Harvest Hunt
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Summary
The warden ’s mask hang heavy inHarvest Hunt , a new revulsion FPS roguelite formulate by Villainous Games Studio and issue by Neonhive Games . Infused with dismal pastoral horror elements and dark small town traditional knowledge , Harvest Hunt ’s experimental concept ultimately feels a shade spotty , but challenging and interesting all the same . At its crudest , it divert into a form of FPSPac - Manfor stretches at a time , butits frequent randomization of rules and tools makes for playfulness burst of session - ground revulsion .
The narrative - heavy roguelite is a rarity , perhaps most successfully search ingames likeHadesandDarkest Dungeon , two very different titles with interchangeable storytelling approaching . In both , actor learn more about the domain and its personality through the routine of performing , rather than at set points of gate progress . The gameplay feeds the story and frailty versa , leveraging those familiar roguelite radical of topsy-turvyness and tenacity to match the mystery , which support a consistent whole distinguished among the writing style .
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Harvest Hunt is a sport , experimental horror roguelite with some great ideas .
Country Living With A Twist
Harvest Hunt’s Rustic Village Looks Great, Even When Crawling Around
Harvest Hunttries its best to mime iconic mixes of roguelite gameplay and narrative , as itsplayers take up the mantle of a village “ warden , ” a imposing but serious character made responsible for keeping a ravenous puppet at embayment have it away as the “ Devourer . ”For five nights – which play out as private bookended brush that take shape a " season " – warden utilize a range of stealthy or belligerent maneuvers and mechanism to outwit the shambling brute , disable it , or just keep far from its clutches , a cat - and - mouse crawl through the littered , sometimes claustrophobic map of the Luna Nova village .
At its crudest , [ Harvest Hunt ] diverts into a kind of FPSPac - Manfor stretches at a prison term , but its frequent randomization of rules and tool makes for fun bursts of sitting - base horror .
Darkest Dungeon’sgraphic novel presentationseems a definite measure here , both in the active secret plan and in the choice made over the course of a season . The first - person visuals are striking , thoughHarvest Huntsuffers from a crowded HUD;thankfully , it can be tune down in the options after getting more comfortable with the game . While the gambling sphere makes a beneficial first impression , the sights are simplistic , with most screens feature corn field , shacks , and other generic nation trope , but with a dark - adjoin and scratchy comical Quran veneer that is somewhat rare in first - person games .
Grab All That Ambrosia While It Lasts
Gathering Resources Under Pressure in Harvest Hunt
The emanation of eachHarvest Huntrun learn players chase around the function for Ambrosia , a red resource cashed in at the destruction of the season , but requiring increasingly higher quantity further on into a run . The Devourer vagabond the map at random and cloud any Ambrosia it finds , which means that wasting time lessens the luck of escaping through an issue with a suitable haul of the stuff .
Of of course , Harvest Huntneedn’t be a inactive thing , andplayers can contend with the Devourer straight off with a growing arsenal of unlockable cards . Additionally , canonic pitchforks materialize at random throughout Luna Nova on any give sidereal day , which afford three direct – but demandingly precise – collision to the fauna before discover . On former runs , this uncomplicated farm prick is enough to halt the beast , who leaves behind " sherd " that can then be cashed in at a shrine for an Ambrosia bounty and , finally , Coventry .
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Just as the player can be buffed by cards known as " whispers " – some let them heal under certain circumstnaces or amplify their stealth abilities , whereas others produce more esoteric effects – so can the Devourer . Later endeavour may produce a beefier creature to stand off , spawn traps in the environment , or make it easier for the player to be spotted and chase after . Boons routinely appear and even disappear from play , but the fundamental principle are constant ; for instance , learning how to use the always - present lantern is a must as the nights get more dangerous .
Managing Boons, Items, and The Harvest Hunt Map Itself
A Lucky Loadout is Never Promised
Themanagement side of the gamemanifests between night , allow player to cash in sure cards for additional Ambrosia or sacrifice a clump of starter health to meridian creature and weapons that appear at set landmarks . A particularly useful card lets player opt from one of several spawn points , ensuring they ’ll always begin the night bare footfall away from a trust item , but such a boon is never promised to come along . All of these systems have a hard tabletop feel to them conceptually , and the game would plausibly accommodate well to such a format .
Regardless , these ideas renderHarvest Hunta game most focused on have the best of a devote situation . If a circuit card pick off stride to be louder than usual and the animate being spawns poisonous traps , equip some antidote item before the evening and be prepared for a likely struggle or two . In other cases , it might be more efficient to dart around the map and hoover up Ambrosia as tight as potential , note that larger caches take longer to collect , which mean feebly holding down a release while listening out for the approach of the Devourer .
A Strong Folk Horror Narrative
Harvest Hunt’s Writing is Better Than Average
Harvest Hunt ’s narrative is refined , patch out regularly in flavourful , meandering journal submission about the hamlet , the different wardens , and the duty of survival . Voice playacting is lacking , and it would have greatly add together to the attempted atmosphere , with its absence seizure is felt more strongly here than in other game . Wardens write panicked note about their veneration – both towards the Devourer and each other – and these would have been more good with actual voice to liven up the text edition ; since this is an FPS , they otherwise amount to a portraiture in the quoin of a menu blind .
While it ’s not yet announced as Steam Deck compatible , the game plays perfectly on the handheld thus far , with a smart accountant constellation to match .
The playable nights themselves feel frozen and mechanical in terms of storytelling , so the two one-half of the game often shinny to meld into a satisfying whole . Additionally , even with the various cards that change the condition of engagement and the single-valued function itself , it remain the same basic map . It ’s a good one , and it ’s play at first to learn its ins and outs and crosscut , but it ’s not sufficiently big or complicated enough to keep runs feeling fresh after the first few hour .
To Chase, or Not to Chase
Harvest Hunt Can Feel Too Passive For Its Own Good
The larger concern , though , is howHarvest Hunt ’s action at law plays out . More often than not , scurvy Ambrosia requirements could entail a full time of year come about by with nary a running - in with the Devourer . There ’s this shrewish suspicion after finish night after night of successful Ambrosia haul that causes one to question , is this howHarvest Huntis mean to be played ? Is this avoidant stealth play consider expert strategy , or should the Devourer be confronted more often ?
possibly the game guide towards this with more demanding Ambrosia demarcation line , which make Devourer bounties all but essential , or possibly it anticipates less inactive play to just naturally manifest on its own . That sense of receptiveness is one which will for sure speak louder to someHarvest Huntplayers while leaving others in the lurch , off to scuttle through more bogs for Ambrosia trash , prioritizing justificatory card and solutions over strong weapon system .
Final Thoughts & Review Score
3.5/5 - “Very Good” by Screen Rant’s Metric
Harvest Hunt ’s storytelling aspect is an out-and-out highlighting , but require attentive perusal – sometimes new journal entries lift into play , so players will desire to routinely train up on them – and it support from a deficiency of integrating with the gameplay side of things . It would probably have been just as strong as a study of pure interactive fiction , or even as a panel game .
Still , pock it against the passel of similar roguelite releases to dig through every calendar month , Harvest Huntstands out with its bully style and unequaled construct . While it ’s not yet harbinger as Steam Deck compatible , the game plays perfectly on the handheld thus far , with a smart restrainer configuration to tally . Harvest Huntremains worth checking out for anyone into kinfolk repulsion , roguelites , and crooked game – just try and poke the game ’s bear whenever possible .
Screen Rantwas provided with a digital personal computer code for the function of this limited review .
