Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town impressions topic!

Poot Poot Poot! A mainline Bokumono game set in a resort town that wants to be more resort-y. Available for Nintendo Switch, Steam/PC, and Ps4/5. [ Game Guide ] JP release = Feb 2021. NA = Mar 2021. EU = Mar 2021.
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Kikki
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Man, it sounds like I am really, really going to hate storage in Olive Town. I was worried about how it would work in the game as soon as I saw the fields of chests and the tiny, tiny backpack, and it sounds like it's just a small step above my worst case scenario. Remainder of text cut so that no one has to read all the whining and complaining unless they actually want to, for some crazy reason.
Spoiler:
I loathe inventory management, and it sounds like they want you to do it not only with your backpack, but with everything you ever pick up. It's like Dragon Quest Builders before you're able to build the colossal coffer and you can only store everything in individual chests that don't connect to each other. Gonna have to spend a lot of time on organizing, in this game. (Not a happy thing, for me.) I remember how much I hated that about Stardew Valley, too. I could never find what I wanted in the three million chests I was forced to build to store everything.

Also really un-thrilled by 8 festivals a year, particularly when they've even made it so that you don't participate in some of them. Get excited to find some eggs? Don't bother! You just go to the festival, hear the schpiel, and then a cutscene ensues and you get to watch as your farmer finds eggs without you.

Woo.

Really would never have thought that they'd axe the harvest festival, of all things. That takes a lot of joy out of raising great crops. With some people already having managed to get their characters married, I'm kind of doubting that the harvest festivals will be just later-game unlocks, either, as there'd be people who had already done so if there were.

There are still some things that sound fun, but it also sounds like they're connected by a string of bad choices and surrounded by a game that struggles and lurches rather than runs smoothly. Maybe too much of the team is new, this time, and they're staring TOO fresh. (Even though Bokumono has always been famous for not learning anything from their strengths and weaknesses in previous games anyway, lol.) Well, thank goodness the Japanese fans seem to hate the same things we do about this, in general. Maybe there's a chance they'll be heard and changes will either happen with this game, or if not, then at least with the next game. *crosses fingers* I don't have a lot of hope that they'll change anything about Olive Town via updates except technical stuff like loading times and maybe lag and pop-in.
It's just sad that the more I learn, the less I look forward to the game. :( Oh well.
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greensara
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I'm not going to lie, the storage sounds just like the chests you make in Stardew. That's ok, but I would have preferred a connected inventory like Portia, but that's me. I hope placing an army of chests in an area won't end up contributing to lag.

Do you build the refrigerator too or is that a purchased item?
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Shan O 123
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The boxes I’m okay with. Especially since I’ve gotten used to it in Stardew valley.

Am I the only one who’s okay with the egg hunt only being a cutscene we can’t control? I hated the egg hunt in trio actually I hate just about anything with a timer, it stresses me to no end.
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K8sMum
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I'm not thrilled with the idea of having a gazillion makers along side a gazillion chests all over my farm. This aspect really disappoints me.
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Kikki
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To me, there's no point in a festival you don't participate in. They're just scheduled cutscenes, at that point. Scheduled cutscenes are fine, but they're no good as replacements for real festivals.

I hesitated a lot, but in the end, have cancelled my pre-order. While only the bad camera angles and the no-farming-festivals thing were an additional unpleasant surprise, I had most of these doubts all along, and the Japanese release has simply ended up confirming quite a lot of things I was already afraid of. This is definitely a game I need to NOT buy on release.

I'll be waiting until after North American release to see if any of the major drawbacks see any improvement, either from updates, or because Xseed took a bit of extra care with this or that, or whatever. I HOPE I will still end up buying this game, but right now my CON list is notably outweighing my PRO list. I feel quite sad about it (though I have a cold or something going on, along with a stitch in my back and neck that I can't get rid of, and the various discomforts may be making me a bit extra mopey.)

I'm just gonna hang tight and hope for the best around the time April hits. I'm honestly a bit shocked to not be buying a Bokumono game on day one. It's like not buying a Xenoblade or Phoenix Wright game on day one, for me. Borderline unthinkable. But yeah, I feel like I'd be a total idiot to go through with a pre-order, at this point. I'm happy that Nintendo is finally allowing cancellations of them, though! (Up until the payment is taken, a week before release. After that, you can't cancel, because they don't actually do refunds.)

If this game ends up just not being my Bokumono game, then I'll just have to hope the next one will suit me better. But maybe things can still pick up for Olive Town, as well, so I'm just gonna wait and see.
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Nanami
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greensara wrote: Do you build the refrigerator too or is that a purchased item?
The fridge comes built-in with the house. It has a number of furnishings it comes with like a table, kitchenette, refrigerator, desk, bed, dresser, etc. I don't think the refrigerator can be upgraded separately, though I'm not 100% sure. I'm thinking that you might get a bigger one along with additional house expansions (though the second expansion requires a lot of materials and 30,000g, so I won't be able to check my theory for a while).


It's interesting that the storage system is similar to Stardew Valley. I never played it (well, I tried, but I couldn't get used to the controls or the graphics), so I was unaware of the similarities.

I've seen that a number of people have cancelled their pre-orders or are feeling quite negative about the game. That's totally fine and understandable. Indeed, if I was getting the English version, I might wait for some patches and a sale because I'm on a strict budget and try never to pay full price for an English game unless it's 10/10 perfect.

