Rune Factory 4

Rune Factory 4 combines a farming sim in the spirit of Harvest Moon with action RPG and social-sim elements, in which the player, as a shipwrecked traveler, takes over rule of the town of Selphia. Days are spent alternating between growing crops, raising animals, cooking, and building relationships with the town's residents, and expeditions into dungeons, where the player fights in real time with a sword, staff, or magic against monsters and gathers materials for crafting. A distinctive twist compared to previous entries is that midway through the story the player can become the ruler of the town itself, which changes some social interactions and opens up new possibilities for developing the settlement.

The relationship system lets the player build friendships and romances with dozens of characters and eventually get married, which also affects how the farm runs and which helpers are available. The combat system is unusually fluid and action-oriented for the series at the time, with combos, dodges, and a wide range of weapons, setting the game apart from slower turn-based RPGs. On 3DS the game runs stably even in stereoscopic 3D, and the colorful pastel graphics and relaxing music create a laid-back atmosphere that contrasts with the fairly deep progression systems underneath. A cooperative multiplayer mode is also available for farming and fighting together with friends over a local connection.

Rune Factory 4 was received on release as one of the most polished entries in the series and is still considered by many players today as a gateway into the farming-RPG genre. Critics especially praised the balance between peaceful farming and more demanding dungeon battles, which keeps the game's pace up throughout. Thanks to its wealth of content - dozens of hours of farming, quests, and battles - and its well-balanced mix of genres, the title became one of the longest-playing RPGs on 3DS and is still being released in remastered versions on newer platforms today.