Harvestella: 8 Things You Should Know Before Getting Started With Square Enix Farming Sim

During harvest is the new Farm Sim RPG from Square Enix. The game is heavily story-driven, with the farming element taking a backseat as you explore the world and crawl through dungeons.

You’ll use a variety of combat classes to bash baddies while you grow crops to cook delicious dishes (or sell them for profit). As you unravel the core mystery – learning where your character and companions come from, and what’s up with the giant crystals in every town – you must figure out how to build a profitable farm.

There is much to do During harvest, which can seem daunting at first. Below are some tips we wish we knew before we begin During harvest.

The game is more about combat and dialogue than farming

You’ll spend most of the game delving into dungeons and completing quests instead of farming. Farming won’t be the priority for a while, certainly not for making money.

Side quests are easy money

When you run out of money, go around town and collect all the side quests you can. Most of the quests in this game are all about running from point A to point B, crammed with small stages of combat that make the rewards well worth it. Most quests will reward you with Grilla (the game’s currency) and Harvest Seeds for your time.

Repair your kitchen to prepare delicious food and grilla

As soon as you have some more Grilla, definitely renovate your kitchen. The kitchen pays off as each town is a tavern NPC that will buy your dishes for thousands of grilla once per dish requested.

Cooking food to restore stamina and hunger is also important for the dungeon.

Image: Square Enix via Polygon

Food is good but drinks are best for regaining health

Food is great for regaining stamina and hunger, but if you’re struggling to maintain your health in a boss fight, you’ll need to consume drinks. Bringing all the food but no drinks will result in your death as you cannot eat any more food when you are too full. However, you can still drink HP-restoring drinks.

Seasons last 30 days

During harvest actually uses 30 day seasons and not the 28 day seasons you typically find in other farming sims for which you should plan your harvest accordingly. After 30 days there is a day of Quietus when nobody can go outside and all your crops die. After Quietus, the next season begins.

Remember to actually hire your newly acquired jobs and party members

Adding new friends and combat jobs to your repertoire makes it easy to charge straight into the dungeon, but don’t forget to actually set up your party and job choices.

Some group members may be added automatically, but sometimes not, so be sure to double-check. You must manually add jobs to your setup, and you can only have three at a time.

Image: Square Enix via Polygon

Dungeons are not meant to be cleared in a day

You won’t have the time or energy to complete most dungeons in one day, so don’t feel like you have to. Make yourself comfortable and return home after unlocking shortcuts or teleport points. You don’t have to rush through dungeons as there are no time limits to complete the game’s story.

Make sure you stock up on supplies before a dungeon trip

Before exploring a new dungeon for the first time, you should have repair kits, return bells, food, and bombs (if you have them unlocked). You’ll need the Repair Kits to create shortcuts back to the entrance, while the Return Bells will get you home quickly at the end of the day, so these two are absolute must-haves.