Harvester (PC DOS) longplay

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einokeino303

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Published on September 27, 2013 10:23:06 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xms70Ilf5_4

Duration: 5:52:40

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Harvester was one of the first games I recorded over four years ago. My previous recording was in zillion parts, missing most of the short (2-4s) cutscenes and had some other issues as well. I decided to play through the game again to present it properly. I've put timepoints below so you can find a specific place in the video easily.

Harvester, one of the most underappreciated games of all time. Many people seem to dislike the game, but I've not really read any serious arguments against it. Most people just seem to bash the voice acting. Other ones I've seen complain about item puzzles not being to their liking and the game not being similar enough with other (more traditional) point & click games.

Imo, what makes this game great is the amount of character interaction and characters actually reacting to events happening in town. Best example of this is Karin's quest where everyone in town will have a different reaction depending how you solve the quest. So game is mostly carried out by conversations with same people and not by item puzzles or exploring new areas. There is the Lodge part though at the end where the game switches to more traditional adventure mode with new areas. I think the game could be better if different actions would actually lead to a different path instead of just having an option to choose between endings.

Lots of gore and somewhat stereotyped depictions of certain professions etc. are featured in the game. About five seconds of cutscenes were censored from European release, but left intact for US version. Funny thing about censored parts is that imo those don't come even close to some other gorier scenes.

There are several items which very likely have no use. I believe devs got kicks by visualizing frustrated gamers trying to stick tampons into weird places etc. I see several Twin Peaks references of which "Lodge" is likely the most obvious one, though inspiration was probably gained from several other sources as well.

Some bonus material included at the end of the video. None of that is required to finish the game. Karin buried subquest can be played two different ways. In the bonus section I show the alternative what happens if you don't save her. Most of the other stuff done in bonus videos leads to game over.

Day 1: Introductions

0:04:22 Hank
0:08:14 Mom
0:19:15 Mr. Pottsdam
0:24:30 Mrs. Pottsdam
0:31:25 Stephanie
0:38:20 Wasp Woman
0:43:14 Mr. Johnson
0:49:47 Mr. Moynahan
0:58:01 Fire Station
1:01:13 Police Station
1:13:37 Edna's Diner
1:19:36 TV Station
1:23:46 Gein Memorial School
1:32:00 Meat Plant
1:36:10 Missile Base
1:49:12 Post Office
1:51:55 General Store
1:54:35 Barber Shop
2:00:05 Lodge
2:04:00 Escaping Jail

2:16:02 Day 2
2:20:40 Night (Johnson's Tucker)
2:28:02 Day 3
3:00:04 Night (Firemen's Cloth)
3:04:18 Day 4
3:12:38 Night (Barber Pole)
3:14:48 Day 5
3:39:10 Night (Edna's Diner)
3:43:44 Day 6

4:18:52 Lodge Level 1
4:31:30 Lodge Level 2
4:49:34 Lodge Level 3
5:13:44 Good Ending
5:15:22 Evil Ending
5:18:07 End Credits

Bonus material:

5:19:36 Blackmail evidence
5:34:42 Karin buried: Alternative solution
5:43:02 Steve loses it: Killing residents of Harvest
5:49:56 Death scenes

http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/harvester