HARVESTELLA

Surprisingly dark story, gameplay can be a bit rigid though.

The game doesn't seem quite sure what genre it wants to be. It very definitely ISN'T farming simulator. Main loop is visual novel slash extremely lightweight action RPG (keep pressing left right button till the enemy dies). And yes, you have a farm and can grow plants and sell them for money. Not that there's much reason to do it, but you can. To be honest, practically nothing in the game works for me. I'm not much into mange visual style - and it particularly irks me that male character wear thighs and looks like a girl. I wouldn't even mind playing a girl, but this way I always wince when others address me in masculine, since I keep forgetting it -is- supposed to be a guy. The game is quite story heavy, with the classical game logic of "This guy is dangerous, how about we lay him on the bed next to the one you sleep on at night? If he wakes up, let us know." When you're not watching cutscenes, you run through corridors, perform combat which consists mainly of main attack with occasional active skill thrown it, scythe through uninspiring enemies that pose minimal threat and scale in difficulty by getting stronger versions (slime lvl1 vs. slime level 10). You watch a lot of custcenes. At some point I started having a strong feeling of "could I maybe play a little before I get another dialogue?" In the evening you water the crops, using controls that are clearly meant for console and have the usual grace of drunk sledgehammer. I will probably keep playing, since I can't refund at this point, but even though I've got the game with 60% discount, I regret spending the money. Wouldn't buy again.

Harvestella is a very good game for what it is as long as you go into it open minded. It is not your traditional final fantasy RPG that many fans have grown to expect from SE. Nor is it a traditional farming sim as it does not match the energy of Stardew Valley, any Harvest Moon title, or even Story of Seasons. What Harvestella is, is a cozy version of both, a cozy farm sim, and a cozy RPG. The combat is not overtly complex, and the farming takes very little energy. This is the perfect type of cozy game for someone who doesn't have the mental energy to invest. As a stay at home mother I find this game is perfect at the end of the day. As I can easily pick up and play a couple of game days without spending serious time playing to make some basic progress. I am only able to play in 10-20 minute bursts, and honestly this game is just cozy enough I feel like I am actually making progress every time I turn it on to play. I bought Harvestella on sale as I am not going to spend full price on any game when I hardly have any time to play, and I would say it was worth the sale price. I would reccomend Harvestella to anyone looking for a cozy came to make short burst progress and not have to dedicate long gaming sessions to.

It’s a nice jrpg with some farming elements the characters are charming and the story is pretty good, overall I love this game but it’s not worth $60 I would wait for it to be on sale.

登場人物の挙動や仕草はみんな同じとか、フルボイスじゃないとか、UI画面でのアイテムや数量の選択が前世代仕様とか、気になるところはそこら辺でごろがってる。しかし！シナリオと相性ばっちりなBGMのおかげで実績コンブまで一直線だった。大好きで是非勧めしたいけれど、人をめっちゃ選ぶ作品になる。 農業、放牧など： 農業や放牧付きなゲームは今作が初めてなので他の作品に比較することができないけれど、主な資金源で若干作業感があるけれど、慣れたらサクサク終わらせるので気にならなり程度にとどまる。武器の強化やクエストの消化が終わったら放置してもいい。 採集、クラフトなど： 作業効率の向上やダンジョン探索の時に使う回復アイテム製作のため避けては通らない。採集には体力が使われるけれど、走りっぱなしで体力を全消費しなければちょくちょく間食してれば大体まかなえる。 探索面： ゲーム内時間との勝負。一回の探索でダンジョン内のショットカットか伝送ポイントを解放できない場合は翌日に同じ道に辿ることになる。でも、一日中に倒した敵による経験値は日替わりるの時に加算されるのでレベル上げや装備を強化してから再挑戦になるのてたいていの場合は楽になる。 アクション面： ARPGというよりアクション付きのコマンドRPGの方がしっくりくる。防御ができないしクラスにより回避はあるものの効果は低め、主なダメージ軽減は戦闘中敵に技範囲予告を見てから移動するで、HPが減ったら用意されてた回復アイテムをがぶ飲みというスタイルです。 シナリオ： ここ数年間一番好きなもの。シナリオの進行中ボイスはないものの、BGMで完璧な雰囲気を作り上げて、BGMの邪魔をしないためにあえて声当てしないとさえ思える。 結論： 好きなシナリオを進行するために他の不便さを一切気にしない方には是非お勧めしたい。

With a story that goes way harder than it needs to, a fun cast of party members and goobers about town, varied life sim mechanics to allow for a lot of different exploration or progression, and... combat... that exists... Harvestella is a solid B-tier title I do not regret for an instant.

I don't know what it is with these farming sim games that obviously deprioritize combat, yet make it so central to the gameplay. Just... why? The story seems pretty interesting. The farming is extremely simple, but it's serviceable. There are a ton of charming side-quests to fill the time. So why force players to engage with the mind-numbing combat that no effort was put into making even slightly interesting?