Summary
- Regularly check the village request board for rewards and money.
- Visit street traders for rare cooking recipe ingredients.
- Use Drum Dance to grow crops faster and heal allies.
\When beginning life as an Earth Dancer in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, players may soon realize there is a lot to do and manage in Marvelous Inc.'s action RPG Life Sim. From restoring and managing the village to defeating monsters and improving relationships with villagers, it's all in a day's work, especially with much to develop and unlock as players progress through the main story and its numerous side activities.
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Consequently, new and veteran Rune Factory players alike may be eager to know various beginner tips for Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma to help them get started and progress. With only so much time in a day, there are several tips and tricks to help newcomers get started and decide what to do first or what to prioritize as Village Chief.
10 Check And Complete The Village Request Board Regularly
Get Rewards, Money, And More
After a bit of time spent progressing through the main story, players soon unlock the village request board, which provides more Ema Plaque villager requests as time goes on. Before setting out on adventures beyond Spring Village, it's always best to remember to check the request board for any new Ema Plaque quests, as players can tick off many of these just by exploring and defeating specific monsters, killing two birds with one stone.
When returning, don't forget to check the quest board again to turn in any quests completed while out and about. These reward players with goodies such as gold (these quests are a great way to make money fast), crafting resources, cooking ingredients, and even things like building structures, to name a handful of examples.
9 Visit Street Traders And Traveling Peddlers
Access More Cooking Recipe Ingredients
There are numerous opportunities to unlock more cooking recipes in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, such as interacting with Frog Statues. However, although Iroha's Teahouse Shop gradually acquires more stock and recipes, it's likely players will come across meals that require specific cooking ingredients which could prove tricky to find. For instance, when making Honey Toast in The Sage of Sweets quest, players will need ingredients like Ice Cream and Honey.
While it's possible to come across some ingredients in random crates or baskets while exploring, it's typically always best to check first with Street Traders, like the one who appears by the entrance to Spring Village. While these vendors don't show up all the time and their inventories vary, they often stock a wider variety of ingredients and rare items, so it's best to stock up. Eventually, other types of traders appear, such as the Marine Market Traveling Peddler outside Spring Village.
8 Do The Drum Dance
Use The Drum Dance To Grow Crops Faster, Heal Allies, And More
The Sacred Drum is the first Sacred Treasure players unlock in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma. It's a handy tool capable of not just bringing trees back to life and healing allies in combat by using the Drum Dance, but also speeding up crop growth when farming. Once planted, players can quickly accelerate crop growth time with a quick bash of the drum over their farming tiles, which is often better than waiting for villagers to help. Speeding up crop growth is also ideal, as harvesting crops rewards XP, and selling crops is one of the best ways to make money.
As players level up the Drum Dance via the Sacred Treasure Skills Tree, they can also unlock more abilities for using the Drum Dance in combat by inflicting Earth-based attacks. Players can also use the Sacred Sword to harvest seeds from their crops instead of produce.
7 Activate Dragon Statues For Fast Travel
Save The Game And Travel Around The Map Faster
Dragon Statues in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma aren't just for saving the game; they are also fast travel spots. Once players perform the Dance of Bonds at a Dragon Statue, marked by the dragon icon on the map, they can use them as another way to save their game besides sleeping back at the Dragon Shrine. After reaching a certain point in the main quest, players can also fast-travel to Dragon Statues they've activated using the warp sub-menu from the game map at any time.
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Dragon Statue icons aren't the only things on the map for players to look out for during their travels. Numerous other icons scattered throughout the map highlight key items or discoverables, such as Frog Statues and resource locations.
6 Learn How To Skip And Stop Time
Skip Ahead To Save Time And Pause Time
Some quests in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma take place at specific times of day, meaning players will often need to come back at a specific hour. If players get stuck for things to do or want to skip ahead, there is a handy way they can skip time in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma by choosing either the 'Wait till Noon' or 'Wait till Nighttime' option at the Dragon Shrine. Doing so saves waiting around, especially for players keen to complete the main story or progress as quickly as possible.
