The newest game in the Harvest Moon franchise is now available! Harvest Moon: The Winds of Athos is available for play on the Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 5, Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox Series X, Microsoft Xbox One, and PC (Steam).
Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos
The first Harvest Moon game was released in the United States from Natsume Inc. in 1996. This new installment in the Harvest Moon franchise is the first completely open world Harvest Moon game.
The land of Anthos was a peaceful and harmonious land watched over by the Harvest Goddess and the Harvest Sprites. The Goddess and Sprites protected the inhabitants of Anthos from natural disasters such as storms and earthquakes. However, many years ago, Anthos experienced a severe volcanic eruption that threatened life on Anthos itself. The Harvest Goddess and Harvest Sprites had to use all of their remaining power to keep the people and animals of Anthos safe. This left the different villages across the land blocked off from each other. Some unfortunate souls even got trapped outside of their villages, and were unable to return.
10 years later, you have found the SOS the Harvest Goddess sent to the world in the form of a message in a bottle! With the help of your wacky inventor friend Doc Jr. and many others, it’ll be up to you to revive the Harvest Goddess and the Harvest Sprites, as well as reconnect all of the villages of Anthos with each other.
Gameplay
Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos allows players to explore a huge open-world style map. Here are some of the exciting things players can take part in:
- Farm all around Anthos using Doc’s new and improved Expando-Farm! Easily move from place to place and farm everywhere from snowy mountains to beautiful beaches.
- Keep and raise different kinds of cows, chickens, and sheep in your barn! Find even more exotic animals to keep out in the wild of Anthos.
- Participate in a variety of contests and festivals!
- Woo 5 different bachelors and 5 different bachelorettes! Marry whoever your heart desires!
- Keep unique pets like wolves and exotic animals, such as Bengal tigers.
- Collect seeds from Harvest Wisps hidden all over Anthos! Some of the rare ones only come out at certain times, so keep an eye out for them.
- Explore the wide world of Anthos on foot or on mount! Unique and unusual mounts are available as well.
- Mine deep for ore and other materials in several different mines! Watch out for falling rocks.
- Fast travel around the world using the Harvest Goddess’s Warp Statues.
- Take pictures, selfies, and more!
The first DLC (downloadable content) is available today, September 26th. The Animal Avalanche Pack is available for $2.99. This pack includes ten new wild animals that players will be able to find, befriend, and care for in Anthos. These include magical unicorns, pandas, Akitas, and small-clawed otters. The infamous Sasquatch will even make an appearance! There are also season pass and other DLC options. The first DLC pack can also be purchased with the Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos Season Pass for $14.99. This grants access to the four upcoming DLC packs at a discounted price. Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos can be bundled with the Season Pass for $64.99.
Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO of Natsume Inc, said:
“We are excited to release the first truly open world Harvest Moon. Early impressions of Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos are quite positive, with the huge map, new graphic style, and updated mechanics. Players will be delighted with these new additions, but happy to know that the core game play that made this series so popular is still there!”
Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos is available today at major retail locations, as well as digitally on Amazon, GameStop, and NatsumeStore.com.
