I’ve always wanted to get into an RPG farming sim, but nothing has really appealed to me so far — that is until I watched the trailer for Harvestella. It looks like Final Fantasy and Rune Factory had a baby and you sprinkled in some Stardew Valley.
Harvestella’s trailer debuted during the June 28, 2022 Nintendo Direct, showcasing some of its gameplay, both farming and combat. But the more interesting aspect of the game is its narrative, which ties the two gameplay elements together. I’m excited to see how it’s executed — will it be another anime flop, or a truly addicting farming sim?
Here’s everything we know so far about Harvestella, from the release date and story to the gameplay and PC requirements.
Harvestella release date
Harvestella is slated to launch sometime on November 4, 2022, which means you’ll get to play it relatively soon.
Harvestella will be available for PC and Nintendo Switch. It’s unclear if it will be available for last-gen consoles.
Harvest story
This JRPG fantasy farming sim takes place in a world inhabited by four giant crystals called Seaslight, which are responsible for the stable change between the four seasons. However, that change is disrupted by Quietus, the Season of Death, which causes crops to die and inevitably prevents people from leaving their homes. It all sounds very anime so far, I know.
This Season of Death lasts longer each year, which causes the protagonist, Ein, to try to stop it. All of your progress is funded by your farm, so if you want to save the world, you need to hoe that soil. Characters that you’ll meet include Shirka (a missionary), Heine (a flirty mechanic), Asyl (descendant of the Wind Poem people) and Aria (a mysterious person from the future).
We know that we’ll be visiting multiple locations, including Leafy Village (where your farm is located), Lethe Village, Nemea Town, The Holy Capital of Argene, and Seaside Town Shatolla. Despite the farming narrative, it does seem like we’ll be doing a lot of traveling, if the trailer is any indication, as we’ve seen expansive forests, big cities, and wild boss arenas.
Harvestella gameplay
First, you got farming. You’ll be able to grow fruit, vegetables and crops on your farm that you can sell or use as crafting materials. You can even cook your own meals, which will net you helpful effects for adventuring, like HP recovery or temporary stat boosts. You’ll also take care of some animals, such as plump cluffowl birds, dignified goat-like wool, and a pet totokaku (whatever that is).
Then there’s combat, which seems more involved than some of the farming sims I’m used to, like Stardew Valley. It seems like it plays similar to Final Fantasy VII Remake, with hack-and-slash mechanics mixed in with skills that can affect enemies. And like some more intense JRPGs, there’s a job system.
In Harvestella, you can switch seamlessly between jobs during combat, and those jobs include the Fighter (adept with sword techniques), the Shadow Walker (deals critical wounds with twin blades) and the Mage (specializing in magic attacks). In combat, you can target a foe’s weak point to inflict the Double Break state, which lets you take them down in an instant.
I doubt that the combat will be too complicated, but we have seen some clips of rather epic boss fights. I hope that there’s a good mix between farming and combat so that it doesn’t feel like a hassle to do one or the other.
Harvestella PC requirements
There aren’t any official PC requirements for Harvestella just yet, but we can’t imagine that it’s going to require an intense setup, especially since it’s playable on Nintendo Switch. Another title by Square Enix that jumped to PC and Nintendo Switch is The DioField Chronicle.
The minimum specs for The DioField Chronicle require you to have an AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel Core i3-6100 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an AMD Radeon RX 460 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 GPU. The recommended specs include an AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel Core i5-6500 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an AMD Radeon RX 480 or GeForce GTX 1060 (3GB) GPU.
Considering that the best cheap gaming laptops can run laps around those specs, you will be good for Harvestella with an RTX 3060 GPU.
Outlook
I love the idea of management games and farming sims, but nothing has really clicked with me just yet, so I’m hoping that Harvestella might be right for me. I hope that the gameplay is deep enough to get invested — I don’t know if you’ve played a farming sim, but holy shit they can get really complicated. I sort of hope Harvestella is like that, because that just means there’s so much to learn and grow. Stay tuned for more news on Harvestella as we get closer to launch.