I want to hear more about RF5. I got it on the steam sale and just started it. The days are soo long and the challenge doesn't seem to be there. I've played other Rune Factory games.
@@MirandaLemons Tbh it's fine, but it's very unpolished and can be very tedious. In comparison with the beautiful artstyle and plenty of content in 3, 4 and Oceans, it's a disappointment.
ive never disagreed with a title more in my life 😎 but im super stoked you had a good time! i certainly did not, and rune factory is my favorite games series ever made ! the lack of voice acting, the hyper realism, the horrible combat, the 0 knock back when getting hit causing you to just get steam rolled, the unnecessary fire emblem inspired map etc. but again, im happy someone had fun with this game at the end of the day and i mean that genuinely :)
I have to disagree rune factory is more complex in every aspect. See rune factory 4 For examples, they have soil levels for farming. for forging they have inheritance and upgrade system. the big fat flaw is the town event system. On the other hand i think harvest stella have better story overall.
Despite many negative reviews of Harvestella, I finally bought it when it was on sale, and I must say that I didn't regret it. I think it's a wonderful game. and contrary to many rather negative opinions about it, I don't find it shallow at all. While it does have some kind of "time limit" in respect to the fact that you've got to get your daily stuff done before night falls and you also have to watch your stamina, because once you keel over from exhaustion, Cres' doctor fees, which increase each time you need treatment, will burn a hole in your wallet really fast. (Did I mention that the game at times is frighteningly realistic?) Yet, in spite of this, the game never puts you under any kind of real pressure, since you can decide when to do your chores or when to go on which quest or when to continue a quest or side quest. So if you don't have too much time left on the current day, you can hit the hay and procrastinate as you wish, which makes it a very laid back experience. Most of the characters are quite endearing, and while the general atmosphere is harmonious, it occasionally touches on some very serious issues and difficult moral dilemmata. Speaking of atmosphere, I think this is where the game really shines, and this is mainly due to the phenomenal soundtrack, which even changes according to the situation. There's even different music depending on the situation. In funny moments there is a rather comical, uplifting melody, in dangerous situations or sad settings the music is different again. One can clearly sense that Square put a lot of thought into this game. At least to me it doesn't seem as if they just hurriedly put together some run-of-the-mill rpg components to make a few quick bucks. However, there is one huge "but" (no pun intended) concerning Harvestella, a trait that, for me at least, almost ruined the whole experience. I'm talking about the faulty use of pronouns in the game. Now I'm not even talking about the option to play as a "non-binary" character per se, but rather about the problems that occur because the game persistently uses "they/them" as a pronoun for persons in the singular form so as not to hurt the feelings of a certain minority. This is not just grammatically wrong (and yes, in the real world it is wrong, and for good reasons), it also gets very tedious and confusing, for instance when one of the characters talks about one person in a group of people. You just don't know whether the character is talking about one person or the whole group/town. If you're lucky, you can derive it from the context, but it's not always clear. More often than not, this drives a wedge into the flow of the story and thus makes the game as a whole less enjoyable than it could have been. Now this could easily have been avoided, if they (yes, I mean the good people at Square Enix, not just one of them) had limited the use of this supposedly gender-neutral "they" to the choice of the non-binary character. That way everyone who feels like a unicorn, a washing machine or a toaster could have indulged their gender-neutrality, or rather gender-confusion, while the rest of us poor "normal" saps who choose either the male or female character could have had a far less confusing and more enjoyable experience. However, the way they handled it, everyone who doesn't feel non-binary is also forced to put up with the ensuing linguistic mess. That, in consequence, leads to the question why they included a non-binary character, when the choice you make changes nothing at all. Even the character models are pretty much the same for male, female and "non-binary". So please, Square Enix, get your act together. Maybe it's not such a good idea after all, to try to accommodate a miniscule minority at the expense of the majority, who are still paying the largest part of your salaries. Again, the game in its entirety is great, but for the future, try not to screw it up by jumping on some ideological bandwagon, especially when said bandwagon is destined to derail.
Funnily enough.... they had this on Nintendo Wii, it's Rune Factory Frontier. Beautiful graphics, I was so shocked by RF5 graphics quality and quickly assumed they have budget concerns lol
At least when you pick the male option in Rune Factory they actually look like men. I can't tell the difference between the female or male in Harvestella. It's confusing. But beside that it just doesn't look all that appealing to me.