Opening the menu will also pause time, so players needn't worry about time moving ahead when going through things like the map, skill trees, or villager profiles, for instance. Time also stops when Village Build Mode is active using the Terra Tiller.
5 Talk To Characters Daily
Reap The Benefits Of Raising Villager Bond Levels And Gain Gift Hints
It takes time to build relationships and beat Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma's main story. Talking with characters daily not only helps raise the player's Bond level with them, but doing so can also give players special bonuses in combat, unlock more social interactions, and even grant the opportunity to take part in Bond quests and let specific characters join players on their adventures. Talking to characters can also help reveal more information about each one, including hints about what kinds of gifts they might like or dislike.
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Gift giving in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma can be a bit of a potluck, so listening to character dialogue can be a way to get some clues about what to give other characters as gifts, such as on birthdays. Giving a character a liked gift grants a much greater Bond boost.
Once players discover a liked gift, liked items display a heart symbol next to them in the player's inventory when giving a gift, as well as display it in their character profile, which can make knowing what gift to give easier.
4 Remember To Check And Use The Shipping Shed
Level Up The Village And Boost Profits
To ensure village profits keep flowing, don't forget to sell stuff in the Shipping Shed or Bin located in the Spring Village development plot. Items players place in their Shipping Bin get sold at the end of each day, with the profits displayed on the end-of-day village report when players sleep at night after they view their total All-Purpose XP for the day from activities like walking, combat, harvesting, and more.
In addition to Shipping Income, Business Income, and Villager Expenses, the village report also summarizes daily population changes, overall villager happiness, and any penalties applied for things like not making an income or staying up late. Shipping things like crops can help players stay on top of their income, which will in turn help level up the village when the time arises, so it's worth checking and adding things to the Shipping Bin daily to boost profits.
3 Complete Villager Bond And Personal Quests
Progress Relationships, Unlock More Story Elements, And Earn More Rewards
While it takes time to romance characters in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma and raise Bond Levels with each villager, completing unlocked Bond Quests from villagers is also worthwhile to help progress relationships with them. Bond quests also reward story content for each character, so players can get to know them even more and experience more of each character's personal story.
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Completing a character's Personal Quests also rewards XP. It is another way for players to raise their Bond level with that character, and often gives various types of other rewards, such as gold, seeds, or other types of items.
2 Check Inventory Regularly And Know How To Restore Rune Points
Be Battle-Ready With Health And Rune Points
Before boss battles or more challenging enemy encounters, it's worth keeping tabs on a potentially overflowing inventory. When the player's inventory gets full, items automatically get transferred into storage. However, players can only use health items like meals to heal in battle from their inventory, so it's worth making sure the inventory itself is well-stocked with health-restoring items and checking for lost inventory items, especially if it becomes full.
It's also worth restoring Rune Points (RP), so players can also use Sacred Treasures to their fullest in battle. While Rune Points gradually replenish over time, players can also restore Rune Points by interacting with Rune Lanterns, eating certain cooked meals, or resting.
1 Decorate The Village
Use Decorations To Increase Village Stats And Get Bonuses
In addition to developing villages with buildings to house villagers and produce handy cooking ingredients like Soy Sauce and Salt, it's also helpful to spend time decorating the village. Not only does adding decorations to development plots help make them look more visually attractive, but they can sometimes give players a special bonus for their village that increases its stats, such as a +1 Logging Bonus. Some decorations, like bridges and stairs, also help improve villagers' commute, making it easier for them to get around.
However, it's essential to note that some decorations only grant bonuses for specific villages, so choosing where to place them is crucial for maximizing the benefits.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 81%
- Released
- June 5, 2025
- ESRB
- Teen / Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Marvelous
- Publisher(s)
- XSEED Games, Marvelous
