Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

=== Story ===

=== Story ===

The player, as one of the two main characters: Subaru or Kaguya (their names can be changed), rides a white dragon to engage a black dragon that their friend, the other main character that the player did not choose, is riding on. Following the fight, the player falls and crash-lands in a dragon shrine in the Spring Village, one of the villages in Azuma. They reside in the shrine for half a month, having lost their memory in the fight. Azuma has been falling to disarray after the Celestial Collapse occurred, causing runes to stop flowing and people to leave the village. The player experiences a dream where a mysterious woman reveals that they are an Earth Dancer, a type of Earthmate, and gifts them with a drum-like object. They later meets Mokoshiro, a flying Wooly who is a descendant of a legendary dragon god Mihoshi Habaki; he is nicknamed Woolby by the player. The same black dragon from before attacks the village, but an airship piloted by a treasure hunter named Mauro and an archeologist named Hina repels it with the player's help. To save the village's sacred tree, the player uses the drum that they got from the mysterious woman to revive it. The woman appears and reveals herself to be Ulalaka, one of Azuma's gods. The player helps restore her powers and later becomes the new village chief after the original chief steps down. After repairing the dragon shrine, the player performs a ritual to help Woolby regain his true form; he is the white dragon from the start of the story. At Ulalaka's request, the player travels to the other three seasonal towns to revive the other gods and save Azuma. As they visit the towns, they also experience similar dreams where the seasonal gods gift them with a new weapon and gives them advice on what to do to revive them.

The player, as one of the two main characters: Subaru or Kaguya (their names can be changed), rides a white dragon to engage a black dragon that their friend, the other main character, is riding on. Following the fight, the player falls and crash-lands in Spring Village, one of the villages of Azuma. They reside in the shrine for half a month, having lost their memory in the fight. The player experiences a dream where a mysterious woman reveals that they are an Earth Dancer, and gifts them with a Sacred Treasure, a drum, to help save her. They later meets Mokoshiro, a flying Wooly who is a descendant of a legendary dragon god Mihoshi Habaki; he is nicknamed Woolby by the player. The same Black Dragon from before attacks the village, but an airship piloted by a treasure hunter named Mauro and an archeologist named Hina repels it with the player's help. The woman appears again and reveals herself to be Ulalaka, one of Azuma's gods. The player helps restore her powers is instructed to repair the dragon shrine by Woolby. After repairing the dragon shrine, the player performs a ritual to help Woolby regain his true form; the white dragon from the start of the story. At Ulalaka's request, the player travels to the other three villages to revive the other gods and save Azuma.

In the Summer Village, the player locates the shrine where the summer god's weapon is, but discovers that it is stolen and searches for the thief, revealed to be a monster. After recovering and repairing the weapon, the player succeeds in reviving the summer god, Matsuri. In the Autumn Village, the player looks for the autumn god's missing mikoshi and takes part in a fighting festival to revive him, but this results in the autumn god, Kurama, turning into a monster (due to him disapproving of the festival) that the player must fight to pacify him. In the Winter Village, the player must defeat the winter god, Fubuki, who has transformed into a wolf monster, to return him to normal. During their time there, they also encounter a mysterious woman with blond hair.

In the Summer Village, the player locates the shrine where the summer god's weapon is, but discovers that it is stolen and searches for the thief. After recovering and repairing the weapon, the player succeeds in reviving the summer god, Matsuri. In the Autumn Village, the player looks for the autumn god's missing mikoshi and takes part in a fighting festival to revive him, but this results in the autumn god, Kurama, turning into a monster (due to him disapproving of the festival) that the player must fight to pacify him. In the Winter Village, the player must defeat the winter god, Fubuki, who has transformed into a wolf monster, to return him to normal. During their time there, they also encounter a mysterious woman with blond hair.

