HARVESTELLA

The game starts really slow and it takes a while to unlock enough to really enjoy the core gameplay, however once you get through a year in game, there's so much to do. A decently fun farm system, crafting, cooking, quests all over the world, nice enough JRPG story, long extra dungeon to grind if you are into that, a dating sim and much more. The game world is very pretty, and the art style is appealing, while the graphics aren't that great, it's solid for a JRPG which tend to have average equality graphics, the art style and character designs more than make up for it as well. There are a number of cons that I think are worth mentioning since they can heavily impact your enjoyment of the game, personally these were not deal breakers for me but if they are for you then be warned. The battle system is probably the single biggest con, there is essentially no skill involved, mechanics like guarding, parrying and even dodging are pointless or outright non existent. Fights are more stat checks over anything else followed by having enough damage items in the form of elemental orbs and healing items for any major boss fights. Almost every attack outside of boss fights is undodgeable, so all enemy mobs will hit you unless you let your party eat the damage. Essentially clearing the game comes down to your level, your weapon level, your job / class being maxed out as much as possible, having a ton of items, ring equipment and upping the bonds with the party members you are bringing into the fight. Actual skill is not involved at all, just grind enough to meet the stat check in each dungeon and make sure you have orbs and healing items to spam for bosses. Breadth of the game: There is just so much to do in this game which is a hybrid between dating sim, JRPG, farming game and because of this the game has to limit how much you can do at first. Due to this it feels quite shallow early on while simultaneously spread very thin across many different things that feel overwhelming to learn. However this gets better over time and eventually these various game aspects do get deeper and you figure out the gameplay loop well enough to handle all of them. Stamina system: The game has a stamina check and a time limit per day check yet isn’t turn based and time / stamina all diminish whether you are farming, building bonds, or clearing a dungeon. It’s like Persona 5 but in the worst way possible, the stamina system really shouldn’t have been included in boss fights, just being unable to even basic attack because your character is hungry mid fight is ridiculous. Quests: The quests in this game are worse then fetch quests, they are basically just follow the person you are engaging with across the world map at multiple locations and talk to them / witness their character drama until you finally get some money and seeds. The actual stories and comedy are pretty good for some quests, but its such a drag to constantly have to chase people across the world in a game where you have a daily time limit every day and stamina needs that keep you from even fast walking, on top of this if you don’t finish a quest in a day you got to move to the next day which means put everything on hold and farm for the entire morning. Dialogue: The dialogue in the game is mostly pointless outside of a single big decision that determines which ending you get. I do mean pointless, not only does it have 0 effect on the story or results you get in anything, even choosing between different dialogue options gives you essentially no meaningful difference in conversation. There shouldn't be so many dialogue options in a game where 98% of it has no impact. Overall though, this game is at least a 7.5/10 and I would recommend getting it on sale.

you hear a lot about how it's not fully voiced, but that really doesn't take away much. the soundtrack is amazing. the story is engaging. the combat is wonderful- each build you use gives you a different outfit, too! the characters are memorable, and you can deepen your friendships with them. there's farming, fishing, combat, story, beautiful environment, and everything else you could want. i got it on sale, but i can see why it's so pricey. a lot of work went into this game. you can really tell.

Excellent graphics, fast response in game play and loading, very strong story lines.

What ♥♥♥♥♥♥ made this, not only does it not have no playstation prompts and look ugly as hell but the controller and keyboard layout was clearly done by those who have no understanding of what those terms are, game looks and feels like no real effort was put into it.

The only thing this game has wrong with it... 0 Voice Acting A nice RPG+Farming sim where you will solve the ultimate problem plaguing the world, just be sure not to slack on your farm!

played this on switch, but didn't get to finish it since my switch took a dive </3 bought it here during a sale and finally got to finish it! it's a beautiful jrpg! love love love this game!

Really liked it myself. Im sure i would be able to put quite a few more hours if i was going for the post game dungeon and stuff, but i got far enough for my taste, finished main story with the true ending and all, I'd leave the more grindy parts to people who enjoy all of it. Good game, Music and general art direction are the main great points for me. Story was pretty good, nothing i'd scream on the roofs about but a good story.

Incredibly... lacklustre for Square Enix. Got the right idea, just implemented horribly in my experience. I do hope others that have gotten this game have found enjoyment where i haven't.