I'm trying to stay away from Harvestella gameplay videos because I don't want to get spoiled. Harvestella sounded like my cup of tea the moment I saw its first gameplay.
Great quality video! I’ll definitely be watching more. I’ve been trying to figure out if I’d like Harvestella since the Switch physical version is only $35 right now.
Yep as someone who is relatively new to life-sim and farming games, with a great fondness for visual novels, I downloaded the demo and trial for harvestella and fae farm respectively this week. Fae farm looks much more farming focused but it failed to capture me the way Harvestella has. I'm on chapter 3 and I'm enjoying every second
Harvestella is my my second favorite square enix game behind parasite eve. Harvestella was also my goty that year i hope they do a sequel so bad. Anyone on the fence give it a try its amazing.
I planned to buy this game and had it pre ordered but had to cancel due to lack of work (bills b4 games)... I watched the reviews, still planned on getting it... OH BOY was I surprised when I went to my local gamestop after finding out walmart, target, and even best buy dodnt have it. They didn't have it either... luckily the other one had an open box display copy(last one). Almost no one had it buy seemed universally disliked, it surprised me so much
@MirandaLemons I was able to get it... you'd think they'd offer a discount since it's open box, but no... I still bought it and the reviewers must've been smoking something cause this game is really fun. Not as much to do as in RF, but it is still easily a great farm Sim with rpg elements
Yeah totally looks like Marché from FFTA in the thumbnail. The camera was sooooo smooth in this game I would give anything to have that kind of smooth yet responsive camera control in Fortnite which makes you choose between sluggish or jerky camera movement.
I'm fan of rune factory, not to compared. but honestly a side from the gender of main character, i just fall in love with the plot twist in harvestella so far... It's interesting... Both game rune factory or harvestella, i think they have a good point who will make you fall in love and want to play it till the end of story... 😊 coz i like both rune factory and harvestella... I really enjoy play it... Thank you...
I'm new to switch, and farming Sims... trying to decide if I should get this, rune factory, or something else entirely, like Pokemon Arceus or SMT 5...there are so many options!!
Great review 😊 I picked this up on the switch a couple weeks ago and I'm absolutely obsessed. Haven't even made it to the end of chapter 3 yet because I'm so hooked on the farming and trying to catch the rare fish haha. Just wish they would release it on PS5 or Xbox so there could be achievements to earn
i am an old gamer, from the 90s ps1 days. And i love the art style for harvestella :) i may get this game, i like mage and combat classes, the Rune Factory was like a dating sim and farming, and since im older, i just dont think it appeals to me anymore. At least Harvestella has combat which i miss and simple farming. I have Adhd and Autsim and i would get very bored with switch games! Honestly i only beat Fire Emblem 3 house since launch! The switch is not like the 3ds which i do miss, i loved bravely default series and the art style reminds me of it :)
Reason 4: if you liked Nier, you will like Harvestella. Full stop. Also another way it's like FF14 is the boss fights. These are just straight-up FF14 raid battles, complete with the same kind of telegraphed ground aoe markers in almost the same shade of orange.
I'm sorry but this game got nothing on RF4 and even the 3D gfx AND combat are also inferior to RF Tides of Destiny which unlike this game has actually put the 3D to good use with vertical map design, platforming and sick aerial combos. Whereas RF4's combat has advanced mechanics similar to highly technical action games such as Devil May Cry and Bayonetta, including Dodge Offsets, Sub-Combos, mid-combo charging and of course you can play the game on Hard or Hell difficulty from the get go. Aside from maybe the main story and some relationship mechanics, everything else in the video is also incorrect, from the farming mechanics (RF4 has soil levels and stats rewarding realistic crop rotation, etc), NPCs have more than 1 year of unique dialogue every day as you increase relationships, you can have a kid after marriage and even recruit them to your party or play as them and for the remake there are even exclusive story modes for marriage, the story actually goes pretty deep and dark if you dig deep enough expanding on the politics of the 3 previous games and with hidden environmental storytelling, the crafting system is an absolute masterclass of game design, and so on. I can only assume you are either comparing Harvestella with RF5 which is not a very good game or you didn't play or finish RF4. Which is a shame since this video is supposed to help farming sim + rpg fans but instead does them the disservice of completely misinforming them about RF4.
