Harvestella

 Switch
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 46
  3. Negative: 0 out of 46
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  1. 3DJuegos
    Nov 14, 2022
    Harvestella is a fun mix of elements that will seduce you.

Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2022

User Reviews

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User Score
4.1

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 148 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 148
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 148
  3. Negative: 83 out of 148
  1. Harve
    Nov 6, 2022
    1
    This is based on the demo, which includes the intro so take my review with a grain of salt, this is based on first impressions. To put itThis is based on the demo, which includes the intro so take my review with a grain of salt, this is based on first impressions. To put it simply, Harvestella does not live up to games of its genre. Stardew Valley and Rune Factory (1-4) is better worth your time and price.

    NPCs in the town are insignificant except for what I assume are the romance options, as they have portraits (with a few exceptions). The game has some limited customisation but unfortunately has no varying hairstyle options.

    The game quickly goes downhill after the arrival of the character Aria. The game takes about 5 in game days to get out of the tutorial stage- forcing the player to sit through dialogue- and the games time management is weird, because of the restricted time of when the player has to go back to their home. And because the player is forced to sit through mostly boring drivel of a story, it doesn't allow for much freedom compared to other farming sim games.
    As for the characters themselves, it's hard to cement much of an opinion since they're mostly there to info dump. But seeing as the game wants you to set off almost immediately after meeting Aria, I feel like Aria as a character didn't grow on me and sure, her design is nice but I just don't care of what she's saying, as the game hasn't fleshed her out that well.

    The farming feels clunky and slow, which makes it boring. The switch has weird button inputs. You have to use X for seeds, Y for tools and A to harvest. The battling feels repetitive and the crops grow within 1-2 days after planting them. Also because of the time constraints and the odd passage of time, you'll likely find your days in the game uneventful and mostly consisting of farming for materials.

    The plot then begins to feel like FF13-2, and not in a good way. There are dialogue options, but no clear indication if they impact the story, if at all and conversations usually lean towards the "we want you to answer this way". I got bored during the 5 days (15 in total in the demo), since there wasn't much freedom to learn and explore. But unfortunately the main town is boring because the NPCs have nothing new to say. Which you don't want on a game that's trying to be a social sim and a farming sim.

    Visually, it's got beautiful environments and the portraits for characters are of good quality. But the low poly models of the characters end up looking funny and don't suit the environment all that much. And unfortunately, visuals can't be the only saving grace if everything else is bad. Even for a demo reel, the game felt buggy and clunky. It didn't feel very polished and didn't give me too much hope, if i were interested in getting the whole game.

    Again, if you're looking for a game of its genre, go for Stardew Valley, which is much cheaper or the Rune Factory series, as RF focuses more on combat compared to Stardew and the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons franchise.    … Full Review »
  2. MishaPixelF
    Nov 5, 2022
    5
    Good stuff first, the character creation let's you be nonbinary and femme with a "masc" body and vice versa which is awesome! The game shouldGood stuff first, the character creation let's you be nonbinary and femme with a "masc" body and vice versa which is awesome! The game should be commended for that. Additionally the graphics are beautiful, the game looks visually delightful. There's a lot of potential in the story as well.

    As farming sim, this game is extremely lackluster. It feels tacked on in a way that makes the whole experience very perfunctory. Crops grow very quickly and sell for very little compared to their seed cost. It's also unclear why you would even want to grow crops? The NPCs don't seem to know or care either since there's more effective healing items you can get as drops from enemies and resource nodes. The town is populated by nameless NPCs with only a handful of named characters that only seem to exist to sell you things or upgrade your equipment. The farming and homesteading only seems to exist to pad out the combat and story.

    Unfortunately the combat is also a drag, just basic character action style button mashing. It varies it up by giving you other jobs you can switch to, but then it puts your job switching on cool down when you do it. And the first job you get is a mage with no regular attack and only a long cool down spell. So you get stuck doing nothing but running around the stage waiting for your cool downs to pop. Presumably this is alleviated when you have a lot more jobs to switch between but it makes a pretty bad impression to start.

    Only play this if you really want a Final Fantasy farming sim, and that's what you're after then this will deliver! (Though to be honest, I'd sooner recommend Rune Factory 4.)    … Full Review »
  3. hacknslash6
    Nov 6, 2022
    6
    Big Final Fantasy fan, big OG Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley fan. Took a gamble on this game being the best of both worlds. It doesn't reallyBig Final Fantasy fan, big OG Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley fan. Took a gamble on this game being the best of both worlds. It doesn't really deliver unfortunately. The dialogue is often clunky in English, perhaps a localization issue but hard to say. Character models are bizarre; the women are thicc and the men are even thicc-er. Everyone has their knees locked in a perpetually bent position that makes running look painful. There are voice actors, but only in the dungeons while battling. Some of the soundtrack is nice, but most is repetitive and boring. The dungeon exploration is fun, but the combat isn't anything to write home about. Generally feels unbalanced, and again, clunky. The potential for this kind of game is definitely there, but it's not in this game. Despite all the annoyances, I have been enjoying playing it, and will continue. It's difficult to care too deeply about the story or characters but for some reason I have still been sucked in.… Full Review »
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