With Rune Factory 4 Special centering so heavily around your relationships with the townspeople of Selphina, players want to know whether gay marriage is allowed in the game. Many Harvest Moon-like games have traditionally only allowed straight pairings, but it’s 2020, so you’d expect a new game to be more sensitive to modern sensibilities.
However, Rune Factory 4 isn’t a new game. It’s an enhanced port of a 3DS game from 2012. It may seem like eight years isn’t a long time, but things have changed a lot since then. If you want to have a same-sex relationship in Rune Factory 4, the game doesn’t prohibit it per se, but you’ll have to use a workaround and your imagination to make it possible.
Editor’s Note: Some story spoilers below.
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Did Rune Factory 4 Special add same-sex relationships and gay marriage?
The original Rune Factory 4 only allowed for relationships between men and women. Despite the incredibly homoerotic behavior of some of the male characters and the male protagonist’s general androgyny, there’s no option for same-sex dating or marriage. Although I played exclusively as a male character, I assume that the behavior of female villagers towards the female protagonist leaves their sexuality ambigious as well.
With the enhanced edition, Rune Factory 4 Special, coming to Switch, some fans hoped that the game would have some LGBTQ+-friendly relationship options added. However, that’s not the case. Dating and relationships are almost entirely unchanged from the original game.
Is there a cheat for same-sex relationships or gay marriage in Rune Factory 4 Special?
There is one way to get into a same-sex relationship in Rune Factory 4, but it requires you to use your imagination a bit. When you complete the second story arc and defeat the Sechs Empire, you’ll unlock a special list of Price/Princess Orders. Among these is “Change main character appearance.”
If you use this option, you can change your character’s name, vocal cues, and appearance to that of the opposite gender protagonist. So, if you started the game as the male protagonist, Lest, you can change to the female protagonist, Frey, while still having the option to start relationships with and marry female characters.
There is a catch here, though. Despite your changed appearance, characters will still occasionally refer to you as your initial gender. Other than that, changing your appearance, in essence, gives you the effect of being able to start a same-sex relationship and allows for gay marriage.
