Earlier this year at Summer Game Fest, I had the opportunity to check out Tales of the Shire, a new, cozy game focused on cooking, building relationships, and more through the eyes of a Hobbit in The Lord of the Rings universe. Immediately, I was intrigued by the idea of taking such a beloved IP and offering a new take through a video game. In my preview, I came away impressed with the cooking and customization mechanics offered in the game, though left curious by the exploration and gameplay loop.
For Hobbit Day, I had the opportunity to check out a new build of the game now three months after my first preview. Throughout 90 minutes of playtime, I was able to experience the opening of the game, which included the character creation process, introduction to Bywater, and mechanic tutorials.
Immediately upon launching, I was greeted by a familiar face: Gandalf the Grey. As one of the most popular characters in The Lord of the Rings, seeing Gandalf from the get-go cements that this truly is a TLOR game, characters, setting, and all. From here, I got to spend time customizing my character. A fair amount of customization options are available, though some players might yearn for more finely-tuned customization. However, I think the options available reflect what you’d expect from a Hobbit.
As I entered Bywater, I was introduced to my neighbors and home. This location, in particular, is appealing for many reasons, with one being that it was not explored much throughout both the novels and films. As a result, the team at Wētā Workshop has been able to carefully mold Bywater into its own community within the larger Shire.
Tales of the Shire places a large emphasis on one major area: cooking. This is the main feature and focus of the game in many ways, despite there being countless other activities to partake in. There are countless recipes to unlock and discover, with unique ways of cooking involved. Throughout Bywater, each Hobbit has a different preference for food. Whether that be sweet, salty, chunky, or smooth, it’s up to you to perfect each recipe and cook to your neighbor’s liking. As you work to build up your relationships, this is the core method of doing so; recipes are served at a table together, and Bywater’s residents will be sure to let you know their thoughts.
There’s a surprising amount of depth here. When you collect your ingredients, you can throw extra items into the recipe to change various aspects of it. Additionally, ingredients can be chopped or grated by a certain amount, indicated by how many times you press the button, Each resident’s taste is highlighted with a star across a grid, and these are just two of the ways you can work to get your recipe aligned with that.
Beyond cooking, there’s a multitude of activities to experience within Bywater. You can fish, garden, forage, and complete various quests for those living in the community. Often, lore and familiar tales from The Lord of the Rings films will be referenced, with an example referencing Smaug, the main antagonist of The Hobbit.
Each of the characters has a fun and distinct personality, which can make cooking a blast. I’m interested to see how much story content there is with each character, as the stories seem limitless from my time with the game. There’s no question that there is substantial content here for players.
Once again, customization, especially within your home, took the spotlight for me. You can easily spend dozens of hours perfecting your Hobbit’s home, with all kinds of items, patterns, and details to sift through. This was my favorite feature in my first preview, and that remains true today after a second.
One of the areas I needed more familiarity with within my first preview was the navigation system. Essentially, the team has opted to blend this into the environment through the use of bluebirds, which will appear as you walk throughout Bywater and point toward the direction you need to head towards. This was a little confusing throughout that first preview, mainly because I had 30 minutes to take in as much as I could. Here, though, it’s very evident where you need to go, and this use of birds seamlessly blends in with the environment. It’s a great stylistic choice that bodes well for the immersion the game aims to offer.
Something of note: I do wish the game’s performance was better. The system I tested Tales of the Shire on is built for 1440p gaming at 120FPS. I struggled to keep a balanced 60fps, with constant hitches as I walked through Bywater. This in itself was disappointing, but this game is over six months away from launch; I’m sure that Wētā Workshop will be taking the extra development time to polish it. On the topic of performance, I do want to see more graphical options in the final PC release. It’s very limited right now, with only a slider available.
Overall, I’m really looking forward to Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game. It’s primed to be one of the biggest cozy games of the year so far, and I think many players will easily spend hundreds of hours in Bywater cooking meals for their neighbors.
Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game will launch on March 25 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Netflix Games, and PC via Steam.
