Video Game Preview: Exploration is Key in Harvest Moon: One World

The Harvest Moon franchise is treasured as an easy-going series of farm and life sims bringing relaxation to players around the world. This March 5th, video game company Natsume brings us the most recent entry to this storied series: Harvest Moon: One World. We were recently able to sit down with Natsume's team to observe a live presentation of this newest iteration of farming, friendship, and romance.

In this setting, you play as a young bachelor or bachelorette in a world where the only available crop is potatoes. An old book teaches you of the wonders of crop rearing, including the elusive Harvest Goddess. However, the Goddess has since vanished, and it's up to you to explore the world and restore her powers. With hoe in hand and a field at your disposal, you set to work.

Like in previous games, you have a field to tend to. You till the earth to plant seeds and water the crops regularly to raise them, while making sure to not overtax your daily allotment of stamina. You can sell old crops for money that you can invest in new equipment or upgrades. Different crops require different treatment: some require more water than others, while some plants only bloom at night—or in different locales. For you see, unlike older Harvest Moons, One World allows players to pack up their buildings and travel to new locations. The different locations include a tropical island, a desert, a frozen tundra, and a volcanic region. Each area has been tailored to feel like a different country; miners from the mountainous regions, for example, speak with a Russian accent. These different locations don't just offer a change of scenery, they also affect your crops! Some crops might mutate into different forms in different locations, forcing you to experiment with your seeds and plants everywhere.

Also new to One World is how you find new seeds. In older Harvest Moon entries, players could simply buy new seeds. Here, players must explore and find Harvest Whisps throughout the world. When spoken to, these Whisps grant you seeds. It is hoped that this change in the system encourages players to experiment with their crops more; now that seeds can be found for free, it isn't as much of a risk to plant new crops. They appear in the same place every day, encouraging repeat visits, and their location and time of appearance is noted in your journal for reference. Exploration can also allow you to discover unique and exotic animals. As you travel, you can happen upon wild animals like foxes or camels, or more exotic fare like tigers and bears. You can increase your affection with these animals, and once maxed out you can bring them to your farm. Some animals can be ridden as mounts—sadly, the tiger is not one of them.

Exploration is also key to the relationship system in this game. Every town has a number of villagers with requests that you can fulfill, each of them putting you closer to reviving the Harvest Goddess. Some may require a number of crops, others may wish you to find and gather a number of fish or ore. These requests may also earn you the good graces of a number of eligible bachelors or bachelorettes that you can possibly marry. While Harvest Moon: One World doesn't yet feature same-sex partnerships, it is possible to marry and raise a child with someone, and your child does become a key part of the story later. Among the many characters introduced were the relaxed surfer Kanoa, the offbeat Ahina, the animal peddler Jamil, and the flower-loving Malika. You can also increase your relationship with these characters further by inviting them to the local annual festivals.

In order to accommodate the new world, Natsume demonstrated a handy new Fast Travel system where players can instantly transport themselves to previously-visited towns. It is also possible, with the right gear, to transport your farming buildings and home to other towns, however your crops will remain where they are planted. In order to facilitate crop raising in different locales, it is possible to find equipment that waters your crops for you at a certain point in the game. There are also changes to the Stamina system where sleeping is no longer the only way to regain energy; in order to accommodate the new crops and Whisps that only appear at night, there are now ways to restore bits of stamina in order for your character to stay awake. However, burning the candle at both ends is still risky—your Condition will worsen if you do not rest enough.

Fishing and mining were also previewed: the new fishing mechanics are much more twitch-based in One World, requiring players pay more attention to the water. Mining, for its part, is more like dungeon crawling: with hammer in hand, players can wander through one of several multi-floored mines in search of ore and dungeon pathways to lower levels.

While Harvest Moon games have never been known for their cutting-edge technology, Natsume's representatives were proud to demonstrate One World running at 60 frames-per-second. Conversation screens showed fully-animated 3D character models with expressions and mouth-flaps, although there is no voice over.

Natsume's representatives underlined how they wanted to maintain Harvest Moon's spirit with this new entry: with the addition of a new, larger world, they want to encourage exploration and experimentation with playstyles, allowing players to fish, mine, or travel as they see fit. But they also wanted to stay true to the Harvest Moon tradition of rewarding hard work. With Harvest Moon: One World, Natsume hopes to ring in the series' 25th Anniversary with their biggest game yet.

Harvest Moon: One World will be released on March 2 for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 consoles. A release date for the Xbox One console is forthcoming and will be announced soon.