# Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town announced!



## Ossiran (Oct 28, 2020)

So today's Mini Direct revealed the next entry in the Story of Seasons (formerly Harvest Moon until "A New Beginning". After that, the name was changed) series. The new game is "Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town". And... watching the trailer, I couldn't help but notice it's taken from than a few cues from New Horizons.

For starters, the area where you build your farm is deserted and heavily barren, forcing you to clear away things to set up your farm. The more your progress, the more of the land you unlock. There's also a heavy focus on farm customization, including the ability to lay your own paths. The trailer made very sure to show off that feature.

Not like the game is copying New Horizons. Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons has existed since long before the first Animal Crossing came out. And I'm excited for the new game! I'm only saying that the theme and new features doesn't seem like a coincidence.

Regardless, I'm always down for more Story of Seasons. I'll definitely be picking it up.


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## oak (Oct 28, 2020)

I can't wait! I've been playing Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town for my switch but it hasn't been holding my interest like past games have. I think it's cause the lack of customization so Pioneers of Olive Town sounds right up my alley.


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## LittleMissPanda (Oct 28, 2020)

What....? WHAT?! New Story of Seasons game? Yes yes yes!  I gotta go check out the trailer! Oh ty for sharing this wonderful news! I'm a huge fan of past Harvest Moon/now Story of Seasons games! I still have Magical Melody on Gamecube and I absolutely LOVED SoS Trio of Towns on the 3DS! 600+ hours!

And of course can't forget the delightful and beautifully aesthetic Doraemon: Story of Seasons!  My day has been officially made! Oh and I just remembered that Rune Factory 5 (made also by Marvelous) will be gracing the Switch next year!  I can't wait! It'll be my very first RF game


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## Balverine (Oct 28, 2020)

I'm so excited for a new SOS! I liked the FOMT reboot because it is my favorite classic HM game, but I'm definitely ready for a totally new one lol


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## Ossiran (Oct 28, 2020)

Here's the trailer by itself:


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## Lady Timpani (Oct 28, 2020)

Just saw this! I'm really hoping they'll keep same-sex marriage in coming from FoMT. 

EDIT: Looks like best friends ceremonies are back, so I'm sure XSeed will localize it as marriages again!


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1321491678138523649Here are some of the marriage candidates, too.


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## Chris (Oct 28, 2020)

The concept of needing to clear the farm before you can work, and having to build the town from scratch, have been features in the HM/SoS series long before ACNH came out. 

I've been playing these games since the Gameboy era and always happy to see a new one.


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## Zane (Oct 28, 2020)

Best friend ceremony cracks me up a bit. Just a couple of gal pals. 

Very happy to see a new entry on Switch! But can't lie I'm a smiiiiidge disappointed that the graphical/art style looks so similar to the Story of Seasons I last remember playing on 3DS. Also couldn't help but notice there was no portrait artwork when they talked to the characters in the trailer.


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## Ossiran (Oct 28, 2020)

Vrisnem said:


> The concept of needing to clear the farm before you can work, and having to build the town from scratch, have been features in the HM/SoS series long before ACNH came out.
> 
> I've been playing these games since the Gameboy era and always happy to see a new one.



True. But not an entire forest. In previous games, it was normally weeds, rocks, and stumps. You didn't have to clear away an entire forest.


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## Lady Timpani (Oct 28, 2020)

Zane said:


> Best friend ceremony cracks me up a bit. Just a couple of gal pals.


I too share a bed, home, and child with my completely platonic, female best friend


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## Mairmalade (Oct 28, 2020)

The best part about this trailer was seeing the possibility to cut down multiple trees at once. For that alone, I am happy. I've never seen that many materials at once, Also: sprinklers, thank you.

Saw some sneak peeks of the town from the tweet @Lady Timpani shared, and it looks like we'll be able to decorate certain areas again (from road block signs). I also see a park and am getting some charming old-town vibes. Sucker for anything Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, so this is a day-one buy from me. Wonder if we'll get another cute pre-order bonus?


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## Trundle (Oct 28, 2020)

This looks really cute! I haven't been excited for a Story of Seasons game in awhile but it looks like this could be a positive direction for the series. Anyone else feeling like there is a little bit of inspiration drawn from SDV in some of the game play mechanics?


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## Mairen (Oct 28, 2020)

Trundle said:


> This looks really cute! I haven't been excited for a Story of Seasons game in awhile but it looks like this could be a positive direction for the series. Anyone else feeling like there is a little bit of inspiration drawn from SDV in some of the game play mechanics?



I was thinking the same thing! I wasn't getting animal crossing vibes from this, but stardew valley vibes instead. Super excited for the next story of seasons game! Been playing these since gameboy color.


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## TofuIdol (Oct 28, 2020)

I'm so excited about this!! Plus it does look like from the trailer they took some inspiration from AC in the building your own farm part. Though that seems like it would be really fun to do, and gonna add a lot more time for me at least when playing.


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## AlyssaAC (Oct 29, 2020)

Yes! Finally! I'm literally excited to play this! Seeing the trailer, it looks really great! Also, the release date will give me plenty of time to finish up my other games before I pick this one up.


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## Peach_Jam (Oct 29, 2020)

_beyond_ excited to finally dive back into this beloved series  this along with more rune factory 5 news has got me super hyped ♥


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## Neb (Oct 29, 2020)

Pioneers of Olive Town looks like a massive step up from Friends of Mineral Town, especially with the graphics. With this game and Rune Factory 5, 2021 will be a great year for farming simulators.


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## xara (Oct 29, 2020)

me: :c
the farm animals, vibing:
me: c:

xnznzjzm just watched the trailer and this looks super cute! i haven’t played a harvest moon/story of seasons game since “the lost valley” but i’m definitely considering picking a copy of this up! i only have 1 game for my switch atm so it’d be nice to have something new to play c’:

also petition to refer to all same-sex marriages as “best friend ceremony” from now on


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## mogyay (Oct 31, 2020)

saw sprinklers and i'm sold. but i'm really looking forward to this one! i've always enjoyed the previous SOS but there's always been something lacking for me in terms of customisation so this looks like it will do quite nicely (without losing it's charm and turning into a clone of stardew valley)


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## samsquared (Nov 2, 2020)

gotta say, i love this for us hm fans
i hope xseed drops the preorder dates for this & rf5 soon. I cannot wait- I love how this game is incorporating pieces from stardew valley & synthesizing old & new hm games to give it like, this vintage feeling of "clearing all the land & building up from scratch" while also keeping the personalization/customization aspects of the new games. i'm hoping not all of the bachelor/ettes will be "chibi-style" this time around & we'll get another Ludus, but we'll see!
I've heard a lot of people say the graphics "look like a mobile game" but I don't think so, they're clearly better quality graphics than we got from the FOMT remake. the lighting looks good imo too. the one thing I will say it's sad we're missing out on are the character portraits, but if the models have enough personality, then we might not even need them. 
overall i'm looking forward to it! i hope marvelous brought it this time & pioneers exceeds my expectations


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## Peach_Jam (Nov 2, 2020)

samsquared said:


> gotta say, i love this for us hm fans
> i hope xseed drops the preorder dates for this & rf5 soon. I cannot wait- I love how this game is incorporating pieces from stardew valley & synthesizing old & new hm games to give it like, this vintage feeling of "clearing all the land & building up from scratch" while also keeping the personalization/customization aspects of the new games. i'm hoping not all of the bachelor/ettes will be "chibi-style" this time around & we'll get another Ludus, but we'll see!
> I've heard a lot of people say the graphics "look like a mobile game" but I don't think so, they're clearly better quality graphics than we got from the FOMT remake. the lighting looks good imo too. the one thing I will say it's sad we're missing out on are the character portraits, but if the models have enough personality, then we might not even need them.
> overall i'm looking forward to it! i hope marvelous brought it this time & pioneers exceeds my expectations


I totally agree with this! I also think the graphics are a big improvement from what they've been releasing recently imo. I love that they're reintroducing the ability to customize our character and farm again. Also it's such a small detail, but even the sunlight they created looked sooo nice and makes me excited to see the rest of the game 

Interesting that there's only 6 bachelor/bachelorettes total this time around  wondering if there will be a secret candidate (like Inari from trio of towns) added later.


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## samsquared (Nov 2, 2020)

Peach_Jam said:


> [snip]
> Interesting that there's only 6 bachelor/bachelorettes total this time around  wondering if there will be a secret candidate (like Inari from trio of towns) added later.


i have a strong suspicion that these are only the "starter" bachelors/bachelorettes & as you unlock stuff in the game & get farther with your farm, new bachelor/ettes will show up! Normally there are around 6 of each- I'd be kind of shocked if these are the only ones!


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## Ossiran (Nov 2, 2020)

Peach_Jam said:


> Interesting that there's only 6 bachelor/bachelorettes total this time around  wondering if there will be a secret candidate (like Inari from trio of towns) added later.



It was confirmed there are 10 total (5/5 split). We have no idea if there are any secret bachelors yet, but it seems likely given there's usually 1 or 2 in each game.


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## -Lumi- (Nov 2, 2020)

I’m not super excited about this release, to be honest. I’m a lot more excited and intrigued by the Rune Factory 5 trailers!

I think the art style is what’s really putting me off. I’m hoping that they’ll add the little portraits for the characters when you’re talking to them because I really do love those. I think a part of me is also bitter because I was hoping we’d get a main SoS game using the art style that the Doraemon game had. I think that game looks gorgeous but I’m not interested in it because I love the romance & family aspect to the games.

Fingers crossed it has same sex marriage! If it does I’ll definitely give it a second look but at the moment I’m not wowed by it.


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## Balverine (Nov 2, 2020)

I just saw the current announced marriage candidates, and I'm in love with Damon LOL
I really can't wait for this game, I'm so excited =w=


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## Ossiran (Nov 2, 2020)

Cheshire_Cat03 said:


> Fingers crossed it has same sex marriage! If it does I’ll definitely give it a second look but at the moment I’m not wowed by it.



Confirmed to have "Best Friends" ceremonies in the game. Knowing Xseed, they'll localize it to marriage like they did for FoMT.


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## xlisapisa (Nov 5, 2020)

I love the harvest moon/story of seasons franchise so much! I’m always so excited to see new games from them and the trailer looks good! It just sucks now that I’m older and have to deal with adulting, I don’t have too much time to just sit around and play video games all day. I bought story of season friends of mineral town and still have yet to open it and play. lol but I just couldn’t pass up the chance at getting that strawberry cow that came with the order. Hoping to be able to play it soon though before this next one releases. Honestly I wish they would make a Harvest Moon 64 remake!! I would be all over that in a heart beat!


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## Blood Eclipse (Nov 6, 2020)

I've only ever played Rune Factory and tried out Harvest moon once for a bit (can't remember if it was a demo or a friend let me play it). Is story of seasons really good? I might put it on my wishlist.


