Harvest Moon: One World

 Switch
User Score
4.3

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 54 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 54
  3. Negative: 32 out of 54
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  1. starryeyed
    Mar 4, 2021
    5
    Honestly, it‘s a decent enough game. I understand that people have strong feelings about Natsume and their treatment of the Harvest Moon game. However, this isn‘t nearly as much of a disaster as their recent titles. It seems like they did genuinely put some effort into this one. It‘s very much unpolished and definitely could have used some additional time in the oven, but it is at leastHonestly, it‘s a decent enough game. I understand that people have strong feelings about Natsume and their treatment of the Harvest Moon game. However, this isn‘t nearly as much of a disaster as their recent titles. It seems like they did genuinely put some effort into this one. It‘s very much unpolished and definitely could have used some additional time in the oven, but it is at least playable and will provide a few hours of something that clostely resembles fun. Not a glowing review and not a title worth picking up full price for sure, but if it gets discounted and they release some patches, you could do worse.… Expand
  2. Zierraroze
    Mar 5, 2021
    6
    As a long time fan of Harvest Moon games before and after the split, I have to say this surpassed my expectations after Light of Hope. However, it leaves a lot to be desired.

    The Good: New mechanics and exploring a different direction. You can move your farm! That's pretty cool and convenient to some extent. It certainly helped in getting the story done. Crop Hybrids. Still haven't    As a long time fan of Harvest Moon games before and after the split, I have to say this surpassed my expectations after Light of Hope. However, it leaves a lot to be desired.

    The Good:
    New mechanics and exploring a different direction. You can move your farm! That's pretty cool and convenient to some extent. It certainly helped in getting the story done. Crop Hybrids. Still haven't figured out entirely how this works but essentially it seems to encourage risking growing a crop out of season or in a different field type for a hybrid. Can be annoying in some regards but I'll detail that in The Bad.

    Quality of life improvements! Previous games often had you opening the inventory, finding the tool you wanted, equipping it, then using it. Or a sort scrolling quick menu. This has watered it down to basically pressing a single button to use the tool. It might be too simple for some but I frankly like it.

    Better menu. Allows you to clearly see goals and requests. See the map easier. Can tell the friendship and likes/dislikes of people you meet. Calendar displays weather for up to 7 days in the area. Can warp to places as you unlock them.

    The Bad
    Boring world: The walls of the game are literally just raised ground with assets in accessible areas but inaccessible. For something that seems like it's meant to feel more open, it also makes it feel empty.

    Bland NPCs: So the bachelors and bachelorettes seem actually fantastic as far as design and personality. However, their dialog feels lacking along with the rest of the NPCs. Other NPCs that have actual names don't stand out at all, they have almost no personality, and just as lacking in dialog. To go another step further at how bland the NPCs are, most have names such as "Quiet Woman" or "Awkward Man." You definitely don't get any charm from them. To top it off, NPCs don't walk anywhere. They simply appear and disappear in certain areas when it's their time to show up/leave.

    Useless feature among the new mechanic: You get seeds by finding Harvest Sprites. The menu allows you to search for seeds via Harvest Wisp so long as you've found it before. Initially this sounds useful. However, Wisps also only appear under certain conditions and times. The search feature does not list this. So even if you found the Wisp, you have to essentially be near it at the right time to actually see it. You can see the icon of the crop appear on the world map, but it doesn't indicate exactly where it is.

    No indication of what field type it is: While some are quite obvious, I've run into some that the characters call "Mountain" but it looks about the same as the grasslands or I'm not entirely sure if it's different but there's a field near the beach area but it's also grass. I wasn't sure if because it's in the same unlocked area as the beach if it counted as beach but unless the crops growing mutations or dying is rng based and I've been incredibly lucky, it seems like it must also be grassland. I suppose the beach one is very limited then as I've only found one area for it.

    Stuttering and Game closing: Stuttering didn't make it unplayable but the game closed due to an error and that's pretty concerning.

    Stamina: Seems to go away from walking. Not too much an issue but certainly annoying especially with something as indirect as hearts gauge. Would much rather a bar or something more quantifiable. Makes playing in the desert and mountains rather annoying.

    All in all I think Natsume took quite a few strides in the right direction as far as gameplay. However, they severely lacked as far as putting any depth into the game that gives it the charm that Story of Season or Stardew Vally or Rune Factory manages. I don't know that I could honestly recommend this game to anyone, but if they keep in this direction or make changes it might be worth it.    … Expand
  3. Queen_in_Yellow
    Mar 8, 2021
    6
    If you are short of money, avoid this one.

    Yes there are a LOT of issues here, but I did have and still am having a lot of fun with it. Im almost certain story of seasons will be better but I can still see myself coming back to this one. THE BAD: Terrible flat textures. I could genuinely produce better in an afternoon. that goes for at least 20 of the textures I've seen and thats    If you are short of money, avoid this one.

    Yes there are a LOT of issues here, but I did have and still am having a lot of fun with it. Im almost certain story of seasons will be better but I can still see myself coming back to this one.

    THE BAD:

    Terrible flat textures. I could genuinely produce better in an afternoon. that goes for at least 20 of the textures I've seen and thats being generous. The tiling is also just atrocious. Im not sure if its a low budget thing or a low effort thing but I would really hope that some more effort goes into the textures and environment for the next game.

    Character models are about the same, flat, boring. a few of them are interesting.

    The farm plots are not NEARLY as customizable as they should be in this day and age. I got used to it but really disappointing.

    NPCs and Villages do not FEEL like people or characters like they did in the older ones. marriage candidates are bland.

    THE GOOD:

    Tame wild animals and keep them in the barn. (this was probably the best part for me haha I got a bobcat) The animal models are very cute. not story of seasons cute, but I cant have a bobcat and clouded leopard in story of seasons lol.

    Huge world, I REALLY love exploring and moving the farm around to change it up!

    A LOT of different crops and findable items, as well as a pretty big cooking log and some crafting.

    You DO get to upgrade your barn and home, contrary to what I've seen said online.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

34
#34 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 26
  3. Negative: 7 out of 26
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jun 17, 2021
    63
    One World stays faithful to the series: once again you’ll need to slowly build up your farm and improve relationships with the neighbors. “Slowly” is the keyword here: the process is so monotonous, it takes a particular kind of gamer to enjoy Harvest Moon. [Issue#253, p.64]
  2. Starbit
    May 5, 2021
    30
    While there is an attempt to bring some much-needed innovation to the series, One World feels too bland, too uninteresting, and it can't capture our attention for long enough. With its vague and drab world, plain characters, and simplistic, repetitive mechanics, One World fails to bring the Harvest Moon series up to contemporary standards.
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  3. GameGrin
    Apr 5, 2021
    50
    Harvest Moon: One World is quite fun when played for the first 20+ hours. However, the lack of relatable characters definitely stands out here. The game also stumbles after completing the story to pull me back into the game for a long play session.
    Read full review
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