menus is a nightmare. It suffers from the same problem as Breath of the Wild - there needs to be more subdivisions to keep large inventories manageable, or at least a search function. - I was disappointed that you can't decorate your shrine/house, and it doesn't change at all as your family grows, considering the focus on decorating the game has. There's even a big backyard that goes to waste. - I do love having different ways to do things in games, but this game gives you a bit too many useless options. For example, one of the sacred relics you're given can water multiple fields, and another can let you harvest crops down a line, but it's much faster/efficient to do these functions using the overhead mode AND it doesn't use up in-game time or RP. I almost wish the overhead mode wasn't included, or at least locked behind story progression. - It's nice that the NPCs will greet you when you come into their proximity, but... whenever you have a festival going on and a bunch of them are clustered together, be prepared for them all to say "hello" to you in a cacophony of voice lines. - Platforming is terrible, as with many Unreal Engine games. I've spent way too much frustrating time trying to get my character to jump somewhere that required delicate precision. Thankfully the platforming sections are few. - I wish there was a way to swap villagers between villages. - I ran into a few minor graphical glitches, such as NPCs disappearing when you talk to them and appearing blurry when they are behind trees. The cons are not enough for me to not enjoy Guardians of Azuma. Take it from me, a Rune Factory newbie, that this game is well worth your time.
This was my first Rune Factory game and I enjoyed it for what it is but I think I would have given it a neutral rating if the option is available. It is a fun game for those seeking for super relaxing experience, otherwise, it really lacks any sort of challenge or consequences of actions. In addition, the game felt quite shoddly made in many aspects despite the price tag of almost $90AUD ($60 USD). The game has very floaty control which made exploration and puzzle solving quite painful. Combat was easy enough on normal difficulty and mostly involved either consuming a lot of food to restore health or getting dodge timing right. I enjoyed village building aspect quite a bit in the beginning but it started to get tedious later on with 4 different villages to manage. Story is decent enough if you are familiar with Japanese anime trope. What surprised me was how much I ended up enjoying getting to know some of characters, especially the 6 Gods of Azuma. I generally don't play JRPGs as I find characters very over the top and cringey but somehow, I found characters in Guardians of Azuma charming although it did take some time to get used to them. I definitely enjoyed 65 hours I've spent on it but don't think it's a game I will revisit due to how shallow it was overall. I'd recommend to pick it up during sale rather than at full price.
TLDR: If you've never played RF before, this is a great starting point! It's not connected to the main titles and feels very modernized. If you love the old RF games, please be aware that this game feels very different. While still a great game it does feel like it's missing some of the charm of other RF titles. --- Guardians of Azuma has brought fresh life into a series that I love so dearly. The villages, the people, and the story are all very well done and will stay with me for a very long time. I really enjoy decorating the spaces and I'm so happy with the QOL improvements when it comes to farming. I do miss the charm of the older art styles and found this game a little too easy to 100% complete. In all, I would consider GoA an excellent starting point for anyone looking to get in to the Rune Factory series. It's not a part of the main storyline so you won't feel lost and has a very modern feel to it. For those who love the RF series and cherished the depth and challenge of older titles, I fear you will be left wanting something more. I would not recommend going in to this game comparing it to a main title.
