Game: Monster Harvest
Genre: Adventure, Simulation, RPG, Action
System: Nintendo Switch ( Also on Steam)
Developers | Publishers: Maple Powered Games | Merge Games
Age Rating: US Everyone | EU 3+
Price: US $19.99 | EU € 19,99 | UK £14.99
Release Date: August 31, 2021
Review code used, with many thanks to Terminals.io
Monster Harvest is a farming RPG and monster collectable game. Who doesn’t want to farm and also collect cute monsters to destroy enemies with?
Story And Gameplay
In Monster Harvest, you play as one of four nameable characters that are of different genders and skin tones. You have come to take over your uncle’s farm as he has become busy with the study of slimes and what he calls “planimals” – crops mutated by slime into animal hybrids. These planimals are companions who will follow you and assist in your farm. They can also be taken into battle in the slime caves.
A town called Planimal Point has sprung up around your uncle’s laboratory over these creatures. Powering the town is a corporation named SlimeCo., which attains energy through unknown and potential heinous actions against the slimes. Your uncle at the very least finds them suspicious. Your job is to farm, make and take care of the planimals, and investigate the mines to find out what SlimeCo. is up to.
Growing and Grinding
This game centers around two main mechanics – farming and fighting. In order to make money and create items, you must grow crops and clear your uncle’s farm. You also have to make it into a suitable place for you and your planimals. There is a day and night cycle that lacks a timer, which is a welcome addition in the world of farming sims. There is a stamina bar to keep an eye on, but what is also cool is that there is an option to rest until evening in order to replenish some of it. Otherwise, you use food items from the farm or from town to build it back up.
Your loyal companions are grown right along with your normal crops. Just add some slime from town or your battles and wait the requisite amount of days for the crop to grow and bam! You have your new best friend ready and raring to go. Your planimal will follow you around everywhere. Be careful to only be using one kind of planimal at a time as they are known to get violent and restless with other types. Experiment with different slimes to get different planimals.
Turn Based Fighting
Now onto the fighting. Monster Harvest uses a turn-based system that activates when you come into contact with the slimes. You have the option to try 3 different attacks based on your experience level. The attacks that are too high for your current level will display with a note of where you need to be in order to unlock it. These encounters are unable to be avoided as there is no “Run” option. Alongside that, if your planimal dies in battle, it is gone for good – only leaving behind residue that can be used to create more mutants.
I think the battle system is solid and I like that the game shows how many levels are needed to unlock the next move. The fact that overworld also allows you to see the enemies ahead of time in case they need to be avoided before getting stuck in a sudden battle.
Stunning Art
Monster Harvest has some beautiful strengths. The art is stunning. Planimal Point is a place I could spend forever running through. I’m a sucker for pixel art and there is plenty to behold in this game. The character designs are also varied and interesting, both for the planimals and the townspeople.
The freedom to explore an open world is a beautiful one and one that I’m jazzed about. The town, farm, and mines have plenty to explore and adventure about in. Add in the fact that there’s no time limit and it feels like the world is your oyster in this farming sim.
The controls are easy to pick up on the Switch. The thumbsticks and a single interact button are used to guide the way through Planimal Point and the mines.
Room for Improvement
At the same time, there is definitely some room for improvement. The townspeople. They have only a few lines of dialogue that are on repeat and the festivals that occur through the seasons don’t do much to change that up. It’s a shame because their designs and implied reasons for coming to Planimal Point suggest that they could be a fun and diverse group.
I’m also not keen on the fact that there aren’t really ways to bond with or name the planimals. That plus the fact that permadeath is in effect and that they are simple to replace makes it hard to get truly attached to them. Even more so since the mystery that they die to uncover isn’t fully able to be explored. For me, a person who adores games for the connections established between characters, these two points make the game fall a bit flat.
Conclusion
Monster Harvest has the potential to be an excellent game. It has a fun premise, interesting points to the town and the story, and a beautiful open world to explore. However, it feels more than a little superficial and feels aimless in its execution of the story points. Hopefully, some updates to the game in the future bring out its fullest potential.
Final Verdict: I Like it. 
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