Despite the Harvest Moon series having passed a rather dark period, after the separation of the developers, the new iteration of the franchise has arrived on Nintendo Switch: Harvest Moon One World. Unfortunately, we can already anticipate that this new title doesn't add a lot to the series. In fact, if we go back in time and remember the first Harvest Moon released for SNES, we can consider it a really important title for the time, since there was no kind of videogame experience like the one proposed by Marvelous and Natsume. Over the years, the developers have always added interesting mechanics, such as relationships and particular cutscenes, but when the couple decided to separate things have changed for Harvest Moon. Without wishing to dwell too much on the past, however, let's get to the present and find out what the new Harvest Moon One World has in store for us.
A book to remember, a book to reinvent
What if the world forgets that there are multiple types of vegetables? Well, we would always eat the same thing over and over, without the possibility of varying our nourishment. Fortunately, however, our (or our) protagonist will have the solution to this memory gap. In fact, on our hands we will have a book in which it is narrated that in ancient times there were various types of vegetables and plants to plant, and that each of these brought a different type of nourishment, with different flavors. Therefore, even if many will take us for crazy, we will go against the tide and explain that there are various nutrients on which it is possible to rely, and even if at the beginning nobody will listen to us, thanks to a particular event, people will begin to believe in it and will ask us to plant all the vegetables we want to grow.
Let's start from the basics, Harvest Moon One World will allow us to choose the sex of our protagonist, as well as the period in which we were born. There won't be the months, but the seasons. In the case of our test, in fact, we had to choose "spring 17". The personalization of the character is unfortunately very bare and we will only be able to change the general features of the body: skin, hair and eye color. Of course, we can also change the name.
The purpose of Harvest Moon One World is to plant vegetables and greens. In fact, from the very first bars of the game we will be explained how to do it. The game is in English, but quite understandable even for those who are not familiar with the Anglo-Saxon language, as there will be everything you need on the screen, so don't worry. For plant anything you will first have to prepare the soil, then make it fertile with water and then plant what you want. The thing that can make the most precise ones turn up their noses is the fact that the various "squares" that will be created they will always be separated, somewhat destroying the feeling of the garden. Furthermore, it means that you will have to think carefully about how you want to manage your space.
In addition, you can also plant trees, have a farm with animals, craft items, go to mines to find resources, cook and much more. All this is needed to progress and complete the quests to move the plot forward and, consequently, move the various characters of the game world. Similar to what you see in Stardew Valley, you will have the stamina available, which will drop every time you do something; but unlike the indie title just mentioned, even walking around will make you tired. Yes, because everything it will depend on the area in which you will find yourself. Don't worry, however, as you will simply have to eat something to retrieve it. If it reaches zero, you will lose consciousness and find yourself directly to the next day, but you will be in very bad shape.
To receive seeds, you can interact with the "Harvest Wisp", fireflies that you will find around the world. Each of these will have only one suit with it and these are not random. Therefore, it is important to remember its location, so that you can retrieve a specific seed, at least once a day. Fortunately they will also be marked on the map, but only if you have interacted with them. Despite this being one of the unique mechanics of Harvest Moon One World, the idea behind it all is not without its problems. In fact, sometimes the game will have you planting some flowers or vegetables, but to find the right seed you will always have to move to the right Harvest Wisp, thus wasting a lot of time. It would have been easier to put a shop in a specific area of the map, rather than forcing the player to go from point A to point B and point C. This is made even more complicated by the fact that some Harvest Wisp do not spawn if a certain time of day doesn't come.
Two other very interesting mechanics of Harvest Moon One World are the displacement of the character in other biomes and the "mutation" of vegetables. As for the first, it must be said that, fortunately, it is possible to move everything that is vital for the cultivation of vegetables, fruit and flowers. So, don't worry and explore! Obviously, they all have different effects on the character's stamina, for example the desert will drain the energy of your avatar, given the climate not exactly mild. The second feature is, from a certain point of view, even more interesting. Yes, because it allows you to experiment, even if it's all random. Simply put, by planting a certain vegetable in a certain biome, it is possible that this take the element of that site, so nothing prevents you from having "frozen tomatoes". But the technical sector of Harvest Moon One World, how is it? Let's find out together.
Technically sufficient ... but not for 2021
As for the graphic aspect of Harvest Moon One World, it must be said that, although the general work appears quite clean, the settings are completely bare. Of course, you shouldn't expect one hyper-realistic graphics with an almost cartoon stylebut a little more care wouldn't hurt your eyesight. The audio of the game is instead well taken care of, especially if we talk about sound effects, where each sound allows the player to immerse themselves in the game world. In a sense, we could say it plays the role which usually has graphics, make us feel in a sufficiently alive and pulsating world.
During our test we did not have any kind of technical problem. The only discordant note is summed up in a very long loading at the start of the title, at least on Nintendo Switch Lite. For the rest, we have not found no kind of bugs or glitches. Harvest Moon One World is therefore worth buying? Our answer is "nì". Unfortunately, this title it seems almost soulless. Sure, the gameplay is very varied, but the question of the Harvest Wisp it kills the desire to play with it. Furthermore, since it is no longer the only title that offers something like this, see Stardew Valley but also Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the production is likely to be easily bored, crushed by products much richer in terms of content. We also remind you that at the moment the title is available at a price of 49,99 euros on Nintendo eShop.
