Fans of the original Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons are happy to have recently received a new game, with Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town having landed on Nintendo Switch only a few days ago. The game offers more of the same farm/life sim enjoyment that long-time players of the franchise are used to.
Whether you’re new to the series or not, there are bound to be a few things that you might miss during your first playthrough, as there’s plenty of additional features and secret content that you can unlock. Here are some of the things you might have missed.
10 There Are Secret Pets and Mounts that You Can Unlock
As you progress through the game and repair and upgrade your home and farm facilities, you will be able to purchase a variety of pets and mounts. However, by collecting the little Follower Sprites from toiling on your farm, you can eventually purchase blessings at the shrine that will add additional animals from the Animal Shop.
Collecting 100 Sprites will unlock the wolf pet and gorgeous horse mount, whereas reaching 300 Sprites will unlock the wolf mount and unicorn mount. These animals are super cute and will definitely make a nice addition to your farm.
9 There is Already DLC Available and More on the Way
Even though Pioneers of Olive Town has only just released, it already has different DLC packs available in the form of various animal costumes and outfits, with the DLC available depending on your region.
Additionally, an expansion pass for the game has already been unveiled that will stagger various content releases over a series of months, that among other things, are set to add some additional marriage candidates. Fans of the series will be pleased to hear that the marriage candidates set to join the roster are all returning characters from previous titles.
8 Eating Salads Temporarily Increases Your Maximum Stamina
Eating food from within your inventory or at the cafe helps to replenish your stamina, but eating salads actually boosts your maximum stamina gauge temporarily, with the temporary hearts showing as pink instead of red.
You can also permanently increase your maximum stamina gauge in a variety of ways, but even with your gauge fully maxed out at twenty hearts, salads will still add an additional heart. Regrettably, the effects of salads do not stack.
7 Your Loading Screen Images Are Photos That Other Players Have Taken
Have you ever wondered why you’re getting really random images from the game during your loading screens? These are actually photos that other players have taken if you have your online communication settings on. You can also share one of your own photos with other players by choosing to send a postcard at the tourist center on the dock.
To take photos you need to get the camera tool from the museum, and then you can start snapping away. However, you can only hold ten photos in your camera album at any one time.
6 You Can Rename Farm Facilities By Picking Them Up
If you’re regretting whatever you named one of your farm facilities, such as a coop or barn, there is a way that you can rename it. Choose the “Clear Away” option to put the facility into your inventory, and then just simply put it down again to get the prompt to name it once more.
You don’t lose anything by doing this, any feed or Automatic Feeders that were inside will drop to the ground and you can just put them back inside after picking them up. Any animals associated with the barn will need to be re-linked to it too.
5 Getting Married Unlocks the Wedding Outfits in the Beauty Salon
While you might not feel like settling down with any of the characters in Olive Town, it’s worth doing just to unlock the gorgeous formal wedding outfits. There are four different outfits that you can choose from for your wedding ceremony, but regardless of your choice, all four will appear in the Beauty Salon afterward.
However, it’s worth noting that in order to make these beautiful outfits, it will cost you a lot of money and also requires a number of rare materials.
4 You Get Rewarded for Exploration
Exploring the different areas on your farm can lead to you getting rewarded with secret mini-games and new areas, as the game encourages players to go off the beaten path and find different things to discover.
For example, reaching the very bottom level of the second mine opens up the Mining Frenzy mini-game, whereas taking the time to fully drain the lake in the third farm area opens up a new Special Location called the Ancient Lake. What other secrets can you discover by checking out the different areas of your farm?
3 You Can Hear The Weather Report for the Next Few Days
A little feature that a lot of players miss out on is that you can actually find out what the weather is going to be like for the next few days by listening to any of the radios around town. There is also a radio in your house for really easy access. This is super useful for anyone wishing to plan ahead and prepare accordingly.
Certain wild animals only appear during certain times of the year and certain types of weather. Additionally, your livestock can’t be let out in bad weather, though a little rain means that you don’t need to water your crops.
2 You Can Have More Than One Boyfriend/Girlfriend at a Time
There are ten different characters that you can date, five bachelors and five bachelorettes, and any of them can be romanced by characters of either gender. Once you reach a Friendship Level of six with any of them, you can give them a Confession Pendant to enter into a romantic relationship.
Interestingly, you can actually do this simultaneously with multiple characters, and the Resident Information tab will refer to all of the characters that you have done this to as “my new boyfriend/girlfriend”. However, as soon as you marry one of the characters, the others are no longer listed as your partner.
1 There Are Secret Characters You Can Unlock
Fans of the series might be well aware that it’s not uncommon for the games to include secret unlockable characters, and Pioneers of Olive Town offers two secret characters for players to discover. While the first one will eventually be unlocked by most players, the second character, Matsuyuki, only unlocks if you fully romance and marry Iori.
The only disappointing thing about these secret characters is that neither of them is romanceable and in fact, only Matsuyuki even has a Friendship Level so that you can befriend him properly.
