Get to know Harvestella through the eyes of producer Daisuke Taka

“Everything here feels comfortable but fresh, like a beloved, clearly worn jacket tailored to current measurements. Its streamlined approach to farming allows players to focus on a rich story set in an even richer world, featuring exploration and combat mechanics that actually make you want to stick around in the dungeons for hours. If you’re looking for a JRPG/farming sim that doesn’t compromise on story or beauty but allows you to turn your brain ‘off’ after a long day, Harvestella is ripe for picking.”

— HeyPoorPlayer’s Harvestella Review

Harvestella made waves earlier this year with its beautiful blend of the farming mechanics we’ve come to know and love with classic JRPG dungeon-crawling goodness. A game I found to be a thoroughly enjoyable for its focus on its mysterious story, visually arresting use of color, creative lore-weaving, and tank-style combat, Harvestella proved to be like a seed — if planted and tenderly cared for, it blossomed into something extraordinary if given enough time.

And while everything looked new and shiny on the surface, there was something about the entire experience that I couldn’t help but feel was familiar somehow; luckily, I was able to spend a few moments with producer Daisuke Taka, who detailed Harvestella’s inspiration, lore, and more.

Heather Johnson Yu: Harvestella’s dev team features quite a pedigree! You, of course — producer Daisuke Taka (Another Eden) — director and scenario writer Hiroto Furuya (Another Eden), programming director Naoyuki Ukeda (Rune Factory/Lufia), composer Go Shiina (God Eater/Demon Slayer), art director Yoichi Kubo (Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XIII), and concept artist Isamu Kamikokuryu (Final Fantasy X/Final Fantasy XIII). What was it like working with such a talented team?

Daisuke Taka: My first idea of what would become Harvestella was a much smaller game, but as I saw the background scenery, music, and scenario come together, each element elevated one another to become a wonderful work of art. It’s rather rare in more recent game development for each team to continuously come up with ideas which are then absorbed into the game to make it bigger. 

HJY: Ah yes, sometimes that “make it bigger” temptation can be referred to as the dreaded “scope creep,” which my own boss likes to say he fruitlessly attempts to drive back “with a whip and a chair.” Some games definitely feel like they try to do too much, but I did not get that feeling with Harvestella — everything was just right.

HJY: One feeling I did get was surprisingly nostalgia — as someone who grew up on PS2 games like .hack//IMOQ, Dark Cloud, and my eternal favorite Final Fantasy X, I felt like Harvestella was something of a return to this era with modern updates to keep it fresh. In fact, I was constantly reminded of Final Fantasy X while playing Harvestella. What games and eras would you say inspired Harvestella’s mechanics?

DT: Games that influenced us are Stardew Valley, from a game design perspective, and Final Fantasy X, from a world/lore perspective. Director Hiroto Furuya, who wrote the scenario, is especially well-versed in RPGs from the PlayStation to PlayStation 2 era, so I think we were able to make this feel a lot like a JRPG.

HJY: You could really feel the influence from those eras in Harvestella, particularly in the combat. But you’re right, it’s that Final Fantasy X influence on the world and lore that felt most present to me. I’m happy to see that, even decades later, Final Fantasy X still has such an influence on games. What can I say though, I’m thoroughly attached to Final Fantasy X, so by that logic I’m now attached to Harvestella.

HJY: Speaking of attachments, I know it’s easy for developers to get attached to their own characters. Do you have a favorite?

DT: I would pick the animal, “Totokaku.” This comes from the Japanese word “Tokaku,” which literally translates to “horn(s) of a rabbit,” and it’s typically used to describe something that doesn’t exist in real life. For its design, we looked to the Jackalope for inspiration. It came out very cute.

HJY: The totokaku is super cute! I wish it did exist in real life though. I feel like it’d be so warm and cuddly. That’s a really fun play on words, I do love a good pun!

HJY: While on the topic of translations — it’s not uncommon that some things get “lost in translation” during the localization process. Do you think there are any pieces of info or lore that overseas audiences missed out on?

DT: In Japanese, there are lots of high-context expressions, so translating these can be quite a challenge, but we strived to avoid skewing towards direct translation. Furthermore, there aren’t any references that require knowledge of other games in order to enjoy. If I had to provide an example, though, maybe names of certain fish might be one of those instances…?

HJY: That’s amazing, kudos to you and the entire team for all your hard work. I know it can’t be easy!

HJY: Things that aren’t easy segues weirdly into my last question: bugs. Every game developer has at least one or two that come to mind that keeps them up at night. Any bugs that stand out to you in particular?

DT: There were times when a random person (typically a middle-aged woman) was standing on the world map. They were meant for another area, but they showed up at the same coordinates; we couldn’t find out why that kept happening until toward the end of production, so that was very frustrating.

HJY: That does sound frustrating! And such an odd thing to occur. I didn’t see any random out-of-place people during my time with Harvestella, so I hope you and your team is celebrating that particular bug being fixed and you can all sleep better at night.

Thank you to producer Daisuke Taka for answering our burning questions about Harvestella, and thank you to the entire Harvestella team for a gorgeous game!

Harvestella is available on PC and Switch — be sure to check it out today!