Harvestella desires to be a jack of two trades, however winds up a grasp of none. Half action-RPG, half farming/life simulation, this mixture can typically be gratifying, however the two kinds conflict as a rule. The result’s a sluggish grind extra prone to repel followers of every style than deliver them collectively.
As an amnesiac warrior, you awaken on the outskirts of a quaint village, unaware of your origin and objective. 4 highly effective, monolithic crystals known as Seaslight govern the environmental stability of the picturesque continent, specifically its seasons. Nonetheless, a lethal fifth season known as Quietus happens between every of the 4 regular seasons, wiping out crops and endangering people. This unusual normalcy turns into unstable when the Seaslight start behaving irregularly, seemingly triggered by the mysterious arrival of Aria, a younger scientist from the distant future. Such as you, Aria is clueless about how she bought right here, so that you accomplice as much as uncover your respective origins whereas additionally combating a world disaster. Oh, and constructing a pleasant farm too.
To its credit score, the plot is participating in its absurdity. In typical JRPG trend, the thriller steadily turns into extra grandiose and unhinged because it unfolds. Whereas a lot of it’s foolish, I discovered little of it boring. One revelation made me chortle out loud at how weird it’s, and I can’t assist however respect Harvestella’s willingness to take some wild turns whereas sprinkling a couple of poignant moments. A big band of likable social gathering members, corresponding to a smooth-talking inventor, an A.I.-powered robotic, and a speaking unicorn, joins the first duo, however you largely spend time with them one-on-one. As such, you don’t typically see everybody hang around collectively, and once they do, the shortage of group chemistry is noticeable and disappointing. It’s like inviting a bunch of fine mates to hang around who know you, however not one another.
Harvestella promotes two kinds of play however looks like an action-RPG first and a farming sport second. Gameplay includes operating by bland dungeons and hacking aside foes, gathering crafting supplies and substances alongside the way in which. A sturdy job system presents a great number of playstyles, however I solely gravitated towards a couple of of them. My favorites embody the nimble, combo-centric Shadow Walker and the dancing floating blades of the Pilgrim class. Different jobs, just like the Mechanic and singing-focused Woglinde, merely aren’t enjoyable to make use of, and the sport not often inspired me to experiment as soon as I settled on my favorites. Even with courses and assaults I loved, the fight is middling, and executives are both pushovers or infuriatingly low cost.
Farming followers gained’t discover a lot distinctive about Harvestella. You plant crops on tilled land that may be expanded in measurement a number of instances, course of meals utilizing machines, however you solely rear two animal species. The farm adjustments with the seasons, which shift each 30 days, and sure meals can solely develop throughout particular instances of the yr. Quietus, which solely lasts a day, eradicates crops, however I discovered it straightforward to plan round, making it much less threatening than seemingly supposed.
Like fight, farming solely feels satisfactory, however is essential to success. Promoting crops serves as one of many few methods to earn cash. You additionally want a full pantry to whip up quite a lot of dishes. Consuming retains your stomach full, which in flip fuels your stamina bar. This meter governs actions corresponding to farming, sprinting, and even executing particular assaults. Consuming additionally replenishes well being, typically in massive quantities relying on the dish. Nonetheless, you possibly can’t eat if you happen to’re full, which turns into a maddening hindrance throughout robust battles. Since conventional well being potions don’t exist, you’ll be making your entire restoration objects. Doing so takes time which feeds into Harvestella’s greatest nuisance: the clock.
Harvestella operates on an in-game day/evening cycle that advances in 10-minute increments sooner than you count on. Evening begins at 6 p.m., and your character turns into sleepy at 10, slowing their stamina restoration. Thus, returning house to crash in your mattress – and solely your mattress as, annoyingly, you possibly can’t sleep on the sport’s a number of inns – is significant. Staying out previous midnight causes your hero to break down from exhaustion, warping them again house. Falling to exhaustion or loss of life comes on the oppressively steep worth of paying an more and more exorbitant physician’s payment whereas clicking by the identical unskippable cutscene. It’s a loathsome penalty that’s too strict for its personal good.
Since it’s important to drop the whole lot to return house every evening, progress turns into a massively sluggish grind. Dungeon crawling consists of inching ahead earlier than it’s important to cease and resume the following day. Merely reaching a location on the world map burns valuable minutes till sooner technique of journey open up. Even after discovering shortcuts and fast-travel checkpoints, you continue to rerun sections of a dungeon repeatedly till you attain uncharted territory. Doing so inevitably drains your meals provide, so it’s important to put aside time to cook dinner beforehand. Making dishes eats a considerable chunk of the day, limiting the time to journey. Operating out of cooking substances means rising extra of them, as solely a handful of staples will be bought. Meaning spending at the very least a couple of days ready for crops to replenish, then creating sufficient meals to enterprise again right into a dungeon, and repeating the cycle over again.
This framework successfully makes it unimaginable to progress the story for very lengthy. There’s typically a lot work that needs to be accomplished beforehand that I used to be typically fortunate to have sufficient daylight to pursue the missions I needed. This annoyed me most when the plot hit an attention-grabbing flip, and I needed to see what got here subsequent. It’s an terrible type of gating, as progress is bottlenecked irrespective of how highly effective or well-equipped I used to be. In some circumstances, it could take days of labor and prep to finish a single dungeon flooring.
After I didn’t have sufficient time within the day to finish a narrative mission, Harvestella admirably gives loads to do exterior of the principle narrative and farming. A ton of multi-chapter sidequests await, although most of them contain studying prolonged conversations, finishing a fundamental fight encounter, or operating tedious errands. Regardless of a couple of attention-grabbing tales, these missions aren’t nice, however the sport makes finishing them worthwhile, for higher or worse. Facet missions supply tons of money, very important recipes, blueprints, and seeds. To my chagrin, finishing as many as doable turned a crucial evil. I most well-liked the social gathering bonding missions, by which I realized about my teammates’ troubles by serving to them by distinctive storylines. These quests have been at the very least extra attention-grabbing and rewarded me with enhanced bodily perks, corresponding to higher energy, protection, and so forth., virtually making them required enjoying.
Although it runs nicely, Harvestella additionally suffers from graphical glitches that make it really feel unstable at instances. Particularly, a wierd bug the place half of the display sometimes flickered a strong colour, whether or not docked or in handheld mode. The sport additionally doesn’t look nice on the massive display as a result of its low-resolution textures and fashions.
Harvestella’s programs feed collectively in a method that forces you to interact with practically the whole lot it presents, whether or not you wish to or not. However these slice-of-life actions are mundane and get in the way in which of letting you benefit from the RPG components by yourself phrases. Maximizing a day’s schedule is usually rewarding, however the sluggish pacing makes it robust to remain engaged for the lengthy haul. Harvestella forces you to do a complete lot to finish comparatively little. At 70-80 hours, it’s one of many greatest chores I’ve performed in a while. That’s unlucky as a result of the fight, story, and characters are first rate sufficient that, in a extra conventional RPG framework, they’d shine brighter. Because it stands, squeezing this fruit isn’t all the time price its small quantity of juice.
