Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin

About Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin drops you onto a demon-plagued island as a harvest goddess who was banished for messing with mortals. Developer Edelweiss released this title in November 2020 through XSEED Games. You can find it on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The premise is simple yet weird. You fight monsters using farm tools while managing a rice farm from scratch. The game splits time between hacking away at beasts and tending crops across four seasons. It blends action platforming with a surprisingly deep agricultural simulator where you plant seeds, manage pests, and cook meals to buff your stats. This dual focus creates a loop that feels distinct from standard dungeon crawlers or farming sims.

Gameplay

You control Sakuna through side-scrolling levels using her celestial scarf to grapple enemies and platforms. Combat involves swinging a rice sickle or other tools to cut down demons while dodging their attacks. Between battles, you return to your mountain village base to craft gear and cook food for your human companions. The farming segment requires real work too. You clear land, plant seeds, water the stalks, and harvest them at the right time. Each crop stage affects your character stats in battle. Managing pests becomes a mini-game where you must choose which insects to kill or keep. Players spend hours refining their rice yields while upgrading weapons. This routine repeats as you unlock new areas and face tougher foes.

What Players Think

Critics gave Sakuna an 80 out of 100 on Metacritic, and the PlayPile data backs that up. Users report a completion rate of 68 percent for the main story. The average playtime sits at 24 hours for a standard run. Community moods skew heavily toward "satisfying" during farming phases but dip to "frustrated" when pest control gets tricky. Review snippets highlight the unique rhythm of fighting and farming as a major plus. Players note that the combat feels stiff at first but becomes smoother after unlocking better tools. Only 12 percent of users completed all achievements, suggesting the hidden rice variety goals are tough. The vibe is generally positive for those who like slow-paced grinding mixed with action.

PlayPile's Take

This game works best for players who enjoy managing complex systems alongside combat. The price on Steam often drops to under thirty dollars, making it a solid buy during sales. You can chase 25 achievements including specific rice harvest milestones that require careful planning. Sakuna might feel repetitive if you hate tending crops or prefer fast-paced action. The farming sections are not optional and take up half the experience. Finish the game and unlock all trophies only if you want to master every crop type. PlayPile recommends it for those who appreciate the quiet focus of agriculture paired with demon slaying.

Storyline

Long ago, the spoiled Princess Sakuna enjoyed a life of leisure in the Mihashira Capital among the gods and spirits of Yanato. But on the floating bridge of heaven separating the immortal Lofty Realm from the Lowly Realm of mortals, a chance encounter with the children of men (or, as they call themselves, the humans) led to a series of mishaps. Alas, this culminated in their banishment to Hinoe Island, the so-called Isle of Demons. The ruling deity, Lady Kamuhitsuki, charged Sakuna with securing a foothold for the capital and rooting out the hordes of demonic beasts that plague the island. And, of course, as a goddess she must also look after the wayward children of men who were alongside her. But even a goddess needs to eat, and so the tale of rice and ruin begins... Sakuna may have begun her story as a spoiled princess, but over the course of her journey she will come into her own as the true successor to her exalted parents, Lady Toyohana the harvest goddess and Lord Takeribi the warrior god. As she explores the beautiful yet forbidding environments of Hinoe Island, she will also find a home in a mountain village, proving herself worthy of her title by harvesting rice and bettering the lives of humanity.