Promising life simulation in a setting that deserves greatness

The Lord of the Rings Is all about the call of adventure and duty beyond the comfort of home, however Stories of the haircut is a middle ground game for those who would rather resist the call. Developed by Wētā Workshop and published by Private Division, The game replaces full-scale battles with trials like nailing the consistency of a stew. It is squarely positioned as part of the burgeoning domestic game market, focusing on all the mundane parts of life but making them charming and attractive as only a video game can.

In advance of a hobbit day stream for Stories of the haircut, Screen Rant Had the opportunity to see how the first 90 minutes of Stories of the haircut Play out. As a game that unfolds at your own pace, what can be achieved in this snippet of time can be very different. There’s certainly plenty to do in the village of Bywater, however, and The preview largely served as the kind of appetizer that makes the second breakfast sound even more appealing.

Some awkward elements do not sink the visual appeal

Beautiful environments & strange hobbits

Stories of the haircut Opens with a character creator screen, and the aesthetics of the game already establishes itself here as something that is bound to be Division. Letters bear a passing resemblance to intentionally lumpy clay creationsWith a slightly comical attitude and cartoonish animations. The overall package mixes charming choices with odd decisions, like the prevalence of heavy eyeliner that makes hobbits and gray wizards look runway-ready.

The best visual aspects of the game are found in the lush environments of the ShireWhere painted texture work and layered vegetation take the lead. Sunlight dapples across softly blended colors to excellent effect, bringing the scene to life in a way that many higher-fidelity games struggle to achieve. A revamped approach to sunrise and sunset could highlight its strengths, as the transition periods are currently little more than gray, and some work on character shadows would make them blend more naturally.

Minimal hand-holding makes questing fun

Mundane tasks are better with some confidence

I spent much of my 90 minutes with the game running back and forth across the landscape, partly with the intention of sightseeing but mostly for the purpose of quest completion. refresh, Stories of the haircut It cannot lock its early content into a linear flow of straight tutorialization. Although many of the early tasks are instructive, they quickly spread into an array of side quests to allow for a flexible approach, and there’s nothing stopping Bywater’s newest resident from taking a break from an unexciting quest quest. To focus on something else.

Rather than a search indicator overlaid on the screen, Blue birds that fly around the village take the role of guidepostsSettle on nearby props to point their beaks in the proper direction. The constant flapping ways can seem a bit much at times, but it’s a wonderfully creative and surprisingly well-implemented approach that I definitely prefer. It also has the benefit of showing the proper paths, which helps bandage over one missing feature – there’s no jumping in Stories of the haircutDespite the environments feeling well-suited for it.

Varied mechanics support a social sim experience

It’s more about friends than anything

Stories of the haircut is not branding itself around any single facet of the gameplay, and Elements like fishing and gardening are perfectly engaging but less immediately compelling As in games that focus on them. One mechanic that is primed to be a lot of fun is house decoration, because objects can largely be placed in a freeform manner. At the beginning of the game, the player character’s home is burnt and cluttered, so fix it and find a new sense of Feng Shui Can be a lot of fun if the decor options are strong.

The main selling point, however, lies in Bywater’s social lifeAnd this aspect of the game sneaks its way into all the others. Quests are delivered by letter from village personalities, and meals are used as the bait to invite guests, a payoff for a mildly interesting cooking system. How interesting the social element remains throughout a whole game will depend on the number of unique interactions, especially when it comes to progressing relationships with other villagers.

So far, all the conversations seem good enough, and Some characters stand out thanks to different personalities. A merchant with a sense of scam and a fisherman who cannot remember the player character for more than a minute prove once again that Stories of the haircut is not dedicated to a character without faults or struggles, although everything still lingers in the realm of ​​general pleasures that domestic games are known for. I’d like to see it embrace some layered material, but many genre fans would prefer to stick to escapism, and either direction could theoretically work out.

Final thoughts on Tales of the Shire’s preview

The core elements are all in place

Attaching any project to The Lord of the Rings Makes it a high standard of comparisonAnd Tales from the citys ideal focus may be almost as limited as LOTR Games that glorify war in a decidedly un-Tolkien way. In this context, however, it is a fine presentation of the Shire’s charms. The Bywater setting prevents it from relying too much on references to familiar characters and places (still there, but not eagerly so), and those unfamiliar with the source material will likely find it just as compelling.

Stories of the haircut Was previously delayed from a planned 2024 release to a 2025 one, but the early hours of the game already seem to be in generally good shape. Although performance could probably use some more fine-tuning, no obvious bugs showed up in the gameplay, and the only particularly awkward elements were a couple of conversations that teleported locations suddenly. In most ways, Stories of the haircut It seems to be what it says on the tin, and anyone who finds the concept and presentation attractive may well enjoy its charms.

Source: Tales of the Shire/YouTube