This review was made after obtaining all achievements. Rune Factory Guardians, what can i say about this? Compared to the previous game, RF5, its a "half-step up", it does some things alright, and others that really ruined my mood for the game. I'm going to start with the bad points first, since people tend to post the good and people skim that text and move on without getting the full info. Note that these are my opinions on the matter, and can vary from player to player. CONS; Locked Romance routes: There is a good choice of men and women to date, all of which have their own reasons in life, to get better and to overcome. HOWEVER, there are 2 partners around midway in the story (one male and one female) that you cannot date unless you hand over more money for their dlc. This leaves a huge sour taste in my mouth, even more so when normal conversations with them are like normal npcs you can have normal relationships with, yet when you do partner cooking with them, they give off the hearts that clearly show they ARE datable. This clearly shows they were to be partners in the game from the very beginning, and they decided to lock them behind a paywall. THIS IS JUST FLAT OUT GREED AND SHOULD NOT BE ACCEPTED IN THIS STYLE OF GAME!!! Have everyone that can be a romance route be there from the very start, not locked behind peoples wallets/purses. Village Building: The main meat of the game is restoring the villages, so clearing fields of corruption, building homes for villagers, and producing food to use for cooking or selling. My main gripe however is when every piece has a stat tied to it. Each piece you put down can give you stats (limited to one of said item) towards your avatar, so when it eventually comes close to the endgame, and you get some of the better decorations, they are big and take up alot of space. So it makes sense to flood an entire field where you can find space with the best decorations that give the most stats possible, and takes away the farming part of the game. I liked it more where your stats were tied to your actions you did alot of, and your own gear you make or find in the fields. The Villagers: Never have i been frustrated with dealing with villagers. Each individual villager has pros and cons tied to them, so they can be good at one thing, and bad at others. When it comes to farming mostly however, they can help grow more crops or even give you better quality foods/seeds. What they are terrible at however, is their job at farmers. It takes them forever to plant any seed, which you have no control over what they plant, and those seeds can be planted in awkward places like in the middle of the field rather than end to end. They take forever to harvest, they take forever to water, at best, they are only best if they are in small fields, and i mean REALLY small farming fields. Honestly, you are better off doing the farming yourself rather than let the villagers take control of it. Giant crops: Naturally, getting a giant crop can net you alot of money to go towards upgrades and crafts, the only thing i don't like however, is when you gather a giant crop, you do not gain any seeds in return. This can be irritating if you only had for example one seed, hoping to get a refund of it after harvesting, and its all going to waste over a giant crop that is slightly worth more money than a normal version. COULD BE BETTER; Skill Trees: For a first, Guardians uses skill trees rather than earning stats through repeated actions. It was an interesting choice, and i decided to give it the benefit of the doubt, til i realised you get two different types of EXP. One for the job/action you do, and another which is all tallied up at the end of a day. The former is used only in that specific action/job, while the other can be used in all the skill trees. I could see what they was aiming for, but i feel like it could get abused so much that you could level one skill tree without the need of doing such actions that its for. If they decide to bring skill trees back in Rune Factory 6, i would hope they remove the all-purpose EXP, so they make players engage with the activity more to level it up. Additionally, i would also prefer that people can pick and mix what skills they could obtain, rather than having to follow a skill route just to reach a skill people would make most use of. PROS: Sacred Treasures: I actually enjoyed using the tools they give you in the game, as it came with multiple effects. It served not only as a attacking tool to fight monsters, but they also had added benefits both for exploring and tending to your farms. I highly doubt such tools/skills would make a return in later Rune Factory games, but it was a fun and interesting experience. Looking back at this, it felt like more negatives than positives, so why did i recommend this game? Honestly, for what troubles it brings, its your standard pen on paper Rune Factory story. The people are interesting, farming and combat is decent, overall, its very mid, is the best way i can describe it. To the point where i miss the old Rune Factory games, that i might just return to, i had more fun with the past games than this. This recommendation in my opinion would be more middle of the world, not a yes, but not a no either. It does a few things that are interesting that i could get behind, but it does many that i flat out do not like or agree with. To the devs that made this game, use this game as a lesson and a stepping stone, learn from mistakes, and DO NOT lock romance routes under a paywall. Do better. Make Rune Factory the game that we know and love, and not a form of greed.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is currently priced at 59.99€ on Steam.
No, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 59.99€ on Steam.
Yes, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma received 3,249 positive votes out of a total of 3,672 achieving a rating of 8.52.
😎
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma was developed by Marvelous Inc. and published by XSEED Games, Marvelous USA, Inc. and Marvelous Europe.
Yes, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is playable and fully supported on Windows.
No, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is not playable on MacOS.
No, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is not playable on Linux.
This information about Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is not available yet.
This information about Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is not available yet.
No, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma does not support VR.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a single-player game.
Yes, there are 5 DLCs available for Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma. Explore additional content available for Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma on Steam.
No, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
No, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma does not support Steam Remote Play.
Yes, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 19 September 2026 10:04 UTC |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 21 October 2026 02:32 UTC |
| Steam price | 27 October 2026 15:18 UTC |
| Steam reviews | 19 October 2026 09:59 UTC |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
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Game modes
Features
Online players
90
Developer
Marvelous Inc.
Publisher
XSEED Games,
Marvelous USA, Inc.,
Marvelous Europe
Release
04 Jun 2025
Platforms
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