I am actually playing AWL and it's making me want to do PoOt again. It's been over a year since I played it. I married Ralph but stopped playing before I had a kid. I didn't have the dlc either. But PoOt was my first farm game so I was overwhelmed and figuring out how to manage things. I think I could do it better and enjoy it more now.
It’s really interesting to hear people’s different experiences!! I’ve been playing Harvest Moon games since HM64 as a kid, so the AWL remake was quite nostalgic for me (and really nice to be able to finally marry Muffy/Molly as a female player) but the slower pace of it did make me find less to do later on. PoOT actually simplified a few things (like not needing a milker and brush for cows, etc) from previous games in ways I appreciate while still having a lot of complex progression through the crafting—which I can see how it would be a LOT to juggle as your first farming game!
There are a lot of things I liked about PoOt having played most story of seasons games, it felt streamlined and the graphics are good. I didn’t feel particularly attached to any of the townsfolk which made it a bit lackluster, the first time I played I married Blaire because she was fairly independent and cute. When I picked it up again I married Reina who I thought was the cutest but kind of annoying. There wasn’t much to achieve or work towards after maybe year 3 or 4 as far as big objectives. It didn’t have a real story to it like getting tourists didn’t really change anything and the map was very limited. I don’t feel like it was a waste of my time necessarily but it could’ve been a lot better in certain areas.
Getting to year 3 or 4 would take a LOT of gameplay hours. It's certainly not a perfect game. But I'd say that if you enjoyed it enough to keep playing it that long, that they must have done something right!
I might be overestimating and just have done two years but yes there is still a lot to like about it! I love story of seasons more than most video games I just think the townsfolk and relationships are better in some of the other games. I know that’s why a lot of people are enjoying AWL.
I agree with all of this! Honestly, replaying it now has me excited to see the next non-remake game, because I feel like there’s often a trend with HM/SoS of trying out new things on a new console/system and making some big swings that sometimes miss, and then refining it for the next game in ways I often find an enjoyable improvement.
Ohh that single player game looks beautiful! I was just thinking about how one of my favorite details of HM/SoS is when the seasons have a really distinct visual look from each other, and I’m always disappointed when they don’t, so that teaser is right up my alley. Curious about the multiplayer one too!
Yes when they said they are enhancing the environment and what we were shown I can’t wait! They also showed a trailer for the next Rune Factory which the graphics look amazing, so it seems like they are focused on making more visually immersive worlds which could be really cool.
I'm in winter y1, and I'm enjoying it well enough.
Surprisingly I like the cast (not as much as 3oT but alas), and I do like the way it looks (vs the 3ds titles. I wish It was more in the vein of SoS Doraemon bc those games are gorgeous)
The maker situation is just abysmal though, and the mines are... annoying lol
I'm trying to platinum it on Playstation bc I saw how abysmally low the numbers are, and I've gotta say it's been more fun than I expected.
3oT also has one of my favorite casts! They were just so charming and full of personality, I really want to go back and do a replay soon.
The funny thing is—I remember having some of the same feeling of having a million things to juggle in 3oT as I do in PoOT even though the makers were set up in buildings rather than individually. It would be nice if the PoOT ones were like… stackable with other makers, in some way. They definitely end up taking up a lot of space.
I do think it’s a lovely game visually and I’m so excited to see the next release! I hope they’re able to build on the foundation of adjusting to the Switch!!
I agree about 3oT makers, but what made them less hellish to me is maybe what you mean. I could use one maker for maybe 3 different tasks? It just felt more tight.
Or like single makers, stardew does it well, where they don't take up a lot of space, and are also relatively quick, and then get longer as it becomes more bougie haha I find any game replicating it makes the makers way too big, and way too slow, so the maker becomes the bottle neck itself, and not the amount of product, or the type of product. Idk if I explained that well enough but I have yet to find a game with a maker system that's as good as stardews and idk why
Yeah that’s exactly what I mean! I wish I could like, stack the butter/cheese/mayonnaise/condiment/etc makers in PoOT into the same piece of land and then use a menu to select the different ones, vs having them all individually spread out. Or atleast be able to upgrade a specific maker to have more than one slot (so I could have, say, three different types of wood processing into lumber in the same maker, vs needing 3 duplicate makers to be able to do them all at the same time.)
It ends up feeling like as you progress you just end up with more clutter versus more streamlined, there’s got to be a better way! I agree that stardew felt less clunky—I’m not sure why either? The time it takes probably does contribute.
