Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin

Gameplay

Players control the goddess Princess Sakuna, who is tasked with exploring the Isle of Demons and clearing it of monsters while also looking after a small group of human characters. The game is split between two separate gameplay styles: side scrolling hack and slash platforming levels that are gradually revealed on a map of the island as players complete objectives, and a farming simulator where the player must grow rice in a small paddy in the hamlet where Sakuna and the humans live. The side scrolling levels employ a 2.5D perspective, while exploring the hamlet and most rice farming tasks are done using a third person perspective from behind the player.

In the side scrolling levels, players explore and gather resources and use Sakuna's farming tools to fight demonic animals. Players can also grapple onto surfaces and zip about using a "divine raiment", a magical sash Sakuna wears that can extend to great lengths. The game features a day/night cycle, with enemies becoming more powerful and dangerous once night falls. At the end of the day, Sakuna can return to the hamlet and sit down to have dinner with the humans, eating a meal made using ingredients that the player has gathered. The meal restores Sakuna's health and stamina. Depending on the dishes served, the meal also activates certain abilities and provides various temporary buffs to Sakuna's stats for the next day. Sakuna can also ask the humans to help her gather resources, preserve ingredients for future consumption, and craft upgraded farming tools and clothing items.

Players cultivate rice through a process that takes place over several in-game seasons, with one season consisting of 3 in-game days. Growing rice requires multiple steps that take the form of several minigames which include tilling the field, planting the rice and adding fertilizer, and managing water levels and weeds before harvesting the rice and hulling it. Each rice harvest permanently increases Sakuna's stats, which players can further boost by improving the harvest's quality via careful management of their crop. Sakuna can save time by asking one of the humans to complete each rice farming task for her, though they will do so with less skill. By performing the tasks themselves, players will eventually unlock new abilities to make the process faster and more efficient.

Plot

Setting

The game takes place in a world where two realms exist: the Lowly Realm, where humans reside; and the Lofty Realm, where gods reside. Connecting the two realms is the Tree of Creation, which also produces amber that gives life to gods.

Story

A band of humans, consisting of Tauemon, a samurai; Myrthe, a missionary; Kinta, a blacksmith apprentice; Yui, a young girl who is skilled at weaving, and a young boy named Kaimaru, come across a bridge that connects the two realms, suffering from hunger while ignoring a voice that tells them to turn back as humans aren't allowed in the Lofty Realm. They encounter a bandit named Ishimaru, who has been hunting them, but are interrupted by Princess Sakuna, a spoiled warrior and harvest goddess. After Ishimaru insults her, she knocks him off the bridge and into the sea of clouds below. She then warns the humans to leave as the bridge will soon disappear, but they ignore her and go into the Lofty Realm anyway to search for food. In the Mihashira Capital, while having a feast with her weapon familiar Tama (the voice from earlier) and her friend Kokorowa, an inventor goddess, Sakuna discovers that the humans have entered the capital and tries to stop them, but accidentally destroys the capital's rice garner. As punishment for her actions, head goddess Lady Kamuhitsuki tasks Sakuna with looking after the humans and banishes them to an island of demonic beasts (which would later be given the name Hinoe Island), where Sakuna's parents and the evil god Omizuchi once resided, requesting Sakuna to clear the place of demons so she can gain control over it before the time comes when she can send the humans back to their own world, as the bridge connecting the realms has disappeared and even she doesn't know when it will reappear.

Arriving on the island by boat, they meet Ashigumo, a weasel-like samurai and the last of his kind, who is friends with Sakuna's parents, also revealing that Tama once belonged to Sakuna's father. He brings the group to a mountain pass, where a farm that was once owned by Sakuna's parents is located, entrusting it to them. Sakuna journeys through the island fighting hordes of demons while helping the humans with farm work, as growing crops will strengthen her fighting skills. She also helps construct a forge, a weaving hut, animal pens, and additional fields on the mountain base while also taking in animals to help out with their work, such as dogs, cats, ducks, and a cow. At one point, Sakuna rescues some small creatures called kappas from one of the demons, who then decide to work in the farm as a sign of thanks. One winter night, Sakuna grows inpatient with her task and decides to return to the capital alone, but a rough storm prevents her from leaving, and is left no choice but to remain on the island. She later learns of dangerous creatures called specters, possessed corpses of Ashigumo's tribe who serves as a threat to both Sakuna's group and the demons. When the southern volcano begins intoxicating the island's rivers and demons are heading towards that area, Sakuna goes to investigate and discovers that the intoxication is caused by a powerful specter called the Homusubi Specter, and that the demons were trying to take it down. She manages to defeat the beast, who then falls into the lava. Afterwards, they learn that the demons are led by Ishimaru, who landed on the island before them as the sea of clouds that he fell through has no connection to space and time.

