SAKUNA: OF RICE AND RUIN
Almost cooked to perfection
Forget rescuing damsels or saving humanity from disaster. It turns out all that’s needed to inspire this plucky protagonist to wade through waves of enemies is the thought of not being able to harvest this summer’s rice crop. Sakuna is learning to be a better divine princess, you see, combining the traits of her deceased warrior god father and harvest goddess mother. Because if you can’t already tell, Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin is a 2D anime beat’em-up with a difference, cleverly mixing elements of social and farming simulation.
These two distinct genre halves create a surprisingly addictive whole, informing each other to the extent that any resources you gain when battering foes prove vital for running a successful homestead, and vice versa. Tending to your crops is hardly taxing, though, simply requiring you to pluck weeds and balance the water level. 1 However, returning to such menial tasks helps break up the pace and offers respite in what would otherwise be a fun but forgettable brawler.
A lot of the side-scrolling action is tainted somewhat by stereotypical anime tropes, but Sakuna can be equipped with new magical skills – in addition to her basic light and heavy attacks – to keep combat in later chapters fresh. 2 Then there’s the ability to weave a celestial scarf around enemies, letting her flick from one side of the screen to the other. This subtle manoeuvre comes in handy more often than you might expect.
All in all, it’s a unique genre mash-up that doesn’t utilise the best-quality ingredients, but its two core elements complement each other well enough to result in a winning recipe. Aaron Potter