Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town Reviews
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is a surprisingly dull and lifeless farm-sim that's a shadow of its storied self.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is the most barebones of a farming simulator. While updates have been promised to fix the technical issues and inject some life into it, it's not worth playing in its current state.
Pioneers of Olive Town offers familiar beats but none of the conviction of its contemporaries
There’s some good here. There’s some bad here. There are a few odd choices that don’t quite lend themselves well to the overall experience. If you don’t care about getting access to everything you can so you can become a mogul the experience is great. For me, I like options. I like being able to find that one niche for goods I thrive in and making it my focus.
Story Of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is an okay farming game but if you are expecting giant changes to the already worn out formula then you should look elsewhere.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town does have that compelling farming gameplay loop that we’ve seen time and time again in different series, but it lacks depth — much like the rest of the game — to keep farming sim veterans coming back. At a time where the likes of Stardew Valley continue to push the genre forward and provide greater longevity, it’s difficult to recommend this rough-around-the-edges excursion to Olive Town.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town continues the same charming cutesy aesthetic as its predecessors, although at times feels discombobulated in organisation. A decent enough farming management addition to the genre, the game features a depth of gameplay but is light on narrative. Prepare and expect to be in it for the long haul if you want to see any real results from your hard work.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town has potential, some good ideas and a certain unfulfilled ambition hidden behind some layers of performance problems and strange game design choices. The game is fun enough as a farm simulator and will likely please fans enough, but certain issues are glaring and hinder the fun. Story of Seasons became more daring, but at the same time it forgot some basic elements. If you are very curious, at least wait for the updates, which will certainly improve the experience as a whole.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Pioneers of Olive Town is a good game, but it is hard to recommend when Stardew Valley continues to dominate the farming sim genre.
Fun addictive timeless gameplay married with grind and bugs. Much like seasons you take the good with the bad
To say that Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town disappointed me is an understatement. I have been playing these games since I was young, and while I don’t expect all of them to be hits, I certainly didn’t expect this level of regression either.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is a mixed bag, to say the least. Its strengths don’t necessarily lie in its qualities as a game, but its inclusion in a genre that is inherently addictive. The formula the genre uses has been refined and mastered to the point it has become quite the potent drug, and Olive Town can administer that narcotic effectively when it wants to. The issue is, I found it didn’t have any staying power. I was hooked whilst I was playing, but once I put it down, it was a real struggle to pick it back up. There were just too many niggling little issues that hindered my enjoyment long term. As far as farming-sims go, this one is passable and worth checking out if you have exhausted other, better games in the genre.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town has the potential to be the best entry in the Story of Seasons series. Sadly, the combination of major and minor bugs, including frame rate dips on the farm itself, severely decreases gameplay enjoyment. There has been one pre-launch update and further updates are on the way. This will hopefully address some of the issues encountered and maybe even allow active participation in more of the events. It is still a fun experience so long as the noted problems can be tolerated. There is a huge variety of animals and crops to tend to, fantastic range in character customisation, and the usual aspects of a Story of Seasons title that long-time fans have come to love.
While not by any means the best Story of Seasons game on the market, Pioneers of Olive Town is promising and disappointing in equal measure. Perhaps future patches will iron out some of the issues with framerate and boring character dialogue, but for now, potential buyers should be aware that this game isn't quite in a state we can recommend.
Pioneers of Olive Town modernizes Story of Seasons' formula in a wilder, wider and somehow easier way, but such industrial revolution often feels heavy, then ultimately lacks life, if not charm, compared to the previous episodes.
Review in French | Read full review
Better visuals for the farm-sim improve the interaction but slow loading undermines the laid-back flow
Though Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town looks impressive on the surface, its mindless gameplay feels both empty and unoriginal.
If you like peaceful, low-stakes simulation gameplay and have a few months to spare, consider relocating to Olive Town.
The game recycles a lot of content already featured in the franchise. Although the new character customisation and photo mode is refreshing, it doesn’t seem like enough to tie us over. Despite the art style and location being different, the game as a whole remains the same. It’s enjoyable, sure. But to fans of the franchise it’s a little disappointing since we have all definitely experienced it beforehand.
I get that my complaints probably sound like I'm nitpicking the game, and maybe I am asking too much of a budget title, but really, these issues illustrate that despite the fact Pioneers of Olive Town marks the silver anniversary of the franchise, the developer didn't really go out of its way to make this entry something special. This is a safe and standard Story of Seasons game. It doesn't rock the boat, it doesn't try anything groundbreaking like when Marvelous released Rune Factory to mark the franchise's tenth anniversary; it's just more of what we've seen before with a few small twists on the formula.