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## Radio (Nov 6, 2020)

Fun fact this announcement was what made me bite the bullet and finally buy a switch. New Horizons was close, but I've logged literally thousands of hours into various Harvest Moon/Story of Season games. They stole my childhood and my first-born son. 

@Kuriboh Story of Seasons is Harvest Moon. They were forced to change the franchise name in the newer releases because of changes in company structure/departments branching out from the main company. The newer games under the Harvest Moon title (from 2015 onwards) are made by a separate studio than Story of Seasons and are of worse quality


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## Ossiran (Nov 14, 2020)

The Japanese introduction trailer that came out yesterday reveals a bit about the game, such as how to repair buildings and structures, as well as how acquiring certain animals works. It also confirms things like dog races are in, though there's no surprise there.

You can see the new Japanese trailer here:


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## Mairmalade (Nov 14, 2020)

Nice to see structures are repaired instantly as long as you have the materials. No shortage of them either. 

May see horse races make a return if dog races are in.  That’s where I always made the most gold.


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## Sharksheep (Nov 14, 2020)

Oh I haven't played a Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons game since Island of Happiness. I don't know if I want to get this or Rune Factory 5 when it comes out but Stardew Valley is also coming out with an update soon. Too many farming sims to pick from.


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## Ossiran (Dec 1, 2020)

Japanese website was update last week. 

There's a museum in the game where you can display stuff, taking more inspiration from Animal Crossing, ha ha. Although at the moment the pictures only show them displaying a bird collectible.  We'll have to wait to see more of what we can display in it.

They've also added the ability to take pictures in game and post them online.


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## Ossiran (Dec 3, 2020)

A new trailer has been uploaded:


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## Trundle (Dec 3, 2020)

Ossiran said:


> A new trailer has been uploaded:


Wow, so many things I've seen that look like they have drawn inspiration from SDV. Namely the mining and fishing shots we got in that trailer. One thing I would like to note: the animations in the trailer look super slow. One of my biggest pet peeves in games like this is how long animations take sometimes. If they don't speed it up it probably won't be a buy for me.


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## Ossiran (Dec 3, 2020)

Trundle said:


> Wow, so many things I've seen that look like they have drawn inspiration from SDV. Namely the mining and fishing shots we got in that trailer. One thing I would like to note: the animations in the trailer look super slow. One of my biggest pet peeves in games like this is how long animations take sometimes. If they don't speed it up it probably won't be a buy for me.


I know what you mean about slow animations, but if it's like some of the previous games, it'll speed up when you upgrade your tools, at least for things like tilling. At least, I hope that's the case.


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## Mairmalade (Dec 4, 2020)

A New Beginning and Trio of Towns were both fairly sluggish iirc - especially in certain areas, like running past the rice paddy or fishing. 

That’ll be our final list of marriage candidates unless they have a ‘ special’ character (e.g. Harvest Goddess). The picture thing seems so...awkward to have in a SoS game. Not a feature I’ll use. 

Caught the limited edition bundle for NA at the end. Excited we’re getting another little plush. It’ll be a nice friend for my strawberry cow from the Friends of Mineral Town release.  I’ll spoil tag EU’s Deluxe Edition below:


Spoiler







I’d want the trading cards!


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## Khaelis (Dec 4, 2020)

Trundle said:


> Wow, so many things I've seen that look like they have drawn inspiration from SDV. Namely the mining and fishing shots we got in that trailer. One thing I would like to note: the animations in the trailer look super slow. One of my biggest pet peeves in games like this is how long animations take sometimes. If they don't speed it up it probably won't be a buy for me.



Really awesome that Story of Seasons was previously known as Harvest Moon, and Stardew Valley took inspiration from Harvest Moon and now it has come full circle with Story of Seasons taking some inspiration from Stardew Valley.


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## Noel_in_Sunrise (Dec 9, 2020)

I am so looking forward to this game! The next new SoS game, Rune Factory 5, and ACNH were the games I was most looking forward to on the switch when I bought it!


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## Bluelady (Dec 9, 2020)

Oh wow! Our avatars have voice effects now. I've never played Stardew Valley due to preferences, but I'm curious about what features were inspired from that game.


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## mogyay (Dec 28, 2020)

i went ahead and pre-ordered (mostly i want the cow plush)! i'm still way more excited for rune factory 5 but this will definitely keep me occupied until then. i'm really loving everything i'm seeing so far & it's the most i've been excited for a SoS in forever (i skipped mineral town, loved the original but i didn't think the remake looked that great)


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## Crowsie (Dec 30, 2020)

I really want to be excited for this, but after playing Rune Factory 4 Special I can whole-heartedly say I'm spoiled on SoS games. Unpopular opinion, but RF4 does everything HM/SoS games does but better, and then some. 

I mean, let's be real - I'm still getting it, but I just know I'll spend less time with this than, say ...RF5. Also, the marriage candidates look really underwhelming. I feel like they get blander and blander with every entry.


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## Burumun (Dec 30, 2020)

Crowsie said:


> I really want to be excited for this, but after playing Rune Factory 4 Special I can whole-heartedly say I'm spoiled on SoS games. Unpopular opinion, but RF4 does everything HM/SoS games does but better, and then some.
> 
> I mean, let's be real - I'm still getting it, but I just know I'll spend less time with this than, say ...RF5. Also, the marriage candidates look really underwhelming. I feel like they get blander and blander with every entry.


I don't think that's really an unpopular opinion - RF4 is one of the best farming games, period (although TBH, I never really figured out the farming aspect, lol). The SoS/HM devs could really take a page out of its book when it comes to characters and events. It'd also be great if they could stop chibifying everyone.


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## StarlitGlitch (Jan 10, 2021)

I haven't played any of the games in the series for a long time (since before the switch to SoS even) but I heard that elements like events aren't as good anymore, what do people think?

My favorite parts were always getting married and having a family (which I think Stardew Valley did very well), are newer SoS games doing okay in that aspect? I'm not sure if I'd be interested in the action elements of RF


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## JellyBeans (Jan 10, 2021)

tempted to preorder the deluxe edition for that buffalo plush... but for the sake of my bank account I might just buy the game on its own </3 harvest moon/story of seasons has a special place in my heart bc I used to play it all the time at my friend's house as a kid (same with AC) so I'm super excited to be getting a new game! bit late to the hype haha


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## Jam86 (Jan 21, 2021)

i adored harvest moon as a child so i decided to try out story of seasons 

however tbh, i wasn't too happy when this game was announced because i had only just bought story of seasons: friends of mineral town literally days before 
if i knew there was another game on the way, i would have waited haha

but after recently watching some videos of pioneers of olive town, i'm really  looking forward to playing it 
i was hoping to get it for my birthday (because i'm broke lol) but then i found out it releases on the actual day of my birthday so that's gonna be awkward lol


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## Mairmalade (Jan 22, 2021)

How does everyone feel about the expansion pass that was recently announced?


Spoiler: Minor spoilers if you’d rather not read about the contents



I don’t think I’ll purchase the pass - though the extra scenarios for characters may be tempting if they’re included sooner rather than later and the characters are fairly developed.

Not a fan of the monthly waves as I don’t see myself playing this for more than a few months, but I like that they’re bringing back some of the previous marriage candidates - especially as Felicity is in the first batch.  The additional outfits they revealed so far contains the farmer attire from previous Story of Seasons games and animal costumes, so nothing too exciting.


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## Peach_Jam (Jan 22, 2021)

Mairmalade said:


> How does everyone feel about the expansion pass that was recently announced?
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Minor spoilers if you’d rather not read about the contents
> ...





Spoiler



Hmm having monthly updates is an interesting approach. Though I'm not sure if I'd prefer that, or for them to include it all at once in the game. That said, I think I'm going to pass on the deluxe edition and get the expansion pass instead.

Very curious who the extra marriage candidates will be, (if they bring back Raeger from the first sos I'll be so happy ;~; ) and the extra events sound quite fun! I like that we'll get lots of new costumes and areas to explore with this.

On an unrelated note, I just hope this game doesn't have too many similarities to NH, bc it'd annoy me to no end if it gets labeled as a "knock off acnh".




Now we just need more RF5 news and a release date :<


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## Burumun (Jan 22, 2021)

Mairmalade said:


> How does everyone feel about the expansion pass that was recently announced?
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Minor spoilers if you’d rather not read about the contents
> ...





Spoiler: no content spoilers, just the price



I haven't been keeping up with the news lately, so I hadn't heard about the pass until seeing your post, but gosh I hate the idea of an expansion pass, especially as a European player. Y'all want €20 more for extra content when previously, you couldn't even be bothered to iron out the kinks in the European localization of 3oT, let alone localize the bonus content for that game, AND you let us wait forever even for the bug fixes added with that content that didn't even fix everything? 

That being said, my birthday's two days before the game's release, and with the 20% discount the digital pack isn't much more expensive than getting a physical copy (€50 + €6 shipping for a physical copy, from what Amazon says currently, vs. €63 for the discounted digital pack), so I guess that's what I'll be getting. This might decide whether or not I get future games in the series, though.





Spoiler: minor spoiler



As for the monthly updates, I won't have much time to play, anyway, so that's one thing that doesn't bother me much, at least.


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## Holla (Jan 22, 2021)

Spoiler:  DLC spoiler



Not a fan of the expansion pass honestly. I know a lot of people are excited for returning marriage candidates from the older games, but I feel like they will feel out of place being outside of their original game. I hope I'm wrong but I'll wait a while and see before I decide to buy the pass or not. Also when it comes to HM/SOS I always look forward to who's new so old characters returning isn't too interesting for me personally.

I might even hold off at buying the game at launch even now. The latest SOS games (not including FOMT) just don't keep my interest as long anymore. A New Beginning is the last game in the series where I really put a lot of hours into it and more or less 100% completed. Time will tell.


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## Mairmalade (Jan 22, 2021)

Spoiler: Continuing the DLC shenanigans even though they're not 'technically' spoilers :')



@Peach_Jam - There are *some outlines of the characters they plan to re-release* if you want to play the guessing game!  

@Holla It's certainly easier to bring back existing favorites and their dialogue; I agree that the DLC would be more enticing if we had new faces added. I still love the concept of seeing my old favorites in a different setting, but a balance between the two would at least (kind of) justify the hefty price tag @Burumun mentioned rather than recycled content.


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## Peach_Jam (Jan 22, 2021)

Mairmalade said:


> Spoiler: Continuing the DLC shenanigans even though they're not 'technically' spoilers :')
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



omg thank you for this!

woah they're bringing back Neil, Raeger and Ludus (my favs from each game!) I love winning


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## Lady Timpani (Jan 23, 2021)

StarlitGlitch said:


> I haven't played any of the games in the series for a long time (since before the switch to SoS even) but I heard that elements like events aren't as good anymore, what do people think?
> 
> My favorite parts were always getting married and having a family (which I think Stardew Valley did very well), are newer SoS games doing okay in that aspect? I'm not sure if I'd be interested in the action elements of RF


Your post is old, but I don't think anyone has responded to it yet.

