When I say Harvest Moon, most will know what game series I’m referring to; a casual and relaxing farm life simulator. However, the name “Harvest Moon” doesn’t mean what it once did, and that transition will be the demise of the title in these coming years.
Author: Branden
Site owner and operator
Spoiler Disclaimer: the game contains a few plot heavy moments. For the interest of the readers, I have left out mention of what those are in the article. Please excuse any vague language used regarding such.
Farpoint was a long anticipated first person shooter developed for the PSVR. Announced during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2016, Sony showed off what would be an action packed shooter based on an alien planet. As the PlayStation VR was merely a baby by then, this was considered a big step towards quality content being developed for the format. What stood out, however, was a special controller premiering with the game, known as the PSVR Aim Controller. Being a strong believer in the future of VR, I was eager to see how this game would turn out. After spending a few solid days playing Farpoint myself, it proved to be not what I was expecting.
When I had heard that the creator of Harvest Moon (Yasuhiro Wada) had released a new game for PC and PS4, my interest was instantly piqued. Having been a long time fan of the Harvest Moon series, I was very curious to see how similar or different this new game may be. Yasuhiro Wada pulls childhood inspiration on the origin of life from a TV show called Ultra Seven, and the creation of a personal world from a toy he had in elementary school that followed a similar idea. He has combined these childhood dreams to create a game of their likeness. Birthdays The Beginning is a “God Simulator” type game where the player has control over their own miniature world, altering the land and conditions to manipulate the thriving life on the surface below. Developed by ARC system works and TOYBOX Inc, and published by NIS America Inc. This game had a greater emphasis on the idea of encouraging evolution. An idea that had many people uneasy, having been left disappointed in the past by EA’s Spore. A game of a similar idea, that over promised and under delivered.
Statik Institute of Retention
I stumbled across Statik while browsing the PlayStation Store looking for a new VR game to try, and I decided to give it a shot. The premise of the game is simple, you wake strapped to a chair, in a variety of scientific looking rooms with a strange box shaped device attached to your hands. The device is covered in various gizmos and gadgets of an equally scientific nature. The concept alone had a very unique appeal to it, which is what got my attention initially. I would find as I went along that it more than met my expectations.