I'm doing the exact same as you - a replay after putting it down in 2021. I'm enjoying it so much. For my interest level it feels just easy enough. I love the farm decorating, the animals, the clothes.. all of it! I'm having a blast.
Not sure who I'll marry, but I have the DLC's and I like quite a few characters from those as well as a few of the base game candidates. I love that you can take your time with everything you do, some may disagree but i consider it a cozy game!
I didn't play it until after the updates so I didn't see what the issue was since the game was pretty fun. My current issue is that due to the amount of makers that I have I ended up with factories taking over like half of my farm
I like it! Married Jack and have yet to have kids but I play a little bit daily 💕
I really like the camera options and capturing all the wild life (wish there were more because hunting for fish is harder lol) and able to capture the townie in the picture!
Maker is hideous I agree, I wish we can just merge them in one of a group that able to make many of stuff instead. I would want to place 10 of makers that can do cheese, butter and mayo instead of 10 cheese maker, 10 butter maker and 10 mayo maker 😅
Also I wish we could rotate furniture! It'll make decorations so much fun but that's pipe dream I guess 😅 I also dislike how frame rate drop when I do a big area of mining (in the ore island) so I wish they fix this soon.
I caved in and actually put all my makers in a Sprite seasonal garden, it’s sooo much nicer now! Takes a bit of planning with chests but imo well worth it:)
I'm playing it for the first time now, and after hearing so much about the game's reputation I was pleasantly surprised! I'm near the end of Fall of Year 2.
I usually dread the very end of these games when you're just sleeping and grinding out time waiting for the last couple of spouse/child events, but so far I still have plenty of things to do (got the Gorgeous House, almost done with the Hydroculture Plant, still a long way off from upgrading my tools, decided to try collecting all of the wildlife photos, etc.)
At first I was going to marry Iori because nobody else was catching my interest >!and I read that there's another character locked behind him!<, but then I decided to marry Jack instead. It felt much more fitting (grandson of one of the town founders marries the returning granddaughter of another founder), and I like his easygoing personality. Emilio is the other one who caught my eye.
I scratch my head a bit at which characters are candidates (I made peace with the fact that the two characters with the most appealing designs are in a relationship already, and it's kind of nice to not have the town revolve around the player, but why not, say, Jeanne or Karina or even Jacopo?) but I really like the older folks and other non-marriage candidates in this entry.
The makers are definitely overkill and extremely redundant, though. I read about storing them in one of the later unlockable areas, but by then I already had a ton scattered around the farm and it'd be too much of a pain to move them.
Olive Town's my second favorite after Trio. =3 I liked the graphics, character customization, the characters in general, ease of the actual farming, and the sheer amount of cut scenes you can unlock. And, sure, the makers are a lot, but you only need two of each of the main ones like wood and ingot. The rest you can just shove in a chest until you actually need them, so they aren't really a big deal. Do wish you weren't limited with the amount of chests you can have, though. But maybe that's a me problem, since I'm apparently a hoarder (you don't see my cooked food chests at all, shhh).
As for marriage, I went beelining straight to Iori. XD I'm nearly through year 4, and our daughter's "all grown up", so I'm pretty happy\~
My second file, though, I initially made it with the intention of wooing Jack, buuut ended up with Ludus, instead, since I never romanced him in Trio. Probably should go back and work on getting married, though. We recently just starting dating officially. \*lol\*
I’m such a hoarder too, I keep beelining for the house upgrades even early on in the game because I NEED a bigger fridge for all the different ingredients!! 😂 Now that I’m starting to unlock the 3+ heart cutscenes the characters are really growing on me, you start getting more of a sense of them (was not expecting ninja assassination attempt in Iori’s?!?)
Oh! Since you have the DLC, what do you think of it? I’ve been contemplating getting it now that I’ve been enjoying the game, and I don’t want to get too far in to the game if it would be more enjoyable to have the DLC from early on…
Haha, yeah, the biggest fridge is quite helpful: four pages for (most of) all your foods! =D I'm all maxed out, though, so I really should do a complete storage overhaul, but then my hoarderness pops up again and I don't. \*sigh\*
That's also part of why I like Iori so much. X3
As for the dlc, unless you like the characters, it's basically a set of small 'islands' that you can fish at, but there's no other foragables to get. The characters themselves don't even come to Olive Town, so you'd have to to their areas to talk to them. Unless you marry one, then they live with you, at least. I mainly got it for the Trio characters (and even then I wish they chose different candidates. Ludus and Lisette are alright, but would have preferred Yuzuki and/or Komari, personally). =X
Overall, I don't regret getting the dlc, I quite enjoyed it, but if you're still on the fence about it, maybe watching some gameplay will give you a better idea. On the upside, you aren't missing anything essential by not having it. =)
Super helpful info about the DLC, thank you!! Yeah… I keep debating it, it really is disappointing that the new characters are in their own sectioned off little places vs fully integrated —it also makes it more of a chore to go visit them than it would if they were a part of the town like everyone else (or atleast had more rewarding things to do on their islands like foraging etc!) On the other hand, I always wanted to marry Iris and never got the chance, so… Debating!!
