izigame.me

I want to preface this by saying that I am a HUGE Rune Factory fan. I've played 3-5, as well as the Wii game. I know RF4 like the back of my hand in particular. So I cannot deny that I have a bias for this series as a whole.
However, this game is... well, it's hard to call it Rune Factory, at least in my opinion. This definitely feels like it should have been a part of a newer series, maybe something like Farmagia (which I haven't played, but from what I've heard, it's similar enough to Rune Factory and it's made by Marvelous). This game is less Rune Factory than even RF5, and that game wasn't that good... primarily because it was a Switch game first and thus could not run well/most of the characters in that game were incredibly boring. And yes, I know it's a spin-off game to a degree, but it's still got Rune Factory in the title.
Lemme start with the positives. Movement is fantastic and smooth, not a bit of jank once you get your camera settings the way you want them. Combat is solid, considerably smoother and more fun than in RF5 (do note that I'm going to be comparing this game to RF5 a LOT, primarily because they're both 3D RF titles... and partially because neither game can hold a candle to RF4, so trying to compare GoA to RF4 is a moot point). We have returning enemies and some brand new ones, and they all look fantastic. Graphics are amazing, the voice acting is solid, we don't have a bunch of bachlors and bachlorettes that look childish, the music is great... so far, there's a good bit of positives.
Now for the cons... I do not like the farming in this game at all. For those that don't know, Rune Factory is "The Fantasy Harvest Moon", which means this series heavily leans into farming, has been from the start. Even RF5 did that right... but somehow, GoA managed to make the farming so ridiculously simplistic and yet so annoying at the same time. You get an item called the Terra Tiller, which is neat: it allows you to not only farm with it- it's both a watering can AND a hoe at the same time- but you can demolish obstructions in Development Areas with it, allowing you to customize the area you want to develop in various ways. However, you have to craft field tiles in order to farm, which isn't bad per se: Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons did that, and those crafted tiles weren't bad. These tiles, however, are very small, and in order to get crops going at a decent rate, you'll need a fair few of them, and that requires gathering soil which - so far- has required doing quests and side jobs... it's a nuisance just to farm, despite it being so simple. To make matters worse, you also have to put buildings down in these Development Areas, which take up a lot of space, so you can't just devote an entire massive chunk or the entire Area for farming. In my opinion, the Development Area stuff- while interesting on paper and a unique idea for the series- is poorly done as it has too much to do.
Improving your character's capabilities has always been a big part of Rune Factory, where each specific action- walking, sleeping, eating, bathing, fighting, using magic, and so much more- can be leveled up and improved, giving you strong bonuses in various stats and allowing you to craft more complicated equipment or cook higher level dishes. In GoA, however, this becomes a skill tree; you gain experience for doing things after each night passes, and that becomes something called Everyday Exp, or something like that. Basically, you can use it towards anything in the skill trees. You also get exp for a specific skill, such as using short swords, that can only be used for that skill tree. In order to become stronger and get new skills and stats, you need to spend this exp in the skill tree. It's not bad, per se, but it lacks the RF vibe... I might just need some more time with it, but for now, I consider it a negative. They could have stuck with the old system and everything would have been just fine.
Your little partner, Woolby... honestly, I wish I could put a gag on him. I find him neurotic and annoying as hell, and for all of the wrong reasons as well. He's not funny, he likes to take credit for things he didn't even do, and I dislike his voice, the only voice- so far- I dislike. Actually, he's the only character I dislike so far in general, not just his voice... In my opinion, GoA would be far better if this mascot character was more mature, or at least humorous.
And one last thing: I think this game is trying to do too much all at once, all while trying to keep things simplified. There's more to do than just planting crops and making buildings in the Development Areas, as well as the villages themselves. I won't spoil what those are, but frankly, it feels like the game is trying to delve into the simulation genre while giving you all this other important stuff to do, and I think it's a mixed bag at best.
When all is said and done, I've only played about 2.5 hours so far, so there's a lot I still have left to experience. Some pros could become negatives, some cons could become positives, and there's probably a lot that I have yet to uncover that could change my opinion on the game a great deal. For now, though, I'm still gonna give this a positive review, since despite the parts I dislike, I am enjoying the game still, and the positives do outnumber the negatives... at least so far.
tl;dr: There's a lot to do in this game, almost too much so. There's a lot of good things that make this a good game, but not necessarily a good Rune Factory game. And it's still better than RF5 by a good margin, even though I think this is less of a Rune Factory game than RF5 is. Die-hard RF fans like me should still give this game a shot. Everyone else... eh, wait for a sale.