The actual town events are pretty boring, yeah. In Trio of Towns there really wasn't much variation on them other than the theme. My favorite town festivals are from BtN and probably always will be, unless they shake things up with this new entry. The heart events in Trio of Towns were some of the best in the series, though. Each candidate had (IIRC) five prior to the dating stage, and then I think three after that. There was also a lot of continuity so it felt like you were actually in an ongoing relationship. The FoMT remake really glaringly lacked this, and I know part of it is because it was a remake, but it just made it obvious how bare bones the games used to be. I would anticipate PoOT (lmao) to be more in line with ToT than with SoSFoMT, especially since it's for the 25th anniversary of the series.

I'm still debating whether or not I'm gonna preorder. I know I'll wind up playing it eventually, and it's always fun to be part of the community when the game first comes out, but I'm still working my way through SoSFoMT and might be all farmed out by the time it comes out. The plush is really cute though and I am unfortunately a frivolous person


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## StarlitGlitch (Jan 27, 2021)

Lady Timpani said:


> Your post is old, but I don't think anyone has responded to it yet.
> 
> The actual town events are pretty boring, yeah. In Trio of Towns there really wasn't much variation on them other than the theme. My favorite town festivals are from BtN and probably always will be, unless they shake things up with this new entry. The heart events in Trio of Towns were some of the best in the series, though. Each candidate had (IIRC) five prior to the dating stage, and then I think three after that. There was also a lot of continuity so it felt like you were actually in an ongoing relationship. The FoMT remake really glaringly lacked this, and I know part of it is because it was a remake, but it just made it obvious how bare bones the games used to be. I would anticipate PoOT (lmao) to be more in line with ToT than with SoSFoMT, especially since it's for the 25th anniversary of the series.
> 
> I'm still debating whether or not I'm gonna preorder. I know I'll wind up playing it eventually, and it's always fun to be part of the community when the game first comes out, but I'm still working my way through SoSFoMT and might be all farmed out by the time it comes out. The plush is really cute though and I am unfortunately a frivolous person



Thank you so much! I think that the relationship side matters more to me than events so maybe I should check Trio of Towns out...


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## AlyssaAC (Jan 29, 2021)

Just preordered the game with the Buffalo plush a few days ago and can’t wait to start playing! At first I wasn’t sure of getting it, but once I found out there is character customization in it, I was sold. Also, the plush is sooo cute. I think I’m starting to become a sucker to plushies.


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## unravel (Jan 29, 2021)

Can't wait for the new SoS game, currently playing Doremon Story of Seasons while waiting for release and I kinda know its off topic but when you guys preorder doremon SoS did yall get the _free seeds (not in game seeds)_? I plant a cherry tomato and for some reason the leaf doesn't look like cherry tomato at all but more like hackberry tree like bruhhh


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## Jam86 (Feb 7, 2021)

i was planning on putting this on my birthday list but turns out the UK release is march 26th so my mum pre-ordered it for me this morning

i got the game with the DLC because i wanted that western attire


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## Trundle (Feb 8, 2021)

Not sure if this is a new trailer or not, but this is my first time seeing it! 



__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1358808029857259521


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## marea (Feb 8, 2021)

I havent played a harvest moon/story of seasons game other than the original friends of mineral town, which i totally loved!! This newest game looks fun from the trailer they shared so i might get it.


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## Jam86 (Feb 8, 2021)

i just watched the new trailer and this is legit gonna be me when the game comes out


Spoiler


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## Ossiran (Feb 8, 2021)

That is indeed a new trailer, at least on the English side.


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## Lady Timpani (Feb 14, 2021)

A new JP trailer and some gameplay footage! I've had my reservations about the graphics, but I think it looks better when someone's actually playing it. Idk if it's just the camera angle they've been using in the promotional footage up until now or what.


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## Ossiran (Feb 25, 2021)

Japanese version is out already. Heads-up for those trying to avoid spoilers, or those who want to know as much as possible about the game.


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## Burumun (Feb 26, 2021)

Ignore this, I messed up. ^^;


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## Burumun (Feb 27, 2021)

Fogu's roundup is making me wonder if getting the game is worth it now, or if I should just pick up my 3oT file again. It sounds like both farming and friendship aren't that great in this one. 

Some EU streamers are getting English copies next week, though, for anyone interested in checking it out.


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## Lady Timpani (Feb 27, 2021)

Burumun said:


> Fogu's roundup is making me wonder if getting the game is worth it now, or if I should just pick up my 3oT file again. It sounds like both farming and friendship aren't that great in this one.
> 
> Some EU streamers are getting English copies next week, though, for anyone interested in checking it out.


Reddit has also been having this discussion for the past few days. I had already decided I'd wait for the JP release and then preorder if it seemed good, but this officially turned me off preordering.

I'm hoping we'll be able to get a better feel for things once there's a Western release. There seem to be some pretty cool things going on-- some of the candidates have baby pictures!-- but there are other things that make me pretty hesitant to buy it right away.


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## Ossiran (Feb 28, 2021)

I'm still interested in the game, but I admit there being so few holidays and not a lot to do post-marriage is quite disappointing. Here's hoping they add some (hopefully free) DLC updates to it.


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## Ossiran (Mar 3, 2021)

There was a Japanese developer update post made. There's a patch coming to Japanese version in mid-March (which should hopefully be available for western players at launch). The patch will fix several bugs and address things like frame rate for large farms and load times, as well as adjust the game balance.

They confirmed there will be additional features added to the game down the road. They're also taking feedback into consideration regarding things like portraits and features that are not as immersive.


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## Sharksheep (Mar 3, 2021)

If they are planning on adding more features in the future, I might just wait on this one and get it a few months or a year after the NA release.  I haven't played a Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons game since Island of Happiness and Rune Factory 5 is also coming out and I like the fighting aspect in Rune Factory more.

I've been spoiled by Stardew Valley and its mods so it's hard for me to want to pay $40+ for another clone of the same farm sim.


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## Burumun (Mar 3, 2021)

I'm also starting to think waiting on this one might be better. If they release physical copies of the game here, they'll probably go down to €30 almost instantly, anyway, lol.


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## Holla (Mar 4, 2021)

To people on the fence there is no shame in waiting on this one. I’ve personally bought all these games day one since A New Beginning but I won’t be getting this one at launch.

The number of problems I’ve heard it has will cause me disappointment and make me want my money back. If they add in a bunch of improvements via post launch updates then I may get the game later on, but as it stands right now it’s an easy pass for me.

The main producer for the series was also not a part of the development on this so that could partially explain why this entry is lacking. He did work on Rune Factory 5 though so I’m hoping that it will turn out much better than SOS is looking like.

TLDR: If you are unsure about this game don’t be afraid to wait and see if they improve it with future updates. I’d save your money for now if I were you.


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## mogyay (Mar 4, 2021)

im seriously considering cancelling my pre order after reading a lot of reviews and comments on this  esp as ive been playing a lot of stardew lately so this is just gonna seem to bad in comparison imo, i wish they had a UK release date for rune factory 5 bc i was just buying this to tide me over until that tbh aaaaaa


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## Peach_Jam (Mar 4, 2021)

I may wait as well / : I didn't expect for there to be so many issues, and am a little sad. Though, they did issue an apology and promise to improve many things in a mid March patch, so perhaps I'll check back around then and see if it actually fixed anything important.


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## Lady Timpani (Mar 4, 2021)

Holla said:


> To people on the fence there is no shame in waiting on this one. I’ve personally bought all these games day one since A New Beginning but I won’t be getting this one at launch.
> 
> The number of problems I’ve heard it has will cause me disappointment and make me want my money back. If they add in a bunch of improvements via post launch updates then I may get the game later on, but as it stands right now it’s an easy pass for me.
> 
> ...


I was going back and forth on preordering since none of the trailers and info ever really grabbed me. I was thinking maybe the JP release would sell me on it, but it's just made me decide to pick it up at a later date. I got Animal Parade for Christmas a year ago and never made much headway, so now might be the time, and there's also the new Stardew update.


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## Holla (Mar 4, 2021)

Lady Timpani said:


> I was going back and forth on preordering since none of the trailers and info ever really grabbed me. I was thinking maybe the JP release would sell me on it, but it's just made me decide to pick it up at a later date. I got Animal Parade for Christmas a year ago and never made much headway, so now might be the time, and there's also the new Stardew update.



Animal Parade is probably my favourite it’s definitely worth a play. It’s aged fairly well aside from quite a bit of loading times and janky camera but I loved everything else about it so I was easily able to look past those couple faults. I haven’t checked out the Stardew Valley update yet either. I probably should. At least there’s options of other things to play while we wait on seeing what they improve with the new game.


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## Lady Timpani (Mar 6, 2021)

Holla said:


> Animal Parade is probably my favourite it’s definitely worth a play. It’s aged fairly well aside from quite a bit of loading times and janky camera but I loved everything else about it so I was easily able to look past those couple faults. I haven’t checked out the Stardew Valley update yet either. I probably should. At least there’s options of other things to play while we wait on seeing what they improve with the new game.


Yeah I've heard about the map being kind of difficult to traverse because it's so big and the loading times, but I've also heard a lot of other good things about it! Incidentally those are two pretty common complaints I've heard about this new entry, so hopefully there are some substantial positives that offset that.


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## CafeBrewster (Mar 6, 2021)

Lady Timpani said:


> Yeah I've heard about the map being kind of difficult to traverse because it's so big and the loading times, but I've also heard a lot of other good things about it! Incidentally those are two pretty common complaints I've heard about this new entry, so hopefully there are some substantial positives that offset that.


Ah yes I ADORE Animal Parade, it’s my favourite game of the series. You get used to the loading times eventually, and I don’t even mind not having character portraits because the models are just so cute!!


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## Lady Timpani (Mar 6, 2021)

CafeBrewster said:


> Ah yes I ADORE Animal Parade, it’s my favourite game of the series. You get used to the loading times eventually, and I don’t even mind not having character portraits because the models are just so cute!!


Have you ever played Tree of Tranquility? That was my fave console HM growing up but so many people say AP is better, so I'm looking forward to playing it!


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## CafeBrewster (Mar 6, 2021)

I tried but for some reason I couldn’t get into it! The time was a huge problem for me, how fast it moved. I couldn’t get anything done!


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## Elias_ (Mar 6, 2021)

I haven't played the last few Story of Seasons games, but this one looks really promising. The customisation part reminds me a lot of A New Beginning, which I really liked.


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## Ossiran (Mar 7, 2021)

Harvest Moon 64 was my favorite growing up. I sunk a lot of hours into that one as a kid. Back to Nature, Friends of Mineral Town, and DS are all high up there too.


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## Bulbadragon (Mar 13, 2021)

I don't know how to feel about this game. In the past, I loved Harvest Moon games. But ever since the Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon split, I haven't loved any of the games. I enjoyed the first SOS and Trio of Towns, but I couldn't get into Friends of Mineral Town. 

