Tales of Seikyu is a cozy farming and crafting sim set in the titular island of the Yokai that’s out in early access! Read our review of its early access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying when it's out!

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Everything We Know About Tales of Seikyu

Tales of Seikyu Story Plot

Tales of Seikyu immerses players in a fantastical story unfolding on the island of Seikyu. In this distinctive realm, diverse cultures thrive in seclusion. Tasked with revitalizing a countryside inn to its former splendor, players forge bonds with the local yokai and unravel the mysteries of their fox ancestors, all in the land entrusted to them by the god Inari.

Tales of Seikyu Gameplay

Tales of Seikyu is a fantasy life simulation RPG, offering a fantasy farming experience that allows players to engage in crafting, cooking, farming, and assisting in the restoration of the inn, tavern, and other structures in the town of Seikyu. Drawing inspiration from Japanese farming practices, the farming system incorporates elements of traditional agriculture. Players have the ability to transform into various yokai to explore the world, gather ingredients, and aid other yokai. The protagonist can transform into a Wild Boar to till the soil or break through obstacles; the slime to water the soil or dive underwater, or the Karasu Tengu to soar into the skies and explore the island.

Players also establish a homestead on the farm that allows them to develop relationships and potentially date other yokai.

Tales of Seikyu Release Date and Time

Released on May 20, 2025 Under Early Access

Tales of Seikyu was released for the PC (Steam) on May 20, 2025. Eventually, it will find its way to the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the Nintendo Switch, due to the Kickstarter reaching a milestone to port the game to the aforementioned consoles.

This section of the article will be updated accordingly as more information comes out.

Steam
Price		Wishlist only
PlayStation		Xbox		Switch
Price		TBA

Tales of Seikyu Review [Early Access]

Less Than Idyllic, But Nonetheless Charming

Ah, Tales of Seikyu. I had the pleasure of diving into its early access demo a few months back, and I’ve got to say—I was genuinely impressed. Sure, at first glance it gave off the kind of energy you’d expect from a Yandere Dev project, but I was quickly eating my words the moment its charm and gorgeous, picturesque scenery kicked in. The demo may have been short, but it set the stage beautifully for what was to come—and by the time it wrapped up, I was left hungry for more of that serene island life. And now, here we are!

Early access. For some, it’s a first step. For others—those lucky enough to catch the demo—it’s a continuation. But in Tales of Seikyu’s case, it feels like a small step back—at least until the full release drops or the devs iron out the pacing a bit. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Grab your shovels, wrangle that fox sibling of ours, and let’s dive tail-first into this early access review of Tales of Seikyu.

More of Seikyu To Enjoy This Time Around

Tales of Seikyu is a cozy farming sim set on the titular mythical island of Yokai, where you and your fox sibling arrive to uncover what happened to the rest of the Fox Clan. As the last known foxes on Earth, it’s up to you to carry on the family legacy where it all began—and maybe solve the mystery of your clan’s disappearance in the process. Along the way, you’ll befriend quirky locals, turn a profit, and carve out your own little islander idyll on a secluded farm tucked away from the world.

You collect resources, romance partners, craft items, cook meals, tend your farm plots, fight monsters, and fulfill townsfolk requests—just as you’d expect from any good farming sim. You can build workstations out in the open air, decorate your farmhouse to your liking, and generally live out the idyllic life these games promise on the tin. And on top of all that, you’ve got a suite of mystical Yokai transformations at your disposal—letting you travel, till, swim, and interact with the world in all sorts of magical ways.

It’s not exactly a groundbreaking setup. Heck, Harvest Moon was already doing the whole “city-slicker retreats to the countryside for the simple life” bit back when it was still called Harvest Moon. That torch has long since been passed to titles like Stardew Valley and the My Time games. But what gave Tales of Seikyu’s demo a strong first impression—what made it stand out—was the Yokai. The island is crawling with them, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Add to that some seriously impressive 3D assets, and you’ve got something that feels different even if the bones are familiar. What makes this early access build worth diving into, in my opinion, is that there’s just so much more of both.

Let’s start with the Yokai, shall we? Right off the bat, I was struck by just how many characters there are in this game. Now, it’s not unheard of—plenty of games in this genre have sprawling casts—but the variety here is genuinely impressive. You’ve got humanoid Yokai, of course, but also full-on animal Yokai, semi-animal ones like the Kappa, and even some wonderfully weird entries based on inanimate objects—like the vendor siblings, who appear to be animated posts or training dummies.

Each one’s a distinct character, with several being romanceable, and the early access build expands their interactions significantly over the demo. My favorite newcomer? Leon—a priest of Inari who was previously MIA. Now, he oversees the Temple of Inari, which introduces a new collection-and-rewards system. Think Stardew Valley’s Community Center: complete themed bundles of collectibles, farmables, and craftables, and you’ll earn rewards for your efforts.

