It’s extremely charming, and completely captures the Iyashikei slice-of-life genre, particularly in the personality of the town’s characters and how they interact with one another, yet also beckon you into that same world. Read full review Ultimately, Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town is exactly what you would expect from the beloved staple. The farming sim makes some bold leaps with its crafting system, but there is nothing groundbreaking in its formula. You can expect the same charming and wholesome aesthetic from this game much like all those that came before it. And even so, this routine will keep fans of the franchise coming back for more. All this publication's reviews Read full review Pioneers of Olive Town recognizes it does not need to reinvent the plow to present a full, relaxing, pleasant farming game. Aside from its sprawling size, there is not much novel about collecting materials, upgrading tools, clearing land, raising animals and crops, and befriending the townspeople – and there doesn't need to be. It is enough to simply have a wealth of interesting things to plan out and do, colored by ridiculously cute animals and interesting characters and fleshed out with piles of new things to unlock over 30 hours and beyond. While the struggling framerate and tedious crafting can be annoying, these are small blips in a pleasantly packed day-to-day cycle of tending to your farm, exploring interesting new areas, and flirting with Bridget...or Reina….or Blaire. All this publication's reviews Read full review Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town is a promising start of a new chapter in the long-running farm/life simulator’s history. All the pieces are in place for an unforgettable experience, with its peaceful and serene location, endlessly customizable landscape, and an unprecedented abundance of crafts and projects to pursue. While at times unwieldy, there’s something for everyone here, especially those who are interested in the organization and production management aspect of running a farm. All this publication's reviews Read full review Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town is a surprisingly dull and lifeless farm-sim that's a shadow of its storied self. We’re left with caricatures and a game that shows only the slightest hint of recognizing what makes a fun gameplay loop. All this publication's reviews Read full review See all 61 Critic Reviews I almost skipped PoOT because of the negative reviews. I'm glad I decided to give it a chance. One of the best games I ever played. The gameI almost skipped PoOT because of the negative reviews. I'm glad I decided to give it a chance. One of the best games I ever played. The game seems to have had serious problems when launched, but I honestly didn't notice anything that bothered me. A bit of loading between farm and town, but you usually go there once or twice in a day, and it's nothing too absurd. Some small framerate issues on some places probably much smoother on PC, but again nothing that would break the enjoyment. And I really liked the characters, chats, cutscenes. Seems more like normal people on a normal small town I loved Rune Factory 4, but characters behaviours are too exaggerated for me. I'm really enjoying the game and created this account just to review it. If you had read some bad reviews and have doubts about it, most of those were written before the latest patches. The game is incredible, and if you played and liked FoMT, you will love it.… Expand I love it, I have enjoyed every hour of the would improve some things like the conversations with the NPCs but overall it is a veryI love it, I have enjoyed every hour of the would improve some things like the conversations with the NPCs but overall it is a very good game. I'm looking forward to the next one and to polish what I've seen in this one. The next one could become a GOTY if they continue on this path of growth and development of the saga.… Expand The negative reviews seem obnoxious; hence my rating being a 10. I could see giving it a 4-8 due to the fact that it needs post-releaseThe negative reviews seem obnoxious; hence my rating being a 10. I could see giving it a 4-8 due to the fact that it needs post-release patching and how you feel about that, but lower than that does nothing to tell of how much work went into this game. Does it need love? Yes, absolutely. They already said they are going to patch it - they’re even adding dialogue. The game, as it stands, is still adorable, though. The graphics are fantastic, the gameplay is cute, and the characters are like-able enough. I personally love the crafting and collecting additions, and I’m glad they’re experimenting. I do really miss the 2D portraits, and believe the issues connecting with the characters would be fixed if they re-implemented them. It’s a farming game, there has always been grinding. They have two modes so that you can decide how much you want to grind, but it’s still something you should expect. I’ve been finding it easy enough and actually relaxing clearing stuff out. Only real complaint is makers, they need to have variable output. Overall, I pre-ordered the premium and have already bought the season pass, no regrets. This game is good and, I believe, going to be fantastic by the time they’re done with patches/dlc.… Expand I felt like this game was trying too much to be like Animal Crossing & Stardew Valley that it lost it's magic of being what it was known forI felt like this game was trying too much to be like Animal Crossing & Stardew Valley that it lost it's magic of being what it was known for back in the day. The characters are very soulless & the framerate is annoying at times. It's not a bad game & I expect the dlc and patches to really make the game a better experience but it's something to hold me over until the masterpeice of Runefactory 5.… Expand a relaxing game where it's actually good to be a farmer. wish the game gets more budget in the future I tried pretty hard to enjoy this game, but I really just can't. I'm a long-time fan of light farm sims such as Harvest Moon, Story ofI tried pretty hard to enjoy this game, but I really just can't. I'm a long-time fan of light farm sims such as Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, and Stardew Valley. I was sad to see that Harvest Moon had taken a pretty stark decline after the big change, though Story of Seasons was delivering where Harvest Moon failed, and Stardew Valley was perhaps the most seamless game to come from the genre. That being said, I was excited to try Pioneers of Olive Town after Trio of Towns and the remake of Friends of Mineral Town ended up being pretty great. I've put about fifty hours into PoOT, about half of which happening at launch and the other half happening after most of the patches, and both experiences have been highly disappointing. It's clear that it wants to be a mixture of previous SoS games and SV, but ends up just being a worse version of both. Admittedly, the patches have fixed up a lot of the problems regarding the maker system and the performance, so I won't harp on that too much. Unfortunately though, the game's world is still incredibly bland with the townsfolk being cardboard cutouts and the world itself offering little to no exploration. The DLC is insulting, as the extra areas offer literally nothing more than other bland characters - and the most recent expansion crashed my game twice just trying to go to the island. This has to be the low point for the Story of Seasons series so far, and it's a shame. Even their licensed Doraemon spin-off was of higher quality. The graphics, music, and farm customization are genuinely quite nice, but ultimately PoOT just makes me feel like playing any of the older games or Stardew Valley whenever I boot it up.… Expand I am really sick of buying kids games where they use stupid, unnecessary slang, or write the sound instead of the word, at an age where kidsI am really sick of buying kids games where they use stupid, unnecessary slang, or write the sound instead of the word, at an age where kids are developing English skills, words like 'em instead of them and developin', instead of developing is just ridiculous. I would not have bought the game if I thought it was going to de-educate have noticed this in adult RPG's too and it just sounds retarded. I use slang as much as the next man but writing it sounds you imagine a Scouse character alrixxqqwhhqqxt maxxccqqkkhhte, cxxggome 'edqqqckkgh.… Expand See all 48 User Reviews