This marks the third time I’ve played Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin, though it was a rather familiar demo. In fact, unless my memory is failing me, the only difference between this version and 2017 is the boss, plus whatever minor tweaks happened these past two years.
I wouldn’t call this a criticism, though it comes off as rather critical, just that it doesn’t offer as much insight as previous goes. Where last years demo showed us the actual rice harvesting game mode, something that wasn’t particularly fun, at least in this setting, plus a combat section; this one is a tutorial followed by a rather simple boss battle.
Even if the snapshot isn’t any different, it’s still a lot of fun to play. With it having a simplistic style, one that is reminiscent of Muramasa, you just have to hack and slash your way to victory. What allows Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin to stand out, beyond the Harvest Moon-esque farming simulator, is additional weapons and flash.
The demo doesn’t do much to showcase differences in weapons, though it might just be look and numbers, though it does touch on flash. With the scarf being a way to quickly transverse a level, go through enemies or set up larger combos, it makes the game play cycle so much more than alternating between light and heavy attacks.
Sure Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin has a fair bit of ways to go, it continues to be one of the cuter games I’m looking forward to. Unlike the previous frog boss, the skeleton boss requires a little bit of planning and a lot of dodging if you want to walk away looking like you know what you’re doing.