Maybe this one will change that and get me back into the games. I think I'll wait and watch some reviews first. I just think Stardew Valley set high expectations for any farming sim going forward. If I'm not impressed, I'll just keep waiting for RF5.


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## cherrysmilesonice (Mar 14, 2021)

IM SO EXCITED. I saw bad reviews but I’m still optimistic. Fingers crossed it’s a good game.


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## mirukushake (Mar 15, 2021)

I've been playing the Japanese version and well, if you focus only on farming and animals it's an okay game. Pretty much everything else is kind of a hot mess, though.


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## Holla (Mar 15, 2021)

mirukushake said:


> I've been playing the Japanese version and well, if you focus only on farming and animals it's an okay game. Pretty much everything else is kind of a hot mess, though.



Yeah this is pretty much what I’ve been gathering from reviews so far. I’m going to stick with not buying this game at launch and waiting to see if they fix the problems with it later on. If it greatly improves then I will consider on buying it. I remember buying My Time at Portia at launch and a couple years later I’m still waiting on improvements they kept promising. It’s very disappointing. Though that game was a fair bit cheaper than SOS POOT.

I’ve tried to warn a couple friends about it and that it might not be a bad idea to wait and see what they do with it post launch, but they seem to be blinded by loving the series too much. One of them for sure has ordered the collectors edition to boot. I just hope she doesn’t regret it later. I didn’t tell them not to order the game just warned them about the problems with it and that it might not be a bad idea to wait. Oh well it’s ultimately their decision to make. For their sake I hope the game gets fixed.


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## Licorice (Mar 15, 2021)

I haven’t played a good harvest moon since the wii and it seems like that won’t change. I’ll stick with stardew for now. Maybe I’d pick this up years later when it’s on sale lol


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## mirukushake (Mar 15, 2021)

Yeah, I’m not even super optimistic about them being able to fix performance issues, let alone dialogue if they’re going to keep the same scenario writers. We’ll see. I think the new director saw the success of SDV and tried to emulate that, forgetting why someone would choose to play a Bokumono game instead, and the game has lost basically all the charm of the series. I will probably finish my first year then go back to one of the 3DS games while I wait for New Snap.

I’ve been accused of trying to just trash the game and make people hate it by bringing up my issues with it so I’m just gonna keep my mouth shut for the next week. I’ll be interested to see if the reception is as bad as it was for Japanese fans. It hasn’t even been a month and used prices are already dropping to ¥4000 oof.


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## Burumun (Mar 17, 2021)

Has anyone checked out the streams by people who got review copies from Marvelous Europe? Is there anyone who has experience with the games who's worth watching? 
I tried one of them, but I didn't get very far, between her not knowing the difference between seedling and original mode, and not understanding the customization features. Maybe a bit nitpicky, but TBH I just don't enjoy the idea of watching a stream by someone who isn't basically already an expert at these types of games, or someone who at least knows the basics.


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## Ossiran (Mar 20, 2021)

My local game store got a copy in early, so I picked it up. Patches are already available for download despite the game not officially being out until Tuesday. I haven't gotten too far, but judging from what I've seen in streams, load times have been cut by about half. Still annoying, but it's definitely a noticeable improvement if you've seen the original load times.


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## Holla (Mar 22, 2021)

I’ll be curious to see what people here who get the game at launch think about it. 

I’m sticking to holding off on the game myself. If I am impressed with what they do with the game in the coming months than maybe I’ll buy the game.


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## Ace Marvel (Mar 22, 2021)

I went all in and will play tomorrow, I'm really optimistic. I'll update once I play for a while.


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## BlueOceana (Mar 23, 2021)

I will buy it myself but I'm not in a rush to get it, so hopefully they fix the issues by the time I buy it. I do know that they are adding more content that you will have to buy as dlc.


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## Ace Marvel (Mar 23, 2021)

Okay D3, so far I'm liking it.


Spoiler: NON PLOT RELATED SPOILERS



Pros:
I enjoy the music, the mechanics are simple and everything is easy to understand.
Loading times are not as bad (I'm playing off line)
Graphics I love
Although I identify as a CIS man, I was really happy that you can have a male or female frame and the game ask you for your pronouns regardless of your appearance. And all clothes are unisex. 

Cons:
Name 8 characters...
Buildings, Animals and farms 12 characters
Really missing the portraits
Makers, OMG!!! like a million makers and only being able to add one thing at a time is annoying. 
Even though is easy to understand, you have to do the action first or visit a place to know how to do something, so I might have missed something. 
10 stars quality, I think 5 is fine, 10 is too much



I recommend that if you are not dying to play it, remember each day can go up to 30 minutes. You wait until they fix some of the things like makers and portraits, or we get close to it, you should wait.

I also bought the Expansion pass so once it drop I will tell you about it. 

Sorry for the bad review I'm not good at this. lol


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## Holla (Mar 23, 2021)

I appreciate you sharing your thoughts @Ace Marvel I look forward to hearing more once you get further into the game/some updates drop.


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## Ossiran (Mar 23, 2021)

There are a ton of makers, yes. I'm not a fan of it. 

There's also way too many materials needed for things. Not to mention everything that clogs up your inventory. There's not enough space even with a fully upgraded bag when you have 4 tiers of logs and grass, for instance, which you in turn turn into 4 tiers of lumber and thread. That alone takes up 16 spaces, which you have to store in boxes because you won't have enough space for everything else.

That's probably my biggest gripe with the game.

Sprinklers are amazing, so glad they're back! It's really nice to create a large field of crops and not having to worry about watering it every day.


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## Ossiran (Mar 24, 2021)

So I've finished the first Spring.

Here's my progress (in no specific order):


Spoiler: Progress Report



-Everyone is at 1-3 hearts.
-Laura, my main target, is at 3 hearts.
-Unlocked 3 mines.
-Unlocked Barn and Coop with a cow, alpaca, chicken, and silkie chicken.
-12 Sprinklers I use to water my crops.
-Bag upgraded to max.
-Golden Hammer upgrade.
-All other tools at Silver.
-Upgraded to the Log Cabin from the Tent.
-Pet acquired (Husky).
-Bee Hive is nearly unlocked.
-10 Ingot Makers, 10 Lumber Makes, 2 Thread Makers, 4 Brick Makers, 1 of every other maker.
-Pump unlocked. Lake in second area fully drained.
-Mushroom Log unlocked.
-Beehive nearly unlocked (need a bit more Durable Lumber)
-All unlocked skills between level 2-8.
-Unlocked both the clothing store and aesthetician.
-Unlocked Sprite Village, Lava Caves, and Beanstalk Island with sprites at level 4-5.



My days are quite packed. 

At this point, I spend at least half of the day either mining, chopping trees,or looking for other resources (whichever I need materials more of). Usually I wind up in one of the mines every 2-3 days and chopping down trees the other. I just never have enough ingots and lumber when I need it.

My goal every day is make sure I don't run out of stamina and I'm in bed by 10 PM, since you wake up later depending on how late you stay up.


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## Jam86 (Mar 24, 2021)

ohh i forgot everyone else got the game, i'm in the UK so i gotta wait til the 26th


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## HappyTails (Mar 24, 2021)

Wait, that's available right now! I want!


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## snaily (Mar 24, 2021)

the only harvest moon/SoS game i ever played was a wonderful life (on the ps2) when i was a kid and i really loved it but none of the later games in the series ever really called out to me. i've been on the lookout though and for some reason this one caught my eye despite the seemingly mixed reviews so i'm gonna give it a chance!! i mostly see complaints about the visuals and how it plays but i personally think it looks cute and it seems like they're gonna patch out what caused the worst of the complaints sooo i don't really mind. i'm not going in with the highest expectations i just wanna grow some crops, cuddle some cows nd marry a cute girl. the essence of farming sims

definitely interested to see how everyone else gets on with it now that it's out in the US!!


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## mirukushake (Mar 24, 2021)

I'm honestly kind of surprised how forgiving people are being of the game so far. My opinion definitely falls on Japanese fans' side of the spectrum. I could see having the 1.0.3 from the get-go definitely causing a more positive reaction than the mess the Japanese had on release. Even ignoring dialogue differences, there seems to be a huge gap in tolerance for performance problems, gameplay balance, willingness to wait for fixes after release, etc. I wonder why?


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## Ossiran (Mar 25, 2021)

mirukushake said:


> I'm honestly kind of surprised how forgiving people are being of the game so far. My opinion definitely falls on Japanese fans' side of the spectrum. I could see having the 1.0.3 from the get-go definitely causing a more positive reaction than the mess the Japanese had on release. Even ignoring dialogue differences, there seems to be a huge gap in tolerance for performance problems, gameplay balance, willingness to wait for fixes after release, etc. I wonder why?


I'm enjoying the game, but there are definitely some unforgivable things. Having 1.0.3 definitely makes things more bearable. Load times are much less of a problem, though still a tad bit long. 

Balance is definitely off, as certain things are worth way more than they should be while some things are virtually worthless. The amount of makers needed is ridiculous when taking into account the material cost for some buildings and items. And it's super annoying having to constantly run to my storage box to make room so I can forage. The festivals in this game are boring compared to other games too.

It's still better than the current Natsume Harvest Moon games, but people have been spoiled by games Stardew Valley that it feels odd to have to bother with some of the problems.


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## Ace Marvel (Mar 25, 2021)

Day 15 update
Nothing like SOS ToTT and I'm discovering a lot of things, like cooked items are worth less than the raw components, and the quality of things that I mention before, but I'm already getting 4 star (out of 10) stuff.
The festival was meh, won't lie about it.
Loading times are okay, maybe a little low to today's standard, but since I've been playing this since the SNES, I think Im used to? I remember that ToT took forever on the wii. 

So far I think I have made a lot of achievements and I don't feel stuck. I'm trying to get more stamina, because it runs out fast. 
There can be improvements, sure, but is a good game.

	Post automatically merged: Mar 25, 2021



mirukushake said:


> I'm honestly kind of surprised how forgiving people are being of the game so far. My opinion definitely falls on Japanese fans' side of the spectrum. I could see having the 1.0.3 from the get-go definitely causing a more positive reaction than the mess the Japanese had on release. Even ignoring dialogue differences, there seems to be a huge gap in tolerance for performance problems, gameplay balance, willingness to wait for fixes after release, etc. I wonder why?


 I don't feel it's that bad, maybe is because (total expectation) in Japan, this game has been the norm, and we can compare it to other games, like "Harvest Moon", that to my understanding is. not that big over there. So the reception there was harsher, also we didn't experience the launch problems.


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## HappyTails (Mar 25, 2021)

Well I bought the game yesterday and started playing last night. The first thing I did notice is the pretty advance character customization.
It's standard farming sim and I did notice that it does have some Animal Crossing elements to it, like starting off in a tent.

