It’s almost hard to believe that the original release of Virtua Fighter 5 is 20 years old. Sega’s 3D fighter has had almost as much staying power as Street Fighter 2, with a dedicated fan base that’s continued to keep the torch lit for two decades now.

It’s a title that has received not one, but two revisions in 2025 alone, as part of a series revival that will culminate in a brand new entry expected to arrive sometime over the next couple of years. Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage is the latest rendition, bringing the Steam release of R.E.V.O. earlier this year to modern platforms, including PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and soon on Nintendo Switch 2.

While mostly a straight port of said PC version (which has also received a free update adding in the new content), World Stage does bring new elements worth checking out. The titular World Stage mode is a substantial piece of single-player content, and it’s joined by a new playable character (who is unfortunately paid downloadable content), full crossplay between consoles and PC, and the reintroduction of customization items from earlier versions of Virtua Fighter 5.

It’s an impressive package for the low price of $19.99 / £15.99 / AU$27.95, and an easy sell for folks looking for a new 3D fighter to get into; perhaps even those who’re burned out on Tekken 8’s controversial Season 2 changes.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage isn’t brimming with content necessarily, but I have been enjoying World Stage mode in short bursts. And ultimately, in terms of play, VF5 simply remains one of the best fighting games out there, with bogglingly complex and technical gameplay that stretches far beyond what its three-button system might initially imply.

Virtua insanity

So first, a quick introduction for those who might be largely unfamiliar with Virtua Fighter 5. It - along with the series in general - is a 3D fighter with just three main buttons: punch, kick, and guard. It sounds simple, but the game’s overt complexity comes from its characters’ incredibly diverse move sets, and what it does with various combinations of those buttons.

Each of the game’s 20 playable characters are masters of a specific martial art and largely plays wholly differently from one another. Jeffry, for example, hits like a truck with his Pankration style, while Pai’s Ensei-Ken is faster and more elegant.

Then you have more specialist characters. Vanessa is essentially two characters in one, able to switch between stances for two completely different move sets. Aoi’s Aiki Ju-Jutsu is more of a defensive style, prioritizing parries and reversals for big damage cashouts. And if you’re looking for something flashier, Wolf and El Blaze fill out the pro wrestling and Lucha Libre styles, respectively. Then there’s Taka Arashi, a sumo wrestler whose large size makes him entirely unique in both offense and defense.

Virtua Fighter 5 is much more grounded than other 3D fighters like Tekken or Dead or Alive, with relatively few fantastical aspects. A decidedly more ‘realistic’ fighting game experience, matches can be over in a matter of seconds thanks to small health bars, quick round times, and blisteringly fast-paced gameplay. Button mashing and input mistakes are heavily punished, as is forgetting to guard, given that’s an action assigned to its own button here.

Around the world (stage)

Let’s talk about the new, then. Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage’s biggest addition is the titular World Stage mode. This is an entirely single-player piece of content that aims to emulate Virtua Fighter 4’s excellent Quest mode. In World Stage, you travel to various venues from a menu where you’re pitted against random AI opponents. Each new venue scales upwards in difficulty, with some opponents even being based on real-world players’ signature playstyles.

It starts off simple enough for beginners to enjoy, and keeps the training wheels on while encouraging them to try out a bunch of characters. You’re even incentivized to do so, as there are hundreds of challenges that each unlock a piece of clothing or an accessory for you to customize characters with. It’s a snappy, fast-paced mode that queues up fights one after another in rapid succession, and it’s really enjoyable in short bursts.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage also adds ‘Costume E’ - a fifth outfit for each playable character, and the bulk of World Stage mode’s unlocks are related to these outfits. Sadly, customization still feels lacking overall, with most options being simple recolors, and there aren’t all that many different styles per character. You can’t mix and match pieces of clothing between characters (you can only do so with certain accessories) either, and there are no custom color options for clothing or hairstyles.

That’s a real shame, especially because older versions of VF5 had even more customization options that are still absent in World Stage. It’s a step in the right direction with the addition of Costume E, for sure, but I’d like to see future patches potentially adding more. Of course, it’s not the end of the world; VF5 remains an unbelievably fun and rewarding fighting game to just play, and nowhere is that more apparent than in its online suite.

