Cellular Harvest was originally released back in 2020 for PC. It took 2 years for a console port to see the light of day. Nintendo Switch owners can now try their hands on this exploration game.
Alien Snap
The best way to describe Cellular Harvest is to compare it with Pokémon Snap with a darker twist. You are an Auditor who is sent to explore the edge of space in search of alien life-forms. Your space suit is equipped with an AI that evaluates all life encountered on the planet you’re exploring. Your job is to point the camera in the direction of encountered alien beings and take a snap to catalog their existence. Unlike Pokémon Snap, Cellular Harvest is not “on rails”. You are free to roam the planet as you like. This gives the game an extra “platforming” element.
Lo-fi
The game looks like it belongs back in the PS1 days with a very lo-fi style. The world is built out of very obvious polygons with pixelated graphics added on top to exaggerate the style even more. I’m not quite sure this was done on purpose or out of necessity. The marketing around this game does mention the roughness of the graphics. They actually label it “lo-fi” style but to me, it seems they just lacked the funds/manpower to make things look smoother. The polygons often don’t align right and the amount of clipping I experienced, further raises my suspicion this “look” was just the best they could achieve at the time.
Platforming
In Cellular Harvest you need to “collect/photograph” 4 of each of the 20 creatures. These strange creatures with names like Hanging Man, Cragwart, and Tendrilon tend to hide/blend in the environment. Getting the right angle to spot them often involves some platforming. Traversing the rough 3D world was often frustrating. They went with a “floaty” jump to further emphasize you’re in space. It takes a while to get used to the jumping but even after a while it never felt precise enough. Missing a final jump to finally reach the top of an area… in a slow-motion fashion is just not my idea of fun.
Green or Purple pill
Ignoring its flaws, exploring the world of Cellular Harvest is oddly soothing. Looking around every corner in order to find that one missing being for the collection without having to stress about getting attacked is an experience altogether. There is no pressure to do anything so just strolling around and taking some pictures is quite calming. The game ends when you collect 75% of the creatures and find the exit. The dark twist mentioned at the beginning of the review will become apparent once you reach the end. Sadly the end is reached after about one hour of gameplay making this “experience” a bit too short. Restarting the game in the purple mode (I started with the green option) turns out to be the same world in a night mode offering nothing more to this game.
Conclusion
Cellular Harvest as a concept has potential. The free-roaming photograph adventure presented is ultimately too rough around the edges to be a fully enjoyable experience. As it stands, Cellular Harvest feels like a demo of what could’ve been.