However, I don't like the fact that a lot of things are easily unlocked at the beginning, like the mine, which is right on the farm and you are able to access it right away with no challenge. Same with the fishing rod. And you already have a free chicken on your farm and able to easily tame it with the coop you don't really have to do much to fix up. It seems like everything you should have to work for is just handed to you at the beginning, including having a pet, after one house upgrade with is also easy to get. So far still on fence, wouldn't say I dislike the game but I wouldn't say I'm at the 'omg I am so glad I bought this awesome game. it's so amazing' stage either.


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## mirukushake (Mar 25, 2021)

I'm not saying that the underlying game is _bad_ but there are so many problems that show up so early in the game that there is absolutely no way they couldn't have been caught even in the laziest of play tests, and the problems only get worse. Things were obviously cut from the game. So, whether because of time, money, or management, the developers chose to ship out an unfinished/unpolished game at full price.

Japanese fans felt this was unacceptable, and told them so, and general consensus seems to be "do your best, but I'm not yet convinced to give any more of my time and money to this game and a team that decided this was okay." When people ask if they should buy the game, they say it's incomplete and direct people to RF4S or Trio of Towns (the used priced of 3oT here is now almost the same as PoOT here because of it). But so far on English forums I've seen a lot of "well, just buy the DLC if you want a bigger map", "I'm sure they'll overhaul the whole camera system/add portraits",  "I didn't experience bugs in my 3 hours of play so reviewers were being overdramatic/misleading/lying", calling legitimate complaints "nitpicking", things like that. It's just kind of a weird disconnect.


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## Bekaa (Mar 25, 2021)

I started playing SOS today, and so far I am pleased, but not blown away. It’s so much like animal Crossing and stardew valley, that I’m almost disappointed; however, I’m also catching on to things very quickly with the game. Like animal crossing and stardew valley it’s very addictive. Animal crossing is still my number one game, because the characters are so refreshing and engaging. Whereas with SOS and stardew valley the characters seem to be rather robotic. But, this is my first day with the game it will be interesting to see how it evolves


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## Ossiran (Mar 25, 2021)

HappyTails said:


> However, I don't like the fact that a lot of things are easily unlocked at the beginning, like the mine, which is right on the farm and you are able to access it right away with no challenge.



There's more than one mine, and the first mine is virtually worthless once you get your farm going. It's really only there so you aren't gridlocked at the start due to a lack of Iron Ore. Iron Ingots are extremely important for progressing early in the game. Not that the other mines are hard to unlock either, but there's a reason the first one is right there. It only has 10 Floors as well and no dangers.

The other mines offer more floors, more and better material, and increased dangers that can sap your stamina.


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## HappyTails (Mar 25, 2021)

Ossiran said:


> There's more than one mine, and the first mine if virtually worthless once you get your farm going. It's really only there so you aren't gridlocked at the start due to a lack of Iron Ore. Iron Ingots are extremely important for progressing early in the game. Not that the other mines are hard to unlock either, but there's a reason the first one is right there. It only has 10 Floors as well and no dangers.
> 
> The other mines offer more floors, more and better material, and increased dangers that can sap your stamina.



Oh. Okay I get it. Should have known. Just way too easy to unlock. XD


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## Ossiran (Mar 26, 2021)

Finally got play some more and finished the first week of summer. At this point I've unlocked almost every location and building. I still need to unlock:


Spoiler



-Seasonal Locations (Need 15 more followers)
-Hydroculture Plant (This one is rather difficult to unlock due to the materials required)
-Ancient Lake (Need to finish draining the second lake)
-Stonebreaker Valley (Almost have high enough mining)



I've increased my stamina a few times and upgraded my farm fields too.

It is pretty east to unlock major features, which is kind of disappointing. The big things seems to the Hydroculture Plant and the late-stage housing upgrades. The last housing upgrade, especially, will take a long, long time. Final Tool upgrades also take a good, long while.

I've been having fun with the game, but it does feel a bit too easy compared to other titles. I feel like it should be at least the middle of the first autumn to get as far as I have now with the pace I'm going. And I'm pacing myself fairly casually.


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## Bekaa (Mar 26, 2021)

Only by reading others posts do I now realize there even was a previous SOS and a harvest moon, etc. LOL. Can someone fill me in on the pros and cons of going with the relaxed mode versus the normal mode? I played pretty much all day yesterday on the normal mode, and I did enjoy it, however, I would like things to move along a little more quickly. For me, Im playing purely to relax and escape. I don’t wanna have to work too hard! But, I want to know if there’s going to be some drawback to go in with the relaxed mode. Also, I’m assuming you can’t change from one to the other as part of the same game, right? That you’d have to start a new game.


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## Jam86 (Mar 26, 2021)

i've been playing for a while now and so far the game is amazing 
i'm bummed that i gotta wait for the DLC outfits, i didn't read the description and thought they were instantly avaliable but oh well, it's still really fun


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## Ossiran (Mar 26, 2021)

Bekaa said:


> Only by reading others posts do I now realize there even was a previous SOS and a harvest moon, etc. LOL. Can someone fill me in on the pros and cons of going with the relaxed mode versus the normal mode? I played pretty much all day yesterday on the normal mode, and I did enjoy it, however, I would like things to move along a little more quickly. For me, Im playing purely to relax and escape. I don’t wanna have to work too hard! But, I want to know if there’s going to be some drawback to go in with the relaxed mode. Also, I’m assuming you can’t change from one to the other as part of the same game, right? That you’d have to start a new game.



After "Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning", Marvelous switched to in-house localization with their US branch, Xseed. However, natsume refused to give up the Harvest Moon name, so the localized name switched "Story of Seasons". So every Harvest Moon after "A New Beginning" is a pale imitation and the "Story of Seasons" games are the true follow-ups. Natsume's game are passable to decent now, but they're not usually as good.

To answer your question: Relaxed mode gives you more gold for shipping and a slight boost to friendship levels, and make you consume slightly less stamina. You can switch between the two modes at any time and there's no penalty for choosing "Seedling Mode". Nothing is cut off from you. So it's more less a question of how much time you want to spend playing the game. However, if you choose normal mode, the bonuses you are missing will likely become irrelevant after a couple in-game weeks.


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## Lady Timpani (Mar 26, 2021)

I've been waffling since release since so many people think it's better than expected, but one common complaint is the social sim aspect, which is probably the biggest reason I even play the games lol (don't get me wrong, I enjoy the farming, but). 


mirukushake said:


> I'm not saying that the underlying game is _bad_ but there are so many problems that show up so early in the game that there is absolutely no way they couldn't have been caught even in the laziest of play tests, and the problems only get worse. Things were obviously cut from the game. So, whether because of time, money, or management, the developers chose to ship out an unfinished/unpolished game at full price.
> 
> Japanese fans felt this was unacceptable, and told them so, and general consensus seems to be "do your best, but I'm not yet convinced to give any more of my time and money to this game and a team that decided this was okay." When people ask if they should buy the game, they say it's incomplete and direct people to RF4S or Trio of Towns (the used priced of 3oT here is now almost the same as PoOT here because of it). But so far on English forums I've seen a lot of "well, just buy the DLC if you want a bigger map", "I'm sure they'll overhaul the whole camera system/add portraits",  "I didn't experience bugs in my 3 hours of play so reviewers were being overdramatic/misleading/lying", calling legitimate complaints "nitpicking", things like that. It's just kind of a weird disconnect.


I've noticed this a lot lately-- legitimate criticisms seem to be getting brushed aside as people whining/nitpicking. I get it can be frustrating to enjoy something and see people hating on it, but I also think there should be room to say when things aren't working/going well, so long as you're being respectful. I feel like a lot of people have tried to turn away from the toxic negativity you can see in online spaces for video games and the like, but they also don't want _anything _bad to be said, so you wind up with this.


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## Ace Marvel (Mar 26, 2021)

Ossiran said:


> Finally got play some more and finished the first week of summer. At this point I've unlocked almost every location and building. I still need to unlock:
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...



I'm one week behind, but I will agree about it, everything is really easy to unlock, but the "endgame" seems to have a spike in difficulty, because those damn makers lol


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## Ossiran (Mar 26, 2021)

Lady Timpani said:


> I've noticed this a lot lately-- legitimate criticisms seem to be getting brushed aside as people whining/nitpicking.


A more common sentiment I've seen from westerners is more "The complaints and criiticisms are all completely legitimate and founded, but they are a bit overblown." So it's less that westerners are being forgiving and more like they're trying to stop people from making it seem like it's unplayable garbage. Although, to be fair, we're all starting on the 1.0.3 patch. The game definitely has A LOT of faults that I'm hoping are all addressed. I'm enjoying it, but I don't blame anyone for disliking it.


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## mogyay (Mar 27, 2021)

i've only played it for 24 hours but i've already decided i'm gonna dig up my trio of towns and play that instead, take that as u will lol

the lack of character portraits rly disturbs me, esp since i can't even see the character i'm talking to half the time


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## Lady Timpani (Mar 27, 2021)

Ossiran said:


> A more common sentiment I've seen from westerners is more "The complaints and criiticisms are all completely legitimate and founded, but they are a bit overblown." So it's less that westerners are being forgiving and more like they're trying to stop people from making it seem like it's unplayable garbage. Although, to be fair, we're all starting on the 1.0.3 patch. The game definitely has A LOT of faults that I'm hoping are all addressed. I'm enjoying it, but I don't blame anyone for disliking it.


Yeah, I agree some of the reactions were totally over the top. The review bombing was uncalled for, and I heard the new director wiped his Twitter-- whether it was to avoid harassment or what, I'm not sure, but it's not something I'd say is good. :/ I just don't feel like spending the time or money right now on something that I don't think I'll like in its current state, which I don't think is really nitpicking. I _am _glad there are people who are enjoying it, though, regardless of what others think.


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## Bekaa (Mar 27, 2021)

I am really enjoying it! I am in about 10 hours now, and I am pleased and glad I bought it. The longer I play the more complex it gets, and the more that I can see that a person can go in a lot of different directions with it. For example, you can focus on the social aspect, or the mining or the sprites. Taking photos is fun, too! All in all, it’s a great game, and I recommend it.


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## Licorice (Mar 27, 2021)

After some of the recent posts from you guys I’ve decided to buy it next week. Probably going to buy it off amazon for that bundle with the buffalo plush.


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## Bekaa (Mar 28, 2021)

Has anybody figured out what materials go in the textile maker?


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## Jam86 (Mar 28, 2021)

Bekaa said:


> Has anybody figured out what materials go in the textile maker?


i think that's the one u put animal wool in to make cloth
either that or thread, sorry i might be getting mixed up lol


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## Ossiran (Mar 28, 2021)

Bekaa said:


> Has anybody figured out what materials go in the textile maker?


There are two types of makers for this:
Cloth Maker = Turns animal wool (sheep/alpaca) into various cloths.
Textile Maker = Turns thread into various different cloths. 
To make thread, you need to use the thread maker to turn grass into thread.


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## Ossiran (Mar 29, 2021)

So I encountered my first and only crash (soft crash, anyway) in the third mine. It was near the very end of my day on a very busy day, so I lost a bit of progress from that one and had to do it again. Annoying, but fortunately it was only one day.

