I Had Too Much Fun Fishing and Farming With Natsume At E3 2019

One of the more relaxing booths at E3 has to be Natsume’s. As the company behind games like Harvest Moon and Rune Factory, it makes sense that this booth, decorated with inflatable-vegetables and adorable farm animals, would be fairly peaceful when compared to the real-life endless-runner that is E3. The demos I played at their booth this year were equally calming, as one sent me into a farming-based trance, while the other had me relaxing over some good ol’ digital fishing (with RPG elements, naturally).

Harvest Moon: Mad Dash was the first game I played. Unlike many of the core Harvest Moon titles, Mad Dash is best described as a color-matching puzzle game. That’s not a bad thing; the levels I got to try were quite a lot of fun, and had a surprising amount of variety for such similar activities. The main objective was to pick up crops and place them beside matching crops. This grows them to enormous sizes, and makes them ready to be picked for a fat stack of points. If they get too big though, they wither, so it’s all about finding a balance. You get a star ranking when time runs out, so you’ve got to be fast and meticulous to get a three-star rating.

Another level I played took place underground, meaning magma would drip down and burn any crops in the area it begins to drip towards. This adds an extra layer of strategy into your already bustling mind, as you have to move large, often awkwardly-shaped, patches of veggies to avoid losing them. After a match or two, I found myself entirely engrossed in the fast-paced farming that I was tasked with, using muscle memory to harvest only the juiciest potatoes. Throw in more specific challenges (get 5 carrots, get 10 apples, etc.) and you have a simple but addictive couch co-op puzzle game that will make you more invested in vegetables than ever before. The full game launches on the Nintendo Switch and PS4 this fall, so if you want to show your friends how good you are at puzzles AND farming, keep an eye out for Mad Dash.

Reel Fishing: Road Trip Adventure is the glorious child of Persona 5 and Sega Bass Fishing. If that sounds confusing, don’t worry, these two games go together perfectly, as Reel Fishing looks to be a wonderfully casual game. The premise is simple: you and two friends are on a road trip. You play as the main fisherman, while your two friends prefer crafting things and cooking. As you fish until 3 P.M. each day, your goal is to catch specific types of fish, each of a specific size. It’s functional, fun, and a bit addictive, as I found myself getting a bit too invested in the fishing portion, as I broke a line while I excitedly reeled in my last catch of the day.

Using points and currency earned from your catches, as well as materials found by your crafty friend, you can upgrade your rod, bait, and reel to be faster, stronger, and more capable of attracting the most elusive fish. Then, your culinary friend cooks dinner, which grants the entire team with buffs that help them gather more materials, earn more experience, fish for longer, and more. There’s a surprising amount of depth to this anime fishing game, and in the fifteen minutes of playtime I had, I already found myself being drawn into the cycle of catching, crafting, and cooking. Fittingly enough, it launches on the PS4 and Nintendo Switch this Summer, and I already know that I’ll be spending some hot summer days fishing digitally, instead of outside.