Hop on VF

Online play in Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage is stronger than it’s ever been, thanks to its release on modern platforms with full crossplay support. That means PlayStation and Xbox players (and soon to be Switch 2) can play against each other as well as with those on Steam.

Rollback netcode is also great here, allowing for smoother connections between players online. Though I’d still recommend investing in an Ethernet cable if you haven’t already, Wi-Fi and fighting games just don’t mix well, no matter how good the netcode here is, due to the inherent instability of wireless connections, and especially when fighting players who live overseas.

The suite of online options is pretty standard, but not really missing anything major except for unranked quickplay. You have ranked matches, as well as room matches, for when you want to set up a lobby with multiple players. There are also tournaments that happen periodically that you can sign up for.

I’ve been playing on PC on and off since the release of Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. back in January. Now that I’ve tested the game on PS5 via the World Stage revision, I’m happy to say that online connectivity holds up just as well on that console as it does on PC.

The only real issue I’ve run into is occasionally slow matchmaking times. The playerbase here isn’t as lively as it is for, say, Street Fighter 6 or Tekken 8, so it’s not uncommon to be waiting upwards of a minute to get into a match. But now that the game is available across all platforms, I hope this issue diminishes as more people discover the game.

Should you play Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility

There aren’t any dedicated accessibility settings in Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage; nothing in the way of things like colorblind modes or visual or audio cues like we see in other modern fighting games like Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6.

How I reviewed Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage

I’ve played Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage for a combined 25 hours across PC and PS5. Some of that playtime also came from R.E.V.O.’s initial release back in January. For World Stage specifically, I played a whole bunch of the new World Stage mode and tried out the new crossplay features, which open the game up to console players.

My controllers of choice were primarily the Razer Raiju V3 Pro on PlayStation 5, as well as the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 and Corsair Novablade Pro on PC.

First reviewed November 2025

Here goes, I’m going to try and review two games in one. Yes, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is a revival of the legendary series’ first two titles, combined into one shiny package. Square Enix and Artdink are back again after their triumphant remake of Dragon Quest III, bringing a similar promise forward. A promise of significantly revamped visuals, full voice acting, new in-game content, and a much more user-friendly experience for modern gamers.

And good news, Dragon Quest fans, this is yet another brilliant remake, sure to win the series new admirers and satisfy long-time fans simultaneously. With this 2-in-1 release, the so-called Erdrick trilogy is complete, as the first two chapters in the Dragon Quest story follow up on the events that took place in the third game. A little confusing, I know.

For anyone unfamiliar with the first two stories, allow me to introduce you. In Dragon Quest I, you play as a solitary Hero who is descended from Erdrick. In the past, Erdrick foiled the dastardly plans of a character known as the Lord of the Underworld and restored peace to the land of Alefgard. But now, the scheming Dragonlord has made an unwelcome return, and it is up to you, and you alone, to deliver the land from evil.

And then, after the Hero of Dragon Quest I was able to save Alefgard again, we move to Dragon Quest II, where you take control of four young princes and princesses, themselves also descended from Erdrick. After foul beasts suddenly invade Alefgard, it is up to the band of young nobles to honor Erdrick’s legacy and ensure the realm’s safety once more.

So, how engaging are these stories? And just how well do these remakes bring the world, combat, and characters of classic Dragon Quest into the modern era of gaming? Having played this duology for well over 40 hours on my Nintendo Switch 2, I’ll break it all down for you below.

A remake fit for a king

I want to start by discussing some of my general feelings about the duology before I speak about the two games individually.

As soon as you’ve been thrust into either title’s fantasy world, you’re treated to a delicious cocktail of sublime HD-2D graphics, wonderful voice acting, and head-spinningly beautiful music. No, seriously, the score here is majestic. It’s grandiose, orchestral, and emotive – it really does complement the medieval-inspired fantasy world to absolute perfection.

Meanwhile, the duology is a visual delight. Character sprites are detailed and faithful to the series' origin, while light is used in a way that makes each environment feel deeply natural. The polish on display through each building, mountain, and piece of equipment makes the game a joy to look at.

