also, a strong and unique setting rather than just another cottagecore farm helps a lot. fields of mistria has an incredible fantasy aesthetic drawing from a certain period of animation, and things like sandrock are set in a desert and make you think about life there. it needs to stand out!

because there's some lovely cosy vibes in those games i feel get pretty overlooked... i think rune factory's town events are also pretty overlooked, there's events that can trigger at random outside of major festivals that help keep the town feeling alive. rf4 is particularly strong with this!