Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (2021)
Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town is the newest Harvest Moon game on the Nintendo Switch! The title can be confusing if you didn't know that the original Harvest Moon devs decided to split from Natsume, who does English localization, but Natsume kept the Harvest Moon title and developed the game themselves. If you want to OG devs of Harvest Moon you need to look out for Story of Seasons which is this game! If you've only played games like Stardew Valley, then this is also pretty similar. I've already played through the first month and love it so far. One of the things that make me happy to you can do same sex marriage and no gender locked haircuts or other cosmetics and clothing! The towns people are diverse and the animals are the cutest compare to all other farming life games.
There is an easy difficulty setting so if you want to play this without stress. Your tools are in the Tool Bag which is good since you can store tools there when you're not using them which frees up inventory space and you don't have to run to a storage box to switch out anymore. Trees, grass, and stone grow back really fast! Unlike previous games where upgrading tools make you tackle bigger trees or stones, upgrading in the game makes the area of effect bigger. So you can chop the trees in the area at once which is great and feel great too.
Like in Stardew, farming, mining, fishing, etc can be leveled up and doing so unlocks more crafting. Crafting is where you'll get makers which are important. The makers only make one thing at a time so you'll need multiples. These will get you the materials needs to unlock two farming areas on your farm. In previous games you normally buy animals from the animal store, but in this game you can find them roaming your farm and you can tame them! Same goes for crops. There you forage on your farm and ship them in the shipping box which will make the general store sell more seeds. In previous games the foraging are done in other areas so it was a little weird to see it all done on the farm. The same goes for fishing as you have access to the river, pond, and seas.
Being a long time Harvest Moon fan, I'm used to the gameplay and have my own strategy. There's plenty of places that will give you tips if you're new or starting out. Personally I prioritize getting all the inventory spaces. Upgrading the hammer and axe is also high in my priority list. Overall, I am pleased with this game. One of the negatives is that the fps during the events is rather low due to the falling sakura and all the towns people in one area. Also the first event is the Egg Hunt and you only get a cutscene of hunting eggs rather than actually looking for the eggs. Its not a big deal but it seems they want to make this more of a romantic event than a minigame.
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