Then there’s the opening of the Fox Ruins dungeon, introduced by Yohji, the town’s soft-spoken diplomat. It finally gives the game’s previously forgettable combat a proper reason to exist—and it’s a good one, too. The Fox Ruins are easily the standout new area in this build, offering winding halls, branching paths, and a satisfying mix of puzzles, exploration, and combat.

There’s also the brand-new goal of getting the Casino up and running—a task that sees the Yubaba-looking character teaming up with Yohji and you to scrounge up the funds and recover the Fox Clan seal needed to make it happen. That’s definitely end-game content—way out of reach from the 10-day limit of the demo—but it’s a solid long-term objective to keep your eye on. If you needed a reason to keep playing, well, there it is.

Overall, this early access build feels like a full first course compared to the sampler that was the demo. A lot of the ideas teased earlier are now fully fleshed out and executed to great effect. You can even interact with the elusive Prince character now, though, fair warning, his constant advances might wear thin fast.

Unfortunately, while the devs clearly leaned into the demo’s strengths and expanded the game in nearly every direction, a few of its rougher edges still linger. Some of the same pitfalls remain unaddressed, and they keep Tales of Seikyu from being the perfectly polished experience it could be.

I Figured Farmlife Was Slow, But Not This Slow

The biggest issue with Tales of Seikyu, in my opinion, is its pacing—because it’s unbearably slow, and there’s not much you can do to speed it up. I mean that in the most literal sense: the character’s movement speed and animations are just a smidge too sluggish for comfort. But I also mean it in terms of overall progression, because half the time, I’m left scratching my head wondering how to move the story forward.

This wasn’t really a problem in the demo, since that was a short slice meant to whet the appetite—a sampler, not a full meal. But in early access? The pacing feels completely out of whack. The introduction throws you into a long, unskippable tour of the town, padded out with cinematics and a bunch of locked-off areas. More often than not, I find myself just going to bed early, not out of efficiency, but because there’s literally nothing left to do. Workstations take in-game hours to finish tasks, and the starting farm is so tiny you can tend to the whole thing in 30 seconds. Literally.

Tech progression is also a bit of a mess. Recipes unlock as new resources come in, but those resources trickle in slowly and often trigger bizarre, seemingly random unlocks. Like—maybe I expected a better weapon sometime in the first three hours. Maybe after I get copper. Maybe when I talked to Hephaestus about the town’s iron deposits. Or maybe when I unlocked the grindstone. Any of those would’ve made sense as an entry point for, say, an iron sword. But no. What do I unlock instead? Dyes. Dyes. Why would I want to get dripped out now when I’m still swinging a wooden sword and can’t even cut through bamboo?

To its credit, the game tries to point you in the right direction with trackable quests, but the breadcrumb trail is wildly inconsistent. Some quests track every single step, while others drop a vague objective in your log and leave you to figure it out. And then there are situations—like progressing the Fox Ruins dungeon—where nothing happens unless you hit a specific, story-locked trigger. Good luck figuring that out on your own.

Definitely A Few Bugs to Iron Out Still

To add a bit of hilarity to the mix, I’m pretty sure the early access build actually has more bugs than the demo. To be fair, more moving parts mean more room for things to go sideways—but still, I’m not entirely sure how expanding the world caused my character to start moonwalking nonstop after a conversation with Musashi.

Thankfully, reloading my save fixed it, but for a solid minute, I was wheezing as I watched my character silently glide out of my property and up into the mountains, legs completely still, like some persistent, unseen spirit was urgently trying to show him something.

The demo, by comparison, had unfinished dialogue at worst (Kon speaking in code was certainly a surprise), and aside from the usual clipping, there really weren’t many issues. The devs have added a lot here, no doubt—but they’d do well to give this build another QA pass.

As Beautiful as It Was, Is, and Will Be, This Game Needs More Work

Tales of Seikyu is very much a work in progress in some respects—and a veritable work of art in others. I can’t deny how stunning the game looks, with its lush 3D rendering of this Yokai island, nor can I deny the quiet mastery of its cozy, pastoral soundtrack. It just needs to iron out a few kinks in its code and breathe some life into its sluggish progression. Those things should come in time, as the early access phase continues to unfold.

There’s still work to be done here, sure—but a lot less than what many other early access titles require to become something worth playing. The foundation’s solid. The demo impressed, and so does the EA build. Now let’s just hope the devs can nurture these seedlings into a full, plentiful harvest.

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Tales of Seikyu Product Information

Title	TALES OF SEIKYU
Release Date	May 20, 2025
Developer	ACE Entertainment
Publisher	Fireshine Studios
Supported Platforms	PC (Steam) PlayStation 5 PlayStation 4 Xbox Series X|S Xbox One Nintendo Switch
Genre	RPG, Simulation, Indie
Number of Players	1
ESRB Rating	RP
Official Website	Tails of Seikyu Website

Aaron Bruce Albert..

A massive fan of roguelikes, turn-based RPGs, and open world adventure games. His gold standard games include The Binding of Isaac, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker.