The idea of moving away to a faraway dream-like island filled to the brim with transforming humanoid creatures and dedicating my time to farming, exploring, and battling ancient spirits sure sounds like quite the adventure, so long as the destination in question makes it worth my while. That’s what I expected to find in Tales of Seikyu.
And while the world is endearing and the characters adorable, I do think some major things need improvement, even if the game is just exiting early access. Here is my review of Tales of Seikyu.
Story and Gameplay
Tales of Seikyu features you and your sister, Kon, traveling to a Seikyu, a whimsical and harmonious island, after both of you become owners of a farmhouse. Your travels are not farming-exclusive, though, as you will also encounter several mysteries about your family and ancestors, all of which are transforming foxes.
Along the way, you’ll encounter a plethora of NPCs that will assist you, ask you for some personal favors, and even look for a romantic relationship. You can easily get invested in improving the relationships with all characters in Seikyu while nearly scratching the surface of the main story.
Basically, Tales of Seikyu is a cozy farming simulator featuring cooking, fishing, crafting, and, given your fox powers, transforming into different Yokai, with your character becoming a boar, a blob, and, of course, a fox. But a main part of Seikyu is the exploration, which leads to a very straightforward gameplay loop.
While you manage your crops in your patch of land to sell them for a profit once harvesting comes around, you can also choose to interact with the folks in town. Or, if you are feeling extra curious, you can even explore the whole island and fight enemies.
Combat is really simple, to be honest, and there is not much strategy needed to successfully dispose of the foes you encounter, especially since your different Yokai forms will pack quite the punch, and also open ways to previously inaccessible sections.
A good combination of all the skills above will be needed to traverse the Fox Ruins, which, given my experience as an action-adventure gamer, resonated with me the most. These ruins act as a sort of trial dungeon, in which you will be put to the test by facing enemies throughout various rooms. If successful, you’ll uncover hidden treasures, which will be of great help for all your endeavors, as explained above.
Be wary, though, as your energy will eventually deplete if you just swing your sword as if there’s no tomorrow. Therefore, there might be some days in which you are fully dedicated to your crops rather than sending demon-like enemies to oblivion.
Graphics and Sound
Graphics-wise, Tales of Seikyu definitely has a charming aesthetic. The anthropomorphized island creatures are well designed, and the world itself looks beautiful, especially when you venture far away from your farmhouse. Still, the enemies, at times, look a little bit generic and samey.
Also, I’m not a big fan of the game’s performance. We’re not dealing with a hyperrealistic, demanding game, yet my 4090 was blasting and even struggling with some areas of the map, especially the town. Stuttering occurred from time to time, and it certainly didn’t help with the overall feel, especially since the movement can also feel choppy.
Sound-wise, I have no complaints. The game’s music is great, and it transmits that magical feeling that the world expresses through color. I was thrown out a bit, though, at specific cutscenes in which the game almost went mute. It wasn’t a glitch necessary, but rather a lack of proper sound design that affected the scene’s emotional weight.
Feedback
My overall feeling after playing Tales of Seikyu is that it might be a case of a game that wants to do a lot of things at the same time and does not excel in any of them. The world is built with care, and there are some exciting moments — but mechanically, it lacks a lot of polish.
Moving your character, as said above, can feel very frustrating (unresponsive at times and then uncontrollable the very next second), so traversing the world can feel like a nightmare. In particular, the lack of mid-air jump control really bugged me on occasions where some mild platforming was needed.
Combine that with a feeling of overall disorientation, as quests will oftentimes fail to give you any sort of clues on where to go, how to get a specific item, or even what to do. As a result, you’ll find yourself wandering through a beautiful world without the ability to really enjoy it.
Combat is just there, as I said, so don’t expect something revolutionary. Farming might be the strongest aspect of the game, and while it is very simple and progress might feel slow (which is a general feeling), I do appreciate how it intertwines with the other activities in the game. Also, using your Yokai forms while doing so is really fun, making the experience more dynamic.
Verdict
Overall, Tales of Seikyu is a game that fails to live up to its very interesting premise and world. I do not think it is an atrocious experience, as I’m very certain that those more akin to farming or dating sims, and even RPGs might actually get quite a kick out of the game. However, when basic gameplay mechanics feel like a work in progress, then that’s when you know you’re in trouble, regardless of that adorable furry NPC you want desperately to become your life partner.