Rune factory combat has been dumbed down a lot since rune factory 3. Rune factory 3 combat was essentially the peak and 4 was the start of the fall off
Honestly not enough people are simping for this game imo and I'm glad you enyoed it. No voice acting yes, but the music is 10/10. Play me a song from the game and I'll tell which dungeon and which chapter we're in. That's how epic the music is. Also... spoiler The way the opening screen subtly changes with each chapter to depict the story progression and changing of the seasons was amazing to me. And then Aria disappears from the opening screen and I'm not gonna lie it broke my heart. She left the party and the main title screen and it ripped a hole in my soul, because the story build up to her betrayal and for me to fully understand her reasoning was heart wrenching. Never did I ever want to just hug a final boss as much as her.
As someone who was burned badly by RF5. I am considering getting this game and this review honestly pushed me to getting it. Great review!
Let me know what you think!
I was burned bad by RF5 and I'm enjoying Harvestella thus far, on switch no less.
I want to hear more about RF5. I got it on the steam sale and just started it. The days are soo long and the challenge doesn't seem to be there.
I've played other Rune Factory games.
@@MirandaLemons Tbh it's fine, but it's very unpolished and can be very tedious. In comparison with the beautiful artstyle and plenty of content in 3, 4 and Oceans, it's a disappointment.
ive never disagreed with a title more in my life 😎
but im super stoked you had a good time! i certainly did not, and rune factory is my favorite games series ever made ! the lack of voice acting, the hyper realism, the horrible combat, the 0 knock back when getting hit causing you to just get steam rolled, the unnecessary fire emblem inspired map etc. but again, im happy someone had fun with this game at the end of the day and i mean that genuinely :)
That is a kind comment of disagreement! Thank you ☺️
I have to disagree rune factory is more complex in every aspect. See rune factory 4
For examples, they have soil levels for farming. for forging they have inheritance and upgrade system. the big fat flaw is the town event system.
On the other hand i think harvest stella have better story overall.
Despite many negative reviews of Harvestella, I finally bought it when it was on sale, and I must say that I didn't regret it. I think it's a wonderful game. and contrary to many rather negative opinions about it, I don't find it shallow at all.
While it does have some kind of "time limit" in respect to the fact that you've got to get your daily stuff done before night falls and you also have to watch your stamina, because once you keel over from exhaustion, Cres' doctor fees, which increase each time you need treatment, will burn a hole in your wallet really fast. (Did I mention that the game at times is frighteningly realistic?)
Yet, in spite of this, the game never puts you under any kind of real pressure, since you can decide when to do your chores or when to go on which quest or when to continue a quest or side quest. So if you don't have too much time left on the current day, you can hit the hay and procrastinate as you wish, which makes it a very laid back experience.
Most of the characters are quite endearing, and while the general atmosphere is harmonious, it occasionally touches on some very serious issues and difficult moral dilemmata. Speaking of atmosphere, I think this is where the game really shines, and this is mainly due to the phenomenal soundtrack, which even changes according to the situation. There's even different music depending on the situation. In funny moments there is a rather comical, uplifting melody, in dangerous situations or sad settings the music is different again. One can clearly sense that Square put a lot of thought into this game. At least to me it doesn't seem as if they just hurriedly put together some run-of-the-mill rpg components to make a few quick bucks.
However, there is one huge "but" (no pun intended) concerning Harvestella, a trait that, for me at least, almost ruined the whole experience.
I'm talking about the faulty use of pronouns in the game. Now I'm not even talking about the option to play as a "non-binary" character per se, but rather about the problems that occur because the game persistently uses "they/them" as a pronoun for persons in the singular form so as not to hurt the feelings of a certain minority.
This is not just grammatically wrong (and yes, in the real world it is wrong, and for good reasons), it also gets very tedious and confusing, for instance when one of the characters talks about one person in a group of people. You just don't know whether the character is talking about one person or the whole group/town. If you're lucky, you can derive it from the context, but it's not always clear. More often than not, this drives a wedge into the flow of the story and thus makes the game as a whole less enjoyable than it could have been.
