Tales of Seikyu Review Summary

Beautiful yokai-themed world with engaging gameplay, but frequent crashes, clunky combat, and an empty world hold it back.

Fresh yokai-themed setting: The combination of farming simulation with Japanese mythology and yokai elements offers a refreshing and unique experience not seen before in the genre.

Unique yokai transformation mechanic: The ability to transform into yokai with different abilities stands out as a creative and fun twist on traditional farming sims.

Beautiful graphics and art style: The game's graphics and art direction are highly praised for being stunning, charming, and beautifully crafted.

Memorable and diverse characters: Players praise the characters for being unique, well-written, and having distinct personalities, making them feel alive and engaging.

Enjoyable and engaging gameplay: The game is described as fun, addictive, and highly enjoyable, with many players looking forward to future updates.

Bugs and early access issues: Many reviews mention bugs, glitches, and rough edges typical of early access, but some report game-breaking issues and crashes. The game is seen as needing significant polish and love.

Limited character customization: Players are frustrated by the lack of character customization options, such as face, hair, and clothing choices. Many note that this feature is missing or planned for a future update, which diminishes the personalization experience.

Empty game world: The game world is described as empty and lacking content, with too few NPCs, enemies, and activities. Players feel the environment is barren and samey.

Clunky combat mechanics: The combat system is widely criticized for feeling clunky, floaty, and unresponsive. Players describe it as generic and frustrating, with empty mashing and stiff animations.

Poor quest guidance: Quest guidance is poor, with players often confused about where to go. The system only highlights info during NPC conversations and provides vague range areas for items.

Cozy farming simulation: The game is a cozy farming and life simulation with activities like farming, crafting, fishing, mining, ranching, and decorating. It blends traditional farming sim elements with a yokai fantasy setting.

Japanese folklore setting: The game features a Japanese folklore and yokai theme, with a mystical atmosphere, yokai characters, and an open-world island setting. This unique twist distinguishes it from standard farming sims.

Yokai transformation mechanic: Players can transform into various yokai forms, such as a kitsune or Yuki-onna, to gain unique abilities for farming, combat, and exploration. This shapeshifting mechanic replaces traditional tools and adds depth to gameplay.

Boar transformation form: Specific transformations like a boar or slime are used for exploration and combat, showcasing the versatility of the yokai forms. This adds variety to gameplay.

Similar to Stardew Valley: The game is frequently compared to Stardew Valley and Rune Factory, offering a 3D farming experience with exploration, combat, and mining. It appeals to fans of those titles.

Frequent crashes reported: Many users report frequent crashes, including during gameplay, on fast travel, at character creation, and after updates. Some crashes force full system resets.

Steam Deck performance mixed: While some users report smooth gameplay on Steam Deck, others experience stuttering, lag, freezing (especially at specific locations or menus), and crashes. Detailed cosmetic customization issues are also noted.

Stuttering on high settings: Multiple users report stuttering and lag when texture details are set to high or maximum, even on medium PCs. This suggests poor optimization for higher graphical presets.

Works well on low-end hardware: Some users report good performance on older laptops, low-tier laptops, and mid-range notebooks. A few note the game runs smoothly without optimization issues.

Overall optimization needs work: Many users state optimization is poor, needs improvement, or is nonexistent. However, some note it can be fixed by adjusting settings or that it is not alarming.

Great for cozy sim fans: The game is highly recommended for fans of farming sims, life sims, and cozy RPGs, especially those who enjoy Stardew Valley, Rune Factory, Story of Seasons, and similar titles. It appeals to players who like a mix of farming, adventure, combat, and Japanese mythology.

Strongly recommended by many: A significant number of reviewers give strong, enthusiastic recommendations, calling the game a must-buy and even gifting it to friends. They find it highly enjoyable and worth the price.

Not recommended in current state: Some reviewers advise against buying the game in its current state due to lack of content, high price, or bugs. They suggest waiting for more updates or a full release, and some recommend alternative games like Rune Factory.

Worthwhile despite early access: Many players recommend the game despite it being in early access, acknowledging bugs and rough edges. They suggest it is worth buying for those who are patient and interested in supporting ongoing development.

Anticipation for future updates: Some players express excitement for future updates and look forward to the 1.0 release. They plan to revisit the game once it is more complete.

Community fair range: $15.00 - $20.00.

Story completion: 50.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

Tales of Seikyu starts with a slow, tutorial-deficient early phase, but becomes fun after unlocking yokai transformations and understanding the game's systems, typically within the first few hours.

Friction: lack of tutorial for basic activities; slow pacing early on; repetitive gathering and farming; confusion about progression.

Unlock drivers: unlocking yokai transformations; learning the game's systems; discovering the world and characters.

Cozy De-stresser: Casual, slow-paced exploration; engages in farming, decorating, and light combat at own pace; avoids grind-heavy activities when possible. Motivation: Relaxation and mental decompression. Stance: sale.

Farming Sim Veteran: Efficient optimization: balances farming, mining, and combat; seeks progression and completion; frustrated by bugs but tolerates them for potential. Motivation: Genre innovation and deep gameplay systems. Stance: sale.

Mythology Explorer: Explores narrative, romance options, and character interactions; transforms into yokai forms; enjoys fantasy aesthetics and music; tolerates early access for the theme. Motivation: Cultural immersion and world-building. Stance: buy.

Performance varies significantly by VRAM tier: low-VRAM systems suffer severe crashes and instability, mid-range VRAM (8-11GB) runs well, while higher VRAM tiers face memory leaks or poor optimization but remain playable.

Windows <8GB VRAM: negative. Players with less than 8GB VRAM report frequent crashes, memory leaks, and freezing, making the game nearly unplayable.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. Users with 12-15GB VRAM experience serious memory leaks that can max out RAM and crash the system, with only occasional stutter mentioned in a positive review.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. Players with 8-11GB VRAM report the game runs well with good graphics and improved optimization, despite minor UI roughness.

Steam Deck: The game suffers from major stability and performance issues on Steam Deck, including frequent crashes, save corruption, and severe stuttering. While some users find it playable with tinkering, the widespread broken behavior warrants a 'Broken' verdict.

Linux and Proton: The game shows mixed compatibility on Steam Deck and desktop Linux. Performance and stability are inconsistent, with many positive reports but also significant complaints about stutter, low FPS, and crashes. No anti-cheat, DRM, or launcher blockers are mentioned. The game generally runs under Proton with minor tweaks (Proton GE) and is playable for most users, though a minority experiences severe issues.

External guides: The primary external data dependency complaint is the need for guides to understand hidden game mechanics, specifically the blacksmith friendship system. Other reviews mention wiki usage for identification but not as a barrier.

Early Access acknowledgment: Players note the game is in Early Access and should be evaluated accordingly. Some reviewers caution against treating Early Access as an excuse for emptiness.

AI asset drama motivation: Feedback discusses the drama around AI-generated assets that was later debunked by the developer, indicating community concerns over asset authenticity.

Roadmap update timeframe: Players request general time frames for updates on the development roadmap to better plan expectations.

Comparison to Divinity 2: A reviewer draws a parallel to the dragon transformation situation from Divinity 2, suggesting the game may have similar unmet expectations.