There are several amazing, cozy life-sim games that always pull back players every now and then, so that they can relax from their daily life routine or other unforgiving titles. The cozy games always have a good place in every player’s heart, and the Tales of the Shire also tend to do that. A new cozy life-sim game set in the Lord of the Rings universe sounds fascinating, but it delivers less than expected. However, it manages to push a player to build social links with the locals with a unique system. The Tales of the Shire is developed by Weta Workshop and published by Fictions. Weta Workshop tends to bring an opportunity for the fans to live their best Hobbit life, but is it everything that the fans would hope for? This is our review of the Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game.
NOTE: The following Review was done on Nintendo Switch 2. A Review Copy was provided by the developers.
Story
In every cozy life-sim game, there is always an original story that is enough for players to get lost in a fantasy world. However, when it comes to the Tales of the Shire, which is the Lord of the Rings-inspired game, there is more to be expected. Unfortunately, there are not much of plot or story-driven elements in the Tales of the Shire.
The Tales of the Shire is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, which includes The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The game takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf is on his way to Hobbitan to meet Frodo for the latter’s birthday. While traveling through the Shire, Gandalf comes across a sleeping Hobbit near the village of Bywater. The sleeping Hobbit is the player’s character, and Gandalf offers the ride to Bywater, where the whole game takes place. As the player reaches Home and meets other local Hobbits, the player has to work to build a community in Bywater to make it a proper village.
That is all there is to the whole narrative and story of the game. After the initial cutscene and the tutorial, there is not much narrative to the game. Even the side content and quests will only focus on building the relationship with the locals.
Gameplay
The Tales of the Shire is a third-person life-sim game that takes place in Bywater, home to the Hobbits. The game includes The Hobbit’s day-to-day life and chores that players must partake in to both understand the world and make overall progress. Meet with the inhabitants of Bywater to get introduced to activities like fishing, foraging, gardening, and cooking. All of these activities are common in most of the life-sim games, but they all fulfil a special purpose in Tales of the Shire. Although each activity is unique and has its own purpose, they all end up favouring the Cooking activity in the end. It is because Cooking is the main chore for Hobbits and the main way to progress in the game.
The overall main goal for you is to gather ingredients and cook various meals for the locals. Host meals with different local hobbits every in-game day to build a good relationship with them. As you start to build the relationships, you will learn more about the locals on what they like and what they do not like. Moreover, it will unlock new recipes for you to try and cook. Furthermore, as you improve friendships, you will unlock the upgrades for your tools. As you spend more time in Bywater, you will experience the changing of the seasons. Each season brings new and unique ingredients for you to gather, which ultimately results in new recipes. You can purchase the seeds for new crops from the store and grow them in the garden.
In addition to the main goal, there is a decoration system for your home in the game. As you progress through the quests, you will unlock various decoration items. You can place these items around your house to increase the overall Shire feeling.
Lack of Variety Content
Apart from the main activities and hosting meals, there is not much to do in Bywater. The side content lacks creativity, as most of the quests are repetitive. Moreover, unlike other life-sim games where grinding means a lot, it does not feel the same in the Tales of the Shire. One of the common things that most of the players will try to do is to farm money. It is certainly hard in Tales of the Shire, as you will be spending most of the money on buying seeds to grow crops. There is only one way to earn money, and that is by selling the goods, which you have to get again to cook a meal.
Another thing that I found quite upsetting is the lack of fish types and the fishing spots in Bywater. I get that the map is overall small. But there are only a few fishing spots in the village. Catching fish in all of these spots will only get you a few fish types. There is randomness, and some fish require exclusive time like raining, night, or daytime, but it still feels lacking.
Sound and Visuals
The overall visuals of the Tales of the Shire are praiseworthy. It sets the overall Hobbit tune and portrays the behaviour of the hobbits perfectly. However, there are some character models and animations that feel off sometimes. The no-voice-acting approach is kind of lacking, especially for the main characters like Gandalf and Rosie Cotton. However, the overall writing for the characters feels jolly.
Verdict – Score 6/10
The Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game offers a cozy and relaxing experience, but with a lack of variety content. It has the potential to become a true Lord of the Rings life-sim videogame, but it drastically needs more narrative and story writing. Moreover, the overall performance of the game needs to be better. 30 FPS on Nintendo Switch 2 feels odd for this title. It might run better on PC and other consoles, but there are some heavy stutters during gameplay on Switch 2. I will personally recommend this game to only those who love to be around the Hobbits, build relationships, and cook exciting meals. The game offers over 120 unique meals to cook with tons of ingredients.
The Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game is now available on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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