Rune Factory 4 Specialis going to be a hell of a good time on Nintendo Switch. Who’s with me?
The wait for this game–an expanded remaster of a 3DS favorite–won’t be too much longer now. XSEED Games has setRune Factory 4 Special‘s North American release for July 15, 2025. Just a few days later on February 28, the role-playing simulation title will launch in Europe and Australia.
There’s a $40 digital version on the Switch eShop, a standard physical edition that’ll fetch the same price, and also a $60 limited-run Archival Edition that comes with a 160-page art book and soundtrack. If you pre-order, XSEED will toss you a bonus: Swimsuit Day DLC “decreeing that all marriage candidates wear their swimsuits.” I don’t know aboutall that, but the game mechanics– the real draw–are bliss.
InRune Factory, you may raise crops, raid dungeons, tame monsters, craft gear, make friends, and get hitched. This new Switch version has a Newlywed Mode with “self-contained adventures” to take on after you settle down, a harsher “Hell” difficulty setting, and Japanese and English audio options.
“Additionally, the ‘Another Episode Pack’ DLC, which contains 12 new storybook-style episodes narrated by the game’s marriage candidates, will be available to all players as a free download during the first four weeks following the game’s release,” according to the publisher. “After this promotional period, the Another Episode Pack will be available for purchase for $4.99 on the Nintendo eShop.”
“Even without downloading the DLC, all players can view a special ‘Another Episode’ story starring Selphia’s lovable guardian dragon Ventuswill by selecting ‘Another Episode’ on the game’s title menu.”
Rune Factory 4 Specialshould be a breezy point of entry into the series for on-the-fence-sitters who crave this sort of RPG-meets-simulation experience on their Switch, and the situation is madeeven sweeterfor long-time fans knowing thatRune Factory 5is moving forward after all these years.
