Cozy Lord of the Rings life sim game Tales of the Shire may have been hit with a couple of delays, but as it approaches its release this July, its creative director says it was "really important" to the devs at Wētā Workshop to create something they felt Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien "would be happy with."
In a new interview shared on the PlayStation Blog, creative director Stephen Lambert discusses all things Tales of the Shire, including its "organic" building, noting that Hobbit holes themselves aren't "really square or rigid shapes." Instead, "everything's kind of curved and a bit more organic, so the idea of having something that goes on a grid just didn't fit. It just made sense to build something that allows for a huge amount of expression, to be able to tinker with things and put them in exactly how you want."
Making things fit was clearly a key part of the development process, as generally speaking, Lambert notes that the team "really wanted what we made to fit within Tolkien's world, so we positioned it just after The Hobbit and before the events of The Lord of the Rings." Furthermore, Wētā Workshop's artists put a lot of effort into "researching the families, events, and histories of what was written and weaving everything they could into that particular framework."
Ultimately, Lambert reveals that the devs have their hearts set on creating something that the original author himself would be pleased with. "It's really important to us to make something that we felt Tolkien would be happy with," the creative director says. "He's been quoted as saying he wanted other hearts and minds to add to his world like a real mythology, and we wanted to be part of that."
Even so, Lambert wanted to make sure Tales of the Shire's story could "carry itself," and specifically not require you to be an existing fan despite there being "lots of references." So, if you just enjoy the cozy vibes and want to decorate a Hobbit hole, you don't need to worry about being fully caught up on The Lord of the Rings' lore.
Be sure to keep up with all the other big releases launching this year in our roundup of new games.
