Tales of Seikyu Preview

 I’ve been excited to get into the Early Access of Tales of Seikyu from ACE Entertainment and Fireshine Games. Combining crafting and adventure, you play as a young fox Yokai, who, along with their sister, Kon, is on a journey to discover what happened to their parents by travelling to their ancestral home of Seikyu. I’d already read up on everything I needed to know before I started playing, and it was helpful to have an idea of what to expect. So, let’s dive in!

Seikyu is an island that is inhabited solely by Yokai, so there are no humans at all in the village. While many characters do have human forms, some of them also take on their Yokai appearances normally. So, you can expect a number of transformations, like Musashi changing into a cat. And of course, while our player character is in the shape of a human, they too can transform! Currently, the only forms available are Boar, Slime, and Tengu, but for this article, I’ll only really be talking about the first two — those are the two I’m most familiar with at the time of writing.

The island of Seikyu is relatively large, and its population is led by the mayor, Yui Oda, who will also be one of the first to greet you to the island. She introduces us to the villagers and leads us to our farm, but first, we need to take some time and explore the village. You’ll find a general store run by Musashi; here, you’ll be able to buy seeds and gifts, as well as various dyes that you can use. There’s Sasaki’s furniture shop where you can purchase different items to decorate your farmhouse — there’s a hell of a lot here — so you can really make the house feel like a home for you and Kon. Next up, we have Miss Ama’s tailor shop, where you’ll be able to buy different clothes, which, while they’re expensive, they’re also useful for when you start exploring the island more.

Around the village, you’ll also find that Torleone runs a fishing shop, where you can either buy fish or purchase fishing rods. And of course, if you want to find specific gifts for your villagers, why not go to one of the many food stalls around the town? Already, there are plans for a Tavern and a Casino (with the Casino already being mentioned as Kababa and Yohji will approach you to help them out) planned for a future update. Oh, and of course, there’s a Notice Board which will update with side-quests for you to do every once in a while! So, keep your eyes peeled on your calendar for when new ones appear!

Not far from the village at all is the Inari Shrine, where you can make Offerings to Inari. These Offerings are all things that can be gathered around Seikyu, so for example, you’ll need some Wood, Clay, Copper Ore, and Stone, as well as some Chinese Toon, Celery, and Turnips. While it does take some grinding, you’ll be able to get some good rewards in the form of a special Priest/Priestess outfit in different parts. Plus, you’ll get to learn more lore! But, of course, this is only a small part of Seikyu. For now, let’s learn a little bit more about the characters.

At the time of writing, there are only six romanceable characters: Nyotengu, Hephaestus, Liliana, Yohji, Musashi, and Anna. Building on your relationships is important in Tales of Seikyu, and I really appreciate that. For example, Nyotengu is the guardian of Seikyu, but she is bored and tired, so she wants to train you to possibly replace her one day. By increasing your Combat Level, you’ll be able to be invited out by her more often. Then, there’s Hephaestus, who will, after increasing your Mining Level, open a shop where you can purchase weapons.

Musashi’s dates are all Fishing-oriented, while Liliana’s have more to do with completing quests for her. These can be like finding Azurite in the Fox Ruins and then meeting her at a specific time — the same can also be said for Yohji, her brother. Yohji will bond more with you as you explore the Fox Ruins, and is excited to learn more about the secrets within. Meanwhile, I have to admit, I haven’t built much of a bond with Anna yet, as it seems like that will have more to do with the Casino.

There will be more characters to romance later on, including Torleone, Yoni, Yui, Sasaki, Miss Ama, Mika, Leon, and Shuten. But there are more NPC who you can also bond with. For example, Shuten appears to have a good relationship with the two kids: Ritsuryou and Kintarou, two young brothers living outside the village. There are also the almost-identical brothers that run the various food stalls, and who can forget Seabert? The loveable otter nephew of Torleone that first welcomes you to Seikyu.

However, there are also NPCs which I want to know more about. There’s Fox Tails, a merchant found near your farm every once in a while, selling you amulets. There are also some mysterious Tanuki, the natural enemies of Foxes, but there’s at least one who seems curious to me, as he doesn’t aim to cause harm. Unlike the one who I battled in a boss fight. But, I digress — the number of characters does interest me, especially as they all have different storylines attached to them.

Plus, you can improve your relationship with them by providing them with daily gifts or interacting with them. And of course, it also helps to get them something nice on their birthday, which you can check on the calendar on your farm.

