Tales of Seikyu
Review
Farming in a Creative Way
by Camrin Santchi
reviewed on PC
Use What You've Got
Slice of Life or Farming Sim games tend to be incredibly comfortable for players, from the classics like Harvest Moon or Story of Seasons to the much beloved Stardew Valley, the escapism of traveling to a new town and building up a farm with your choice of animals, crops, and other utilities while befriending or even romancing the villagers is a great way to unwind after a long day.
Tales of Seikyu is a new game in this much beloved genre, where players take the role of one of the last of the Fox Clan, returning to their homeland accompanied by their younger sister. Build up an old farmstead, bond with the villagers, and hone your skills in combat, farming, crafting, all while uncovering the mysteries of what happened to the Fox Clan.
Tales of Seikyu immediately makes itself stand out in the field of farming sims by making use of your characters abilities as a Fox Clan member. Over the course of your time in Seikyu you'll be able to transform into a multitude of forms that can be used creatively- plowing fields as a boar, taking to underwater areas as a Slime, or to the skies as a Tengu. The most versatile though is the Human form that you start with, allowing the player to wield weapons, crafted items, and equip specific armors or magic talismans to improve their effectiveness.
A Charming World
Tales of Seikyu is beautiful, from the vibrant wilds to the charming character designs- some characters are anthropomorphized animals, others are seemingly humans with animal traits such as ears or a tail, and others still appear fully human at first glance. This variety of forms makes Tales of Seikyu stand out quite well and creates a more fantastical tone than some of the more typical games of this genre, which will typically consist of one variety of cast. This variety also makes quite a bit sense in the game's story as well, with yokai spirits being able to alter their forms to blend in with humans, although that is hardly necessary in the land of Seikyu given its populated by yokai, with those of the Fox Clan being particularly adept at transformations- thus your player character's ability to take on additional forms as you progress through the game.
The cycle of Tales of Seikyu takes place over the course of four seasons, each of which being 28 days, and your calender at your farmhouse comes conveniently equipped with some of the important 'need to knows' of the town, like birthdays (giving loved or liked gifts on a birthday tends to rapidly boost your connection to them) or festivals where you can compete for prizes or otherwise spend time with the villagers.
The frequency of events in Tales of Seikyu does a great job in making the world feel alive, especially as the townsfolk go about their own set schedules during the week. This can be a little frustrating at low friendship levels, if you are looking to turn in a quest but the person in question is spending their day inside their own home, especially since at low friendship you can't just walk into their home (fairly reasonable, all things considered). This isn't too bad, players can always find other ways to occupy their time waiting for someone, but it can lead to amusing moments like spending a whole day at the docks fishing while waiting for someone to leave their home so you can turn in a minor quest, rather than venturing back out into the wilds surrounding the town to farm resources or experience in one of your skills- on the off chance you just happen to miss them.
The Menu Shuffle
Some of the controls in Tales of Seikyu can be a little obtuse or clunky based on button layout versus amount of times an item is needed. For example, there is a transformation menu that will become populated as you progress, accessed by a shoulder button. The trigger on the same side, meanwhile, will open up a 'tool' menu allowing the player to switch between the currently equipped item, from a watering can to a weapon. Especially considering the menus look the same except for the icons, it may take players some getting used to and adaptation, but after a short learning period players of Tales of Seikyu will certainly adapt to on your feet swapping between the appropriate weapons and forms.
Creative Combat
The combat in Tales of Seikyu is another interesting point, most weapon types have a specific moveset that changes the speed of attacks and at what points you are most vulnerable, including plunging attacks when you jump into the air or charged attacks from holding down your dedicated attack button. It isn't particularly deep, but the different weapon types make enough of a difference that players can spend time experimenting to find out what suits them, and then dedicate time and resources to upgrading that specific weapon, or saving up gold to purchase a better base variant at the blacksmith, and then taking the time to upgrade it.
Your transformations all have their own abilities that can be utilized in combat as well, and players can invest in each of their forms to increase health, damage dealt, and other similar things- adding to the flexibility and creativity that players can make use of when engaging in fights with the dangerous creatures populating the island. Some styles of fighting might prove more effective than others, but there is nothing stopping you from just sticking to what you find the most fun- this reviewer is partial to plunging attacks himself.
Your New Home
Tales of Seikyu is an immensely charming game that really runs with the fantastical elements in a wondrous manner. The transformation mechanics allow players to unlock new combat styles and manners of exploration, and it ties very well into your character's story thanks to the Transformations being inherent in the Fox Clan. Whether you stick to farming or embrace combat in whatever matter suits you best, Tales of Seikyu is a fantastic addition to the farming sim genre of games, and one that is sure to be a time sink for lovers of this type of game.
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8.8
fun score
Pros
Beautiful Art, Creative Abilities
Cons
Slightly Clunky Menus