After each god is revived, the player becomes the new chief of the town that the god resides in. Once the four gods are revived, the player removes the first barrier around the epicenter, the area where the Celestial Collapse occurred to lure out the Black Dragon and confront them. After defeating the Black Dragon and other main character, the player recognizes the other main character before they retreat. The player must then help the gods fully regain their powers by completing tasks like befriending the townsfolks, taking part in festivals, doing farmwork, and solving problems. During this time, the player has a dream of their past where they learn of locations called Astral Shrines that they and the other main character (revealed to be their childhood friend) were sent to find and offer magical amulets to to save Azuma. The player asks the warrior Murasame to help them locate one of them, where they learn that the shrines were built to honor Mihoshi Habaki. The player continues their search for the other shrines across Azuma to recover their memories. The memory recovered at the final shrine reveals that they formed a pact with Woolby, who sacrificed the player’s memory and half of their soul to make them an Earth Dancer while forming a pact between them, explaining their memory loss; the player deduces that their friend did the same with the Black Dragon.

Once the four gods are revived, they remove the first barrier around the Epicenter, the area where the Celestial Collapse occurred, to lure out the Black Dragon so the player can confront them. After defeating the Black Dragon and other main character, the player recognizes the other main character before they retreat. The player must then help the gods fully regain their powers to prepare for the next confrontation with the Black Dragon. During this time, the player has a dream of their past where they learn of locations called Astral Shrines that they and the other main character (revealed to be their childhood friend) were sent to find and offer magical amulets to to save Azuma. The player asks the warrior Murasame to help them locate one of the shrines, where they learn that the shrines were built to honor Mihoshi Habaki. The player continues their search for the other shrines across Azuma to recover their memories. The memory recovered at the final shrine reveals that they formed a pact with Woolby, who sacrificed the player’s memory and half of their soul to make them an Earth Dancer while forming a pact between them. The player deduces that their friend did the same with the Black Dragon.

Learning that killing the Black Dragon will also kill their childhood friend due to their pact, the player travels to the Underworld with the help of Kai, the Underworld god, to find out more about the dragon to save their friend. They learn that the Black Dragon took Mihoshi Habaki's body to the Underworld and it was given the power to absorb runes to destroy and recreate the lands, while Woolby guards Mihoshi Habaki’s heart which gives runes to the lands. Kai leads the player get help from Kanata, the god who rules over the Heavenly Realm and the leader of the six gods, to help defeat the Black Dragon and free their childhood friend, but she refuses to help after revealing that it was she who caused the Celestial Collapse. The player throws a party with the help of the other gods to summon Kanata and bring her out of her depression. She explains that the reason she caused the Celestial Collapse was to revive Mihoshi Habaki and save Azuma, which was dying even before the incident occurred. Kanata reveals the object that crashed into Azuma is Mihoshi Habaki's heart. After some convincing, Kanata agrees to help remove the second barrier.

Learning that killing the Black Dragon will also kill their childhood friend due to their pact, the player travels to the Underworld with the help of Kai, the Underworld god, to find out more about the Black Dragon to save their friend. They learn that the Black Dragon took Mihoshi Habaki's body to the Underworld and it was given the power to absorb runes to destroy and recreate the lands, while Woolby guards Mihoshi Habaki’s heart to gives runes to the lands. Kai leads the player to get help from Kanata, the god who rules over the Heavenly Realm and the leader of the six gods of Azuma, to help defeat the Black Dragon and free their childhood friend. However, she refuses to help after revealing that it was she who caused the Celestial Collapse. The player throws a party with the help of the other gods to summon Kanata and bring her out of her depression. She explains that the reason she caused the Celestial Collapse was to revive Mihoshi Habaki and save Azuma, which was dying even before the incident occurred. Kanata reveals the object that crashed into Azuma is Mihoshi Habaki's heart. After some convincing, Kanata agrees to help remove the second barrier.

Once the barrier is down, the player defeats the Black Dragon and frees their friend with the help of Kai and Kanata, but their friend is mortally wounded by Clarice, the blond-haired woman from before, and the other members of the Dawnstar Trio. They are the leaders of a military organization called the Tagesanbruch who seek to kill the six gods and conquer Azuma. The player escapes as their allies fight off the Dawnstar Trio. The player then has the option to summon the Black Dragon to save their dying friend by sacrificing something in return. Should they choose to sacrifice nothing or not summon the Black Dragon, their friend will perish.

