Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live as a farm-hero? Are you looking for a simulation-style game, but need something a little different than Harvest Moon or The Sims? Already mastered the challenges of building space shuttles, flying planes and working in a graveyard? Well, there’s a new game that is looking to sap your time in the immediate future. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is receiving retail editions, it was announced.
No More Mr. Rice Guy
Publisher XSEED Games is looking to do something a little bit different with this one. The developers, Edelweiss, have created a game that uses both side-scrolling action with deep crafting and farming simulation. In other words, there’s more to do than make sure your kohlrabi is watered every morning.
Players control the titular Sakuna, a “spoiled harvest goddess banished…with a bunch of outcast humans”. As the player banishes demons in one part of the game, they will also better the lives of the people around Sakuna. How? By harvesting rice, of course. The game is a “love letter to Japanese mythology.” More importantly, it is “an ode to the artistry of cultivating rice, and an engrossing simulation of the craft behind the agriculture.”
During the action sequences, Sakuna will use farm equipment as weapons. Combined with her “celestial scarf”, which basically acts as a grappling hook, the player will have to take down “animal demons”. The two modes interlock, as the farming and crafting across changing seasons will help improve both harvesting and battle abilities for Sakuna.
Better yet, the physical editions will also feature a Divine Edition; this version will come with the game, a 130-page art book, 3 CDs for the soundtrack, and a small charm of Sakuna. Pre-orders are available now at the XSEED Games store.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin will release on the Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4 later in 2020. For more reviews and gaming news you can keep up to date at Informed Pixel. Want to speak to the team and interact with other gamers? You can do so over on the Informed Pixel Facebook page or on the Informed Pixel Twitter account.
