Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea opens up the farm to you and an animal

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Maintaining crops and potentially saving the village is one thing when you're doing it alone, but the next Harvest Moon game will let you do it with a furry companion.

Ozzie Mejia September 17, 2026 6:00 AM Natsume Inc. 1

The Harvest Moon series is celebrating its 30th anniversary in Japan this year and life on the farm has never felt more peaceful. While Natsume's farm simulator is known for its cozy aesthetic, there's plenty of adventure to be had as well. Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea will have players answer adventure's call while also building a serene life for themselves and their neighbors. I recently had the opportunity to take a look at what lies ahead for this next entry into this storied franchise.

Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea sets players in the middle of peaceful Bloomfield Village. The idea is to build a farm and forge new relationships with the village's various denizens. However, there are dangers on the horizon. The nearby Forest of Echoes has suddenly been covered in a strange mist while natural disasters are suddenly beginning to threaten the land. While the main idea of Echoes of Teradea is to create a comfortable life, players will also have to get to the bottom of what's happening and prepare to embark on a potentially dangerous journey.

Farming, as it has been since the beginning of this series, is a major piece of the Harvest Moon experience. After getting a good night's sleep and eating a hearty breakfast, the daily routine begins, which often involves taking care of the farmland. Players can plant various vegetable crops and make sure to use technology, such as sprinklers, to keep them watered. Of course, players will occasionally need to get their hands dirty, too. If they aren't picking the crops manually, they'll have to make sure to keep their fields clear of weeds, seed any barren plots, and get the growth process going with a watering can.

Taking care of livestock is similarly demanding. Cows, chickens, and sheep need to be cared for and appropriately loved in order to get the most out of them. Players can also pick up different animals for their farms, including camels for riding in the desert and reindeer for colder climates. Certain four-legged friends can be called upon as mounts for quicker journeying across the land. They won't be the only animals who can help out during adventures. The new animal companion system allows players to take a pet along with them outside the farm. Each animal can offer special passive skills, such as a Bernese puppy that can help mitigate the effects of hostile animals using Intimidation.

When players aren't maintaining their farm, they'll usually be out exploring the world. It won't all be open from the start, as the early part of the developer playthrough I saw had a chunk of the world blocked off by angry wolves. With that said, the world of Echoes of Teradea can get pretty expansive, so players will need to make preparations before heading out. The day/night cycle can sneak up on a person, but players can set up campsites to rest up, recover stamina, and cook by a campfire. Not every area will be accessible, but tools (such as ladders) and animal companion abilities will allow players to get to hard-to-reach areas later in the game. Beyond completing story quests, players can venture out into the world to explore caves filled with various resources that can be mined for crafting and trading purposes. Just be careful of any wild animals that may be roaming around inside.

Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea appears to have plenty of activities for series fans to get into. Players can socialize and meet up with friendly villagers and potential romantic partners (five bachelors and five bachelorettes, to be exact) or they can get into some fun side diversions, like fishing or treasure hunting. The full world map includes several villages and a giant town, so there's going to be a lot to explore and a lot of different resources, ingredients, crafting supplies, and technological devices to pick up. There's much more to get into and, fortunately, series fans won't have to wait too much longer. Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea is set to release on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 1 & 2 on October 15.

This preview is based on a closed-door, live developer playthrough held via Discord.

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Ozzie Mejia Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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