Rune Factory 5 features a total of 12 marriage candidates, with six bachelors and six bachelorettes. The Rune Factory series combines Story of Seasons (once called Harvest Moon) gameplay with action RPG elements to create a very unique experience. It’s not just Story of Seasons’ farming that Rune Factory includes, however: it also includes relationship-building and marriage.
Similar to Story of Seasons, players in Rune Factory 5 can increase their friendship with the characters in the game’s town of Rigbarth by speaking to them daily and giving them gifts. Players need to increase their friendship levels with the marriage candidates in order to start a relationship with them. It’s also possible to invite NPCs - not just the marriage candidates - to join the player’s party like in a traditional RPG, allowing them to help battle monsters and bosses.
Each marriage candidate in Rune Factory 5 has their own distinct personality and has a similar level of “challenge” when it comes to making their favorite gifts. This is great because players can marry whoever is their favorite without much worry over difficulty raising their friendship levels. Rune Factory 5 also allows players to marry any of the love interests regardless of the player’s chosen gender, offering not only the highest levels of inclusivity the series has seen yet, but also giving players the opportunity to get to know all the marriage candidates through their romance events. Participating in each character’s romance events in Rune Factory 5 is the best way to get to know them and decide on who to marry, similar to the marriage system in Story of Seasons, but it’s still helpful to know the pros and cons of each characters’ favorite items to help speed up the friendship-building process.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Priscilla the Supportive Friend
Priscilla may be soft-spoken, but she’s supportive and working on becoming brave. Players who want to marry Priscilla will find themselves with plenty of opportunities to raise her affection since she’s among the first characters introduced in Rune Factory 5. Items she likes are easy to make, like the Hot Milk that only requires one Milk or the Hot Chocolate that only requires one Chocolate. Players looking to save RP can even give her a Chocolate directly. Priscilla’s early-game advantage comes with a downside, though: her favorite items, such as Chocolate Cookies and Chocolate Cake, have very high RP costs initially. Considering how the points in this the romance system works, players will likely be stuck giving Priscilla simpler items until she already has a high friendship level.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Lucy the Friendly Rival
Lucy is another character players meet early on in Rune Factory 5. She’s just as kind as Priscilla, but more boisterous, always challenging the player to competitions like who can catch the most fish. Her love of fishing seeps into her preferred gifts; players can give Lucy all sorts of fish, and even Milk and various fruits to increase her friendship levels. But like Priscilla, her absolute favorite items are a lot harder to come by. She loves the best Fishing Rods which are very difficult to make and are unlocked late in the game, as well as rare fish like Glitter Snapper and Tuna that players may want to use for recipes when they catch them.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Martin the Determined Blacksmith
Martin is an apprentice blacksmith character who takes his studies very seriously. He works at the smithy, making him one of the earlier love interests players meet. Players who want to help Martin take his mind off his studies will find it’s surprisingly easy to do so. While players mine for ores, they’ll find lots and lots of Scrap Metal, which decreases the defense of any item they fortify with it, making it worthless. But as a blacksmith, Martin actually likes Scrap Metal, so players can give any they find to him.
As is a recurring theme with Rune Factory 5’s marriage candidates, though, the Orichalcum - shared with the Story of Seasons series - that Martin loves is incredibly rare, and many players will likely want to keep what they find for their own smithing. Martin makes up for this with his favorite food: Fruit Sandwiches. Although Strawberries aren’t among the first seeds players unlock, it’s still an easy recipe to make using just Strawberries and Bread. It’s also the favorite food of Martin’s younger brother Cecil, so players who want to increase both their friendship levels will find it convenient to just make multiple Fruit Sandwiches at once for them.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Cecil the Aspiring Detective
Cecil is Martin’s younger brother who wants to become a great detective. He has an endearing dynamic with Martin, who overworks to give Cecil the best life he can afford while their parents are gone, although this teen detective character would rather Martin take time off. Not only is Cecil’s favorite food the same as Martin’s, but Cecil also likes fruits, which players can get easily. They’ll need to be careful, though, because Cecil dislikes all Milk products, which are also easily obtained and made.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Fuuka, Hardworking and Silly
Fuuka, like Cecil, is another young character in Rune Factory 5. She’s a were-animal who really likes fish. Similarly to Lucy, Fuuka’s favorite fish - the Golden Salmon and Golden Octopus - are incredibly rare. She makes up for it with another favorite item, however: the Emerald. Players will have to wait until around midgame to find them, but once they do, they can give any extras they have to Fuuka. She also likes regular gems and regular fish, but since she like to catch fish with her bare hands, she’s neutral towards Fishing Rods.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Murakumo, Laid-Back But Determined
Murakumo is another were-animal living in Rigbarth. He runs the local RPG-staple inn, where players can spend a measly 500G to restore their HP and RP. Rune Factory 5 players will be using the inn a lot, which gives them plenty of opportunities to simply chat with Murakumo and increase his friendship. Anyone who wants to take things a step further can give him Dumplings, which only require Rice Flour to make. He also loves Grilled Skipjack, which is one of the easier fish recipes to make. The other items he loves, however, are incredibly specific, like the Power Gloves and Hero’s Proof, which is a late-game drop.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Ryker, Sleepy Yet Serious
Ryker works at Palmo’s construction shop where he helps selling furniture and building renovations. Players who fall for his sleepy - with a side of mysterious - personality can increase his friendship level by giving him Toast and Sweet Potatoes. These cooking recipes are very simple to bake, making it easy to increase Ryker’s affection.
