Tales Of The Shire Breaks A Cozy Game Tradition In One Major Way
Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game makes changes to the typical cozy game formula in several ways, including the omission of one mechanic that, for many, is one of the biggest selling points for a game. Though one of the biggest shake-ups is its bigger emphasis on cooking, one of the most surprising choices is its complete lack of player romance. Oddly enough, while I may have some problems with Tales of the Shire, its lack of marriage candidates isn’t one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good in-game romance - I have married Sebastian in Stardew Valley more times than I can count - but with what this game was setting out to do, its absence really doesn’t seem so bad.
Tales Of The Shire Still Has Meaningful Relationships
Bywater Has Friendly Faces & A Relaxing Atmosphere
Bonding with one’s neighbors in Tales of the Shire is essentially the main tenet of the entire game - almost all of its gameplay is centered around cooking and sharing meals with the village residents in order to grow closer. Each resident has relationship milestone cutscenes with sharp writing, as well as special unlocks and items tied to their friendship.
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At the end of the day, my hobbit is not hurting for attention by any means. The characters have depth as well: nearly the entire town is at least cursorily tied into LotR lore in one way or another, whether it’s just by family name or residents like Rosie Cotton, Samwise Gamgee’s future wife. These characters all clearly had a lot of thought behind their backstory, and forcing in a bunch of extra characters to fill out the roster with cozy dating archetypes likely would’ve felt shoehorned. The villagers of Bywater are just fine without the brooding, hard-to-get-to-know boy or wide-eyed, sheltered girl found in many games.
A Lack Of Romance Sets Tales Of The Shire Apart
It Doesn’t Need To Have All The Cozy Hallmarks
At this point, cozy games have become a bit of an oversaturated market. As someone who loves the genre - as hazy as the definition of “cozy” even is - I find it so refreshing to come across titles that genuinely try to revamp what’s become commonplace. It’s not like it’s making any radical changes, but not feeling the need to adhere to the usual formula is still something I appreciate. Though Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game isn’t perfect, some of its strongest aspects come from the ways it breaks from the cozy crowd. It has strong characters, a delightful cooking system, and its overall relaxing nature cultivated by the game is still very strong - perhaps even stronger because of its focus on cooking for and in turn developing a platonic adoration of an entire village, instead of centering more around an eventual spouse.