Square Enix is the pioneer of the HD-2D graphical style, so it may not be a huge surprise that it nailed the visuals, but I was still bowled over by the appearance of each new area and enemy I encountered.

As I mentioned above, the voice acting across both games is top-notch, too. There’s so much character running through the veins of each performance.

Comedic moments are delivered with expert timing, while moments of heartbreak feel raw and convincing. I criticized Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles for a few flat-sounding performances and small inconsistencies, but this wasn’t the case here at all.

But one thing that was slightly disappointing was the decision to only partially voice the main story. A few segments have no voice acting whatsoever, which can really break up your immersion in the action. As the voice acting is so great, I would have loved it to have featured throughout, although this is a minor gripe in the grand scheme of things.

Me against the world

Right, let’s drill into both games in a little more depth. Naturally, I started with Dragon Quest I, and I had a fantastic time during my playthrough.

In this title, it’s you against the world. No, really, there are no additional team members to recruit. You’ve got to fight your way through enemy encounters – where you can sometimes be significantly outnumbered – totally by yourself.

This remake does a masterful job of making you feel like David in his plight against Goliath. Especially because combat is no longer one-on-one only – you can face large groups of enemies now. I faced some absolutely gruelling turn-based battles during my time playing, both from aggressive hordes of foes and ruthless standalone bosses.

Luckily, the game has an auto-save feature, so if you die (spoiler alert, this will probably happen quite a bit), you can continue from the point of the last successful battle. This means you can rapidly progress through the game without having to trek through entire areas from the beginning. What an addition!

At times, I did feel like the odds were stacked a little too far against me. A few bosses, like the very last one, caused me a fair bit of bother. But the game gives you the tools to overcome your challenges. If I went away and grinded up against random enemies, I was always able to level up enough to best my enemies. Levelling increases stats like HP, MP, strength, and resilience (defense), and you’ll often learn new abilities and spells too.

Scrolls have also been added, which can be found scattered across the world, and contain abilities that can be learned at any time. They’ll disappear after use – a bit like how TMs used to work in Pokémon (in the good old days, at least). Combine that with Sigils, which can ‘soup up’ the skills you already possess, and you’ve got everything you need to crack through the Hero’s quest.

At its core, Dragon Quest I is still a classic JRPG. You’ll have to grind now and then. Sometimes, you’ll get straight up unlucky and get wiped out in an instant.

Turn-based combat is fairly simple too – it just comes down to attacking, defending against incoming attacks, and healing. But when you master the balance of those three actions, seemingly basic battle becomes addictive, surprisingly strategic, and straight up exhilarating.

Narrative-wise, there’s nothing crazy going on. The kingdom is in trouble, you’re tasked with saving it, and you overcome the threat. It’s really classic stuff, but I found beauty in the simplicity, with endearing characters like the faeries, Princess Gwaelin, and of course Robin ‘Ood. And there have been plenty of new additions to the plot, with new battles, character dialogue, and areas to explore. I’m a big fan of this one.

Me… and my three pals against the world

Moving on to Dragon Quest II now, and the added variation of having four members in the party is very refreshing. That’s one additional team member than the original game had, but it still feels like your party is excellently balanced.

I found myself dying a lot less in the sequel, with the expanded team enabling me to dedicate one unit to healing, and others to hitting hard with magic and physical attacks, for instance. As a result of the larger team, you’ll have to manage scrolls a little more carefully, though – you have to consider who will suit the relevant ability best before waving goodbye to your scroll forever!

The world is more developed in the sequel, with multiple kingdoms established through Erdrick’s descendants. Said world is vast (and expanded for this remake), the runtime of your adventure is considerably longer than DQ I, and the amount of content additions is larger than that found in the revamped editions of DQ I and indeed DQ III. I found the story to be engaging, and I felt compelled to explore the world that lay before me.

And that’s because both of these games, especially the sequel, reward curiosity handsomely. If you take that extra time to look around a castle, to wander off into a random part of the overworld, or even search the local inn, you’re almost certain to find something of interest. I’m talking scrolls, money, armor, weapons…you name it! You can also find mini medals now, which can be redeemed for swanky prizes.

