i'm most of the way through autumn village now (trying to take my time, so much to do in the game, other real world responsibilities)
and i am happy to report that guardians of azuma is the best executed rune factory spinoff game, in that everything works for the game they wanted to make and i'm satisfied with all of it.
especially the farming mechanics. they found a compromise between tod's automated fields and the agency most players want in their farm game.
the town building and customization is also interesting, though i wouldn't want it in the main series. placing buildings and decorating is good and interesting in this game, but it's also a lot of work that isn't what i normally want in my adventure-farmer games. and the npcs that fill in the villages are a level of abstraction that doesn't quite work for normal rune factory's 'everyone in town has a name and personality and likes gifts' style that i enjoy.
plus, the buildings take up space i could use for fields. the farm is important to me.
but i'm also not a fan of customization in games with narrative (ie, i don't like player character customization because it's a major obstacle to writing them with agency in the plot)
the actual system would be good for placing decorations and arranging furniture, though. guess i don't want to literally build a town going forward.
it's also disappointing i can't go into people's homes.
however, the bonds system and relationship track, the skill trees, and getting recipes from exploring the world are all things i would love to have as mainstays.
also, the female romance options are visually perfect. they've leaned way off the baby faces, there's no loli option this time, their heights and proportions vary, and the personalities aren't all 'generic nice girls, plus whatever scarlett and ludmilla have going on'.
basically, all my complaints are in the neighborhood of 'i like it as a one-off novelty, but i don't want this flavor all the time'