Speaking of the farm, this is located further away from the village, but there’s a lot of room, and there are also plans for expanding it later on. You can use your Boar form to smooth over the soil and make it easier for yourself to knock down trees and destroy boulders. As a Slime, you can shoot water to irrigate your crops at a much quicker speed than when you’re using a watering can.

Any crops you grow can be either cooked in your house or you can sell your produce to Musashi via a drop-off box just outside. There’s also a handy mailbox, which will signal you have mail by having a bird tweet at you when there’s something new. The more I’ve played, the more I’ve been able to do, so I can craft, smelt ore, and even dye different objects.

Not far from where you live is the Bamboo Forest and a small temple where Nyotengu will sometimes hang out. It’s an interesting area, and also, admittedly, quite dangerous. There are more powerful enemies over there, so don’t do what I did and go out there after dark. You will run for your life, as I did, because I was not ready for that area yet.

I’ve so far been enjoying the amount of decorating I can do, but mostly, I’ve been spending a lot of time just gathering and doing some fun little side-quests. But it’s also been just as fun to fish.

The fishing mini-game is relatively simple, but still plenty addictive. As I’ve been playing on the Steam Deck (which, I have to admit, despite not being Verified, is actually really good already), I’ll be using buttons instead of keyboard. So, you just need to fish by using your left face button while your fishing rod is equipped. After that, tire the fish out by using your left analog stick, and press the left face button once more to reel it in — before it gets more alive again, or else you’ll have to repeat the process.

Once you’ve caught the fish, you can either cook or sell it. But let me tell you, Grilled Fish does wonders for your AP and HP if you’re exploring the Fox Ruins. However, there’s not only a fishing mini-game, but a few others based on certain calendar events.

Let’s take the Carp Festival for example. Here at the Carp Festival, you can talk to Yui to go on a Golden Egg hunt and compete with the other villagers: find the eggs around the village within the time limit, then you’ll get a reward in the form of a Carp Banner. These can actually be sold for some pretty good money, but you can only get them when you place in the top three.

Another event is a sort of rhythm-based race. Collect bells and drums as you race across the streamers on a flying carp and you’ll earn rewards. You can do this a few times, but it’ll cost you. You can buy a special item from Seabert, which you can exchange to do it again, but as I wasn’t prepared, I only did it twice. As I’m currently uncertain how often the Carp Festival takes place, I’ll assume that I’ll have to wait until next Spring to do it again.

Tales of Seikyu isn’t all fun and games, however. I’ve mentioned the Fox Ruins, and here is where there’s more of a challenge. To find the Fox Ruins, you’ll need to battle quite a few different monsters, such as Oni, Slimes, Boars, and Monster Plants. Battling these around the island will increase your Combat level, and Nyotengu will notice you. But in the Fox Ruins, it’s not all about combat.

The Fox Ruins will test your knowledge, combat, mining, and problem-solving skills. It’s like a 40-room Dungeon, and you need to explore the Ruins to progress the story. You’ll learn more about the Fox Clan, as well as how to properly utilise your transformations. Using your Slime form, you can go underwater for as long as you want, and fight monsters by using the right trigger to shoot water at them. While you can run out of water in the air, underwater, you basically have an unlimited supply of ammo.

So far, I’ve done some good exploring of the Ruins, and I can’t wait to learn more about them. It also helps that you don’t have to run around the whole map. Yes, everyone, you can fast travel. All you need to do is unlock your waypoints by going to the Fox Shrines on the map, where your ancestors will chat to you about how much you’ve grown. They’ll give you advice, and while there are only three Fox Shrines to find on the island at the moment, there are more you can find in the Fox Ruins so you won’t have to waste your HP and AP on anything daft.

Plus, there are some quests you can only do in the Fox Ruins, which makes for a fun challenge. While you do need to be prepared, it’s relatively easy to come and go as you please, so I would keep that in mind.

So far, I’ve really been enjoying my time with Tales of Seikyu, and I’m super thrilled to have had the chance to try it out in Early Access. There are areas that, obviously, you can’t explore yet due to having them appear in later updates, but so far, I’ve had some fun challenges. The characters I’ve met have been compelling, and farming is really only a small part of the game, as most of the time, you’ll be running around adventuring.

Currently, Tales of Seikyu has an RRP of £19.99 (or your local currency) and you can try it out for yourself. I’m excited for what to expect from later updates, and even more excited to see what to expect from the full release!