Rune Factory: Guardians Of Azuma's Best Feature Breaks An 18-Year Tradition

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is the next installment in the Rune Factory series from Natsume, but it's hard to tell that from just looking at it. The series started as a game with elements of a fantasy RPG, even carrying the title «A Fantasy » for the first two games. Over the next few games, the franchise evolved into a fully fledged standalone series of games that merged the farm management aspect of the farming simulator genre with the monster hunting, crafting, and world-building of an RPG.

Though the series has evolved over the years, one thing has remained the same: the setting. Sure, all the games took place in different areas, but all the locations were firmly rooted in the Western fantasy world. For the first time in the series' 18-year run, isbringing the series away from the West and into a fantasy land based on Japan.

through all took place in one location, the Kingdom of Norad. There's no official map of the kingdom, but each game reveals more information about it through its story and locations. There's even one location in that allows players to look through binoculars and see the surrounding cities where the events of previous games took place. Some fans have even created their own maps based on information from the games, like this one from Dreamarche on Reddit.

Despite the anime style of the characters,the Kingdom of Norad is firmly rooted in Western fantasy. This is reflected in everything from the landscapes and locations to the monsters. Even the Native Dragons, an important element of the first four titles, are based on Western dragon designs.

The series hasn't fully departed from the West, though. The 2023 Marvelous Game Showcasenamed as a spin-off title and revealed that a is also in development. will undoubtedly continue building the lore of the Kingdom of Norad, while allows the series to test the waters with a brand-new location.

At its core, Rune Factory 3 Special maintains the elements of the original fans know and love, but doesn't do a lot to innovate beyond its