When I first began gaming on PC, way back when I was 9 or 10, it was Simulation games I enjoyed most. Over the years I have built cities, run restaurants and airports, been a maid, a nanny, and so much more just by playing Sim games. My favorite role by far has been as a farmer. Don’t ask me why I find growing pixel vegetables I’ll never get to eat so much fun because I have no idea. There’s something about it though that draws me in and keeps me entertained for hours. That’s why I am super excited to tell you about the newest Farming Sim, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town.

A lot of folks like to compare the Story of Seasons series to the Harvest Moon series and for good reason. You see, they were once the same franchise. Owned by Marvelous Inc and licensed by Natsume Games, they were called Harvest Moon in the West and Story of Seasons in Japan.

However, in 2012 Marvelous discontinued the licensing agreement with Natsume and began releasing all of their titles as Story of Seasons in the West. In retaliation, Natsume developed their own North American series of games with the Harvest Moon name. The latest being Harvest Moon: One World that was just recently released.

With that little history lesson out of the way, let’s get into it. In Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, you inherit your grandfather’s farm and, to get away from the city life, settle in the sleepy town he helped build. Just like in prevent titles, you meet all the residents of Olive Town and begin to build up the old family farm. You start clearing debris from the farm, plant crops, start building relationships, and try and make a little coin.

There are a lot of progression systems involved. Every action you take on the farm, from watering, seeding, tilling, chopping wood, smashing rocks, etc., has a skill attached to it that you can level up as you perform that action. Leveling your skills gets you new recipes, abilities, and unlocks tool upgrades. In addition, leveling up things gets you titles, which have unique rewards you can acquire at the town hall.

You also have your usual progression of upgrading your house, farm buildings, tools, and more. You can also repair bridges and facilities to give you new places to farm and new facilities to use. Unlike in previous titles, most construction (upgrades and new facilities) are completed immediately. I love that, except for a few farm expansions, I don’t have to wait a day or more for construction to be finished. Even tool upgrades are immediate, so you can use your upgraded tool the same day.

Expanding your farm along with upgrading and repairing facilities and bridges is very important. The piece of the farm you start with has some plots, a coop, a beach, and a mine with 10 floors. As you expand the farm by repairing bridges and removing obstacles, you unlock more facilities, more plots, new mines, and new beaches with different sea life.

For the first time, Story of Seasons has a photo mode that you can use to photograph wildlife, plants, or anything you want. You can even choose to connect to the internet and share your photos which will appear as the loading screens of other players. Connecting to the internet allows you to see other player’s pictures on your loading screens too.

Olive Town has a Museum where you to donate treasure, fish, and photos that you take as you play. You have to get treasures appraised first, but that’s easy since that’s done at the museum as well. Donating photos, fish, and treasures also help build up the Museum, giving it a more completed, developed look.

The town hall, next door to the museum, is where you get requests and claim your rewards for earning titles and answer requests. Requests come from residents and the Mayor. Some requests advance the story (and DLC) and some improve your relationship level with the requesting party. Others earn you money or other items.

Socialization is very important as always. Talking to the residents when you see them and fulfilling any requests they make, as well as giving them gifts, increases your friendship levels. Participating in events can increase your friendship levels too.

As in previous titles, you can get married in Pioneers of Olive Town. There are 5 bachelors and 5 bachelorettes giving you 10 candidates. More marriage candidates will be added in future DLC packs, so you’ll have plenty of options when looking for your soul mate. Once married, your spouse will acquire 10 more relationship heart containers. Filling these containers grants you more cutscenes and the ability to have a child.

Same-sex marriage is allowed, which is awesome, and as it should be. If you get tired of your spouse you can get a divorce. Be aware though, if you divorce your spouse any children you have will cease to exist. Also, unlike in previous titles, your spouse will not help you on the farm. This annoyed me quite a bit at first but wasn’t a hardship.

There’s so much to Story of Seasons that I can’t cover it all, but trust me, you won’t get bored. There is always something to do. Whether it is mining, fishing, fulfilling requests, upgrading, exploring, or even just spending time on your farm, you’ll have plenty to keep you busy. In fact, there’s so much to do and it’s so much fun that I struggle to force myself to stop playing.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town does have 2 issues. The first is the town map. While it is beautifully drawn and gives you the shop hours, the location of the residents is incredibly imprecise. For example, a resident’s image may appear in the square, but in reality, they are on the stairs leading to the beach. Yes, the stairs are technically in the square, but by the time you get there, the resident is on the beach. This makes it take much longer to find who you are looking for, and time is something you never have enough of.

The 2^nd issue is the lack of a farm map. That’s right, there’s no map of your farm. This is incredibly frustrating because when your farm is fully expanded, it is extremely spread out. This makes it take longer to find the facility you’re looking for. I moved most of my facilities to the same area, which helps but doesn’t completely solve the problem.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is a fantastic game. If you are a Farming Sim fiend like me or just someone looking for something chill to play, this game is for you. Just be careful and don’t lose track of time. It’s easy to get sucked into the fun.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town was provided by XSEED Games for this review.

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Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town

$49.99

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Great Progression Systems
• Tons of Customization Options
• Fun Gameplay
• Same-Sex Marriage
• Smooth, Responsive Controls

Cons

• Town Map is Imprecise
• No Farm Map