At this point I'm almost done with summer.

I unlocked Stonebreaker Valley. Orichalcum is so rare it's not often worth it to go to the mine for that, so the valley helps. At least I'm guaranteed Mirage Lumber in the fields, even if it takes so long to farm it. I'll need a lot of both, so this is where the real grind starts and it'll take a good while.


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## 0ni (Mar 29, 2021)

I've been interested in this game - do y'all recommend it? I've seen a mixed response to it but it seems like the kind of game I enjoy. I like games like Stardew, and I have played Harvest Moon games in the past (haven't touched it since DS days though lol) - How does this stack up in comparison to it's past titles in the series?

With these kinds of games my favourite part is the character customisation, and interacting with townsfolk. I'm actually a pretty lousy farmer.

tbh, I should maybe wait for it to drop it price first.


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## Ossiran (Mar 29, 2021)

Eiji said:


> I've been interested in this game - do y'all recommend it? I've seen a mixed response to it but it seems like the kind of game I enjoy. I like games like Stardew, and I have played Harvest Moon games in the past (haven't touched it since DS days though lol) - How does this stack up in comparison to it's past titles in the series?
> 
> With these kinds of games my favourite part is the character customisation, and interacting with townsfolk. I'm actually a pretty lousy farmer.
> 
> tbh, I should maybe wait for it to drop it price first.



There's quite a bit of character customization compared to past titles, but the NPC dialogue is among the weaker entries. Definitely not the worst, but outside of some of the cutscenes it's fairly generic. The story isn't really all that interesting compared to other titles.

Stardew Valley has had a ton of features added over the years, so PoOT will definitely feel lacking in certain areas by comparison.

I think the biggest drawback to PoOT is the makers, though. It artificially hinders progression and they just take up so much space.

As for some positive points, the farm allows for a variety of customization similar to Animal Crossing, though obviously you don't have things like terraforming and the ability to move your own home (other buildings can be moved). Another feature is that shops actually remain open on typhoon/blizzard days (though almost everyone stays inside). In ToT, you could finally go outside during them, but shops were closed. The museum adds a bit more to do and the camera is fun to use at times.

If you're a HM/SoS fan who wants something new, PoOT is a good game. However, there are definitely better games out there if you're new or haven't played the series in a while. Friends of Mineral Town is a much better game with what feels like a lot more to do. Trio of Towns too if you wanna play on 3DS. Those two games may be better choices if you haven't played since the DS days.

Once more patches hit and the DLC is released, PoOT may change.

I do recommend the game as a whole to play, but it may be better to wait. As I've said before, I'm definitely enjoying the game, but given the choice between PoOT and FoMT or ToT, I'd probably recommend playing one of the latter titles first and moving on to PoOT once you've gotten your fill of those.


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## 0ni (Mar 29, 2021)

Ossiran said:


> There's quite a bit of character customization compared to past titles, but the NPC dialogue is among the weaker entries. Definitely not the worst, but outside of some of the cutscenes it's fairly generic. The story isn't really all that interesting compared to other titles.
> 
> Stardew Valley has had a ton of features added over the years, so PoOT will definitely feel lacking in certain areas by comparison.
> 
> ...


Thanks for such a thorough response! This is amazing.

I think I will leave it for now. Let it go down in price, and get some patches under it's belt, then maybe I'll pick it up.

But good shout on going back to older titles, though. I didn't even think about that, but i'm actually intrigued now - will go and check prices ! I sank so many hours into Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life back in the day, and I guess the idea of getting back into a game like that appeals rn.

Thanks for the review - appreciated!


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## Burumun (Mar 30, 2021)

Eiji said:


> I've been interested in this game - do y'all recommend it? I've seen a mixed response to it but it seems like the kind of game I enjoy. I like games like Stardew, and I have played Harvest Moon games in the past (haven't touched it since DS days though lol) - How does this stack up in comparison to it's past titles in the series?
> 
> With these kinds of games my favourite part is the character customisation, and interacting with townsfolk. I'm actually a pretty lousy farmer.
> 
> tbh, I should maybe wait for it to drop it price first.


I agree with most of what Ossiran said, at least as a longtime HM/SoS fan who's still waiting on the patches before I buy PoOT. 3oT is one of the strongest entries when it comes to customization and fleshed-out townspeople, so I'd definitely recommend that instead. FoMT isn't bad, but personally, I still can't really get over the chibi art - if that's not a problem for you, then that's also an option. 

As for the problems mentioned when it comes to PoOT, the devs have already announced at least one more patch to fix some of the gameplay problems, like the makers and dialogue, as well as the usual bug fixes. The next patch should be released mid-April, so I'd check back then to see if it's worth buying with the changes.


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## 5cm/s (Mar 30, 2021)

i literally JUST bought this game and it's downloading at the moment- i did see a lot of the conversation about how PoOT (i still think it's so funny that it's "poot") has lots of problems and people want updates from the devs, but tbh i have never played a SoS (or Harvest Moon) game (i've only ever played Stardew) and I'm very excited. i think i'll honestly really like it a lot because i don't have much to compare it with and it looks cute (which i'm a sucker for).


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## Licorice (Mar 31, 2021)

My order has officially been placed online for this game. I’m so excited to play it!! I’m glad they went back to the old design for the cows. The cows are so iconic and these were ugly af:


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## HopeForHyrule (Apr 3, 2021)

I'm downloading the game at the moment (with the expansion pass) because I need the pick-me-up, and it looks like the right level of cuteness I need.

Fingers crossed it doesn't disappoint!


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## Neb (Apr 3, 2021)

So far I find the game to be rather enjoyable! My only complaints are the slow movement speed and NPCs. They’re just not that interesting outside of their designs.


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## jeni (Apr 4, 2021)

after playing for a bit i don't regret giving this game a chance! definitely agree that the most noticeable issues are the frame rate drops and the lacklustre everyday dialogue, but the fun cutscenes make up for that imo. i've almost finished year one and it feels like i've unlocked most things so we'll see if it keeps me interested in year two. 

this game is probably good for people that like decorating their AC towns, i could happily spend the rest of the game just making my farm pretty


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## JellyBeans (Apr 4, 2021)

I'm so thankful this thread exists because having read everyone's reviews on it I don't feel as bad putting off buying it lmao. as cute as it seems I think I can safely afford to wait a couple of months and be totally done with school before starting playing! or even better wait for some kind of sale but that seems unlikely early on


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## Foreverfox (Apr 5, 2021)

I got the premium edition pack with the little plushie and cloth poster! They're so cute! I'll probably start playing it tonight or tomorrow.


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## Furrton (Apr 5, 2021)

I had to get my HM fix somehow recently so broke down and got SDV. Kind of sad I didn't wait. The last one I played was Tale of Two Towns which I loved. It looks like it got bad ratings... I remember hauling absolute butt to the other town or the shrine between towns constantly 

With SDV... I liked the roguelike thing they had going on with the mines...maybe this new Harvest Moon (POOT? Seriously?!) will have some minigames. I have been wondering what the Harvest Moon people were going to do since SDV kind of stole their steam...I feel like playing this would be too repetitive. (Someone please advise!!!)

Which makes me sad because I really want to download it but can't justify doing so. Someone convince me!!! Can I be a ferret character? Can I wear a waistbag? Can I grow lychee? Can I grow a beard? I am desperate for an excuse!


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## Burumun (Apr 6, 2021)

Furrton said:


> I had to get my HM fix somehow recently so broke down and got SDV. Kind of sad I didn't wait. The last one I played was Tale of Two Towns which I loved. It looks like it got bad ratings... I remember hauling absolute butt to the other town or the shrine between towns constantly
> 
> With SDV... I liked the roguelike thing they had going on with the mines...maybe this new Harvest Moon (POOT? Seriously?!) will have some minigames. I have been wondering what the Harvest Moon people were going to do since SDV kind of stole their steam...I feel like playing this would be too repetitive. (Someone please advise!!!)
> 
> Which makes me sad because I really want to download it but can't justify doing so. Someone convince me!!! Can I be a ferret character? Can I wear a waistbag? Can I grow lychee? Can I grow a beard? I am desperate for an excuse!


If you just got SDV, I'd stick with that for now, TBH. PoOT got pretty bad reviews in Japan, so bad that not only did they promise bug patches, but also changes to the gameplay and additional dialogue in order to bring it up to people's standards. It's especially laughable when you consider SDV costs €14, and has had multiple free updates throughout the years, the latest of which seems to have added a ton of new content, while PoOT costs €50, and you can shell out another €20 for the planned DLC. 

The latest of the patches did come out in Japan today, but from the patch notes, I'd wait until at least 1.0.5. I don't think you can do any of the things you listed anyway, lol. 

(And for as critical as I am, I'm almost definitely going to get it... eventually. Between RL stress and the issues I mentioned, though, I felt it'd be best to wait.)


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## Licorice (Apr 6, 2021)

Just started playing yesterday and I have some questions hopefully someone can answer.

Do friendship points deplete over time if I don’t talk to someone? For example if I have 2 hearts with someone and I don’t talk to them for awhile will my hearts deplete?

Is there more than one sprinkler? Should I go ahead and invest in the sprinklers or is there an upgraded version later on? I don’t want to waste my money if there is.


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## jeni (Apr 6, 2021)

Licorice said:


> Just started playing yesterday and I have some questions hopefully someone can answer.
> 
> Do friendship points deplete over time if I don’t talk to someone? For example if I have 2 hearts with someone and I don’t talk to them for awhile will my hearts deplete?
> 
> Is there more than one sprinkler? Should I go ahead and invest in the sprinklers or is there an upgraded version later on? I don’t want to waste my money if there is.


i try to talk to everyone every day so i can't answer your first question but you do get a better sprinkler later on. to be honest though the watering can upgrades make it pretty speedy to water crops so i only just started using sprinklers, i suppose it depends how much you wanna grow and whether you like watering crops or not


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## Licorice (Apr 6, 2021)

jeni said:


> i try to talk to everyone every day so i can't answer your first question but you do get a better sprinkler later on. to be honest though the watering can upgrades make it pretty speedy to water crops so i only just started using sprinklers, i suppose it depends how much you wanna grow and whether you like watering crops or not


I’d like to grow a ton of crops so do you think upgrading my watering can would suffice?


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## jeni (Apr 6, 2021)

Licorice said:


> I’d like to grow a ton of crops so do you think upgrading my watering can would suffice?


sprinklers are probably worth it if you're planning on going all out - iirc the gold watering can water 9 squares but the better sprinkler automatically waters 2 squares in every direction around it (24 squares??) every morning

obviously small fields would only take a couple of minutes with the can but if you're covering a lot of land and you don't wanna spend the time/stamina then it'll make a big difference!


