Harvest McDoom
While “cozy” games are all the rage on the indie scene these days, perhaps one of the gold standards for relaxing, casual-grind-based gameplay is Natsume’s iconic farming series, Harvest Moon — And the franchise seems to have had something of a strange effect on YouTuber Cloudie McDoom, who woke up yesterday morning to find themselves occupying a live-action recreation of the beloved franchise.
Whilst I won’t spoil the work that has gone into this short, but authentic take on Harvest Moon‘s hard-working world, Cloudie’s video raises more than a few smiles thanks to its U.I implementation, use of flailing limbs and stop-start photography to truly capture gaming’s classic “zero-turning-circle” animation style. The sounds, music, and fade-outs only complete the effect.
There are no squawking chickens, fox attacks, or trips to the market, unfortunately, but I dig the real-life recreation of Harvest Moon‘s “square-by-square” gardening techniques. And if you enjoyed the Harvest Moon video, be sure to check out Cloudie McDoom’s channel over on YouTube for more parodies and recreations of classic video games.
The latest Harvest Moon title, Harvest Moon: One World, is available now on Nintendo Switch.