Once the barrier is down, the player defeats the Black Dragon and frees their friend with the help of Kai and Kanata, but their friend is mortally wounded by Clarice, the blond-haired woman, and the other members of the Dawnstar Trio. They are the leaders of a military organization called the Tagesanbruch who seek to kill the six gods and conquer Azuma. The player escapes as their allies fight off the Dawnstar Trio. The player then has the option to summon the Black Dragon to save their dying friend by sacrificing something in return. Should they choose to sacrifice nothing or not summon the Black Dragon, their friend will perish.

The player then goes to activate the Holy Shrines across Azuma to keep the Tagesanbruch from reaching the epicenter until the gods recover, fighting Clarice and her accomplices along the way. During this, the player learns to shapeshift into a Wooly to infiltrate the Tagesanbruch’s base so they can speak to Clarice, due to her having an affection for Woolies. Through conversations with Clarice, Hina, and the gods, the player learns that the Tagesanbruch emerged from the fallen Sechs Empire, antagonists of previous Rune Factory titles, and that her family was murdered by the evil god Kamurosaki, who is influencing Clarice for his own gain; her family’s death is the reason why Clarice bears a grudge against Azuma’s gods. The player undergoes training with Murasame and the summer god to strengthen their skills.

The player then goes to activate the Holy Shrines across Azuma to keep the Tagesanbruch from reaching the Epicenter until the gods recover, fighting Clarice and her accomplices along the way. During this, the player learns to shapeshift into a Wooly to infiltrate the Tagesanbruch’s base so they can speak to Clarice, due to her affection for Woolies. Through conversations with Clarice, Hina, and the gods, the player learns that the Tagesanbruch emerged from the fallen Sechs Empire, antagonists of previous ''Rune Factory'' titles, and that Clarice's family was murdered by the evil god Kamurosaki, who is influencing Clarice for his own gain through a curse. The player undergoes training with Murasame and Matsuri to prepare for the coming battle.

Once all the Holy Shrines are activated, the player helps Kai deal with a revolt in the Underworld, which is revealed to be a distraction to allow the Dawnstar Trio to obtain the Dragon Casket, a tomb that houses Mihoshi Habaki’s body hidden in the Underworld, allowing them to reach the epicenter and claim Mihoshi Habaki’s heart for their own means. The player arrives too late as Clarice escapes with the tomb, revealed to be an aerial fortress, and pursues her to the epicenter. After defeating one of Clarice’s henchmen, the Hound, who is revealed to be Kamurosaki and Fubuki's twin brother, and kill him with Fubuki's help. The player confronts Clarice, who summons Mihoshi Habaki to destroy Azuma and recreate it as the new Sechs Empire under her own rule. The player manages to defeat Clarice and free her from Kamurosaki's curse, making Clarice finally see the error of her ways. The gods and the player's allies help them defeat Mihoshi Habaki and send him back to the Heavenly Realm, preventing Azuma's destruction. Afterwards, the group celebrates in Spring Village, with a reformed Clarice deciding to stay in Azuma. As with the previous games, the player is now free to do as they wish after the main story is complete.

Once all the Holy Shrines are activated, the player helps Kai deal with a revolt in the Underworld, revealed to be a distraction to allow the Dawnstar Trio to obtain the Dragon Casket, a tomb that houses Mihoshi Habaki’s body hidden in the Underworld. The player arrives too late as Clarice escapes with the tomb, revealed to be an aerial fortress, and pursues her to the Epicenter. The player defeats one of the Dawnstar Trio, the Hound, who is revealed to be Kamurosaki and Fubuki's twin brother, and kill him with Fubuki's help. The player confronts Clarice, who summons Mihoshi Habaki to destroy Azuma and recreate it as the new Sechs Empire under her rule. The player manages to defeat Clarice and free her from Kamurosaki's curse, making Clarice finally see the error of her ways. The gods and the player's allies help them defeat Mihoshi Habaki and send him back to the Heavenly Realm, preventing Azuma's destruction. Afterwards, the group celebrates in Spring Village, with a reformed Clarice deciding to stay in Azuma. As with the previous games, the player is now free to do as they wish after the main story is complete.

== Development ==

== Development ==