Dew The Dew
Monster Harvest is a farming sim with a twist; the crops you are growing are actually cute little animals or “planimals”. Once “harvested,” the planimals will fight for you against various enemies as you build up your farm.
Immediately apparent is the comparison to Stardew Valley, almost to an uncanny degree. As you start your farm life, the aesthetic and gameplay are largely similar to Stardew: plant seeds, water seeds, clear land, repeat. You can also talk to the townsfolk (sort of), explore the dungeon, etc.
However, as you play on, small differences start to crop up. One of the first you may find is that the day/night cycle is a bit different. The time is static, but changes when you go to bed. You can choose to sleep until evening or the next day. This means that you don’t have to actually beat the clock to get home before you pass out, as long as you monitor your stamina level. Play even more and the larger differences become clearer.
Antisocial Village
The big draw here is the ability to make your plants into monsters to fight on your behalf. Growing the planimals is interesting since you kind of combine plants into hybrids and use those to make different planimals. It’s a bit of trial and error. You can then use them to fight in the dungeon and even other villagers.
Then the game starts to show it’s gaps. There is little story in the game. You are dropped into the village, told to farm, and that the local giant corporation may be up to something. All at the beginning of the game. The villagers have very limited dialogue options, no side quests, and no apparent gift reciprocity. Meaning that you can give gifts, but, other than a small discount at the store, there is no meaningful return from the townsfolk. This is a stark difference to Stardew Valley, where you build relationships and get to know the townspeople through gift giving, side quests, and festival contests.
Speaking of relationships…
Dead Planimals Walking
Unlike most other creature collecting RPGs, Monster Harvest all but forces you to sacrifice your Planimals periodically. Using them as basically fertilizer to make stronger planimals.
As you explore the procedurally generated dungeon, you’ll use the planimals to fight enemies on your behalf. Although you don’t lose any gold or items if you pass out, you can lose planimals to the enemies. Once dead, you can use them to grow stronger planimals. This keeps you from forming any kind of meaningful bond with your team. Unlike Pokémon or Digimon, where you can find your favorite monster and train it to be a beast to lead your team. These bonds form over hours and days and sometimes weeks of gameplay. The rapid turnaround for you planimals means you won’t be able to realistically keep a favorite, let alone a team.
Great Idea, In Theory
In total, Monster Harvest is a fun game to kill time. However, with games like Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon doing a better job with the farming sim aspect, and games like Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Sword and Shield available (all on the same system), it’s a difficult sell. It reminds me of the movie Aliens Vs Predator, in that, it takes two great ideas and combines them into a lackluster experience with great potential and poor execution. It’s not a bad game. In fact it’s a pretty good game, but it could be much better, especially considering the competition.
VR and future-tech enthusiast, as well as a hardcore gamer at heart. I’m always happy to talk Star Wars, Star Trek, or any number of obscure sci-fi books, movies, or tv shows.
Teque: Nerd Extraordinaire, at your service!