There are just so many excellent quality of life additions across both games. Difficulty options are there if you want to make things a touch easier…or if you want to punish yourself and turn up the heat. Fast-travel has been refined, there are more customization settings, and objective markers make for a much more accessible user experience.

If I were to nitpick, I’d argue that the new UI is still too basic, and menus could’ve been both a little more stylish and developed. For instance, the ‘Misc.’ menu feels quite cluttered, holding everything from unit status, through to system settings and traveller’s tips. It does appear faithful to its classic JRPG roots, though, which some may still appreciate.

Overall, I had the adventure of a lifetime during my playthrough of Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake. Not only did it run like a dream on my Nintendo Switch 2, but I felt genuinely excited to fire this game up every single time. I knew there would be new items to discover, new enemies that would probably beat the life out of me, and new areas to soak in. Combine that with a legendary score, excellent voice acting, and a gorgeous visual overhaul, and you’re looking at a very special remake indeed.

Should you play Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

You can adjust the camera to a zoomed-in mode if you prefer, and adjust aspects like text and battle speed using the system settings menu. You can also toggle controls like running, removing the need to hold down a button.

Voices can be set to English or Japanese, with text available in a wider range of languages, such as Simplified Chinese, French, Italian, and Spanish. There is no color blind mode, unfortunately.

How I reviewed Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake

I spent more than 40 hours playing Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, playing through the main story of both titles and tackling a bunch of side content. I played both titles in the ‘Dragon Quest’ mode, which is the normal difficulty equivalent.

As I downloaded the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game, I was able to split my time fairly evenly between TV and handheld play. When in docked mode, I had my console hooked up to the Sky Glass Gen 2 television and the Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. In handheld mode, I sometimes connected my Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones to the Switch 2 via a 3.5mm cable.

Personally, I’ve reviewed a variety of games here at TechRadar, including a number of RPGs like Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army and Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter. I’m also a seasoned RPG player, with some of my favorite games of all time including Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, Yakuza 0, and Final Fantasy VII (the original, of course).

First reviewed October 2025

Nothing pains me more than facing continued disappointment at video game adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, but unfortunately, cozy Hobbit life simulator Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game has me right back at rock bottom. It attempts to capture the world and lives of Tolkien’s halfling heroes, but instead posits a torturously slow and boring glimpse into the joys of such menial tasks as walking with slight urgency and inventory management.

A wizard arrives precisely when he means to, but Tales of the Shire did not. Numerous delays plagued developer Wētā Workshop, resulting in its release being pushed back from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025, then to its ultimate release date in July 2025. Having played the demo, it was a wise choice; the Shire should be brimming with life, simple joys, and fellowship, and yet our earliest glimpses of the game in demos last year showed there was much room for improvement.

A wizard arrives precisely when he means to, but Tales of the Shire did not. Numerous delays plagued developer Wētā Workshop, resulting in its release being pushed back from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025, then to its ultimate release date in July 2025. Having played the demo, it was a wise choice; the Shire should be brimming with life, simple joys, and fellowship, and yet our earliest glimpses of the game in demos last year showed there was much room for improvement.

Sadly, reader, I must inform you that such improvements were not made. I finally got around to finishing the game a few months after its release, and it was genuinely quite draining to make my way through its watery plotlines, half-baked features, and flavorless characters. In fact, one of Tales of the Shire’s greatest achievements is that it somehow makes Gandalf seem bland for the little screen time he gets.

The part of me that really, really wanted this game to win has done the rounds of questioning how this happened, but honestly, it just feels like poor direction. Where Tales of the Shire should reward patience, it punishes efficiency and speed; where it should encourage creativity, it incentivizes shortcuts; and where it should be fun and light, it’s downright boring and forces you to trudge through fields to find near-invisible Butterfly Cup mushrooms for days on end just to feed them to your socially awkward neighbors.

I genuinely don’t enjoy poo-pooing creative endeavors, but Tales of the Shire is a disappointing step into the game development limelight for Wētā Workshop, and one has to wonder if they had the IP just lying around and fancied giving game design a go. It’s not without good ideas, but it certainly lacks heart and execution.

