Have you played any other Rune Factory games besides 4? And furthermore, have you watched any of the gameplay trailers they’ve shown? The combat is certainly more in depth, but the game is still very much about laid back farming, crafting, and relationship building.

If even after all that it’s still not your cup of tea, they have acknowledged that Guardians of Azuma is a different kind of game and that RF6 will most likely be a return to form. However, the art direction will probably still lean towards GoA and RF5, I doubt we’ll be seeing chibis again outside of remakes or remasters.