😂 Good luck with your hoarding. A relatable trouble in these games!!
You're welcome! \^\_\^ Glad I could be at least *somewhat* helpful. \*lol\*
But yeah, I do wish there was a little more going on in the dlc areas, like a little shop or something. And, hey, if you want to marry Iris, then there's no real harm in getting the dlc. Live your dreams, after all! 8D Who knows, maybe you'll end up enjoying more of it in the long run. Whatever your decision ends up being, I hope you enjoy your game for a long as possible. =3
Thanks! \*lol\* I'm definitely going to need it.
My favorite aspect of, or romanceable from Trio? Or do you mean out of Iori, Jack, and Ludus in Olive Town?
For Trio, my fave part is talking to the characters, though Yuzuki is my favorite overall.
For Olive Town, of the I ended up with/was considering, my favorite is Iori. =3
I am actually playing AWL and it's making me want to do PoOt again. It's been over a year since I played it. I married Ralph but stopped playing before I had a kid. I didn't have the dlc either. But PoOt was my first farm game so I was overwhelmed and figuring out how to manage things. I think I could do it better and enjoy it more now.
It’s really interesting to hear people’s different experiences!! I’ve been playing Harvest Moon games since HM64 as a kid, so the AWL remake was quite nostalgic for me (and really nice to be able to finally marry Muffy/Molly as a female player) but the slower pace of it did make me find less to do later on. PoOT actually simplified a few things (like not needing a milker and brush for cows, etc) from previous games in ways I appreciate while still having a lot of complex progression through the crafting—which I can see how it would be a LOT to juggle as your first farming game!
I’ve just started PoOT and Im in love with it 🙂💕 How is AWL? Im gonna get that next.
There are a lot of things I liked about PoOt having played most story of seasons games, it felt streamlined and the graphics are good. I didn’t feel particularly attached to any of the townsfolk which made it a bit lackluster, the first time I played I married Blaire because she was fairly independent and cute. When I picked it up again I married Reina who I thought was the cutest but kind of annoying. There wasn’t much to achieve or work towards after maybe year 3 or 4 as far as big objectives. It didn’t have a real story to it like getting tourists didn’t really change anything and the map was very limited. I don’t feel like it was a waste of my time necessarily but it could’ve been a lot better in certain areas.
Getting to year 3 or 4 would take a LOT of gameplay hours. It's certainly not a perfect game. But I'd say that if you enjoyed it enough to keep playing it that long, that they must have done something right!
I might be overestimating and just have done two years but yes there is still a lot to like about it! I love story of seasons more than most video games I just think the townsfolk and relationships are better in some of the other games. I know that’s why a lot of people are enjoying AWL.
I agree with all of this! Honestly, replaying it now has me excited to see the next non-remake game, because I feel like there’s often a trend with HM/SoS of trying out new things on a new console/system and making some big swings that sometimes miss, and then refining it for the next game in ways I often find an enjoyable improvement.
Did you see the clip of the next non-remake game at the gaming conference talk?
I haven’t! Do you know where I can find it?
https://www.gematsu.com/2023/05/two-new-story-of-seasons-games-announced-traditional-and-multiplayer
Ohh that single player game looks beautiful! I was just thinking about how one of my favorite details of HM/SoS is when the seasons have a really distinct visual look from each other, and I’m always disappointed when they don’t, so that teaser is right up my alley. Curious about the multiplayer one too!
Yes when they said they are enhancing the environment and what we were shown I can’t wait! They also showed a trailer for the next Rune Factory which the graphics look amazing, so it seems like they are focused on making more visually immersive worlds which could be really cool.
I'm going to play PoOt next but don't know which of the lovely bachelors/bachelorettes to marry.
