Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town announced!

[Ossiran]

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.

 

[oak]

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.

 

[LittleMissPanda]

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

 

[Balverine]

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

 

[Ossiran]

Here's the trailer by itself:

 

[Lady Timpani]

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/x/status/1321491678138523649

Here are some of the marriage candidates, too.

 

[Chris]

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.

 

[Zane]

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.

 

[Ossiran]

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.

 

[Lady Timpani]

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

 

[Mairmalade]

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?

 

[EpicGamer12]

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?

 

[Mairen]

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.

 

[TofuIdol]

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.

 

[AlyssaAC]

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.

 

[Peach_Jam]

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

 

[Neb]

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.

 

[Xara]

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

 

[mogyay]

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)

 

[samsquared]

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