Just the other week, I was invited to an online preview event for Natsume’s Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos, the upcoming instalment in the Harvest Moon series. This entry is a blend of something old and something new as it builds upon the traditional gameplay of the series and introduces modern features like an open world to explore, and a 3rd person camera view from behind the character, doing away with the typical top-down camera angle that Harvest Moon games are typically known for.
The game takes place in the land of Anthos which was once a quaint and peaceful place until a volcano on the island suddenly erupted and devastated almost all life. The Harvest Goddess and Harvest Sprites, who protected the land of Anthos, had to use all of their power, to keep the people and animals of Anthos safe but at a cost. The many settlements where people lived were now cut off and separated from one another with some people who were travelling away from home, unable to return.
It is up to the player to help reconnect the settlements and revive the Harvest Goddess and the Harvest Sprites. You won’t be alone in your adventure either as you will have the help of your friend Doc. Jr, who is a wacky inventor who will create marvelous inventions to aid you. Such inventions include the Expando-Farm that will allow you to move your barn to whichever town you travel to and wish to settle in for a while.
Like in previous Harvest Moon entries, you will be able to plant and harvest crops in your fields but these allotments will not be moveable meaning should you travel to another location for a time, you will not be able to bring the crops with you and will need to travel back in order to tend to them. On the plus side, you will find other allotments that you can make use of and grow crops there that may not be able to grow elsewhere. You can also find new seeds in other areas that you can use in your fields to make them grow into produce that you can use to cook into meals and sell.
A staple in the series was that the main character could marry in-game with a number of bachelors or bachelorettes but were restricted to one gender or the other, depending on the gender of their own character. For this entry, players will have free reign to marry whoever they like within the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes of each town in Anthos, regardless of the player character’s gender.
Another staple is the ability to house animals like cows, sheep, horses, and chickens in your barn. This returns for this game as well but players will also be able to take on exotic animals as pets as well. You will be able to take in animals like wolves, tigers, camels, meerkats, and even raptors (I thought they were extinct?!). Better yet, some of these animals, you can even ride to make traversal around Anthos that little bit quicker or participate in races. You can also tend to the animals and yes, I did ask the ever so important question and the answer was indeed, yes. You CAN pet the dog!
The land of Anthos also offers five big towns for players to travel to, each with their own idyllic backdrops like a seaside town, a snowy winter village, or near a volcano. Players can find NPC’s in these towns and throughout Anthos that will have requests for the player to undertake should they wish. At the end of the day, how you play Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos is totally up to you and due to its chill and relaxed atmosphere, it is quite easily a game you can pick up and play when you are just looking to unwind and aren’t looking to play anything too stressful.
From what I saw at the preview event, Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos was shaping up quite nicely. Seeing some of the traditional gameplay being expanded upon with an open world with seamless transitions between regions was quite pleasing. The vast number of different types of animals that you can tame, and the freedom to play how you like makes this game very appealing to me. So much so that I am rather looking forward to playing the full game when it releases on September 26th for Nintendo Switch and other platforms.
About Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos:
The land of Anthos was a peaceful and harmonious land watched over by the Harvest Goddess and the Harvest Sprites, who protected the inhabitants of Anthos from natural disasters such as storms, earthquakes, and the like.
However, one day many years ago, Anthos experienced a severe volcanic eruption that threatened life on Anthos itself, and the Harvest Goddess and Harvest Sprites had to use all of their remaining power to keep the people and animals of Anthos safe. This left the different villages across the land blocked off from each other. Some unfortunate souls even got trapped outside their villages, and were unable to return…
Believing that the separated villages and people would one day be reconnected, the Harvest Goddess sent out a bottle with a letter and a magic key, then fell into a deep sleep…
Now, 10 years later, you have found the SOS the Harvest Goddess sent to the world in the form of a message in a bottle! With the help of your wacky inventor friend Doc Jr. and many others, it’ll be up to you to revive the Harvest Goddess and the Harvest Sprites, as well as reconnect all of the villages of Anthos with each other!