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## Bulbadragon (Apr 6, 2021)

I'm really glad this thread was made because I really like seeing everyone's opinions as they play through the game. I've decided I will get the game, because even though I'm a huge Stardew fan, I still love a good HM/SOS game when I'm in the mood. I'm playing FOMT still, so I'll hold off on PoOt until I'm finished with that one. 

I am glad that the game is still fun to play though, because those initial reviews had me worried.


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## Holla (Apr 6, 2021)

Here’s some promising sounding updates:








						STORY OF SEASONS: Pioneers of Olive Town Version 1.0.4 Notes – XSEED Games
					

Patch 1.0.4 for STORY OF SEASONS: Pioneers of Olive Town is now live! We also have more information about the upcoming Patch 1.0.5. Patch 1.0.4 further optimizes the game to improve loading times, which many players have expressed concern about. This will cause the load time when launching the...



					www.xseedgames.com
				




I’m still going to hold off on buying the game until most/all updates are out as well as DLC. Just to be sure they deliver on their promises before I send them my money.


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## Ossiran (Apr 8, 2021)

The upcoming updates certainly do look promising.


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## Licorice (Apr 10, 2021)

I’m only in summer of the first year and I have a few questions hopefully someone can answer for me.

1. Is there an easier way to fill the barn with fodder than taking it out of the silo manually?
2. Will the suction pump work on that huge pond too? (The one by the silo)
3. Do I have to plant fodder outside for my animals? If so, will it die in winter?


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## jeni (Apr 11, 2021)

Licorice said:


> I’m only in summer of the first year and I have a few questions hopefully someone can answer for me.
> 
> 1. Is there an easier way to fill the barn with fodder than taking it out of the silo manually?
> 2. Will the suction pump work on that huge pond too? (The one by the silo)
> 3. Do I have to plant fodder outside for my animals? If so, will it die in winter?



there could be a better way to do these things but here's what i've been doing

1. at the beginning it might just be easier to have some fodder in your inventory so you can refill the barn at any time. you can eventually craft an automatic fodder dispenser that takes from the silo
2. yep, you can use the suction pump on the big ponds, but it takes a few days with just one so you'll need a bit more coal from mining. you could craft more to get it done faster
3. i believe animals just graze outside regardless of whether you plant fodder or not. planting it is just convenient so you don't have to keep buying it from the store. it does die in winter, though, so stock up!


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## Shawna (Apr 11, 2021)

Got the game the day before Easter.  I am really enjoying it so far.


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## Ossiran (Apr 12, 2021)

Licorice said:


> I’m only in summer of the first year and I have a few questions hopefully someone can answer for me.
> 
> 1. Is there an easier way to fill the barn with fodder than taking it out of the silo manually?
> 2. Will the suction pump work on that huge pond too? (The one by the silo)
> 3. Do I have to plant fodder outside for my animals? If so, will it die in winter?



1. Once you get your Animal Caretaking level up a bit, you'll be able to build an item so you don't have to run out to the silo to get fodder.
2. Yes. The suction pump is pretty much needed to drain the lakes. If you drain both of them, you'll unlock a new location once they fill back up with pure water.
3. Only if you want to make your own fodder instead of buying it. Yes, it does die in winter. And in this game you do have to water it.


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## Autumn247 (Apr 15, 2021)

I bought this game when it came out, I really enjoy it.  I think there's some issues with it but hopefully future updates help.  I bought/downloaded the expansion pass, I can't wait till all of that content is released over time


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## Burumun (May 24, 2021)

1.0.5 finally came out in Japan today! Not sure how long it'll take for everyone else to get the update, but I think I'll go ahead and finally get the game this week, then start playing once it's out here.


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## AlyssaAC (May 26, 2021)

Can someone help me with something? Is the version 1.0.5 out in the US? If it is, I can’t seem to download it. I tried deleting the software and reinstalling it, but it only goes up to 1.0.4, which was the update before...


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## mirukushake (May 26, 2021)

Rosered22 said:


> Can someone help me with something? Is the version 1.0.5 out in the US? If it is, I can’t seem to download it. I tried deleting the software and reinstalling it, but it only goes up to 1.0.4, which was the update before...



It's only available in Japan.


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## AlyssaAC (May 26, 2021)

mirukushake said:


> It's only available in Japan.



Ok, thank you. I wasn’t sure if it was out or not.


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## Holla (Jun 21, 2021)

Anyone have more thoughts on this game? I see it’s 20% off (30% off the dlc bundle) on the eshop right now.

Even with the sale I’m still hesitant to buy it. The DLC sounds uninspired and even with Japan having the “big” update already I keep hearing that they are still disappointed with the dialogue in this game.


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## Peach_Jam (Jun 21, 2021)

I'm still enjoying the game as a whole, though I have paused for a bit just until the big update drops for us. 

I think overall this game was released prematurely. It might have to do with the new director or new console or maybe something else. The windswept falls DLC was a bit disappointing because besides adding in Neil and Felicia as marriage candidates, there's nothing to do in the new area. Still don't know about the next few DLCs, but hopefully they're better.

Again, I still think it's a really fun game, I'm just not enjoying it as much as previous games (HM: ANB, SoS, SoS:ToT).


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## Foreverfox (Jun 21, 2021)

This is my first game of the series and I'm having a hard time getting into it. It just seems so slow to me. I don't know if it gets better the more you advance, but I don't play it much. I just picked up Rune Factory 4 on the otherhand, and I'm totally into that. I'm curious to hear other opinions on Pioneers of Olive Town.


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## Holla (Jun 21, 2021)

Peach_Jam said:


> I'm still enjoying the game as a whole, though I have paused for a bit just until the big update drops for us.
> 
> I think overall this game was released prematurely. It might have to do with the new director or new console or maybe something else. The windswept falls DLC was a bit disappointing because besides adding in Neil and Felicia as marriage candidates, there's nothing to do in the new area. Still don't know about the next few DLCs, but hopefully they're better.
> 
> Again, I still think it's a really fun game, I'm just not enjoying it as much as previous games (HM: ANB, SoS, SoS:ToT).



Thanks for your input. I will probably still hold off on the game despite the sale then. Even if I do end up getting the game down the road after some nice updates come out I don't really see myself getting the DLC if it's basically just more of what you're saying the first part is. Doesn't sound like the DLC is worth the $25 (in my country) to me.

I also still have Rune Factory 4 and SOS Friends of Mineral Town I haven't had time to finish so I still have other games I can play in the meantime.


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## vanivon (Jun 22, 2021)

i got PoOT during the E3 sale and i’m waiting for the 1.05 update to drop before i play more than an ingame week of it, but i definitely agree with the consensus that it’s a really fun game, but not their best. i definitely think it was released early & have complaints about the DLC (the areas are ridiculously barren + it would’ve been better if they just had the characters visit town instead of throw them into these little isolated areas, the fact it’s 20$ full price essentially just for the cameo candidates, something former games used to include for free, etc. etc.) 

i think with the update the dialogue should be fine since XSEED mentioned it was something their localisation team was very excited about and they’re very good with dialogue + a friend who’s played more than me says the heart event dialogue is fantastic & it’s just the everyday dialogue that falls flat, but it’s definitely a mixed bag. don’t think I’d recommend it to new fans of the series, but if you’ve played multiple bokumono games and liked them it’s worth a(n enjoyable) try 

one complaint i will make though very openly not related to the dlc is that I hate the fishing. it crushes me bc I LOVE fishing minigames but I can’t stand the fishing mechanic and even when following the instructions exactly, even the easiest of fish get away from me 90% of the time because they take so long to catch 0/10 

	Post automatically merged: Jun 22, 2021



Foreverfox said:


> This is my first game of the series and I'm having a hard time getting into it. It just seems so slow to me. I don't know if it gets better the more you advance, but I don't play it much. I just picked up Rune Factory 4 on the otherhand, and I'm totally into that. I'm curious to hear other opinions on Pioneers of Olive Town.


oh if it’s your first and you’re having a hard time with it I DEFINITELY recommend trying a different SOS game, maybe one of the older ones since the newer ones tend to start really slow because of tutorials  they pick up quickly enough if you keep playing, but if it’s slow to you, you might wanna look into another one to try. glad you’re enjoying RF4 though! it’s hard to feel like a RF game is going slowly because you have the combat to pursue when you’re not focusing on farming


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## Foreverfox (Jun 22, 2021)

vanivon said:


> i got PoOT during the E3 sale and i’m waiting for the 1.05 update to drop before i play more than an ingame week of it, but i definitely agree with the consensus that it’s a really fun game, but not their best. i definitely think it was released early & have complaints about the DLC (the areas are ridiculously barren + it would’ve been better if they just had the characters visit town instead of throw them into these little isolated areas, the fact it’s 20$ full price essentially just for the cameo candidates, something former games used to include for free, etc. etc.)
> 
> i think with the update the dialogue should be fine since XSEED mentioned it was something their localisation team was very excited about and they’re very good with dialogue + a friend who’s played more than me says the heart event dialogue is fantastic & it’s just the everyday dialogue that falls flat, but it’s definitely a mixed bag. don’t think I’d recommend it to new fans of the series, but if you’ve played multiple bokumono games and liked them it’s worth a(n enjoyable) try
> 
> ...


Thanks for the suggestion! I was considering getting an older title, but was concerned I'd experience the same thing. I'll give it a shot!


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## Peach_Jam (Jun 24, 2021)

I still enjoy the game, just bothered by some things.


Spoiler: Random complaints. Feel free to ignore



- I really really really miss character portraits. I miss being able to see the characters expression change depending on the dialogue. I'd rather have character portraits than character voices (most of the voices aren't good and don't even match what I imagine them to sound like)

- The "big" 1.0.5 update doesn't fix the makers problem imo. All it's doing is letting you increase the amount of items you can make in each, but it doesn't make it any faster from what I've seen. The biggest issue for me is that there's SO MANY makers (22 total). SoS had just 6 makers total. SoS:ToT had just 10 makers total. It was so much more organized and concise. For example, instead of having a Cheese Maker, Yogurt Maker, and Butter Maker, you would just have a Dairy Factory. On top of that, previous games listed all the items you could make including the materials needed and how many of each to make said item. In PoOT on the other hand, you have to guess/ look up online what exactly you're making since it's not labeled and figure out what else it can make. 22 makers also takes up so much damn space.

- Why did they have to make cooking use up so much time? I know the update adjusts it slightly but it's still ridiculous since it wasn't in previous games (at least I don't think it was).

- Wanting to relocate barnes, coops, and storage boxes. I miss having the storage box in your house, along with a tool box. I miss the designer mode that allowed you to move things with ease without having to manually input all the items back in. It's almost like they were trying to make this game annoying for us.

That's pretty much it. Might add more if I think of anything else. Just needed to vent since I love this series so much but was shocked at so many things. I just....don't understand the thought process behind so many choices they've made with this game. I can't think of a single thing they've made more convenient in this game compared to the others, besides maybe bulk tree chopping/rock smashing. Both of which I don't remember being that big of an issue anyway.


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## Peach_Jam (Jun 25, 2021)

The 1.0.5 update is dropping tomorrow, June 26th.


