Introduction
Today we are going to look at Olive town (shortened name), this is a game in the story of seasons franchise. This follows up Harvest Moon, you will need to repair your own farm and eventually make it successful! It is going to take hard work and a lot of days, you can also become friends with the local residents. If you visit them enough, you might even get special cut scenes. There is so much to do in this game. We will go over that in the gameplay section, but we will not feature a story in this review, as you will be making your own story in this game. You will choose how your farm is run, you will choose who you are interested in and will marry.Â
What did I think before playing Story of Seasons Olive Town?
I always enjoyed to play Harvest Moon games, but I have not played any Harvest Moon games recently. I did not even know this game was made by the developers of Harvest Moon. I only found this out later. In fact, only after we had finished this game. You will be working hard in this game, but you need to keep an eye on your stamina bar, or you might end up with huge problems like your character passing out, with that said, why don’t we find more information on the Steam page!?
The Steam Page
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1392960/STORY_OF_SEASONS_Pioneers_of_Olive_Town/
It seems that you will not only have to build up the farm, you are also appointed to help out in the town. People will be making requests to make the city prettier. If you just talk to them every day, they will be more comfortable with you. There is also fishing, mining, and so many more skills. We will go over them in the gameplay section.
Rating
I rate Olive Town with an 8.7 before playing.Â
If you are looking for a fun simulator game, then you seem to be in the right spot.
Gameplay
It is important in this game to learn the mechanics of farming, it is quite simple. Each season has their own crops that you can grow. You will need to make sure that you do not plant summer crops, when the next season is about to start. If you have no sprinklers, you will need to water the crops every day. To make a sprinkler, you will need to level your other skills, like mining, or woodcutting. As you level these skills, you will not only unlock new recipes to craft, but also become better at said skills.
There are many skills, while some are easier to level up to ten, the max, some of them can be insanely hard. For example, you need to talk with people to raise your communication skill. It is quite unbalanced, since it is going to take you ages to level it! However, the draining skill, a skill where you use buckets and pumps to empty ponds and small pools will skyrocket. As for beekeeping and cultivating, it depends on how many cultivators or hives you have on your farm.
There are also events you can take place in, you can even get a trophy. Oh, and do not forget to tame animals. They will need to be fed every day but later, you can get an auto feeder. If you want good produce, you will need to breed them. However, it is very easy to get gold once you have got the hang of planting crops. You can also marry one of the residents of the town. You will need to bring them gifts and talk to them each day, it is a long, very long process. There is a lot more to do in Olive town, but I will let you find that out for yourself.
Rating
I rate the gameplay of Olive Town with a 7.1
While there is a lot to do, and the gameplay is fun, there are some imbalances here and there.Â
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The graphics of Olive town are actually quite fun, they are good but a bit on the childish side. The crops all look different, and there are a lot of different animals. Even pets. You can even let the pet follow you around, unless it is raining. There are some bad guys when you go mining, the moles. There is so much this game has to offer from a graphics standpoint!
Sound
The soundtracks are catchy, so catchy in fact, they are still in my head. Oh my god, that summer tune!Â
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics of Olive Town with an 8.8
Hurray for the summer tune, it is stuck in my head!
What did I think after playing Olive Town?
My wife and I had a lot of fun when playing this game, however as the game goes on, it starts getting a bit repetitive. Especially once you have the biggest house and all off the orichalcum tools. It gets a drag to capture new fish when you have a million gold lined, and no way to use it. There is no guy you can hire for watering your 400 crops. Or harvesting them when it is done.
There is more farmland to unlock, but this game is still very easy. The animals cannot die, they do not get sick. There are no bad crops. It feels as if this game is made for kids, especially with how getting a baby is handled. It just, appears, and no, I am not kidding here. Your baby literally just gets brought to you by some nature spirits, what a huge letdown!
Rating
I rate Olive Town with a 6.1 after playing.
This game has been made way too easy!
What are my personal thoughts about Olive Town?
