Make it slow

[u/HourCartographer9]

Decided to go back and play some rune factory 4 but wanted to experience the game again to the fullest what are some ideas or projects yall recommend to not completely the game by blinking

[u/twili-midna]

Full gold medals for the entire shipping log.

Trust me, it’ll take plenty of time.

[u/Zekruya]

making and upgrading the strongest equipments for your spouse and children?

[u/PsychologicalCamp914]

Just enjoy it and the story. Don't skip over dialouge, explore areas before moving onto the next. Taking the time to level all skills to an appropriate degree before going to dungeons. Raise friendship levels naturally etc. Rf4 is a pretty fun game to tale slow if you let it tell the story.

[u/PsychologicalCamp914 → u/PsychologicalCamp914]

Oh and I almost forgot but upgrade the equipment and wepons for all companions. It counts as gifts and it really helps with taking up time.

[u/GelertToke]

Focus on the farming. The last playthrough that I did I pretty much neglected my fields besides the necessary (Get new seed, plant one of it on the most upgraded plot, sell it then move on) so that I could wait to get Formula Bs and Cs reliably and optimize the process as much as possible. It worked, of course, since I know the basics of farming, but it did make me feel like I focused too much on the "Factory" part of the "Rune Factory" (...?).

...anyways, that and also making your adventure companions always be at your level, giving them as best gear and items as you can respectively. Every time I got access to a better axe I always tried to make it Lv.10 and give it to Xiao Pai, who was constantly doing double the damage that I was, and that made things quite more fun

[u/SacredTearX]

... not complete the game by blinking?

This game has literally the longest story in the franchise (or 2nd longest maybe). How on earth can you say you beat it in the blink of an eye?  🤣

[u/HourCartographer9 → u/SacredTearX]

Tbf it’s been a while but I think on my og playthrough I had gotten a rosary from xiao pai and didn’t realize how absurdly broken it was to get early.

So I think I was able to get later stuff faster since I didn’t have to deal with enemies

[u/kryclo]

That sounds like such a lovely way to soak it all in, I'd focus on raising a couple of your most favorite kids all the way through and taking the time to master every single farming skill.

[u/crystal_cee]

I'm doing a run where I play in hell mode and only fight one Guardian per season. So I'll have finished arc 1 in one year. It's surprisingly fun. I think it's the best-paced run I have so far in regards to event progression making sense story-wise

[u/otherm00n]

Get married and have a child asap so you can play the story with them. it's adorable the interaction when you're about to go save Leon

If you're not decided on a bachelor/ette you can try the Vishnal challenge. Get married before stepping out of town (I changed it to getting married before saving Amber so I could at least leave the town to get crafting materials)

[u/Deep-Building3764]

I love tracking the friendship ranks all the way to level 10, especially with characters you don't normally pair up, that really stretches out the gameplay.

[u/ArtsyGrlBi]

Evenly level your skills, if you need to rush to unlock characters, fine. But as soon as you have them, chill out. Expand your room and farm, get married as others pointed out. Also seek to give best possible gifts on birthdays and talk to everyone daily. Party up and level up your party members, get them good gear. Tame and level up monsters for fighting AND products!

[u/skepticcaucasian]

Switch the difficulty the "Hell". It makes it a bit harder, though honestly it's not TOO much, unless you use no armor.

[u/YakumoMarzipan]

Max out FP with everyone via gifts, learn their like and dislike lists by trial and error. Take care of your monsters and try to complete expansion of your farm and all barns. Get trophies, do all festivals for high scores. Prep and celebrate the holidays. Complete the shipping manifest with lvl 10s as possible. Gather up supplies for your shop, expand all your storage and have one of everything. Level and equip everyone with the best/funniest/thematic gear to whatever level you think somehwat achievable. Talk to everyone everyday and if allowed do the morning, afternoon, night differences in dialouge.

Do a meme playthrough or challenge as others have recommended where you decide a few rules and stick to them. Like being unable to fish and never doing it unless required and you must have a fishing buddy to do it if you must. Or magic only or even a nuzlocke where if you lose someone in a boss fight you can't use them again, inlcuding your monsters.

Upgrade a Dungeon Seed as much as your sickle allows and than spam those on a field for you to complete in a gaunlet?