Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin’s tower defense minigame “Sakuna the Efflorescent” will add Metal Aphids in future update

Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-10-14 13:11 (JST)
Translated by. Ryuki Ishii

Edelweiss has announced on October 14 that Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin’s tower defense minigame “Sakuna the Efflorescent” will be reworked in a future update. The standalone version of the reworked minigame will be distributed at “Komeket 2” (コメケット弐), a “Sakuna and rice related content only” doujin fair scheduled to be held on October 17 JST at Tokyo, Japan. The update will come to Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin at a later date.

Sakuna the Efflorescent is a tower defense minigame included in Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin. The objective is to protect the Tree of Creation from sap-sucking Aphids. You’ll use Sakuna’s various skills to combat waves of Aphids. The minigame is first played as part of the main story, and you can revisit it afterward for more rewards.

The reworked version is called “Sakuna the Efflorescent vs Metal Aphids” (花咲かサクナ対メタルアブラムシくん). The pacing of the minigame will be much faster, and various balance adjustments will be made. A group of new enemy types called Metal Aphids will be introduced as well.

There are several variants of Metal Aphids, including the Giant Aphids. When Sakuna knocks other Aphids into a Giant Aphid, the knocked Aphids will bounce back. The Rainbow Aphids explode after being knocked back by Sakuna’s attack. When you defeat the Angel Aphids, Sakuna enters Fever Time, which increases the score multiplier and the likelihood of enemies’ induced explosions. All of the new Aphids’ traits can be used to Sakuna’s advantage, and I’m hopeful that this rework will make the minigame more exhilarating to play.

Some unique strategies for Sakuna the Efflorescent have been made by the players, but with the upcoming rework, it may be necessary to reevaluate how best to approach the Aphids. In any case, the rework will surely bring more opportunities to enjoy Sakuna’s exciting combat.

As a side note, the standalone version of the minigame that will be distributed at Komeket 2 will include an exclusive feature called the viewer mode. It’ll allow the players to view all the in-game characters from different angles. This feature is exclusive to the standalone version, and it will not be a part of Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin’s future update. You can see the viewer mode in action below: