Harvest Island on PC

Harvest Island pitched itself as a horror farming life-sim, which immediately grabbed my attention. Another island farmer with some seriously spooky potential this October? Sign me up, am I right? Well, unfortunately, while I had high hopes for this game, I’ve struggled to find genuine enjoyment in my experience. Don’t get me wrong, the concept is great! I’m sure there will be people out there who enjoy this game. However, the execution feels a bit… lacking, for me personally, especially in comparison to recent competitors, which I’ll explain further below.

Harvest Island takes a narrative approach, placing you in the role of Will, a farming boy who lives with his father and younger sister, Samantha. Right from the get-go I was excited to see these interactions of dialogue, as powerful sibling bonds are some of my favorite dynamics in video games — think Sean and Daniel from Life is Strange 2, Yara and Lev from The Last of Us Part II, and most recently, Carmine and Kieran from Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s Teal Mask DLC. However, I soon found myself slightly irritated by the first interaction between Will and Samantha. To be fair, this was not through their dialogue, but instead through repetitive sound effects.