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[Danjin44]

RPGfan - 85

In the end, Sakuna left me aglow with a warm nostalgia reminiscent of PlayStation 2 favourites like Okami, Odin Sphere, or Dark Cloud. Sakuna is a solid title with a lot of fun to be had. It has ambition, charm, and a whole myriad of interlocking systems to dive into. Despite some tedium in the early game and a dearth of content in the late game, the overall package is strong. The rhythm of the gameplay loop never loses its ability to calm and easily leads to a state of video game zen. One part beat ’em up RPG and one part farming sim, Sakuna truly excels in how well it blends these two genres. As far as I am concerned, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is worth playing not just for those interested in either genre, but for people who want a taste of what indie titles can be.

GameInformer - 7.5

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is full of highs and lows. From one moment to the next, it can be a lot of fun. Farming and fighting are each entertaining independently, but the systems supporting those central concepts feel unrefined. Combat is cool, but the pacing interrupts its momentum. The rice-based progression is interesting, but the story and characters are not. All of these trade-offs prevent Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin from delivering its full bounty, though you can still reap the benefits of its novel combination of ideas.

DualShockers - 7.5

Still, this is absolutely a title worth supporting. I respect that Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin was made, and can appreciate how much of a dedicated passion project this is. If any of this sounds like it’s up your alley, I strongly urge you to check it out. There’s certainly nothing else quite like it in this genre combination, that’s for sure, and hopefully you’ll get more out of it than I did.

PushSquare - 7

In the evenings you can spend time with your new human family to chat and eat a meal using the food that you’ve gathered and grown yourself. Watching Sakuna slowly mature and start to care about more than just herself is a truly heart-warming journey. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is an absolutely wonderful blend of farming simulator and action RPG. Whether you’re fighting off hordes of demons or trying to find the best way to manage your crop, there is constantly something new to learn and discover in this charmingly unique adventure.

Destructoid - 7

Sakuna outstays its welcome, but I'm okay with that, to an extent. Even though the combat encounters and level design fail to ramp up and stay fresh, I was captivated for a good long while. I never fully checked out even when the game was at its most repetitive. There's a time, place, and mood for this.

If a quirky action game with RPG progression and relaxing agricultural activities seems like your kind of thing, trust your gut on this one. The Nintendo Switch version is solid enough for me to recommend it.

Siliconera - 7

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is a game that grows on you. People accustomed to farming simulations like Story of Seasons or even Rune Factory will find themselves forced to suddenly pay way more attention to the process of growing crops than before, then be patient since it will be in-game years before you “get good” at growing crops. Folks coming in because the combat seems satisfying will have to understand this is a game where constantly revisiting areas and keeping up with farming will be necessary to make any sort of significant progress. And everyone will have to deal with the fact that the lighting system and fonts will sometimes make you strain your eyes as you try to get things done. It definitely builds into something enjoyable, but it takes its time getting there and makes you work for it.

RPGsite - 6

I jive a lot of what Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin sets out to achieve conceptually as it juggles between tight fast-paced action RPG combat and thorough rice farming mechanics. Edelweiss unfortunately fumbles on key areas to an otherwise charming title. Platforming is a hassle most of the time, especially in later areas. Every system feels a step too steep into resource micromanagement, and it made me feel as if I was always playing on a tight schedule rather than being able to progress at my leisure. I wish I loved this game more, because there is a lot of heart, but sadly I came away merely lukewarm from the experience.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

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[Jedge]

Excited to play this tomorrow : )

 

[sublimit]

This game really shows how much a labor of love it is from its (just two) developers who made it and how much thought and care they have put in all its aspects.The art style and combat seems especially alluring to me but to be honest i'm not too fond of how in-depth and overcomplicated the rice cultivation seems to be. I though at first that it would have been ,more simpler and the game would have had more emphasis on combat but apparently it seems i was wrong. Rice cultivation is just as important (if not much more) than combat itself and i'm not sure how "fun" this aspect seems to me. I was never a big fun of games like Harvest Moon/Rune factory games and my experience with farm simulation games is pretty basic at best.

I just watched this video and it really made me have second thoughts if i'm going to really enjoy this game and that is due to how much overcomplicated rice cutivation seems to be:

Excited to play this tomorrow : )

Please share your impressions once you have played it enough.

