How to Date in Rune Factory 4 (2024)

Rune Factory 4 is an action-packed role playing simulation game that many gamers might have missed. Players can build up their farm, craft new equipment, battle and capture nosters, as well as date their party members. While dating anyone in this game is a lot of work, it's worth it to be able to fall in love and build a family in the beautiful town of Selphia.

Rune Factory 4 was originally released for the 3DS, meaning many fans of the genre haven't gotten to play this hidden gem; it's certainly not listed as one of the best-rated simulation games out there. But with its release yesterday on the Nintendo Switch, it gave access to this title to a bunch of new players.

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Who Can a Player Date

To be able to get romantic Rune Factory 4, players will have to spend a lot of time becoming good friends with each of the men or women they wish to date. Like many older games that have had dating sims treatment, players can only be in heterosexual relationships with their villagers. So if the main character is a girl, she will have to choose one of the six male characters to romance, and if the main character is a boy, he will have to choose one of the six women.

While some fans of the series were hoping for added hom*osexual possibilities with the rerelease on the Nintendo Switch yesterday, none of the relationship possibilities have been updated.

Become Friends First

As with many similar games, like the romances in Stardew Valley, players have to become friends with their potential romantic partners first before they can even think of asking them out. To be able to date a villager, players will have to raise the Love Point, or LP, level with that villager up to at least 7. This can be done by giving them gifts which can be done once a day. If they love an item, it will give more LP than if they just like an item. Avoid items they neither like nor love, as they may actively dislike them or have a neutral reaction, wasting a whole day of potential LP earning.

Rune Factory 4 dateable Male Characters and their favorite gifts:

Arthur

• LOVE: Golden Turnip, Golden Tyrant Turnip, Salmon Onigiri, Turnip Heaven
• LIKE: Brand Glasses, Can, Chinese Manju, Colossal Pink, Curry Manju, Intelligent Glasse, Onigiri, Pickled Turnip, Pickle Mix, Pickles, Rare Can, Sandwich, Spectacles, Turnip, Tyrant Turnip

Doug

• LOVE: Tempura Bowl
• LIKE: Baked Onigiri, Bamboo Rice, Egg Bowl, Milk Porridge, Omelet Rice, Onigiri, Rice, Rice Porridge, Risotto, Salmon Onigiri

Dylas

• LOVE: Glitter Snapper, Lover Sashimi, Lover Snapper, Milk Porridge, Sunsquid, Tuna
• LIKE: Carrot, Fish (Any), Milk, Milk Dishes (Any), Sashimi

Kiel

• LOVE: Any Boss Item Drops (though they won't be as fun as the boss drops from Borderlands 3), Chocolate Cake, Stew
• LIKE: Sweets (Any)

Leon

• LOVE: Grilled Lamp Squid, Salted R. Trout
• LIKE: Blue Lamp Grass, Charm Blue, Grilled F.Flounder, Grilled Gibelio, Grilled L. Snapper, Grilled Mackerel, Grilled S.Flounder, Grilled Shrimp, Grilled Skipjack, Grilled Snapper, Grilled Squid, Grilled Turbot, Lamp Squid, Lamp Squid Sashimi, Poison Trout, Poison Trout Sashimi, Pom-pom Grass, Rainbow Sashimi, Rainbow Trout, Salted Char, Salted Chub, Salted Pike (players can fish, just like they can in Fortnite and many other titles)

Vishnal

• LOVE: Curry Manju, Curry Rice, Curry Udon, Dry Curry, Royal Curry, Ultimate Curry
• LIKE: Bok Choy, Cabbage, Carrot, Chinese Manju, Corn, Croquette, Cucumber, Flan, Fried Rice, Gigant Corn, Green Pepper, Gyoza, Ice Cream, Kaiser Cucumber, King Cabbage, Leek, Meat Dumpling, Omelet Rice, Onion, Pink Melon, Pot Stickers, Potato, Princely Potato, Pumpkin, Radish, Steamed Gyoza, Tomato, Yam

Female Characters:

Amber

• LOVE: Emery Flower, Gold Juice, Mixed Smoothie
• LIKE: Flowers (Any), Fruit (Any), Honey, Juice (Any)

Clorica

• LOVE: Apple Pie, Blue Core, Diamond, Glitter Stone, Green Core, Orichalcum, Platinum, Red Core, Round Stone, Shade Stone, White Stone, Yellow Core
• LIKE: Apple, Apple Dishes (like the fruit, not the new iPhone 11), Cakes (Any), Cookies (Any), Gold, Hot Chocolate

Dolce

• LOVE: Apple Pie, Cake, Cheese Cake, Chocolate Cake, Flan, Pumpkin Flan
• LIKE: Cookies (Any), Desserts (Any), Hot Chocolate, Hot Juice, Hot Milk, Ice Cream, Medicine, Moondrop Grass, Relax Tea, Sewing Material

Forte

• LOVE: Cake, Chocolate Cake, Omelet Rice, Union Stew
• LIKE: Egg, Egg Dishes (Any), Flowers, Pot Dishes (Any), Sweets (Any)

Margaret

• LOVE: Gold Vegetables, Golden Juice, Pineapple Juice, Pink Melon, Prelude to Love
• LIKE: Apple Pie, Cake, Choco Cookie, Flan, Flowers, Fruit (Any), Fruit Dishes (Any), Grape Jam, Ice Cream, Lobster, Mushrooms, Raw Vegetables, Shrimp, Strawberry Jam, Strawberry Milk

Xiao Pai

• LOVE: Big White Crystal, Emery Flower
• LIKE: Boiled Gyoza, Chinese Manju, Fried Rice, Gyoza, Toyherb

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Asking Them on a Date

Once the character that the players wants to romance has an LP level of 7, they can romanced. Players just need to press the L or R trigger to bring up the menu to talk to them. There will be several options on the menu, one of them being "I love you!" Select that option to tell the villager that the main character is in love with them. Villagers will always react as though the player is kidding (they must think it's always April Fools Day for the MC to joke about love!), so they will have to reassure them that they are actually in love.

There is a daily-updated random chance that the character will then accept the confession and begin dating the main character. There is no consequence for getting rejected, so players will just have to wait until the next day and try again, plying their potential love with more gifts. Once the characters reach an LP level of 9, their acceptance of the MC's declaration is almost guaranteed. It will be like Valentine's Day video game events all over again.

Getting Around

Unlike Outer Worlds which chose not to allow players to date at all, Rune Factory 4 went in the other direction and allowed players to date everyone possible at the same time. Players can date all six of their potential partners all at once. That particular goal is extremely time consuming; getting all six characters up to that high of an LP takes a lot of attention and gifts. But if players are devoted, they can play the field. Once they choose one of their dates to marry, however, they will automatically break up with everyone else.

Rune Factory 4 is all the romance and action that players can handle, and can be a fun game to pick up while players wait for access to their Animal Crossing: New Horizons island.

Rune Factory 4 Special is available for the Switch, and original Rune Factory 4 is available for the 3DS.

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Source: gamerevolution.com