“Nary a squib, cracker or backarapper”

The game opens with a familiar face: that of Gandalf towering over your custom character Hobbit on the roadside. He offers you a ride to your new home, Bywater, before ingraciously jet-setting off on his own travels around the Shire, leaving you to your fledgling journey. The tutorial sees you meeting most of the townsfolk, learning the ropes of Hobbit life through farming, foraging, fishing, and feeding neighbors to grow your reputation and the prosperity of Bywater.

The main plotline sees a small collective of local Hobbits band together on a mission to officially gain township for Bywater, a quest decorated by typical Hobbit foolery. The abstract and oft whimsical ways in which these Hobbits go about their problem-solving make for some enjoyable momentum to its credit. For example, when a very dated rulebook suggests that one condition for a township is a wolf's head hung over the town gate, they approach it with great confidence despite none of them ever actually having seen a wolf in the peaceful Shire. Using remnants of forgotten knowledge from elder townsfolk, they piece together a rather rough and ready fake ​​– which, of course, they later discover was entirely unnecessary​.

It’s small moments of nonsense and whimsy like these that I was so excited for, but unfortunately, they are few and far between in Tales of the Shire. Dialogue in the game is extensive, but at least half of the characters offer no depth or development beyond their archetypal roles. You’ve got the grumpy, weird fishing man, lovely elderly cooking lady, slightly dumb farmer, generic cute kid, and brassy bar owner. That’s no sin; the joy of Hobbits is their simplicity, but there’s little original content here that makes dialogue feel worthwhile, and the lack of any voice-overs really hammers home the lifelessness.

It’s quite the achievement that Tales of the Shire even fails to make Gandalf seem interesting; sure, he offers some hijinks and at least a few salient moments, but it’s a shallow attempt at capturing the wise yet whimsical wizard. Oh, and don’t get me started on the pitiful attempt at recreating a Gandalf firework display, because that truly is a crime against the source material. Seriously, 5-10 peony fireworks and nary a squib, cracker, or backarapper? That should be considered criminal.

That being said, some characters feel more Hobbit-specific in their caricatures. I loved Hobson, Bywater’s bumbling tradesman who will try to fob off any junk he finds to locals, and Delphinium, the herbalist who lives in the shadow – and lingering grief – of her deceased mother. While I wouldn’t go as far as to call these better-rounded characters dynamic, they at least pack a bit more of the heart and depth needed to make me want to interact with them.

Befriending your neighbors is a pretty central part of the game, so you’ll need to put aside any feelings of apathy towards them and muck in to build your relationships. The main way of doing this is through shared meals, hosted at a variety of locations around Bywater and with different party sizes, to win their favor. On the day of a shared meal, you’ll receive in your letterbox a hint at their food preferences; any meals or flavors they’re craving, which can help to raise friendships quicker.

These are, for the most part, fine, and cooking is most definitely the most fun activity in Bywater. It’s pretty basic, although it does get more complex as the game progresses when new recipes and tools are unlocked; even so, it’s pretty easy to master.

Time goes by so slowly

Your new home of Bywater, is an interesting backdrop for a cozy adventure. Thematically, it hits all the right notes; rolling hills, pastoral beauty, and relatively organic-feeling, and I must give it at least some credit for winning me over later in the game. Navigation is intentionally slow-paced; there’s no map overlay, so after pinning your destination or quest to follow in the map menu, you have to follow a series of bluebirds that perch along pathways to point you in the right direction. For the first few hours, it’s grating at best, unhelped by the abundance of dead ends, impassible objects, and steep slopes you can’t walk down, but over time, you learn the layout and shortcuts for yourself. It’s one of the best ways the game teaches you patience, and it reminded me of my own experience learning the lay of the land when my mother moved to the countryside.

The same can’t be said for the game’s wider pacing issues, however. Some days crawl by, and having run out of things to do, those days often ended with my Hobbit Peony waiting at her bedside for night to fall to start a new day. Other days see a litany of villager requests stuffing your mailbox in the morning, ready to send you on a chain of fetch quests that will often take you across all four corners of Bywater; it would be better if the game paced these out better, as I was able to blast through a majority of the main plotline by the end of my second season in the game.

