Tales of the Shire

Nice cosy interpretation of a Lord of the Rings game

My Score: 9/10

I've now reached a point where I have hit end game, after completing the main quest, getting every characters to level 10 and 3 out of 4 clubs to level 5. The only thing I have left now to unlock is the fishing club.

The game is very fun and cosy, the only complaints are the graphics are not as good as they could be and the performance (at least on steam deck) can be a bit choppy at times. Overall though the game is definitely playable and only encountered one game breaking bug, which required a restart, but otherwise the game runs fine.

The way how you plant up the crops is fairly unique. Most farming games have either a grid plot or a box, like this does, but in this game you actually have to place the plants of different sizes into the planters. Also interesting is that some crops do and don't like to be planted together. The crops grow quicker than in other games (usually only 3 days) and this is because the focus of the game is on getting lots of quality ingredients for the cooking system, rather than making a profitable farm.

The cooking systems seem to be the main focus of the game, which is fine. The system itself gives you lots of flexibility in ingredient choice and flavour profiles with the extensive seasoning system. You can basically make any combination of flavour from any ingredients, with a few exceptions. The only thing is there's no way to sell the extra meals you make, so I end up with 1 and 2 star meals sitting in the pantry. It would be nice if we could sell these unwanted meals.

There are also plenty of foragables to find in between questing, cooking and planting etc. You unlock more foraging locations as you progress the character friendship quests. This is great, only comment is that it's not obvious what area you unlock. Most of these extra areas only give you more existing items, with the exception of the apricot trees in the orchard. The other minor issue is that some of these are only available during a single season, so unlocking the extra locations may turn out to be pointless unless you do it before or during the right season.

To get extra ingredients and seasonings, you can buy these from 3 merchants or trade with a few others once they have unlocked. Currently the only way to get certain ingredients, mainly meat, is to buy it from the merchant or get it as a reward from cooking for people. One system that seems to be missing compared with other farming games is the use of animals. Yes, you can have up to 4 chickens for eggs, but it would be nice to raise cows, pigs, sheep and ducks, which are already in the game. There is a large empty area to the west of the main house where they could be located.

The hobbit hole is great, with lots of rooms and expansions. I also like the editor system to be able to edit the style and colour of each component, like walls, ceilings and windows etc. It would be nice with a few more floor textures, but otherwise this is a great system. Only slight confusion is after unlocking all rooms, there's still a blocked off door.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2016460/Tales_of_the_Shire_A_The_Lord_of_The_Rings_Game/