Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings™ Game

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Tales of the Shire. So why am I not recommending it? I think this game is for a very specific type of gamer - and not just a cosy game fan who enjoys the Lord of the Rings. Everything about whether or not you'll like the gameplay loop has to do with *pace*. If you like being busy in Stardew, Rune Factory, My Time At... or other cosy games? This isn't the game for you. Tales of the Shire is a very slow paced game, and it expects you to fill time between the story beats by roaming around and making your own fun: be it foraging, fishing, gardening, or cooking. The art direction and land of Bywater is beautiful, and it lends itself well to just roaming around and seeing what you can see. That's where a lot of my time was spent: exploring the map and gathering spoils, or fishing. Sometimes, after a hard day, this is all I wanted to do. So, for a 'cosy' game where you don't need to use a lot of brainpower and just chill out for a while, Tales of the Shi...

Listen, I play a lot of cozy games. Those are my main go-tos. I am also a huge LoTR lover. This game was made for someone like me. I waited to see if the negative reviews would quiet down before I purchased it. It is unfortunate that I let them sway me to wait as long as I did because man, do I LOVE this game. After reading a ton of negative reviews and articles, etc... I have a few notes for fellow reviewers before I get into my own pros and cons: 1. Those of you wanting combat - have you ever cracked open one of the LoTR books or watched one of the films? The very basis of your ask is silly. Hobbits don't fight. Bilbo was an outlier and it took miles of convincing to get him to even consider going on his grand adventure. Frodo had no choice. 2. You all are missing the point of a cozy game by asking for voice acting, too. While we get the occasional laugh, grunt, so on... I quite enjoy being able to listen to Spotify or pop on a movie/TV show while playing this. Not listening to l...

After playing to completion I don't think I can recommend Tales of the Shire. It's just lacking in so many departments. To start the character creator choices are extremely limited. The hairstyles are just a few variations of the same iteration. You only get about 1 or 2 unique hairstyles different from the main style. That goes for the face as well. While you can make a cute character you could be satisfied with I don't think it covers enough variation to make a lot of people happy. Starting off the game is fun and I definitely expected some repetition as this is a cozy game. But traversing around the map to find things gets old fast. It's just such a small map with no real new discoveries just short cuts you can open up with blossoming friendships and change of seasons. And the friendship "quests" are just go here and talk to them or look at the shiny sparkles or grab me a few of these specific items. There's no difficulty change or novelty once you begin. And there are so few ch...

Lets run through a standard day for a hobbit in tales of the shire. He wakes up, checks his mail box and then waters the limited numbers of craps he has. Perhaps do a little fishing and then running around the same tiny map trying to see if i have missed anything and collecting the same items over and over again. thats it Oh, we can do the quests which means we just follow the birds to one quest marker, talk to someone, maybe gather the same things i have gathered 100 times already and then its back to following the birds to the next quest marker. The missions in this game seem to just give a hobbit the run around with the intention to waste time, which is exactly what i did when i played this game. Boring, hollow and lifeless. Very little to do and no way to interact with the hobbits in any meaningful way and i do include those dinner parties in this statement as they are rubbish. extremely dissapointed.

I purchased Tales of the Shire despite all the review bombs that occurred immediately upon the games release. As a Kiwi, I was eager to support Weta and play out my dreams as a Hobbit. I am a cosy gamer and this game ticks many of my cosy game boxes. I think what lets many people down by this game is that it doesn't live up to whatever ideal they had prior to playing. If you don't like relaxing games where you drive the main purpose for each day (whether it's fishing to make some dosh, foraging for trades or ingredients, or cooking to bolster relationships) then this game is NOT for you. BUT if you like going at your own pace, ticking off tales (quests) as you go then this game IS for you. My biggest gripe with many of the initial reviews if they didn't really give the game a chance and played for all of an hour just to be one of the first reviews out there. Here are some addresses to most of the gripes I've either seen or read in poor reviews: - Backpack size - SOLUTI...

I'm rather appalled by the review bombing this game received in its first week. So many negative reviews with less than an hour of playtime, and an outright bad-faith review by IGN. This is the very essence of a cozy game and as such will not be everyone's cup of tea. There are presently some performance issues on console and a few minor bugs, but patches have already begun to fix these hiccups. This is not a hobbit adventure-sim as experienced by Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry, or Pippin; it is a cozy food and fellowship game with a charming art style and cute characters. Of particular note I love the cooking, fishing, and bird waypoint mechanics. Edit - I fear I sounded overly harsh in my declaration of 'review bombing,' see comments for details.

I've always wanted to live in the Shire, hoping for a game like this someday... and Tales of the Shire has been absolutely perfect! 😭💕 This game is SO CUTE, I legit teared up while playing. It fills my heart with joy, coziness, and warmth. Thank you so so so much Devs for all your hard work!! ❤ LOVES: - THE ENVIRONMENT DESIGN IS GORGEOUS!!! Oh. My. Gosh. Everything is so pretty and perfect and Shire!!! From the buildings to the plants, the seasons, the animals you greet... running under so many things feels so immersive too! Arches, fallen logs, bridges... it's so fun to be a Hobbit! - The CHARACTERS have made me laugh and I like that they have varying personalities! It's so cool that MAKING FRIENDS unlocks more of the game. When you level up with each character, you'll get new places to host meals, access to new areas, upgrades, recipes, trading, more shopping options, decorations, or even ANIMALS and House Expansion! - The CLUBS are a fun way to level up my kitchen, backpac...

The game has a bit of a rough start, with the initial scene being a eerily quiet cutscene that doesnt give much hope that the game will be any good. Combine that was a slow start and a questionable art style, I can see why the peeps who reviewed and refunded the game within the first two hours, were not impressed. Hence the initial "mixed" reviews in the first day or two. The reason the reviews are more positive now that some real reviews came in, is because once you get through the initial hurdle, the game is surprisingly good. The house design, cooking, and gardening is particularly well done and a lot of fun. Once you get use to the unique art style, it grows on you, fast, and you really start to appreciate it! The characters are well written and the shire feels alive and lived in. The game falls short of its potential, but would I recommend the game for $40AUD? Yes I would, its defs worth that price range. My main concern right now, is that the game isnt EA and...

I’m having a blast with the game. I don’t understand why all the reviews are saying it’s boring. It is literally so relaxing. When I was a kid I played the Hobbit game on the original Xbox and I would spend hours running around the Shire at the start of the game. TOTS brings back that feeling. This game might not be for everyone, but if you want a super chill, low stakes game, I would recommend it. The only thing that would make the game even better for me would be a romance system and other kinds of livestock to care for.

Summary: Gorgeous cooking and collecting game, go in with no predetermined ideas and you'll find yourself wanting to keep playing! I feel like this game has had quite a bit of bad press, which is such a shame. Due to expectations that were set too high and because it takes 3-5hours of gameplay before the game really opens up. I'm 15hours in and loving it! I'm getting better at cooking everyday, love the story line and mini side 'tales'. The characters are gorgeous and funny! There's so much to unlock through mini quests that I just want to keep doing them, I've finally been awarded a bag upgrade and more garden spaces! What a sense of satisfaction when it happened! I totally recommend this game! Just go in with an open heart and those hobbits will fit it right up!