XSeed Games and Marvelous Entertainment announced that they’ll be bringing the unique genre-defying game Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin to the PS4 and PC. The game is being developed by Edelweiss, the indie developers behind sci-fi arcade shoot-’em-up Astebreed, and gamers will be able to play the title for the very first time at E3 this year.
XSeed sent out a press release explaining that Sakuna would be part of their E3 line-up this year, and will be at their booth between June 13th and June 15th.
There’s a trailer from way back when, nine months ago, which debuted at the Comic Market 2016 event in Japan. You can get a brief glimpse of what they have in store for the title with the trailer below.
The game may be a side-scroller but it takes place in a 3D world. Players will have to battle enemies using a melee combat system complete with various types of combos, grappling and more.
But the real hook for the game is in the rice cultivation mini-games, where players will have to plant, till and grow rice in their fields. From here, the game transforms from a side-scroller into a 3D miscellaneous game, almost like Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon.
Unfortunately we don’t get a lot of details in the way of explaining how the tilling and rice cultivation system works, but I imagine it’s like a less nerdy version of Farming Simulator 2017.
Players take on the role of Sakuna, a harvest goddess who is banished to a dangerous island where she must fend off her and other outcast humans from hordes of roaming demons. Her weapons of choice? Farm tools.
Her scarf can be used to grapple around the environment and she can unlock new weapons and items via crafting them at the homestead farm, which works as her base of operations.
The game will take place across four seasons, encompassing the various trials and tribulations associated with both fighting off demons and successfully managing a rice field.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is basically designed as an “ode to the artistry of cultivating rice”, according to the press release. There’s a strong mixture of arcade-style gameplay and the history of Japanese cultivation and mythology.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is due for release in 2018 on Steam for PC and for PS4.