Harvester

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"Cockulus Rift, I knew it was a fucking bad idea."

- Joel

A reemerged relic of 1990s PC gaming, Harvester is a 1996 PC adventure game made by DigiFX Interactive and published by Merit Studios and Virgin Interactive. Created by designer Gilbert P. Austin as commentary and jaunting response to anti-video game advocacy during the early 1990s, the game is about teenager Steve Mason, who has a bout of amnesia in his hometown of Harvest, Texas, in 1953. With nothing familiar to him and the surroundings more dissonant and deranged than usual, all mystery that he seeks to uncover eventually leads to the town's coveted but shrouded edifice of leadership, the Lodge.

Streams
Part of Joel's recently retired FMV Fridays segment, Harvester was played as a four part series measuring a few hours per playthrough. Joel's response to the game was a wild mix of hysteric laughs to sheer terror at times, mainly due to the game's absolutely twisted themes and presentation throughout. The gameplay, as always, was played in Joel's carefree passion, while janky and unbalanced by its 2D fighting and platforming game inspired combat system.