Last March, two companies with a shared history released two farming simulators: Marvelous Interactive produced Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town while Natsume released Harvest Moon: One World. In the past, Natsume and Marvelous worked together to produce the Harvest Moon franchise, as Natsume was the North American distributor for the games. However, Natsume wanted to evolve the series beyond just a farming simulator, whereas Marvelous wanted to stick to the basics. So, they split. Because Natsume had the rights to the name, they kept producing games with the title Harvest Moon. Marvelous decided to use Story of Seasons and worked with XSeed to distribute games in the West. This past March was the first time the games were released together and with similar mechanics, people are having a tough time figuring out which one is the better buy. Both rely on the foundation of the original Harvest Moon games before the split: build a successful farming empire while establishing relationships and strengthening the town and the environment. Screen Rant believes that Pioneers of Olive Town beats One World simply because you can ride a giant wolf. To be fair, I would agree, but my explanation goes much further.
One World has the basic story: you start in a house and have to plant seeds to make money and help revive the Harvest Goddess. However, that’s where the similarities of the original games stop. First off, you have your mom to guide you through the tutorial and then you’re off with your traveling farm that conveniently packs everything up for you. A difference from the game is the seeds. Normally you buy seeds from a shop. This time around you have to go out and search on your own. Traveling takes up a lot of time during the day so when you could be off mining or fishing to rake in some extra cash. You have to waste time walking to find seeds that will not only satisfy the nine square foot plot but give you the most cash.
Pioneers of Olive Town starts you off on your way to fix up your grandfather’s farm. You start off by living in a tent, working your way to clear the weeds, trees and rocks out of the yard so you can start planting. The simple thing about the map is that all the shops are conveniently north of your farm. You can quickly grab what you need and head back to the farm without wasting any time. You also build up your farm really quick, by simply fixing up the coop feet from your little tent. There’s also a little chicken wandering around that you get for free once your coop is fixed. While you’re establishing your farm, you have to help the mayor bring in more people to the town. One issue with the game is that you are limited in how much you can do before allocating all of your resources towards progress. For example, you have to build a bridge in order to unlock the barn. The bridge requires you to make refined lumber with a maker, which needs a lot of wood. You then have to repeat this process before fixing the barn, getting a horse, etc. Also, the town being stocked up with all the stores makes the map seem very small.
Personally, I have only played Story of Seasons as their graphics have pulled me in more so than Harvest Moon. I grew up with Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, which was released in 2008. The graphics on that game are ten times better than One World. Story of Seasons has a cuter style, while Harvest Moon tends to be more realistic. With both games released, time will tell which farming simulator one will outperform the other.