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## Moritz (Jun 25, 2021)

Peach_Jam said:


> The 1.0.5 update is dropping tomorrow, June 26th.


I'm in England and we have the update 
I've not tried it yet.

Torn between trying to remember exactly where I was and starting over from the beginning


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## Autumn247 (Jun 28, 2021)

The dialogue is much better since the update


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## mogyay (Jun 29, 2021)

i bought this game on release and still haven't played it, i'm just super sad about no character portraits lol.. has anyone played trio of towns? that's probably been my favourite story game (it's not perfect but i defo enjoyed it), will it hold up to that? if so then i'll probably give it a chance


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## vanivon (Jun 29, 2021)

mogyay said:


> i bought this game on release and still haven't played it, i'm just super sad about no character portraits lol.. has anyone played trio of towns? that's probably been my favourite story game (it's not perfect but i defo enjoyed it), will it hold up to that? if so then i'll probably give it a chance


in all fairness with the portraits, i don't think a console bokumono game has had those since... hm64?   which is probably why PoOT doesn't have them. definitely get it though, since the models don't look the best. god i miss the animal parade models honestly i think you should give it a chance no matter what since you bought it, just to test it out (it's surprisingly a lot of fun gameplay-wise!), but from what i remember of 3T it doesn't play very close to it if that's very specifically what you're looking for.


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## Holla (Jul 2, 2021)

For those who have the game and have played since the 1.0.5 update dropped, what's your opinion on the game now? Are makers less annoying to use? Also is the character dialogue much more interesting?

I'm still on the fence on buying this game but I'm curious to hear about how much this patch has fixed things. I know there's even more in store for the future 1.0.6 patch as well. 

The DLC on the other hand is still any easy pass for me personally.


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## vanivon (Jul 2, 2021)

Holla said:


> For those who have the game and have played since the 1.0.5 update dropped, what's your opinion on the game now? Are makers less annoying to use? Also is the character dialogue much more interesting?
> 
> I'm still on the fence on buying this game but I'm curious to hear about how much this patch has fixed things. I know there's even more in store for the future 1.0.6 patch as well.
> 
> The DLC on the other hand is still any easy pass for me personally.


for me personally, i think 1.0.5 definitely helped — the basic dialogue update was just for the marriage candidates I think (for now, anyway), but it made talking to them daily a lot less tedious. using Bridget as an example because i couldn’t _stand_ talking to her pre-1.0.5 since she got hit what I think is potentially the hardest w/ the limited dialogue, i think she’s tolerable to drop by and say hi to every day. no more Hello. Hello. Hi. Do you like animals? Do you like animals? Hello. Do you like animals? The animals wake up early, so I do too. from her

The makers are definitely still kind of tedious as a general thing just because they’re so NECESSARY especially for early game but being able to pre-load them instead of having to constantly grab your item and add more materials is definitely handy. all in all I do think the patches helped & the game is genuinely fun to play w them included! you might want to wait until 1.0.6 drops this month or is close though if you’re still on-the-fence, because 1.0.6 is supposed to add an actual mini game to the egg hunt (right now it’s just a cutscene....) and that festival shows up pretty early.


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## BluebearL (Jul 27, 2021)

I haven't actually ever played an entry in this series. I am aware of the company split a while back and I have heard that the series generally took a turn for the worse since then with the games being pretty medicore. Interested to hear from players with all of the updates, what do you guys think about this? Is the general consensus on the internet accurate? I would really love to give the game a go if it is any good.


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## vanivon (Jul 27, 2021)

BluebearL said:


> I haven't actually ever played an entry in this series. I am aware of the company split a while back and I have heard that the series generally took a turn for the worse since then with the games being pretty medicore. Interested to hear from players with all of the updates, what do you guys think about this? Is the general consensus on the internet accurate? I would really love to give the game a go if it is any good.


want to make a correction & it's that the company itself didn't split, the localizers did because marvelous, the parent company, switched to in-house localization using their NA team (XSEED) for future games, so the old localizer (Natsume) started making their own. the Natsume games are not good. also i don't think i'd call the games post-split mediocre by any means -- i liked sos1 & thought it was pretty solid, trio of towns is pretty much widely agreed to be a great game, & the mineral town remake was very true to the original...  but that aside, i think despite some still-existing criticisms that with the patches pioneers of olive town is genuinely a lot of fun & it has some really fun features to it. it also breaks a lot of classic series mechanics & formulas though so if you're looking to get into the series as a whole past this i'd keep that in mind


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## Corrie (Jul 27, 2021)

BluebearL said:


> I haven't actually ever played an entry in this series. I am aware of the company split a while back and I have heard that the series generally took a turn for the worse since then with the games being pretty medicore. Interested to hear from players with all of the updates, what do you guys think about this? Is the general consensus on the internet accurate? I would really love to give the game a go if it is any good.



Vanivon is correct. I wanted to add on that basically any of the new "Harvest Moon" games suck/are mediocre (Natsume games) while "Story of Seasons" are what you're looking for.


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## Autumn247 (Aug 5, 2021)

I'm still working on upgrading all my tools to gold.  And also trying to marry Reager


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## Corrie (Aug 5, 2021)

Guyssssss. Just bought this game and really loving it!! 

Does anyone know if you can buy saplings? A lot of the trees are in the way but if I squash them, I won't have as much wood supplies.


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## vanivon (Aug 5, 2021)

1.0.7 is out in japan and has been announced for NA! no idea about other regions, but the big thing for this one is that it adds extra expressions and a zoom-in mode for when you talk to people so you can actually like... see the expressions they make. 



Corrie said:


> Guyssssss. Just bought this game and really loving it!!
> 
> Does anyone know if you can buy saplings? A lot of the trees are in the way but if I squash them, I won't have as much wood supplies.


you can buy fruit tree saplings, but there's no need for regular trees because they constantly regrow around your farm even after you cut them down :0


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## Corrie (Aug 5, 2021)

vanivon said:


> 1.0.7 is out in japan and has been announced for NA! no idea about other regions, but the big thing for this one is that it adds extra expressions and a zoom-in mode for when you talk to people so you can actually like... see the expressions they make.
> 
> 
> you can buy fruit tree saplings, but there's no need for regular trees because they constantly regrow around your farm even after you cut them down :0


Wait so if you smush them, do they regrow elsewhere or are they permanently gone?


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## Autumn247 (Aug 6, 2021)

Corrie said:


> Wait so if you smush them, do they regrow elsewhere or are they permanently gone?



They grow back even if you get rid of them


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## Holla (Aug 27, 2021)

I heard there was another update recently? Just wondering if anyone’s opinion about the game (and dlc) has changed any.


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## Moritz (Sep 8, 2021)

Just started a new save after not playing for god knows how many months.
On my first save file I got married to Jack, and got as far as making the items for the last area.
But they required so much stuff I got bored.

I could have continued with that save, but I want to marry raeger (because duh), and I could never leave Jack like that!

I'm loving the changes they made to the game since launch.
The makers, the conversation, the chat cam.

Shame the DLC was worthless... but it did bring raeger


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## Holla (Sep 8, 2021)

Moritz said:


> Just started a new save after not playing for god knows how many months.
> On my first save file I got married to Jack, and got as far as making the items for the last area.
> But they required so much stuff I got bored.
> 
> ...



So the DLC isn't worth buying unless you plan on marrying one of the DLC exclusive candidates then? Just asking as I will likely buy the game during a good sale and I'd like to save money on the DLC if it really isn't worth it.

Actually it looks like the game got what appears to be a permanent price drop by $10 on the eshop. It's now $40 CAD (was $50 at launch). If a sale happens that drops it to $20-25 then I'll definitely consider on buying it then.


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## Moritz (Sep 8, 2021)

Holla said:


> So the DLC isn't worth buying unless you plan on marrying one of the DLC exclusive candidates then? Just asking as I will likely buy the game during a good sale and I'd like to save money on the DLC if it really isn't worth it.
> 
> Actually it looks like the game got what appears to be a permanent price drop by $10 on the eshop. It's now $40 CAD (was $50 at launch). If a sale happens that drops it to $20-25 then I'll definitely consider on buying it then.


It has an extra mystery story for you to play which is nice. It also gives you some cool outfits for yourself and the original marriage candidates.

But the 3 new areas are sadly just there for a couple of houses where the new NPCs live. There is nothing to do there but talk to the NPCs and the NPCs will never interact with olive town.

I won't say I regret buying the DLC as such.
But if none of the marriage candidates it adds are of any interest, then I cant fully recommend it.

If the DLC was half the price I would say it was worth it.
Its kinda like if you went to McDonald's and they charged £25 for a big mac meal.
You'd be satisfied with the product, but saltier than the fries about the price you paid.


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## Holla (Sep 21, 2021)

Just a heads up for those like me that are interested in trying this game, but are unsure if it's worth it. The game is going to be available as a free trial from September 22nd (tomorrow) until September 29th for those with a Nintendo Online subscription. The game will also be 10% until October 4th so if you do decide to buy it during/after the trial it will still be on sale.

I'm still on the fence when it comes to buying this game, but I will definitely be giving the trial a go and that should help me finalize my decision.


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## Venn (Sep 23, 2021)

I have been giving the trial a go since I have been Stardew Valley and it reminded me of the Harvest Moon days. I have been wondering about PoOT as well but wasn't sure if I really wanted it or if it was just nostalgia. 

So far it has been good and I am liking it but I am still on the fence if if I'd like to download it fully. I keep comparing to Stardew Valley and in a couple weeks, I know I'll be focusing on a new game coming out so I feel like if I was to buy it now, it would be quickly put on the back shelf. Maybe it will be just something in mind if I come to a point where I am looking for something new again and then perhaps I'll consider playing it fully.


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## Holla (Sep 27, 2021)

An update after playing a bit of the free trial. 

The game is decent and cute and whatnot but I find myself itching to play Pokemon (older gens) or DS era Harvest Moon games instead. I don't think Pioneers of Olive Town is a bad game it's just an ok game. So I'm gonna have to pass on buying this one. Especially now that Rune Factory 5 has a specific release date I think I'll just wait for that one. 

I really did appreciate them giving us a chance to try out the game though. I wish they did this more often.


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## Venn (Oct 2, 2021)

Holla said:


> An update after playing a bit of the free trial.
> 
> The game is decent and cute and whatnot but I find myself itching to play Pokemon (older gens) or DS era Harvest Moon games instead. I don't think Pioneers of Olive Town is a bad game it's just an ok game. So I'm gonna have to pass on buying this one. Especially now that Rune Factory 5 has a specific release date I think I'll just wait for that one.
> 
> I really did appreciate them giving us a chance to try out the game though. I wish they did this more often.



I have to agree. It was good but I found nothing making me want to stay. I did also find myself wanting to play older games (especially one from the GameCube time). I have nothing against it, but when I already have Stardew Valley, I didn't see a reason to keep it. Perhaps down the road, but chances are slim.


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