Elden Ring inspired Harvestella’s devs to double the damage dealt by floors 

From floors that crumble beneath you, to goo and crystal-covered floors that deal you damage just by standing on them, anyone who’s played Harvestella knows how important it is to watch your step. It turns out, the game’s floor gimmicks (or at least, their intensity) were influenced by none other than FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. 

Square Enix and Live Wire’s life simulation RPG Harvestella launched in November 2022 (eight months after Elden Ring), bringing a compelling blend of farming sim mechanics, exploration, combat and storytelling. As you progress in Harvestella, you face off against enemy bosses and FEAR, but the game’s level design itself is often out to get you and your party too, namely – the floors.  

Damage floors need to be avoided, or when inevitable, traversed as quickly as possible with the help of items. However, it seems these gimmicks were originally meant to be a lot tamer, as revealed by Harvestella’s lead planner and level designer Miyamoto. In a post on his personal X account, Miyamoto recently commented, “One tidbit about Harvestella – after playing Elden Ring, I doubled the damage dealt from floor gimmicks.”  

However, this was not simply a devilish deed without meaning, as the developer goes on to explain that the boost in difficulty was a way to raise the importance of items such as Apple Juice and other dishes that guard you from Floor Damage, thus boosting the player’s sense of satisfaction upon successfully preparing for and conquering the challenge. Looking back at the decision, Miyamoto says that he is personally glad to have implemented the change. 

Although he does not go into detail regarding what specific parts of Elden Ring influenced him, it’s easy to imagine the developer finding inspiration from the FromSoftware title’s iconic swamps and traps that afflict the player with Scarlet Rot and Poison status effects. Elden Ring’s high difficulty is an integral ingredient to the cathartic feeling that players get after overcoming its challenges – and this aspect was unexpectedly adopted by Harvestella, a game of a very different genre.