• Price: $24.99 USD (currently on sale for $22.49 until March 31st)
• Developer/Publisher: Morizora Studios
• Release Date: March 23, 2023

A review code was kindly provided by Morizora Studios. We thank them for being able to cover something they’ve worked so hard on.

Content warning: Both games have a hospital setting for part of the story; patients have serious illnesses such as cancer or degenerative diseases.

I recently saw some of Laura Shigihara’s work featured in Meg’s Monster, and I got chills listening to that song. (It’s been stuck in my head for a while.) So I was quite interested in seeing more music from Laura in Rakuen: Deluxe Edition, a bundle of content that she created. It includes two of her games (Rakuen and Mr. Saitou) plus a 3D animated film collection set in the same universe. It sure sounds like an impressive collection of content, and I’ll go into the details of each part below.

Rakuen

In Rakuen, you play as an unnamed young boy in a hospital. His illness is serious, but his mother attempts to keep his spirits up by reading his favorite book to him every night. Its name, of course, is Rakuen.

Unfortunately, someone has stolen that treasured book. You’ll have to find passcodes and key cards for some of the doors on the boy’s floor in order to get it back. Once you find the book, the boy’s mother will read it to him. As she reads the story – which is both wonderfully voiced and illustrated – you find out that a being known as Morizora will grant wishes to those who complete a series of tasks.

The little boy laments that this story isn’t real, but his mother tells him that the book itself serves as a roadmap to Morizora. She gives you a key to get to Morizora’s Forest, and goes with you through the door that appears in the hospital. (I love that the mother gets to experience this adventure as well!) As the pair appears inside of an inn – seemingly out of nowhere – they meet their first residents of Morizora’s Forest: some ridiculously cute “Leeble” villagers.

The Leebles have never seen humans before, but they are curious and kind. They aren’t the only race inside the world of Rakuen, either – there are sentient plant buds, talking bears, some sort of kappa (?), and more. Some of the individuals you meet here may have a human version who you’ll interact with in the “real world” at the hospital, and interacting with certain items in the real world may result in changes to the landscape of Morizora’s Forest.

You’ll have to solve some puzzles and/or gather items for people on both sides of the portal to advance to the next areas. I thought that it would have been nice if I could walk more quickly or even run, but your character is a sick little boy, so when I thought of it that way I was more understanding.

At the hospital, you’re limited to walking around the floor where the boy’s room is located, but otherwise you get to roam and snoop to your heart’s content. There are lockers, cabinets, bookshelves, and more for you to examine for items or clues. I did have an issue with what felt like unnecessary prompts; it always asks if we want to read something instead of simply letting us see what it says right away.

On Morizora’s side, you’ll have to gather enough items for the Blacksmith to make you an axe and pickaxe to break down any barriers keeping you from getting ahead. Once you’ve obtained those tools, you can go more places and unlock additional doors between the hospital and Morizora’s Forest.

Some of the puzzles could be a little difficult for me – I had trouble with finishing the Gemma/Winston section, but eventually managed to get through it. There are some parts that are timed, like when you have to go through water or quickly get to a phone. Those parts weren’t my favorite. But most puzzles were relatively easy to figure out, and I did appreciate that the boy’s mother offers hints whenever you get stuck.

After completing some of those tasks, you will reach Morizora pretty early on in the game. He’s been sleeping for a long time, and will continue to sleep unless you successfully obtain the five parts of a song called “Mori no Kokoro” to wake him up. Each component of the song is something that you’ll find by helping others and discovering the often tragic stories in their pasts. You may find out how the person found themself hospitalized, or how their personality got to be the way it is now. One of the Leeble Villagers says that “Tony the bear keeps destroying [their] gardens” – one of the other patients in the hospital is a grumpy old man named Tony. 🤔 Clearly something happened to make him that way, but what?