Now this could easily have been avoided, if they (yes, I mean the good people at Square Enix, not just one of them) had limited the use of this supposedly gender-neutral "they" to the choice of the non-binary character. That way everyone who feels like a unicorn, a washing machine or a toaster could have indulged their gender-neutrality, or rather gender-confusion, while the rest of us poor "normal" saps who choose either the male or female character could have had a far less confusing and more enjoyable experience. However, the way they handled it, everyone who doesn't feel non-binary is also forced to put up with the ensuing linguistic mess.
That, in consequence, leads to the question why they included a non-binary character, when the choice you make changes nothing at all. Even the character models are pretty much the same for male, female and "non-binary".
So please, Square Enix, get your act together. Maybe it's not such a good idea after all, to try to accommodate a miniscule minority at the expense of the majority, who are still paying the largest part of your salaries.
Again, the game in its entirety is great, but for the future, try not to screw it up by jumping on some ideological bandwagon, especially when said bandwagon is destined to derail.
I love how you take the time to explain in all your videos!! Keep up the great work!!
Thank you, Jodie!!
@@MirandaLemons You're welcome!!
Eventually, you have to learn to be your own critic and take the plunge on whatever intrigues you.
So true!
I'm waiting for a Rune Factory with the graphics of Harvestella :D
Funnily enough.... they had this on Nintendo Wii, it's Rune Factory Frontier. Beautiful graphics, I was so shocked by RF5 graphics quality and quickly assumed they have budget concerns lol
"A better rune factory"...I mean might be better than 5 but RF 4? Nah.
That's fair.
At least when you pick the male option in Rune Factory they actually look like men. I can't tell the difference between the female or male in Harvestella. It's confusing.
But beside that it just doesn't look all that appealing to me.
@@phoenixxxashez they’re supposed to look more androgynous since they want the pronouns to be interchangeable (imo neither of them look androgynous)
I'm trying to stay away from Harvestella gameplay videos because I don't want to get spoiled.
Harvestella sounded like my cup of tea the moment I saw its first gameplay.
Hope my video didn't spoil anything for you! 🙏 I'm excited for you.
It isnt. AS someone who has both games this game hurts to play. Painfully slow. Plot is boring. Only the graphics are okay.
Great quality video! I’ll definitely be watching more. I’ve been trying to figure out if I’d like Harvestella since the Switch physical version is only $35 right now.
Yep as someone who is relatively new to life-sim and farming games, with a great fondness for visual novels, I downloaded the demo and trial for harvestella and fae farm respectively this week. Fae farm looks much more farming focused but it failed to capture me the way Harvestella has. I'm on chapter 3 and I'm enjoying every second
Harvestella is my my second favorite square enix game behind parasite eve. Harvestella was also my goty that year i hope they do a sequel so bad. Anyone on the fence give it a try its amazing.
I planned to buy this game and had it pre ordered but had to cancel due to lack of work (bills b4 games)... I watched the reviews, still planned on getting it... OH BOY was I surprised when I went to my local gamestop after finding out walmart, target, and even best buy dodnt have it. They didn't have it either... luckily the other one had an open box display copy(last one).
Almost no one had it buy seemed universally disliked, it surprised me so much
That is such a shame! I understand why, but I don't think we have enough titles in this genre.
@MirandaLemons I was able to get it... you'd think they'd offer a discount since it's open box, but no... I still bought it and the reviewers must've been smoking something cause this game is really fun. Not as much to do as in RF, but it is still easily a great farm Sim with rpg elements
Yeah totally looks like Marché from FFTA in the thumbnail.
The camera was sooooo smooth in this game I would give anything to have that kind of smooth yet responsive camera control in Fortnite which makes you choose between sluggish or jerky camera movement.
I appreciate your opinions on this game.
I think I will see if there is or will be a Switch version.
There is!
I am sure that this is most accurate harvestella review. Your point of view is very impressing and convincing.
I'm fan of rune factory, not to compared. but honestly a side from the gender of main character, i just fall in love with the plot twist in harvestella so far... It's interesting... Both game rune factory or harvestella, i think they have a good point who will make you fall in love and want to play it till the end of story... 😊 coz i like both rune factory and harvestella... I really enjoy play it... Thank you...
