Seina is a visually inviting adventure, featuring a young female protagonist on an adventure to find her missing cat that has run off. She meets a cast of adorable NPCs along the way who seem intent on keeping her from her mission. Will she find her cat or will she be endlessly fetching items for others. 

Game Title: Seina: a Tale Of Spirits - Demo

Developer: Argyro Brotsi

Publisher: POFUPOFU STUDIOS

Releasedate: TBD

OS: Windows 10 (64-bit only, minimum and recommended)

Platform: Steam*

Price: TBD

Please note that this review will have very minor spoilers.

What Is It 

Seina is a cozy fantasy game told from the perspective of a young girl, Mika, who is trying to find her lost cat. Because this is a game and we all know (I hope) the cat is well, Mika goes on the adventure of a lifetime and meets a slew of characters on her way. My version of how to behave when your cat is missing and Mika's are very, very different. Her way is probably a lot more fun, so let us delve in and explore this world while I worry the entire time. 

The Mostly Good

Graphics

The visuals for Seina are very cute, which is good thing. No need for intense images when the game is supposed to be cozy. Graphics are quaint and colorful. Quest items sparkle and are easily distinguishable. Mika and all the NPCs are adorable. Visually, everything about the game is whimsical and inviting. The only issue I have is that sometimes foliage obscures areas that are necessary to traverse in order to obtain a quest item.

Quests

The player is assigned quests, whether they want them or not, which was expected. The good thing about this is that there are contained areas and all quests can be completed within these areas because everything needed is close at hand. While all are fetch quests, there is no need to run all over a huge map to find the necessary item.

Not All Is Well

Quests

While it is a plus that quests are not difficult to complete and items necessary can be found nearby, there is a downside to this. Each location is self contained and cannot be moved on from until all quests are completed, because doing “good deeds” are necessary to open up the way forward. I enjoy exploration and that was not an option here.

My cat is missing people!! Does nobody care? My cat goes missing in real life for ten minutes and I am beside myself. In the game, we are taking a leisurely stroll, helping cute little owls find their books that the cute little otters stole, finding toys that the owls stole from the otters...You get the idea. Cute animal life is on par with a soap opera. 

At the very beginning, someone needed a wrench to fix a bicycle (that they didn't even give me, by the way). Instead of the wrench being in the toolbox on the ground, it was up in a nest of a green eagle. Or eagle looking bird. I don't know. I took it, half expecting to get pecked to death, but remembered that is not something that usually happens in a cozy game (be cooler if it did). Also, did I mention my cat is missing?

Urgency

My cat is missing. Or Mika's cat is missing yet nobody seems in that much of a hurry to find it. Not even Mika. Mind you, they have seen the cat run by, yet their wants are much more important. My. Cat. Is. Missing. This game definitely comes at the missing cat angle differently than how I would come at it, by yelling and crying hysterically, which would ruin the entire cozy atmosphere. However, my worry over the pretend cat has already put a damper on the cozy feel of the game.

Please, can I just go find the cat? Can't these weird talking animals (albeit adorable) go find their own stuff? Or better yet, they can go find my cat while I do all this silly stuff for them. I mean, they're animals, they'd likely have better luck. Also, why did my cat run off? What if the scary talking animals (albeit cute) are what made it bolt? How did it even get to the inaccessible areas if it did not stop and offer to assist the weird talking mushrooms (though now I am wondering if Mika did not eat the said mushrooms, which would make a lot of sense right now) by finding a rainbow four leafed clover? Does my cat talk...

Optimization

It was obvious when starting the game that it was not well optimized as the fans in my **PC went insane for a bit (likely freaking out over the weird, albeit cute, talking mushrooms). Things leveled out about two minutes into playing and the issue was not encountered again, although when trying to change the settings, the game, which was defaulted to run in a windowed screen, shrunk to an even smaller windowed screen. Changing to either full-screen or borderless solved this issue. No other issues were noted, but I am a bit concerned with the former as it could cause serious problems with PCs if not addressed. 

Conclusion

Weird talking animals and mushrooms aside, Seina: a Tale of Spirits Demo was cute, simple, and definitely cozy. However, it was very short and there was not a lot in the way of exploration. It definitely felt as if it was tailored towards younger players, as in grade school children. While I could enjoy it for what it was, I never felt challenged, even a little. Even Stardew has some moments where I am unsure about progression, yet it is still extremely relaxing. But....where is my cat? Why is nobody concerned about my cat missing? These are the questions that were not answered in the demo. Will the cat ever be found? Tune in next week or whenever the full game is released to find out. Please note, there is no release date yet, so we might have a long wait. I hate cliffhangers.

Yay Or Nay

Maybe

It is cute. It has talking animals. It has simple gameplay. It would be great for kids. However, it feels too young for me and never really drew me in. Even the protagonist is a young child, not that that precludes me from enjoying entertainment that features children, but it really does exude childlike wonder (not that I have not been referred to as having the mentality of a 12 year old boy). Granted, the demo was over in fifty-two minutes (half of that was spent adjusting settings, taking screenshots, and writing notes –mostly about the lack of concern about my missing cat) and I did not get to experience much of the world. However, I am confident while cute and cozy, it would be better marketed to a younger audience or those who are less fixated on a missing cat and more on enjoying the cute and relaxing atmosphere. It is truly lovely and sweet as long as you can put aside concern for the cat and just enjoy it for what it is. 

B

*Platform/OS listed is what the game was reviewed on. 

**PC reviewed on specs: Windows 11 64-bit, Ryzen 7 9800x3D, Radeon RX 9070 XT, 32 GB DDR5 6000