Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town Preview

On March 23, 2021, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town will be coming out for the Nintendo Switch. With Harvest Moon: One World already released and its reviews tanking so low, I, for one, am looking forward to Story of Seasons. Many people are obsessed with these farming/love simulators. Fans play them with a passion, and when one comes out, hardcore fans defend it well regardless of which studio releases their game first.

After some research, Story of Seasons gives me hope for a good farming love story game compared to Harvest Moon: One World. This article will list some of the Story Of Seasons' key aspects that I feel outshine its competition.

Pets Galore

Pets make or break a farming sim game, and Story Of Seasons delivers! Choose from many different pets such as a Shiba, a Collie, Main Coon, Striped Mix, Minature Wolves, and even Unicorns...UNICORNS! Each comes in a variety of colors that will please even the pickiest pet selector. You can race, take photos, or interact with them by completing bonding activities such as playing catch with your dog.

An up and down on Story of Seasons' pets would be that you now have to rent them. On the bright side, you can change your pets how you want or if you need a bit of coin. The downside is that the pets are not free, and you probably don't get the unique pets just by unlocking them.

You, The Player

You start by picking a boy or girl and some basic starting looks to start you off. As your farm expands and your selection of items grows, so do your style and fashion choices. A little paint and fabric will get you a nice Happie Coat. Based on the game's preview, it doesn't look that expensive, but time will tell how hard it is to get these few things.

The Beauty Salon will help change your hairstyle if you get tired of looking at your dew and want to spice it up.

Bachelors and Bachelorettes

There are five bachelorettes and five bachelors in the game, pretty split across the board. There will be no same-sex relations, but that's pretty par for the course for the Seasons games. You can romance these ladies and gentlemen by chatting them up, cooking for them, gift them their favorite items and your standard story progression. You can see all the Bachelors and Bachelorettes on the XSeedgames youtube videos below.

Side Activities and Events

Side events are always a fun diversion from the grind of farming, and it's always a good boost in our love interests love stat. Fishing, Festivals, and Side Quests are looking good from what little XSeed has shown us so far. Racing your cute pets is a nice distraction from the everyday farming activities to spice things up. Launch barrels across the dock to get the best score to show off how strong you are.

Photography is available if you're a shutterbug and wish to show the world your pets, wild animals, or just want to take in the scenery.

Things To Do

If you play Story of Seasons, you love the grind to some extent. Farming, mining, animals, and fishing are plentiful. Your farm is customizable, and you can choose what you do and what you raise. Sidequests also seem to be connected to every single aspect and will have sprites around every corner. Pictures of the sprites rewarding you with a new area in the mining zone look like it's right up my alley, but I'm sure there are other things that the sprites will reward you for finishing.

Secret areas are around every corner, especially a Jack and the Bean Stalk styled area with some golden eggs that are hopefully up for grabs. With llamas, cows, horses, dogs, cats, and much more, it's going to scratch your Animal caretaking itch well.

Should You Buy It?

Previous Story of Seasons games have not let me down, and I have already reserved the Premium Edition of Pioneers of Olive Town. Ultimately it's up to you, but XSeeds' record is pretty solid, and I would love to see other gamers showing this game genre more love.

Which farming/love sim do you prefer? Does Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town interest you? Share your opinion with us on our social channels listed below!

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Source(s):

XSeed, Nintendo