I'm new to switch, and farming Sims... trying to decide if I should get this, rune factory, or something else entirely, like Pokemon Arceus or SMT 5...there are so many options!!
If you're new to Farming Sims, start with Stardew Valley!
Great review 😊 I picked this up on the switch a couple weeks ago and I'm absolutely obsessed. Haven't even made it to the end of chapter 3 yet because I'm so hooked on the farming and trying to catch the rare fish haha. Just wish they would release it on PS5 or Xbox so there could be achievements to earn
So glad to hear it! I want to get back to playing it, but too many games and too little time.
i am an old gamer, from the 90s ps1 days. And i love the art style for harvestella :) i may get this game, i like mage and combat classes, the Rune Factory was like a dating sim and farming, and since im older, i just dont think it appeals to me anymore. At least Harvestella has combat which i miss and simple farming. I have Adhd and Autsim and i would get very bored with switch games! Honestly i only beat Fire Emblem 3 house since launch! The switch is not like the 3ds which i do miss, i loved bravely default series and the art style reminds me of it :)
I came here thanks by Master Malstrom. Such a great review!
Thanks! ☺️
I may try this someday:D You seem very kind :)
I never played a harvesting rpg
But i started like 6 days ago and i am hooked
Thanks for the insight!
Glad it was helpful!
*impulse spends 60 bucks* 😂 I’m excited to play!
Let me know what you thought!
@@MirandaLemons I love it! I'm only halfway through the story and there's so much to do :) I like that the combat is more involved than Rune Factory
Reason 4: if you liked Nier, you will like Harvestella. Full stop.
Also another way it's like FF14 is the boss fights. These are just straight-up FF14 raid battles, complete with the same kind of telegraphed ground aoe markers in almost the same shade of orange.
wait what how do you drop ace attorney games?
🤷♀️😅
@@MirandaLemons it's ok I guess.
@@tricksalot2 I'm not sure if I understood the question
@@MirandaLemons I mean visual novel games aren't for everyone rather the story carries those games.
I'm sorry but this game got nothing on RF4 and even the 3D gfx AND combat are also inferior to RF Tides of Destiny which unlike this game has actually put the 3D to good use with vertical map design, platforming and sick aerial combos.
Whereas RF4's combat has advanced mechanics similar to highly technical action games such as Devil May Cry and Bayonetta, including Dodge Offsets, Sub-Combos, mid-combo charging and of course you can play the game on Hard or Hell difficulty from the get go.
Aside from maybe the main story and some relationship mechanics, everything else in the video is also incorrect, from the farming mechanics (RF4 has soil levels and stats rewarding realistic crop rotation, etc), NPCs have more than 1 year of unique dialogue every day as you increase relationships, you can have a kid after marriage and even recruit them to your party or play as them and for the remake there are even exclusive story modes for marriage, the story actually goes pretty deep and dark if you dig deep enough expanding on the politics of the 3 previous games and with hidden environmental storytelling, the crafting system is an absolute masterclass of game design, and so on.
I can only assume you are either comparing Harvestella with RF5 which is not a very good game or you didn't play or finish RF4. Which is a shame since this video is supposed to help farming sim + rpg fans but instead does them the disservice of completely misinforming them about RF4.
I've played all of the Rune Factories. Sensational title aside, this game can be played in addition and not instead of.
Rune factory combat has been dumbed down a lot since rune factory 3. Rune factory 3 combat was essentially the peak and 4 was the start of the fall off
never
Nah
Honestly not enough people are simping for this game imo and I'm glad you enyoed it.
No voice acting yes, but the music is 10/10.
Play me a song from the game and I'll tell which dungeon and which chapter we're in.
That's how epic the music is. Also... spoiler
The way the opening screen subtly changes with each chapter to depict the story progression and changing of the seasons was amazing to me.
And then Aria disappears from the opening screen and I'm not gonna lie it broke my heart. She left the party and the main title screen and it ripped a hole in my soul, because the story build up to her betrayal and for me to fully understand her reasoning was heart wrenching.
Never did I ever want to just hug a final boss as much as her.