Salmiakki has an Aurora festival, which isn't celebrated elsewhere. Five different regions mean new animals and new region-specific events. Natsume promises One World to be its biggest Harvest Moon title to date both in depth and landscape diversity. For example, the camel is an excellent mount to travel across the land. Some of them can be tamed and befriended instead of purchased, providing some benefits in return. One World takes a more exotic turn with the inclusion of bears, camels, reindeer and tigers, to name a few. A tomato nurtured in the desert region may become crimson, while one planted in snowy Salmiakki might yield an ice tomato.Įxotic locales and seeds naturally mean that there's an expanded roster of animals to acquire and care for, offering a bit more diversity. Different fruit planted in different seasons and climates will eventually grant mutated crops to sell at a higher profit.
Most importantly, having an option to gain seeds for free encourages experimentation. The latter can be more easily recharged over the day, so searching out Wisps at ungodly hours isn't a punishing task. Having to search for Wisps late at night or exceptionally early hours also means that time and stamina aren't as restrictive as they used to be. There's even a handy search tool that shows you when and where Wisps will be available to grab the seeds that you desperately need.
While seeds can still be purchased, Wisps provide seeds for free with the caveat that they appear at specific times in certain places. This is where the newest entry grants more leeway to accommodate the new focus on exploration. The only limit to what you can do has been your character's stamina, the time of day, and money. The base formula is intact, so you'll plant crops, raise animals, and marry a spouse. One World is still a game where you can set goals and spend your time as you see fit without immediate time constraints. Before her untimely departure, she left knowledge about different seeds with the Harvest Wisps, which we now must seek out to unlock seeds to grow on the farm and to recover lost knowledge.īetween the five different towns, seeds to find with Wisps, and the ability to freely move around, One World has a clear focus on exploration and is willing to bend a few game mechanics to do so. Instead of the surprising farm inheritance and building a new life somewhere in the countryside, we are the last hope to recover and preserve the knowledge of the harvest goddess, who vanished without a trace. Naturally, that means our farm isn't tied to one place on the map but can be moved to any region throughout the game. The map of One World contains five regions: the grasslands of Calisson, the snow-covered mountains of Salmiakki, the hills of Lebkuchen, the beaches of Halo Halo, and the hot desert of Pastilla. As the name suggests, we are now playing in a larger world as opposed to a single town. One World handles the farming aspect differently. We sat down with Natsume for a brief presentation about what to expect from One World when it releases in early March. The newest game in the franchise, Harvest Moon: One World, looks to turn around that trend and goes head-to-head with the next Story of Seasons sequel, which releases around the same time. There have been a number of mainline titles and spin-offs under the Harvest Moon umbrella, but the critical reception has been waning. With prominent indie newcomer Stardew Valley, the genre has become crowded. Natsume continues to release titles under the Harvest Moon series, and the original creators have rebranded to Story of Seasons. Harvest Moon is the most recognizable name in the world of harvest sim games, but since its original developer and Natsume parted ways, the franchise was effectively split in two.