Analysis of Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin: With more Rice than Ruin

I never imagined that a video game could give us such a deep understanding and appreciation of rice farming. But Sakuna has done it, it shows us that rice farming is both an art and a science, it is wonderful and surprisingly relaxing. If you want to relax with us, you can't miss our review of Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin, will you be able to join us in this colorful and cute adventure?

A GODDESS WITH PROBLEMS

You play as Sakuna, a goddess who has never had to work or work hard for anything in her life. Unfortunately, things get complicated for her when she crosses paths with a group of humans and they all end up being banished to Hinoe Island or rather known as the Island of Demons.

There, she will have to prove that she deserves her position as a goddess and take care of both herself and the humans that accompany her.

The game is structured in days and seasons which forces you to balance the exploration of Hinoe Island with the collection of resources to eat and other necessary resources with the cultivation of rice and the care of your new family

TO THE ADVENTURE

Exploration takes place on a world map where you can select the area to visit. New areas will be discovered as you fulfill various requirements in the current areas, such as reaching the end of one, finding three salt components or defeating a certain number of enemies at night.

While you are exploring, time progresses and the closer the night approaches, the stronger the enemies become. At that point, you will have to decide whether to go home and prepare dinner with what you have collected that day or, you can go into the dark night and continue fighting.

Surprisingly the combat is simple but very complete and satisfying. Sakuna's scarf acts as a grappling hook and gives you a grip that can be used to explore and reach higher ground or, conversely, to fight. You can throw enemies into the air and hit them against other enemies on the ground or against obstacles such as sharp bars or simply increase your mobility and dodge.

As Sakuna acquires new special abilities and better clothes, it gets more interesting and you realize that the amount of combos are unimaginable.

THE CULTIVATION

You will have to perform all kinds of farming tasks, including tilling the soil and at the end of winter planting rice seeds with the correct distance between them in spring so that they grow better, giving them the necessary care and in summer, harvesting the crop, drying the rice and threshing the seeds before winter.

As we progress we will learn how to maximize the yield of the field for better cultivation, catch and release useful animals and learn how to monitor the health of our rice crop. After each season, we'll get a summary of how it went and suggestions for the next crop

A VISUAL STORY

The game features a good amount of cutscenes, and each character has their own voice. This makes the cinematics much more interesting and even fun

Details like dinner conversations let you learn more about Sakuna and, of course, touches of humor are not lacking from the start.

Visually it is surprisingly spectacular. If you're a fan of captures, there won't be a corner you won't want to photograph.

The best:

• The combat system and the integration into a game of farmeo is simply wonderful.
• The cinematics and the detail in the voices of each of the characters.
• did you know you can have a dog?

The worst:

• Lack of guidance: Despite being able to choose what mission you want to do, the lack of directions can play tricks and have you a while looking for where to go or what to do.
• Lack of languages: Currently we can only play it in English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. We hope to add other languages in the future.

We have made this review thanks to a download code provided by Meridiem Games.