Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Feels Best on Switch 2

When I played Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, it ended up being on the original Switch. It’s a fantastic installment that does some cool stuff and feels much stronger than Rune Factory 5 did. (Frankly, I think it should have been considered Rune Factory 6.) Some issues regarding performance and balancing thoughts made me think it wasn’t quite at a masterpiece level yet. Since the Switch 2 launch, I fully transitioned over to continuing my adventures there and reloading an older save so I have a file where Subaru is a bachelor option for my avatar. Playing the game only there for so long now left me convinced Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is absolutely best enjoyed as a Switch 2 experience, and its upgrade pack is worth it. 

The most obvious reason for this involving performance. When I played Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma on the Switch, I felt everything was fine, but somehow the combat feels even more responsive on the Switch 2. The fact that I did go through the final fights and areas on the original system, then went to an older save to go through them again after taking steps to unlock Subaru, only helped showcase how much I missed out. I main dual blades as Kaguya. Yes, it could be that I was playing segments I already went through and mastered combat. Yet I can’t help feeling things were more responsive and the game ran better against these major opponents and hordes of enemies. In turn, I got better at responding to those attacks and retaliating. I found I would trigger dodge windows more frequently and be able to counter, even though I hadn’t unlocked nodes to increase windows in the skill tree. 

But there were also sections and animations that assured that no, in some ways this couldn’t be attributed to my “getting good” and Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma did feel that much better on the Switch 2. There are malevolent infestations in towns, the open field, and dungeon areas. Some of these with motions and animations attached to them, such as the red, fire-spitting flower or green, poison-fog plant, played out with an incredible amount of lag and at a lower frame rate depending on your distance from them and amount of action nearby. That’s gone on the Switch 2! All effects look and run perfectly. It’s fantastic.

Of course, there’s also notion that, in general, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma looks better on the Switch 2. It’s a really pretty game with some great character designs, and I appreciate the execution of some enemy appearances too. It looks absolutely fine on the original Switch. But I will say that the models for all allies and NPCs do look better here. It’s a crispness that really suits the vibrancy and tone of each village and region. 

Also, I have to say that I do like the Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma mouse controls in the Switch 2 version. I’m spending a lot more time in the postgame working on villages. Before, I just plopped things down as-needed to get points or boosts to stats for my avatar. Now I’m actually planning things out and engaging in more terraforming. That ability to pop off the Joy-Con 2 when I’m in Handheld mode, because of course that’s how I play Bokujou Monogatari games, quickly arrange a thing, then pop it back on to go back to traditional controls is fantastic. It’s well-suited for the experience. 

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a wonderful entry in the series that offers a lot, but I’m really surprised at just how much better it feels on the Switch 2. So much so that if I’d reviewed it on this platform, rather than the original Switch, I think it would have merited a higher score. The extra power of the console helps so much with regular exploration and combat. Also, once you hit a point at which you get more invested in designing each of the four villages, that extra control option is quite nice. It really showcases the difference between one generation and the next and value of the upgrade pack.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is available for the Switch, Switch 2, and PC.