Although some characters like Tony may be a bit less sociable, I liked the characters and sympathized with them. Most of the people you’ll deal with are patients at the hospital too, but you’ll also meet the medical professionals who work there and even a volunteer. One of my favorite characters was Danielle, a volunteer who makes cute little plushies for the patients. Jacky, the quirky phlebotomist, was a fun character to talk to, and Sue was a sweet girl around the same age as your character. I really liked being able to add decorations, entertainment options, and pets to the patient lounge for these characters to enjoy.

Due to the hospital setting, I came into this experience expecting to possibly cry at some point. There are indeed some sad aspects of these individuals’ stories – I did tear up at parts of them. Once you complete one of the storylines for the “Mori no Kokoro,” a character will perform their portion of the song. These performances are quite soothing in a way, and they convey so much emotion. I loved the music, and I also really liked the character art – especially the Leebles, whose village seems pretty cheerful to me. I wouldn’t say that Rakuen is an entirely sad game; it’s got a beautiful story that happens to have some sad moments in it.

Mr. Saitou

Like Rakuen, Mr. Saitou also begins in a hospital. Mr. Saitou had an accident where he fell and hurt himself. He wakes up and finds a friendly little boy named Brandon in his room, who draws him a bizarrely cute creature called the “Llamaworm.” Brandon decides to name all of the Llamaworms Saitou, which Mr. Saitou seems confused about, but Brandon tells him that they all have nicknames to make things easier.

Mr. Saitou apparently falls asleep after Brandon leaves, and he wakes up as a Llamaworm in a company full of other Llamaworms. His boss, the aptly named Bosstou, is obsessed with Metrics, so Mr. Saitou has to go around the office and get them. The next day, Mr. Saitou oversleeps and misses giving his already-rescheduled presentation. He wakes up to a “Minimori” infestation in his apartment, and Brandon’s counterpart in this world helps him clear them out. Mr. Saitou figures that he’s already missed his presentation, so he may as well take the kid to the Flooded Gemstone Caverns as requested.

They arrive at the caverns only to find the door locked. You’ll have to unlock multiple sections of the caverns in order to get to the part where Brandon wants to go. An archaeologist Saitou says that you need to bring enough Minimori in front of the caverns and place them on the pedestals there to open more paths. The only problem is that Mr. Saitou is terrified of Minimori…He’ll have to be brave to help young Brandon achieve his dream.

The Minimori are scattered across different sections of the caverns, and you can access them by completing some generally uncomplicated puzzles. Mr. Saitou takes place in the same world as Rakuen; there are the Minimori and Bud creatures again here, and Brandon mentions Morizora at one point. I remember seeing the Saitou creatures while playing Rakuen as well. Some of the specific characters you meet in Rakuen even make brief cameos in this game.

I loved seeing different sides of the same world, and it was interesting to see how the stories in each game differed based on the main character’s age. The little boy in Rakuen has more of a kind, open disposition, as does his mother. Mr. Saitou felt more cynical to me, but Brandon balances out his character with his positive attitude. Mr. Saitou took me around two hours to complete compared to about ten hours with Rakuen. I did like Rakuen more story-wise, and wanted a little more time with Mr. Saitou, but I enjoyed my time with both games.

Film Collection

Finally, the Film Collection contains short animated films: a trailer and two episodes of Farmer in the Sky. They are also connected to the world in Rakuen and Mr. Saitou, and all 3 videos together total about 15 minutes. I really appreciate the inclusion of these charming little shorts. Continuing with the trend of excellent music, a theme song opens each episode. There is no voice acting or narration, but I don’t think either are necessary here.

In my opinion, they did a really good job of letting the viewer know what is happening through the characters’ facial expressions, gestures, and the music and sound effects. The first episode shows a Leeple dealing with a Minimori infestation in their house, while the second episode shows them making a new friend! Both episodes are adorable and I’d love to see additional episodes in the series. There’s a lot of different content in this Deluxe Edition, and you’ll undoubtedly go through a roller coaster of emotions with each game and each video.

8.5/10