I played through most of Harvestella in three months, in bigger bursts. Then, after taking a break for three more months, I finally finished the last chunk, only three hours or so long. And I think I only now get what this game is going for, and I'm kinda sad it took me this long to realize, but well, it also made it kinda hard for me.
My reason for the break and the biggest problem in my view (next to the game being a little too long) is the huuuge discrepancy between the urgency of the story and the really relaxed farming gameplay. Its world is repeteatedly threatened by total destruction, yet Harvestella wants me to farm the ingridients and ressources to stop that destruction by playing in a relaxed, day-to-day farming-sim-fashion. This really turned me off from engaging with that aspect in the latter half of the game, because it felt so tonally dissonant. The interesting mysteries the games' plot revolve around also result in a kind of urgency to speedily move through the game. This ended up hurting the experience for me, as I think Harvestella is at its best when the loop of getting stronger through (literally) farming (Most of the time I ended up crafting dishes and drinks to enhance my health pool) and then advancing the story.
But I nontheless really love this game. It's story is really bold, picking a theme and confidently running with it until the very end. Harvestella imagines a Sci-Fi world which finds it hope in Fantasy, and I think that's just such a nice and original central idea. It's also such a beautiful game with gorgeous enviromental design and a great soundtrack, that allow it to really be flexible - even if there's a discrepancy on the gameplay side of things, the audiovisual indentity of this game contains both urgency and relaxedness really well. I don't believe they had a big budget here and I think they put the attention to detail in mostly the right places. The side quests are also really sweet and interesting, mostly skipping the unneccessary grinding and getting straight to the emotional core of each situation.
I think what I love most about Harvestella is its boldness, its vibes and it's readyness to create a little friction sometimes. It's such a lovely little gem that manages to combine familiar tropes and gameplay systems with its own ideas in a way that results in an experience that feels fresh. And I think that experience is best-played slowly, taking breaks as often and as long as you like.
My reason for the break and the biggest problem in my view (next to the game being a little too long) is the huuuge discrepancy between the urgency of the story and the really relaxed farming gameplay. Its world is repeteatedly threatened by total destruction, yet Harvestella wants me to farm the ingridients and ressources to stop that destruction by playing in a relaxed, day-to-day farming-sim-fashion. This really turned me off from engaging with that aspect in the latter half of the game, because it felt so tonally dissonant. The interesting mysteries the games' plot revolve around also result in a kind of urgency to speedily move through the game. This ended up hurting the experience for me, as I think Harvestella is at its best when the loop of getting stronger through (literally) farming (Most of the time I ended up crafting dishes and drinks to enhance my health pool) and then advancing the story.
But I nontheless really love this game. It's story is really bold, picking a theme and confidently running with it until the very end. Harvestella imagines a Sci-Fi world which finds it hope in Fantasy, and I think that's just such a nice and original central idea. It's also such a beautiful game with gorgeous enviromental design and a great soundtrack, that allow it to really be flexible - even if there's a discrepancy on the gameplay side of things, the audiovisual indentity of this game contains both urgency and relaxedness really well. I don't believe they had a big budget here and I think they put the attention to detail in mostly the right places. The side quests are also really sweet and interesting, mostly skipping the unneccessary grinding and getting straight to the emotional core of each situation.
I think what I love most about Harvestella is its boldness, its vibes and it's readyness to create a little friction sometimes. It's such a lovely little gem that manages to combine familiar tropes and gameplay systems with its own ideas in a way that results in an experience that feels fresh. And I think that experience is best-played slowly, taking breaks as often and as long as you like.