But for me, I don't regret the purchase. I still wake up looking forward to playing it every day, and I'm having a lot of fun. It's different than past games but it's still SoS and it still has the same relaxed vibe and scratches that farming game itch very well.

My primary reason for ordering it on day one was to play it in Japanese and practice my language skills, and this game is great for that. Even the repetitive dialogue works in my favor, as I get to learn new words and then see them in a variety of sentences from multiple townspeople. I think that whether or not someone should pre-order is up to them and depends on their budget and the aspects of the game they enjoy the most. Since I enjoy growing crops, mining, collecting and crafting the most, I'm pretty happy (minus all the maker nonsense and the lack of festivals - haha).
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K8sMum
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Nanami: I couldn't get into Stardew Valley either, no matter how hard I tried. It's mostly the graphics for me. I appreciate the job one guy working on it has done, but I just don't care for it.

I do appreciate you and others here taking the time to post your thoughts on PoOT here. I'm not to the point Kikki is yet re: cancelling my pre order. I'll keep learning from you all here.

And thanks for the honest opinions that are really helpful!
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Kikki
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I wasn't into Stardew, either.

I started off closer to the let's-not-pre-order stage than most, probably, since I've had a huge lot of doubts right from our very first look at Olive Town. All this post-Japanese-release info just reinforced all my existing doubts. Only maybe two or three extras were added by the new info brought by release. I have really specific likes and dislikes and it's very easy to render me unable to enjoy a game. It was probably more goofy for me to have pre-ordered in the first place, but I always have the mindset of needing to TRY first. Even though my first impressions almost always end up being my final impression as well.

I'd be happier to lose out on a 10% discount than to buy the game and regret it, so cancelling was the right decision for me. I'm more comfortable, now. If I kept my pre-order, I'd have spent all this time fearing the worst, whereas if I cancel it, instead I can hope for the best.
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Nanami
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That's a good perspective, Kikki. Hope for the best and enjoy hearing other people's experiences, rather than being anxious and feeling like you've locked yourself into something.

I found an awesome thread on Reddit with positives about the game. I'm suuuper excited that the mysterious blue building is a
Spoiler:
greenhouse/hydroponic building
as that is an aspect from past games I'd hoped would return. It sounds like this might even be a unique improvement, depending on how it works.

https://www.reddit.com/r/storyofseasons ... ings_game/
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Shan O 123
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I just have Stardew on my phone. It’s just something for me to do.


I can’t wait for PoOT despite the issues it may have.
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Kikki
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Yep, honestly, a pre-order just isn't the right way for me to go. Better to wait for enough things to get me excited about buying the game than to pre-order on some odd sense of series-loyalty even if I feel like this game wasn't one of the ones that were made for me. I don't mind paying full price for a game I'm excited about, so the 10% discount on the bundle is no big deal.

It's nice to have a thread that specifically highlights the positives. Negatives will tend to take over naturally...negativity is a survival trait, after all...we protect ourselves from damage by noticing and remembering bad things (though this usually wouldn't need to apply to a video game, lol...but it's the way humans are built!) Positives need to be concentrated on to not disappear under the wave of negatives.

Lots of the features in Olive Town are really neat and I'm hoping they'll heap up enough to prod me into buying the game after release. :)
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Solar Wind
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So what I'm hearing is, I should pick up Trio of Towns instead?
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Shan O 123
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Solar Wind wrote:So what I'm hearing is, I should pick up Trio of Towns instead?
I think that’d be your decision.
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Kikki
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That depends. If you've seen what we know and you think you'll have fun with Olive Town, then why not get it? But if you can't decide if you'd like it or not, then yeah, I'd wait until after English-language release before making a decision on it. For me there's also the fact that we won't have a detailed English-language guide for a fair while and that was always a big drawback for me....I LOVE playing with a guide at hand. For me, waiting is the way to go.
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gossipstone
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Chaos_44 wrote: I'm pretty sure the Y button is the general use tool button and the A button is the general use talk/interact button like usual. It's just because they got rid of brushes/milkers/shears that it seems like all tool functions are tied to A, but basically every animal function is now "pet" in a way and if you're using a tool like the axe, watering can, bucket, etc. that would be Y.

It looks that way from Japanese videos I've seen but I only speak English so I went to see if it's true in any of the previously-released trailers and it looks like using tools (example in this video is the hoe and fishing rod) are indeed tied to the Y button.
Nanami wrote:The Y button is used for "equipable" tools: the hoe, hammer, axe, fishing rod, watering can, etc. You also use the Y button to give presents, but only while directly next to someone. There is no way to walk around carrying an item waiting to give it to someone.

The A button is used for all animal care (ie: "invisible" tools). You use A to pet, milk, shear, etc. your animals. You also use it to talk with people and interact with objects.

The buttons and tools aren't confusing at all, so no need to worry. The part I found confusing was the fact that you can't hold or carry items, and have to open up the main inventory screen to set something on the ground. Very odd choice, imo.

I'm suuuuuper excited to be able to have my female MC wear a suit when she gets married! I love the white suit, especially. Though I'm not going to watch the video I posted at all, as I'm considering marrying Reina and I don't want to see any spoilers for her events/wedding.
Thank you both for your responses! I had no idea they'd removed the animal husbandry tools, but I'm glad to hear there's still an actual tool button. Is the Y button for gifting only available when you're actually in conversation, or as an interaction option when you're in front of them?
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