Have you ever gone into a game with high expectations due to what you’ve seen and heard about a game, only to be let down that it didn’t meet those expectations? That was the feeling I had after playing Sakuna: Of Rice An Ruin. I expected an awesome 2D action-platformer with a great farming sim aspect woven into the gameplay. Unfortunately, this game seems to suffer from a lack of knowing what it wants to be, and the end result is, meh.
Story
The story follows the harvest god known as Sakuna. She’s a little bit of an alcoholic and due to her running amuck, she and the humans she was pursuing are sent to the Demon Island. Now it’s up to her to right the wrongs she’s done and bring them all back from the retched island that they’re stranded on. You’ll have to scavenge and find out what mysteries lurk among this foreboding island and get back home.
I found the story interesting enough. All of the characters have a lot of personality within each one but I never found anything to feel too fresh. Sometimes the characters’ dialogue scenes seemed to go on for too long and I’d wind up clicking through them as they rambled on. I will say that I appreciate the fact that there is a ton of voice acting done throughout the story. Great work!
Gameplay
When it comes to the gameplay offered in Sakuna, it’s difficult to overlook the fact that I feel as if there was a severely missed opportunity. It starts off at a great pace and I was extremely optimistic with the first few areas that it has you play in. Even when I started out with the farming mechanics, I found them really intriguing. The problem though lies in the fact that the game loses its steam pretty early on. I’d even go as far as to say that this game is a slog-fest.
Starting with combat and the platforming gameplay, I’d say that it’s the absolute weakest aspect of the game, hands down. The controls feel stiff and combat is relatively amateur. You are able to customize Sakuna’s attacks as you progress through the game and learn new moves but it’s nothing exciting. This aspect was cool to have but the fact that the controls felt off, hampered what good things I can even say about it down. There are some questionable confines that the game places on the player that I haven’t seen in a game released on any generation of consoles since the PS2 era. The combat itself is serviceable but the fact that you can’t cancel an attack to dodge really irritated me. Nothing like opening yourself up to attacks.
You can dodge using the “Divine Raiment”, but it’s the fact that you have to follow-through on the attack is what gets me. The divine raiment is unique in how you can traverse the levels and I wish that it was utilized a lot more than it is. You can really get around using it in this Metroidvania type of world. It’s kind of like a spidey-web that you can shoot out and either pull yourself to a wall or ceiling. It also comes in handy when you’re in combat as well. You can dodge your enemy by swinging Sakuna around them or even pull them towards you, Scorpion style.
As far as the RPG elements go, they too are serviceable. It’s stuff you’ve seen in the past and it gets the job done. There are different weapons, headwear, and food items that Sakuna can use in order to buff her attacks, health, and so on. I didn’t really have an issue with it because it all came across pretty straightforward and understandable. I just don’t think there was enough attention on this aspect and it ultimately feels like the third wheel.
After experiencing the drop in quality from the combat, I’d expected the farming to come in and save the day. It is the most fun part of the game but it gets weighed down by its lack of instruction, which I’ll get into later. You upkeep the crops by tilling, fertilizing, and watering the land for them to thrive. It has some decent crafting systems within to give Sakuna better stats and helps to make the plants grow faster. Paying attention to the crops is pretty crucial to growing a successful one. I wish that maybe there was more that went into this aspect because I never felt too worried that they wouldn’t grow correctly.
After harvest, you can pick your crops and then bring them in to break down in the process of creating rice. Depending on the effort put into breaking them down you’ll have different strains of rice that give off their own attributes and help you in many different ways. This piece was really interesting and I think it was handled really well. Maybe if we had more types of Japanese vegetation, it would’ve made the farming aspect feel stronger. The farming alone would’ve made for a great game had it been expanded further. One thing I liked that tied the combat to farming was the gathering of supplies. You can pick them up as you kill enemies and break down elements in the wild.
My biggest gripe with the game is the lack of clear instructions and tutorials. There might as well be none whatsoever. I like a game with difficulty, but you have to tell me how to play to make it fair. I felt like I was mindlessly walking around this game for hours not even knowing what needed to be done to progress the story. In fact, the story beats feel like they pop up at random because there isn’t a clear objective as to what I needed to do. It is Sakuna’s biggest fault and it severely impacted the way I felt about this title.
This is a shining example of what not to do when creating a game. Just because a large chunk of your audience may be familiar with a genre’s elements or mechanics, does not mean that everyone is going to know what’s going on. You are offered scrolls to read which give instructions but even those are just a vague 2 sentence rundown of larger aspects of the game. It’s a complete turnoff. Every title coming out should explain the parameters of the game and then let the player do their thing. It feels like the developers don’t care about the user’s experience.
Visuals
In my opinion, the visuals are the best part of the game. Every character looks extremely unique, with their own shapes and sizes. The models are well painted and colors bounce off of each other very nicely too. There’s a great contrast between the summer days and the winter days. You always know the season and time of day that surround you. It really makes you feel like you’re in touch with the wilderness in that regard. There are pretty vistas and great water effects that blend well with the overall art style and aesthetics.
Audio
On one hand, you have a ton of awesome dialogue that’s greatly acted and pleasant on the ears for the most part. On the other hand, though, the in-game character sounds are annoying and severely overused. You’ll hear Sakuna say the same 3 or 4 phrases over and over the entire game. I got tired of her voice within 30 minutes of playing as her. It’s pretty bad. The music though was a welcomed soundscape of beautiful Japanese flutes and drums. It’s a uniquely crafted score and it does a great job in making you feel like you’re in Japan.
Replayability
I can’t really see there being any replayability for this title unless you’re a die-hard fan. It has mediocre platforming, combat, and farming sim traits that make for an underwhelming experience overall. I’d much rather choose between either gameplay mechanic if it means getting a full-fleshed out experience versus having a bunch of under-developed gimmicks that the game pushes.
What It Could Have Done Better
The absolute worst aspect of this game is the instructions and quests. It almost doesn’t give any hints on what it actually wants you to do, and this is what really impacted my experience with it. I hate when games go the lazy route of not giving clear objectives and what is needed to complete them. I don’t want my handheld but I want to feel confident with what’s being asked of me through clear and precise tutorials. Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin almost comes across in a way that they already expect me to know a majority of how the gameplay works.
Gameplay as a whole is pretty lacking when you think of what the developers were going for. I think that the combat is pretty weak and extremely stiff. I’m unsure why the developers chose not to allow players to cancel attacks in order to dodge attacks. It’s extremely disappointing and the finished product is underdeveloped. The farming too felt really shallow. I wouldn’t call it a farming sim in any regard. This is more like a $39.99 demo for a game still in development.
Verdict
If you’re looking for a ground-breaking 2D platformer, I really can’t recommend this game. If you’re looking for a deep farming sim, I can’t really recommend it in that regard either. But, if you’re looking for something that has a taste of both types of gameplay with some RPG elements sprinkled throughout. Then this is what I’d be able to recommend for you. It’s a very mild game with a sense of passiveness that admittedly does pull players in. The world, characters, and music all bring a rich Japanese culture to life. If you can overlook the awkwardness of how the game actually works and the fact that it almost never gives direction, then I’d say to try it. For those looking for something deeper gameplay-wise, I’d press on past this one.
