Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town Review

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town on PS4

As one of the sequels to Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town combines all your favorite simulation games into one with its intricate game mechanics and fun social interactions. As with other parts of the franchise, you can maintain and manage a farm while also helping to improve the overall map.

At the beginning of the game, the character sets off for Olive Town, a place her grandfather and his friends founded long ago. After growing up with all the stories of the area, they finally decide to go there and expand their grandfather’s legacy.

When I reached Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town player customization, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it offered additional options not often seen in other games in the genre. Instead of just choosing your gender, you can make a mix of any feminine and masculine traits. For example, you can have a character that has a feminine posture and masculine facial features while choosing any voice of your choice.

In addition to the gender-neutral components, you can also determine the color of your left and right eyes, with the option to have two different colors.

After completing the customization area, I was quickly treated to a cutscene where the character’s motorcycle broke down at the entrance to Olive Town, where the Mayor came to Victor’s aid. He starts talking to me about how great the character’s grandfather was and asks me a few questions, like my birthday and gender.

After all performances are out of the way, we go to the old family farm, which is overgrown and completely neglected. I’ve always wondered why farming simulators often choose this story to inherit a messy place, like Stardew Valley and My Time At Portia. But since it’s become such a classic narrative in these games, I still appreciate it.

The main goal of the story is to repair your farm and help Olive Town grow its business by improving things like buildings, outdoor areas, and new locations. Additionally, there are instances where you decide how to boost tourism, including choosing a mascot and curating promotional events.

My first base of operations was a tent given to me by the mayor, a home that can be upgraded later once players earn enough money. To become the richest in town you have to sell your crops or creations and fulfill requests from different people. The game is relatively nice on the first playthrough, giving you a bunch of tools to collect some much-needed items like grass and logs.

If you are looking for a game with a variety of things, this part will never bore you. I got so lost in the farming gameplay that I almost forgot about the town next door because I could participate in so many adventures and projects. For example, you can go into the caves and look for valuable items that you can sell or use to upgrade your tools.

Another aspect of the game is fishing, which I found helpful for preparing meals to increase the character’s stamina. However, the stamina mechanics proved challenging at times at first, as there wasn’t that much to do with the low-level tools and attributes. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about your character passing out over time, as the game features bathing and large enough meals to fill up your stamina bar.

As you would expect from a Story of Seasons game, farming is at the heart of the whole story. I could do many things, e.g. B. Organize my garden, water plants daily, and sell them right in the shipping bin (or keep them for recipes).

Some players might find the gameplay boring as you need to develop a routine, but I enjoyed it a lot because the game really makes you feel like a real farmer.

When I finally stopped being antisocial and went to Olive Town, I talked to people including Reina, who works at the museum, and Emilio, the fisherman. Compared to other simulators I’ve played before, the game’s character designs are diverse and well-drawn. However, building a relationship can be relatively slow and requires a lot of patience, even if you give them gifts they prefer.

It was still a lot of fun interacting with the people of the town, where everyone took part in events like taking your pet to a dog race and playing at the Summer Jamboree. There is also the possibility of marrying someone (as long as they have a pink heart), regardless of whether they are of the opposite sex or of the same sex.

Walking around Olive Town, there were many shops and places to explore. For example, you can accept build contracts from the Olive Hall bulletin board to earn extra coins and collect title rewards for bonus content. You’ll also often find yourself buying seeds from the general store and donating unique items to the museum in your free time.

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Olive Town isn’t the only area you can go to, as you can repair bridges to other locations and visit the home of the Sprites, magical creatures of the land (with a few mini-games) that can help you get additional items. Over time, you can talk to them to increase your stamina and buy nature elements that may be hard to come by.

One of the main components I liked about the game is how it gradually gets easier the more time you spend farming and interacting with the people. Notably, instead of hitting a tree, I was able to hit multiple objects at once after making the right upgrades. Other nice quality of life options available in the game include using tools like a net to automatically catch fish and using Earth Sprite Management to get a variety of collectibles.

As mentioned earlier, Pioneers at Olive Town has many wonderful components from other farming simulators. Like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can walk around the area to form relationships with different unique people and grow crops, similar to Stardew Valley.

Of course, we can’t forget that Harvest Moon is one of the first big hit titles within this genre, so all the games we know and love now may have been inspired by the previous installments of the franchise. In addition, the game has its own unique twist with its various customization options and mystical storylines.

Looking at the game as a whole, the developers took all the great parts of these simulators and combined them into this awesome storyline. In addition, as you see your overgrown farm grow into a masterpiece, the transformation process is very satisfying as it is the result of your hard work and dedication.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is everything you could want in a farming simulator, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player. After all these years, Marvelous Inc. and XSEED Games retain their ability to captivate audiences by making you feel like a farmer, regardless of your personal real-life experiences.