Another oddity in the game’s pacing is the guild feature, which comes into play relatively late in the main storyline progression. As part of Bywater’s quest for township, you create groups for each of the four main activities, and every day, the group leader will post new requests. You can pin up to 10 requests, which, once fulfilled, will gain you progression points towards group mastery. However, it comes in so late in the game that you feel incentivized to just grind through these to unlock perks like a bigger backpack and additional cooking stations, which feels contrary to the wider pacing.

Never mind the fact that, on top of this, there are a lot of bugs and optimization issues – or at least, there were in my Xbox playthrough, but from what I’ve seen online, these are still present months after release for many players.

Skipping around town for too long leads to frame rate drops, characters in the background of conversations stutter about the screen, and quests can sometimes bug out if you go to sleep mid-way through, making some days a mad panic to complete it all before the clock strikes midnight. My game also fatally crashed upwards of ten times during my time with it, requiring me to play my day from scratch – and you can imagine from my desperate desire to finish this game how frustrating it was to lose a full day’s work.

Home is where the existential crisis is

There are some parts of Tales of the Shire I unabashedly enjoy, and chief among them is home decoration. You begin the game with a humble smial that, over time, unlocks and expands, but from the get-go, there’s a good amount of personality you can add to the rooms. You’ll receive furnishings and decor as gifts from neighbors as you go about your lives together, but you can also head to town to shop for more. Character creation isn’t quite as fun, but there are some really fun items in the mix and, if nothing else, their existence makes saving and spending money a little more worthwhile.

While you adventure and quest about Bywater, you can find fishing spots and plants to forage, as well as villagers to trade with. Some take your hard-earned cash for useful ingredients, seeds, and decor, while others will trade for their favorite ingredients. The early game makes this quite challenging; your only avenue for earning money is selling whatever you find or farm, and I quite enjoyed the grind. Unfortunately, the game scales weirdly, meaning it’s very easy past a certain point to rinse the local economy.

The chief culprit here is farming due to the perplexing choice to let vegetables grow out of season. You have to plant them at the correct time of year, and they’ll certainly bear fruit more quickly during those seasons, but as soon as you unlock more farm space and flowerbeds, you can easily abandon in-depth farming strategy and support your voracious appetite for home-cooked meals with easily farmed and watered vegetables.

Of course, you’ll still need to forage and fish for more specific ingredients, but a fair amount of meals can be prepared with just farmed goods and purchased goods; the game could do with slightly higher stakes here, as it quickly became easy to cheese my way through.

It’s far harder to cheat your way to financial success with foraging or fishing, however. There are several designated fishing spots around the map, and while some do offer slightly rarer fish, most spots seem to generate the same species. Annoyingly, these aren’t stackable, and with a very limited 10-slot inventory space, you’ll probably find yourself heading to town to sell up your haul or back home to restock your pantry pretty often. This limitation makes some of the more rural fishing spots a real pain, but thankfully, you can pretty much ignore them without any real penalty.

The long and short of it is, almost everything I like about Tales of the Shire comes with a caveat, and it makes for an incredibly mixed bag experience. It certainly feels like, post demo, they had the opportunity to rework much of early reviewers’ criticism, but that was by and large ignored to the detriment of the end results.

Should you play Tales of the Shire?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility

There are some accessibility features, but not an all-encompassing selection. For example, you can change text size, adjust camera sensitivity, and toggle auto-assist features for both the camera and the cooking station gameplay, as well as difficulty. There’s controller support, but with limited remappable buttons, and a major oversight is the lack of a sprint toggle here. Add to this the lack of a mini-map, poor performance, and frequent crashes, and you have yet another mixed bag for Tales of the Shire.

How I reviewed Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game

I played over 25 hours of Tales of the Shire on my Xbox Series S, completing the main storyline and quests and significantly progressing my villager relationships and guild quests. I played on my Sony KD-49XH8096 TV using Logitech Multimedia Z200 speakers and a standard Xbox wireless controller.

I used standard settings, comparing the experience to other popular farming and life sims like Stardew Valley, Disney Dreamlight Valley, and Palia, as well as indie titles like Coral Island.

First reviewed October 2025