Characters

Sakuna: A spoiled harvest goddess who was banished to Hinoe Island along with Tama and a group of humans for an accident that she caused. Overtime, she becomes a more caring and responsible person.

Tama: Sakuna's weapon familiar, who resembles a jade wolf. He once belonged to Lord Takeribi and now serves as Sakuna's guardian and mentor. Prior to the events of the story, he lost half of his blade.

Tauemon: A human samurai. He is not good at fighting or farm work, but he does have helpful advice on farming. He gives Sakuna pointers on how to work on the farm. His full name is Katsura Uemon-no-jou Mizuki-no-ason Takamori.

Myrthe: A missionary who came from a country called Ventania. She serves as a cook on the farm as well as a mother, teacher, and doctor. In the anime, it is revealed that she has long gold hair under her hood.

Kinta: A blacksmith apprentice. Once a forge is built, he can create weapons and tools for Sakuna.

Yui: A young girl who follows Kinta wherever he goes. She is very good at weaving. Once a weaving hut is built, she can create clothes for Sakuna. Later in the game, it is revealed that she was a crane who was turned into a human by the Visitors, but with a price that she must maintain or else she will lose her human form.

Kaimaru: The son of a group of bandits whose father was murdered by Ishimaru. He was saved by Tauemon along with Myrthe, Kinta, and Yui.

Ishimaru: A ruthless bandit who is willing to harm the innocent to get what he wants. After ending up on Hinoe Island, he becomes an ally to Omizuchi, who grants him the power to control demons in exchange for his help in reviving the evil god.

Kokorowa: Sakuna's best friend. She is an inventor goddess who commands automatons.

Development

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin was developed by Edelweiss, a two-man team who previously developed the 2014 shoot 'em up game Astebreed. The team began working on Sakuna in 2015. Before they decided to focus on the farming and fighting elements, the game was going to be a sequel to Edelweiss' earlier title Fairy Bloom Freesia.

With Sakuna the director Nal wanted to address the criticism of their previous games for their lack of length, world-building, and story; most of the development time was spent making the rice-harvesting simulation as realistic as possible. Koichi, an artist for the game, conducted research by growing rice on his balcony and reading about agriculture from public libraries (such as the National Diet Library) and archives in rural regions. To research traditional Japanese homes, he visited Kyoto and Shirakawa-go.

The game was first announced at E3 2017. It was originally scheduled to be released in 2019 but was delayed to 2020. Towards the end of the development more than ten people were working directly on the game. Edelweiss set an initial sales target of 30,000 copies sold.

According to Edelweiss, there are no plans for downloadable content for the game.

Reception

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin received generally favorable reviews according to the review aggregator Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 80% of critics. It was a commercial success, with over 850,000 copies shipped by January 29, 2021. The game had sold 1 million copies by June 4, 2021.

Legacy

Edelweiss stated in January 2021 that they hope to create a sequel in the future. In November 2024, a spin-off game, titled Sakuna Chronicles: Kokorowa and the Gears of Creation, and a mobile game were announced. This mobile game would later be titled Tensui no Sakuna-hime ~Hinuka Junreitan~ (天穂のサクナヒメ～ヒヌカ巡霊譚～) and was released on February 5, 2026, for the App Store and Google Play, with a PC port for Steam to be released at a later date. However, a couple months later, it was announced that the mobile game's services would be terminated on July 27, 2026, with the Steam release being cancelled.

In July 2021, three characters from Sakuna appeared as Spirits in the crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In late August the same year, Sakuna's outfit was made available in a DLC collaboration with Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town. Sakuna also appears in a collaboration with the 2021 rogue-lite action game Metallic Child.

Other media

A spinoff light novel about Kokorowa written by Keiji Andō and illustrated by Ryōta Murayama, Tensui no Sakuna Hime: Kokorowa Insaku Nisshi, was released on October 4, 2021.

A manga adaptation by Jiji & Pinch, titled Tensui no Sakuna Hime: Ikusa Datara no Kamigami, was serialized from November 26, 2021, to November 25, 2022, on Hero's Inc.'s Comiplex manga website.

An anime television series adaptation was announced in March 2024. It is produced by P.A. Works and directed by Masayuki Yoshihara, with Jukki Hanada overseeing and writing series scripts. The series aired from July 6 to September 28, 2024, on TV Tokyo and its affiliates. The opening theme song is "Hare!" (晴々！; Seisei!) performed by Ikimonogakari, while the ending theme song is "Origami" performed by Little Glee Monster. Crunchyroll licensed the series. Medialink licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia for streaming on Ani-One Asia's YouTube channel.

A sequel to the anime series was announced in November 2024. It was later revealed to be a two-part television special based on Andō's novel, Kokorowa's Rice-Farming Diary, which aired between February 15 and 22, 2026, on TV Tokyo and its affiliates.