I decided to play Sakuna after watching a few friends play it. I was drawn in by the cute characters, the colorful artwork, and the rice farming aspect of it. Right from the beginning I got a sense of Okami vibes with the storytelling part of Sakuna. The game introduces you to Princess Sakuna, a harvest goddess who is a bit of a spoiled brat when you meet her. Sakuna lives with the other gods in the Lofty Realm in the world of Yanato and has no idea about what the lives of mortals are like in the realm below.
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| Princess Sakuna and her familiar Tama. |
There is a celebration happening for the leader deity Lady Kamuhitsuki and Sakuna is drinking a lot, ignoring the cautionary advice from her familiar Tama about proper etiquette and decorum. Things go bad for Sakuna when a group of mortals stumble into the Lofty Realm looking for food and they accidentally destroy the offering meant for Lady Kamuhitsuki. Since it happened on Sakuna's watch, she is punished by being exiled with the mortals to the Isle Of Demons where she has the task of cleansing the land of evil and working with the humans to grow rice in order to give back the offering that was lost.
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| Sakuna and the mortals get in trouble. |
This is where the gameplay for Sakuna really shines and where the story truly begins. Sakuna is split into two parts, exploration and farming simulation. Doing both of these is important to progress the story and you have to figure out how to divest your time. I do wish there had been a little more of a tutorial with the rice farming because it doesn't necessarily tell you exactly what to do. Once I figured it out, I did enjoy the rice farming. The seasons are only 3 days long and you come to realize how detailed the process is for growing and harvesting rice. Sakuna will voice her thoughts out loud giving hints about what to do next. You have to think about how much water to put into the rice paddy, when to add fertilizer, and when to harvest the rice before the season ends.
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| Sakuna checks the progress of the rice. |
The exploration aspect of the game is interesting. Sakuna can run, dash, jump, and use her divine raiment to attack enemies in a 2D side scrolling environment. As the story continues, the areas add new challenges like wind storms, falling rocks, and floating water platforms. Combat is a lot of fun as Sakuna can smash, juggle, launch, and throw enemies around. Sakuna is able to use her various farming tools as weapons adding a cool mechanic to the game. Sakuna is able to get upgrades for these weapons as well as create new and stronger weapons. Each weapon is also able to unlock a divine power that also adds to Sakuna's battle skills.
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| Sakuna smashing through enemies. |
There are various items that Sakuna can equip that add to her stats like cute hats and masks. There are also cute kimonos that enhance things like Sakuna's farming skills and vitality as well. I loved this part of the game because it adds an extra touch of whimsy to the game and the outfits are very cute and colorful.
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| Cute outfits add to Sakuna's stats. |
Food is another vital part of the game. Naturally, rice dishes are a big part of this side of the game. Sakuna can store food and set up the menu for dinners. This is where the day to night comes in and paying attention to Sakuna's energy. If she is well fed, she is stronger and able to breeze through her enemies. If she is hungry, she does not do as much damage. When night falls, the enemies become stronger and harder to fight which means you have to head home and have an evening meal. Eventually, you can fight them at night when you get a magical lamp, but you have to fill it with oil which you can get from various enemies and gathering areas.
The evening meals with the humans are really nice. It adds to the story and allows you to get to know the other characters. As the bond between them and Sakuna grows, I found myself looking forward to the dinners with them and learning more about each individual. It's nice to see how Sakuna changes as well, becoming less arrogant and becoming a kinder person working together with them. It was nice to see those bonds deepen as they story continued, making them not just friends, but family.
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| Everyone together at dinner. |
There are some flaws with the game. Sometimes you have to go back to areas you already explored in order to complete challenges like fighting a certain number of one enemy in order to unlock more of the map. That can get a bit tedious when you want to just continue the story. The clock can creep up on you too and suddenly it's night time so you can't do a lot. It can get a little frustrating when you're trying to 100% an area and it can also spoil some of your food ingredients. Granted, that gives you materials for fertilizer for your rice paddy, but it can be a little aggravating to lose those food items.
In spite of those flaws, I loved Sakuna. It is a charming adventure with good storytelling, wonderful characters, a lovely vibrant and whimsical art style, and fun gameplay. It is a delightful gem, that I'm glad I took the time to check out.
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| Sakuna heads home. |
*Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
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