The whole baby situation completely ruined this game for me. That is the moment I actually stopped playing. You work so hard in this game to build up that relation, like in other simulator games. You expect the giant climax, the wife gets pregnant, you have a child. Hooray, you did it and completed a huge part of the story! Well, here it is, oh look, we found a baby! Like what the actual fuck!? Pardon my French
Rating
My personal Rating of Olive Town is a 2.1.
I loved this game so much before the whole baby thing went down. What a horrible ending for such a fun game.
Last Words
Pros
- Take care of many crops in different seasons!
- Collect many tools to train all of your skills
- Create your own story as you choose which person you want to marry.
- There are many animals to take care off, they will even give you loot, I mean produce.
- Repair the farm to unlock more farm area, while helping to build up Olive Town.
- Use makers to turn your farm into a factory for making ingots and lumber!
- Compete in events for the gold trophy.
- The graphics and soundtracks are amazing!
Cons
- Some of the characters lack personality.
- This game is very easy, including earning money
- The way you get a baby is very weird
- After you have done a lot in the game, it can get boring, very fast.
That baby thing bothers me a lot! It just made me quit the game. Who even thought this up and went like, oh well that is a perfect plan. Throw that guy out of the window!
Final Rating
7.7
Let me know what you think of Olive Town in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
If you liked reading this review, maybe you would like to share this review with your friends!
Alex M
Great review!
supersven
You are welcome!
Silentrets
I liked game's design. And its really fun to if i was playing. Thanks for review.
supersven
You are welcome!
Wonder
Stardew Valley will probably remain my all-time favorite farming simulator game, being a beautiful and complex pixel game made by one person that reignited the farming sim scene and spawned many more such games by other indie devs, but it's important not to forget the series that started it all. Also, I believe Story of Seasons is still the same Harvest Moon game series and still has the same name in Japan, but its name got changed in the West because of copyright issues; the publisher in the West now has sole ownership of the Harvest Moon name and is making inferior games without the original developers under said name...a very disappointing situation and gross abuse of the copyright system, if you ask me.
Also, the mention of marriage in the game has me wondering if it's possible to marry those of the same gender as the player's? Or did you not play long enough to find out?
supersven
Yes, you are correct about this being Harvest Moon without the copyright to call it Harvest Moon, and a new developer.
You can marry people of the same gender, it is possible to convert the candidates to be gay. Wait that came out wrong, what I meant is, oh fuck it. You can marry the same gender.
krutarthxo
Good review sven, it looks like a 3d stardew valley and from your youtube gameplay, it feels you can sink hundreds of hours into.
I doubt i'd get into this but seems fun for those who like the farming sim genre
supersven
And, we are gonna get farming, and keep on farming, then we do more farming, why are we still farming? We don't know anymore, just keep farming!
DonCarlos
I miss the whole pregnancy phase too. I don't particularly care for some Sprite giving me a baby.
supersven
Thanks for agreeing!
ibrahim
The game looks cute. I'm thinking of playing Stardew Valley, might try this game later.
supersven
I hope you will enjoy the game!
Myr
This game has really a lot harvest moon vibes.
supersven
It is a wannabe Harvest Moon!
Anton
Nice cute game, thanks for the review!!)
Nicole
This game looks cute but it does look quite simple and generic! Stardew Valley is definitely unique and one of the best of these types of games 🙂 So many mods you can use!
supersven
That sounds like fun!
Michael Lo
I wish there could be some RPG elements in the game
supersven
Well, there is the skill leveling system, but that is where things end. No leveling up your character of fighting.
Javier del RÃos
"The way you get a baby is very weird" is something I never expected to read in a game review...
supersven
Well, there is always a new unique thing out there waiting for you!
EMPERORU
My sister like it
Francisco O.
Loved the first harvest moon games. I don't like this one being too easy though.
supersven
Weren't those the ones where your animals could even die?
metalhead8489
i find these farm games kind of boring to be honest but each has his own taste
supersven
It can be fun for a change of pace!
RaR
Looks like another Animal Crossing clone.