Harvest Moon: House Candy House has been a really attention-grabbing recreation to observe pre-release. I say this not solely as a result of it’s a premium mobile-first Harvest Moon recreation, but in addition as a result of the reactions from my mates who’re longtime followers of the collection have gone from apathy to curiosity with each little bit of gameplay proven. Harvest Moon: House Candy House launched not too long ago on iOS and Android as a mobile-exclusive entry in Natsume’s Harvest Moon collection, and I’ve been enjoying it for a couple of week and a half now on iPhone 15 Professional and iPad Professional for evaluation. Harvest Moon: House Candy House is an excellent farming simulation recreation, however one that’s held again by a number of points proper now.
A whole lot of followers of the Harvest Moon collection of video games from Marvelous have been round because the SNES or N64 days, however I solely acquired into it on 3DS with Story of Season. Again then, I had no thought in regards to the identify change and that Marvelous’ releases can be known as Story of Seasons whereas Harvest Moon can be the identify utilized by Natsume going ahead. I’m making that clear now as a result of I don’t need folks confused about what Harvest Moon: House Candy House is and in addition to present you my historical past with the collection earlier than stepping into how I really feel about Harvest Moon: House Candy House ($17.99).
For those who’re new to farming and life simulation video games, Harvest Moon: House Candy House takes you again from the town to a chilled village the place you fish, farm, work together with many NPCs, partake in festivals (that should be unlocked), and even discover a companion. The village of Alba, your new dwelling, is dense and comfy (sorry however I needed to), and I’m glad it isn’t an enormous open location as a result of these normally end in quite a lot of empty areas in terms of life simulation video games. For those who’ve performed many within the style, consider Harvest Moon: House Candy House as one which focuses extra on the characters with a bit much less depth in terms of farming.
After a brief tutorial explaining the fundamentals of motion and a little bit of farming, you unlock the map and predominant menu letting you save nearly anyplace (this is essential for a cell recreation), and that is the place you get into the circulate of Harvest Moon: House Candy House the place you attempt to end quests for NPCs, improve your instruments, collect, mine (this unlocks a bit later), and naturally farm by way of the sport’s predominant chapters.
The extra I performed Harvest Moon: House Candy House, the extra I noticed that the builders understood what makes life and farming simulation video games nice, however fell brief in some methods. These might or might not have an effect on newcomers to the style, however those that have performed many latest video games will discover them missing. The potential companions are possible the weakest side of Harvest Moon: House Candy House. They only aren’t as attention-grabbing as different video games within the style. For those who don’t care about that side, Harvest Moon: House Candy House is sort of a sophisticated entry within the style.
Approaching Harvest Moon: House Candy House from a common life simulation recreation fanatic’s perspective feels completely different although. Whereas different platforms are spoiled for alternative with tons of video games from large and small builders, we don’t actually see very similar to that on cell, however that doesn’t make up for a few of the flaws right here, particularly at a a lot greater worth level. I believe this can be a very stable base that the builders can construct on to the purpose the place it will even be an incredible match for PC and consoles. The one “cell” side of Harvest Moon: House Candy House proper now could be the contact management possibility.
Visually, apart from the efficiency and cargo instances that I’ll cowl under, Harvest Moon: House Candy House appears to be like excellent. Some characters look generic, however the interface, farm, constructing structure, and all the things appears to be like good. I additionally respect that Harvest Moon: House Candy House helps fullscreen on iPhone 15 Professional and iPad Professional. It actually seems like a recreation correctly tailor-made to cell with its visuals and controls.
Whereas Harvest Moon: House Candy House does look good visually for essentially the most half, it’s missing in terms of the character designs. This is applicable to your individual character with customization choices that ought to’ve been extra detailed and in addition the principle NPCs within the city. A whole lot of them really feel lifeless even throughout cut-scenes. Barring that, I just like the aesthetic quite a bit, and Harvest Moon: House Candy House appears to be like glorious on my iPhone and iPad. The one disappointment is in efficiency. Proper now, Harvest Moon: House Candy House is capped at 30fps on my iPhone 15 Professional and iPad Professional. I used to be anticipating above 60fps not to mention 60fps, but it surely isn’t attainable to play at the next body fee now. The load instances are additionally not as quick as they need to be.
On the audio facet, I used to be happy with the music and sounds in Harvest Moon: House Candy House. Nothing stood out to the purpose the place I’d take heed to it exterior the sport, but it surely sounded good and the music adjustments had been applicable to the gameplay.
When Harvest Moon: House Candy House was introduced as a mobile-exclusive recreation, I used to be curious how it will management. The builders have achieved a improbable job with the contact controls right here letting you play by tapping to maneuver, dragging to maneuver, and extra. Interacting with objects or characters, farming, and navigating menus all really feel good. Some textual content and contact targets really feel a bit too small on iPhone, however they’re advantageous on iPad. I’d’ve beloved some haptic suggestions on iPhone although for utilizing instruments and even fishing. Perhaps this may be added in a future replace.
For those who’ve performed the 2 greatest life simulation video games on cell: Stardew Valley and My Time at Portia, Harvest Moon: House Candy House feels nearer to the previous, but it surely isn’t as polished. I dislike mentioning different video games in the identical style to match, however I’m doing it right here particularly for the cell port. These two video games had been constructed for PC/console and introduced over to cell whereas Harvest Moon: House Candy House was constructed for cell and but it doesn’t really feel as tailor-made to the platform in its options.
Harvest Moon: House Candy House is a mobile-exclusive recreation, and whereas I respect the contact management scheme, it has a number of points proper now in terms of options. The dearth of cloud saves is past disappointing. Once I first downloaded Harvest Moon: House Candy House on my iPhone, I performed it for about three hours earlier than selecting up my iPad to see the way it feels there. I discovered no approach to get the save throughout, and nonetheless haven’t been capable of transfer saves throughout gadgets. The dearth of controller assist can also be disappointing for a recreation like this. The builders did an incredible job with contact controls, however it will be good to have controller assist for after I play on iPad. I’d additionally like some high quality of life options for motion, like we’ve seen in latest video games within the style.
As a newcomer to Natsume’s new Harvest Moon video games however a fan of all of the latest Story of Seasons and different life simulation video games, Harvest Moon: House Candy House ended up being value enjoying, but it surely wants a number of updates and options to be actually important at full worth. I’ve no points with builders eager to cost premium costs on cell, however Harvest Moon: House Candy House missing primary options like cloud saves and controller assist positively makes it tougher to suggest alongside a number of different design points. If the builders proceed engaged on this, it is going to be probably the greatest within the style on cell, and I’m glad to see them take an opportunity on a premium cell life simulation recreation as a result of that may be very uncommon.
