Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin[lower-alpha 1] is a Japanese action role-playing simulation video game developed by Edelweiss and published by Marvelous. It was first released in North America on November 10, 2020 for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and the PC through Steam. It was released in Japan on November 12, 2020 and in Europe and Australia on November 20, 2020.[1]

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Developer(s)Edelweiss
Publisher(s)
Composer(s)Hiroyuki Oshima
Platform(s)
Release
  • NA: November 10, 2020
  • JP: November 12, 2020
  • EU/AU: November 20, 2020
Genre(s)Action role-playing, simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Players control the goddess Princess Sakuna, who is tasked with exploring and clearing the Isle of Demons of monsters while also looking after a small group of human characters. The game is split between two separate gameplay styles: side scrolling hack and slash platforming levels that are gradually revealed on a map of the island as players complete objectives, and a farming simulator where the player must grow rice in a small paddy in the hamlet where Sakuna and the humans live. The side scrolling levels employ a 2.5D perspective, while exploring the hamlet and most rice farming tasks are done using a behind the player third person perspective.

In the side scrolling levels, players explore and gather resources, and use Sakuna's farming tools to fight demonic animals. Players can also grapple onto surfaces and zip about using a "divine raiment", a magical sash Sakuna wears that can extend to great lengths. The game features a day/night cycle, with enemies becoming more powerful and dangerous once night falls. At the end of the day, Sakuna can return to the hamlet and sit down to have dinner with the humans, eating a meal made using ingredients the player has previously gathered. The meal restores Sakuna's health and stamina, and depending on the dishes served, activates certain abilities and provides various temporary buffs to Sakuna's stats for the next day. Sakuna can also ask the humans to help her gather resources, preserve ingredients for future consumption, and craft upgraded farming tools and clothing items.

Players cultivate rice through an extensive process that takes place over several in-game seasons, with one season consisting of 3 in-game days. Growing rice requires multiple steps presented in the form of several minigames that include tilling the field, planting the rice and adding fertilizer, and managing water levels and weeds before harvesting the rice, and hulling it. Each rice harvest permanently increases Sakuna's stats, and players can further boost their stats by improving the quality of the rice harvested via careful management of their crop. While Sakuna can save time by asking one of the humans to complete each rice farming task for her, they will do so with less skill, while doing it herself will eventually unlock new abilities to make the process faster and more efficient.

Story

The game follows Princess Sakuna, a spoiled warrior and harvest goddess who is banished with her familiar Tama and a small band of humans to the Isle of Demons after the humans inadvertently enter the heavenly Lofty Realm, where the gods reside, and accidentally cause chaos while Sakuna tried to stop them. Unable to immediately send the humans back home, head goddess Lady Kamuhitsuki tasks Sakuna with looking after them while also clearing the island of demonic beasts before the time comes when she can send the humans back to their own world.

Development

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin was developed by Edelweiss, a two-man team who previously developed the 2014 shoot 'em up game Astebreed. The team began working on Sakuna in 2015. According to them, most of that time was spent making the rice-harvesting simulation as realistic as possible.[2]

The game was first announced at E3 2017.[3] It was originally scheduled to be released in 2019 but was delayed to 2020.[4]

According to Edelweiss, there are no plans for downloadable content.[5]

Reception

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin received generally favorable reviews according to the review aggregator Metacritic.[7][6][8] It was a commercial success, with over 850,000 copies shipped by January 29, 2021.[16]

Notes
  1. Japanese: 天穂のサクナヒメ Hepburn: Tensui no Sakuna-hime

References
  1. Romano, Sal (July 20, 2020). "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin launches November 10 in North America, November 12 in Japan, and November 20 in Europe". Gematsu. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  2. "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin Appears to be Doing Well in Japan". Siliconera. November 14, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  3. Romano, Sal (June 2, 2017). "XSEED Games announces E3 2017 lineup". Gematsu. Archived from the original on June 4, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  4. Gerblick, Jordan (December 11, 2019). "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin has been delayed until 2020". GamesRadar+. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  5. Romano, Sal (January 13, 2021). "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin – no plans for DLC, but developer hopes to create sequel". Gematsu. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  6. "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  7. "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  8. "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  9. Devore, Jordan (November 15, 2020). "Review: Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin". Destructoid. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  10. Juba, Joe (November 9, 2020). "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin Review – Feast And Famine". GameInformer. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  11. Shive, Chris (November 9, 2020). "Review: Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin". HardcoreGamer. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  12. Gray, Kate (November 16, 2020). "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin Review (Switch) - Rice, Rice, Baby". NintendoLife. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  13. "Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin Review". Official PlayStation Magazine - UK. Future plc (182): 156.
  14. Jones, Jenny (November 9, 2020). "Mini Review: Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (PS4) - Gorgeous Action RPG with Deep Farming Mechanics". Push Square. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  15. Parsons, Isaac (November 9, 2020). "Review - Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin". RPGFan. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  16. https://corp.marv.jp/library/img/tansin3q2021.pdf
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