 

[Orta]

Pretty respectable scores. Should be a nice little title to pass a few boring hours over the Christmas holidays on the Switch.

 

[McCheese]

I love the sound of this, but some of those lower scores and the £40 price tag makes me hesitant.

I really like mindless grinding games, loot and progress bars to fill up. Does anybody who had the game think this will tick my boxes?

 

[Ogbert]

Will pick up, but not at full price.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Any word on switch performance?

 

[McCheese]

Any word on switch performance?

30 fps in farm and stable 60 in combat according to the reviews. But the videos certainly don't look 60 in combat..

 

[TintoConCasera]

30 fps in farm and stable 60 in combat according to the reviews. But the videos certainly don't look 60 in combat..

Too bad, guess I'll try this one on PC instead.
Thanks for the info!

 

[Goro Majima]

This looked interesting but not really a day 1 thing for me. Glad the reviews are kinda vindicating me so far in that line of thought.

My only concern is that it becomes one of "those games" where physical copies vanish in two months and you can only get it on ebay for $160.

 

[Danjin44]

Amazon once again has screw up my order so I'm getting my copy December 1st instead.

 

[Eevee86]

Amazon once again has screw up my order so I'm getting my copy December 1st instead.

Oh no... best buy screwed up mine so I went to Amazon because it said it'd be here tomorrow...

 

[Danjin44]

Oh no... best buy screwed up mine so I went to Amazon because it said it'd be here tomorrow...

As much as people like to shit on EBgames, Amazon screwed me faaaar more often than EBgames ever did. This is why I pre-ordered my PS5 from EBgames rather than Amazon.

 

[The Wheel of Fortune]

Oh well, I was sort of interested in this because of the art style and previous trailers, but after reading those reviews it seems like it's not something I'd particularly enjoy. I'm gonna sit this one out.

 

[Jedge]

Few things to note upon initial impression
-Yes you can change the language to Japanese (need to hit left or right on dpad) I definitely recommend it as I don't like the english voices
-I'm playing on Steam. Game is defaulted to 30fps. Make sure you change that if you can go higher
-It does work with a PS4 controller but the prompts are for xbox. Not sure if I can change this
-haven't delved too much into the combat just yet but the first few stages felt fun
-Cut scenes can be skipped with B or Circle.
-some of the menu's feel a bit unintuitive.

 

[Knitted Knight]

81 Metacritic.
80 Opencritic.

Very solid.

 

[Eevee86]

As much as people like to shit on EBgames, Amazon screwed me faaaar more often than EBgames ever did. This is why I pre-ordered my PS5 from EBgames rather than Amazon.

Seems like mine is out for delivery after ordering it yesterday. Hopefully Amazon gets it to you in a decent amount of time.

 

[sublimit]

My copy arrived today! Can't wait to play tonight!

 

[YukiOnna]

Great news https://www.gematsu.com/2020/11/sakuna-of-rice-and-ruin-shipments-and-digital-sales-top-500000

 

[sublimit]

Great news https://www.gematsu.com/2020/11/sakuna-of-rice-and-ruin-shipments-and-digital-sales-top-500000

Great news! The game is really worth it! I have been playing since Friday and i have had lots of fun. The rice cultivation is not as confusing as i thought it will be at least on a superficial level. However once you try to go deeper into its systems it gets confusing and i think the developers did a bad job explaining how to control the outcomes of the cultivation. Unless of course that was their goal (to not be able to control the results).
But the combat is fun and the art direction is top notch.

It's a very unique game but certainly not for everybody.

 

[Jedge]

Please share your impressions once you have played it enough.
-
The rice cultivation is not as confusing as i thought it will be at least on a superficial level. However once you try to go deeper into its systems it gets confusing and i think the developers did a bad job explaining how to control the outcomes of the cultivation. Unless of course that was their goal (to not be able to control the results). But the combat is fun and the art direction is top notch.

It's a very unique game but certainly not for everybody.

Sorry for the late response. I've only delved about 5.5 hours into the game. So most likely not enough for a review.
I'm playing the game very slowly as I've been distracted with other things. For now but I do agree with you. I found it a bit confusing at first.
The art style is great and the combat is fun. I was hesitant to spend $50 initially as I do feel it is a bit much. I'm sure the game has a lot of content and the 500k+ sales do prove me wrong on the pricing.
Looking forward to playing this more and diving back in.