Although the food he loves - Croquettes and Ice Cream - are difficult to make at first, as players cook in Rune Factory 5 their cooking level goes up, decreasing the RP needed to make a dish. This is especially helpful for all the love interests who have trickier favorite items and is a great feature in general. Whether players invite other characters to join them in battles or not, they can cook lots of food to keep their HP and RP high.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Beatrice the Secret Princess
Beatrice is a princess sent to Rigbarth on a mission, although it’s a secret one that she can’t discuss at length at first. The items she likes - Bread, and farming crops like Strawberries and Apples - and loves - Strawberry Jam and Milk - are all rather easy to make and obtain. Players may find it a bit difficult to get to know her better, however, since her romance stories in Rune Factory 5 take longer to activate compared to those of the other marriage candidates.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Reinhard the Gentle Knight
Reinhard is Beatrice’s personal knight sent to guard her while at Rigbarth. His favorite foods are easy to make: regular Sandwiches and Toast - the latter of which is helpful for players also trying to increase Ryker’s friendship levels. Reinhard also likes Seeds which are easy to buy, and Turnip Seeds are especially cheap. Reinhard also likes Failed Dishes and Object X, the results of failed cooking and medicine mixing in Rune Factory 5, giving a use to these items when a player accidentally fails when crafting something or when they find these items as monster drops. It’s very easy to increase Reinhard’s friendship levels to the point where it’s difficult to think of a downside; players will simply have to determine if his gentle and knightly personality is for them while participating in his romance stories.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Scarlett, Fellow SEED Member
Scarlett is a member of SEED with a strong sense of justice. She is introduced partway through the game but remains relevant throughout the main story. This gives players plenty of opportunities to get to know her better. They can also increase her friendship levels with easy-to-make recipes like Onigiri - not “jelly-filled donuts” - which requires Rice, and Bamboo Rice, which takes Rice and one Bamboo.
Recipes that Scarlett really loves are unfortunately unlocked later in Rune Factory 5. The Tempura dishes can become easier to make once players unlock them, but the Golden Squid Rice will always remain tricky due to the rarity of the Golden Squid. Players will need to remember to speak with Scarlett daily and give her other gifts if they can’t produce her favorite items.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Lucas, Full of Secrets
Lucas is another character who joins partway through Rune Factory 5, but like Scarlett, he gets involved with the overarching plot. During his romance stories, players can learn about his mysterious origins and how he’s able to perform such convincing magic tricks. Not only does he like regular Udon, but if players use the game's fishing mechanics to get Cans, they can gift them to Lucas as well. The items Lucas loves, however, are late-game recipes similar to Scarlett; his favorite dish, Fried Udon, is especially tricky to unlock since it’s a reward for a quest to tame 50 monsters.
Rune Factory 5 Marriage Candidate: Ludmila the Dream-Eating Succubus
Ludmila is a succubus who feasts on peoples’ dreams. She likes flowers as well as flower Seeds, which is really convenient since she’s the one who sells both. Players can buy the items from her, gift them, and even have their daily chat all at once in Ludmila’s flower shop. The downside is that Ludmila is the final marriage candidate to arrive at Rigbarth in Rune Factory 5. Although raising her friendship levels can be a simple matter, players will have to make their way through much of the story before meeting her.