Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos shows promise as a potential hit, but it falls short due to a lackluster storyline and numerous unoptimized gameplay features.

Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos breaks away from the traditional Harvest Moon formula. Much like other long-running game franchises aiming to rejuvenate their fan base by introducing novel gameplay elements, this installment ventures into uncharted territory with a brand-new, fully 3D open-world experience. The days of a quiet farming life in a small town are behind us. Now, we have the freedom to traverse an expansive open-world map, gradually discovering new secrets as we bump into new points of interests.

Natsume's decision to create a farming simulation game within an open-world setting is undoubtedly groundbreaking for the series, and it entails the incorporation of various gameplay systems to blend these elements together. One of the most prominent changes is the heightened focus on exploration gameplay due to the vast map. This expansiveness introduces an abundance of forageable items, additional crop varieties, a wider array of wild animals, and a more extensive cast of NPCs.

What's particularly intriguing is the shift in how seeds are acquired. Instead of exclusively purchasing them from stores, the game now encourages us to obtain seeds by interacting with Harvest Wisps scattered throughout the map. While some seeds remain available for purchase, Harvest Wisps serve as a significant source. These mystical entities are located at fixed points on the map, consistently providing the same seeds upon interaction, and will reappear after a few days. This shift not only makes the types of crops we can cultivate dependent on our exploration and encounters but also introduces a refreshing dose of diversity to a game that often involves repetitive routines.

Exploration takes on a newfound significance, particularly early in the game, as foraging becomes the primary method for acquiring stamina-regenerating items. The revamped stamina system adds a layer of realism, where not only farming tasks but even excessive running can leave our character fatigued. Consequently, it's essential to collect and consume edible items encountered during our journeys to maintain high stamina levels throughout the day. While scouring for forageable items, we'll also likely stumble upon golden Power Wisps who will provide Harvest Wisp Fruit that can be presented to the Harvest Goddess to enhance our maximum stamina or expand our inventory space (sounds familiar?). The game offers a farming-adventure experience that motivates us to venture out into the wider world, fostering exploration and discovery.

A larger map also means more towns to visit. In Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos, we'll encounter a total of five towns, with four of them representing the different seasons. An intriguing and unconventional aspect of the game is that, in line with the story's progression, we must gradually "unlock" each town. Furthermore, most events and festivals remain inaccessible until we've successfully restored each town to its former glory by completing tasks assigned by the villagers. In essence, the main storyline acts as a prologue, guiding us through the process of rejuvenating the lands of Anthos before immersing us in the more traditional farming life reminiscent of earlier entries in the series.

With the map bigger than ever before, it would be a letdown if we were stuck managing the same old land forever, wouldn't it? Fortunately, the game allows us to relocate our house to different regions. While this doesn't include moving our cultivated fields, it's still quite refreshing to move from time to time. This provides the benefit of taking in various sceneries as we step through our front door, while also offers the convenience of living near the town where we plan to spend most of our time over the next few weeks. However, the house-moving feature lacks depth as we're not granted the ability to customize or expand our fields beyond adding farming-related utilities like fences and sprinklers. Consequently, no matter where we move, it never truly feels like a "home"; it’s just a temporary relocation.

Other than the open-world setting that presents new content to explore, Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos delivers a significantly enhanced farming experience. To begin, the farming controls in this game are arguably the most streamlined in the series. One of the most significant quality-of-life improvements is the elimination of the need to switch tools for different actions like tilling, sowing, and watering. This change aligns with the logic that we can only perform one action on a tile of land based on its current state, so manual tool switching is never necessary. This streamlined approach also extends to caring for our farm animals; there's no longer a need to switch between a brush, milker, and clippers. Simply press X in front of our target, and we're good to go.

Cross-season farming is also possible in this game. With each town embracing a distinct seasonal theme and the convenience of teleportation points, we can cultivate various crops in different towns, managing them all at once. Notably, it appears there are no longer strict season-specific crops in this game. Instead of being limited to specific seasons, each crop's seasonal indicator seems to suggest the "optimal" season for growth. While this eliminates the waiting period for us to grow season-specific crops, it does change the traditional, methodical pace of the series, where we were encouraged to plan our farming schedules to stockpile enough season-specific crops for the year.

Besides the improved farming experience, the mining gameplay in Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos is also more accessible and enjoyable. The newly introduced Dowsing feature guides us to the right digging spots, saving previous time and preventing stamina wastage. At times, digging can lead to a rockslide that, when hit, significantly reduces our stamina, creating a mini-game that requires swift reactions. While mining is easier and faster than ever for reaching deeper floors, it's still crucial to bring enough food to avoid fainting in the mines. Overall, the mining gameplay is well-balanced, and that’s something I feel the developers could build upon in future games.

While there are plenty of missions to keep us busy, they feel more like straightforward “tasks” than engaging “stories”, as the game's plot is quite basic. To explain further without giving away too much, the story mainly tells us about Anthos' past and quickly sends us on a mission to bring life back to the continent, and that’s more or less it. It also doesn’t help when there’s tons of filler NPCs who look similar and lack interesting backgrounds, which makes me miss the old characters with detailed 2D portraits and compelling stories. As towns are shaped by their residents and communities, the lack of depth in the NPCs also makes the various towns in Anthos feel empty and lacking in personality.

The open-world exploration gameplay, while fun, can be equally frustrating. It's understandable that running depletes stamina, but the fact that even walking drains stamina can be irritating. It makes things worse when the countless impassable ledges force us to take long detours if we make a wrong turn. While the stamina system adds a touch of realism, there are moments when it feels like it hampers the open-world experience, making it less enjoyable than it has the potential to be.

Also, the fishing gameplay is, well, broken. With the exception of the occasional rare shining fish that demands higher fishing skill and more stamina, most of the fish in the game can be caught without any special tools and with no cost at all, making me question why the Fish Bait item even exists. These fish can be sold for significant amounts of money, to the point where I sometimes wonder if I'm playing a fishing simulation or a farming simulation. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that a few days of fishing can yield more money than my entire field's crop. In fact, the earnings from fishing can easily cover the costs of a season's worth of Animal Feed (depending on how many animals you're raising), which would occupy a substantial portion of my field for days if I were to grow an equivalent amount of Fodder Corn.

In the grand scheme of things, it's admirable that the game aims to introduce a new dimension of enjoyment for players. However, the lackluster effort invested in crafting the game's world, including its inhabitants and towns, gives it a sense of straying from the series' core essence. It reflects a common trait of open-world games, where a large map exists just for the sake of being large. While the term "open-world" does indeed appeal to some players, developers need to understand that it doesn't guarantee popularity, especially when the game world is vast but lacks substance.

If open-world is a direction the developers intend to pursue in the next installment of the series, I hope they place a higher priority on the storytelling aspect. A captivating storyline would, to a large extent, introduce interesting NPCs and fun towns to explore. And, for goodness’ sake, please bring back 2D character portraits.

That concludes Lluvia’s review of Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos on PS5.