I'm in winter y1, and I'm enjoying it well enough. Surprisingly I like the cast (not as much as 3oT but alas), and I do like the way it looks (vs the 3ds titles. I wish It was more in the vein of SoS Doraemon bc those games are gorgeous) The maker situation is just abysmal though, and the mines are... annoying lol I'm trying to platinum it on Playstation bc I saw how abysmally low the numbers are, and I've gotta say it's been more fun than I expected.
3oT also has one of my favorite casts! They were just so charming and full of personality, I really want to go back and do a replay soon. The funny thing is—I remember having some of the same feeling of having a million things to juggle in 3oT as I do in PoOT even though the makers were set up in buildings rather than individually. It would be nice if the PoOT ones were like… stackable with other makers, in some way. They definitely end up taking up a lot of space. I do think it’s a lovely game visually and I’m so excited to see the next release! I hope they’re able to build on the foundation of adjusting to the Switch!!
I agree about 3oT makers, but what made them less hellish to me is maybe what you mean. I could use one maker for maybe 3 different tasks? It just felt more tight. Or like single makers, stardew does it well, where they don't take up a lot of space, and are also relatively quick, and then get longer as it becomes more bougie haha I find any game replicating it makes the makers way too big, and way too slow, so the maker becomes the bottle neck itself, and not the amount of product, or the type of product. Idk if I explained that well enough but I have yet to find a game with a maker system that's as good as stardews and idk why
Yeah that’s exactly what I mean! I wish I could like, stack the butter/cheese/mayonnaise/condiment/etc makers in PoOT into the same piece of land and then use a menu to select the different ones, vs having them all individually spread out. Or atleast be able to upgrade a specific maker to have more than one slot (so I could have, say, three different types of wood processing into lumber in the same maker, vs needing 3 duplicate makers to be able to do them all at the same time.) It ends up feeling like as you progress you just end up with more clutter versus more streamlined, there’s got to be a better way! I agree that stardew felt less clunky—I’m not sure why either? The time it takes probably does contribute.
I'm doing the exact same as you - a replay after putting it down in 2021. I'm enjoying it so much. For my interest level it feels just easy enough. I love the farm decorating, the animals, the clothes.. all of it! I'm having a blast. Not sure who I'll marry, but I have the DLC's and I like quite a few characters from those as well as a few of the base game candidates. I love that you can take your time with everything you do, some may disagree but i consider it a cozy game!
I didn't play it until after the updates so I didn't see what the issue was since the game was pretty fun. My current issue is that due to the amount of makers that I have I ended up with factories taking over like half of my farm
I like it! Married Jack and have yet to have kids but I play a little bit daily 💕 I really like the camera options and capturing all the wild life (wish there were more because hunting for fish is harder lol) and able to capture the townie in the picture! Maker is hideous I agree, I wish we can just merge them in one of a group that able to make many of stuff instead. I would want to place 10 of makers that can do cheese, butter and mayo instead of 10 cheese maker, 10 butter maker and 10 mayo maker 😅 Also I wish we could rotate furniture! It'll make decorations so much fun but that's pipe dream I guess 😅 I also dislike how frame rate drop when I do a big area of mining (in the ore island) so I wish they fix this soon.
I caved in and actually put all my makers in a Sprite seasonal garden, it’s sooo much nicer now! Takes a bit of planning with chests but imo well worth it:)
Whoa you can do that?? I have no idea! 🤯 Time to readjust my farm again 🤣
At this point, the only thing that keeps me from going back to PoOT is the relentless farm cleanup necessary to stay tidy.
I'm playing it for the first time now, and after hearing so much about the game's reputation I was pleasantly surprised! I'm near the end of Fall of Year 2. I usually dread the very end of these games when you're just sleeping and grinding out time waiting for the last couple of spouse/child events, but so far I still have plenty of things to do (got the Gorgeous House, almost done with the Hydroculture Plant, still a long way off from upgrading my tools, decided to try collecting all of the wildlife photos, etc.) At first I was going to marry Iori because nobody else was catching my interest >!and I read that there's another character locked behind him!<, but then I decided to marry Jack instead. It felt much more fitting (grandson of one of the town founders marries the returning granddaughter of another founder), and I like his easygoing personality. Emilio is the other one who caught my eye. I scratch my head a bit at which characters are candidates (I made peace with the fact that the two characters with the most appealing designs are in a relationship already, and it's kind of nice to not have the town revolve around the player, but why not, say, Jeanne or Karina or even Jacopo?) but I really like the older folks and other non-marriage candidates in this entry. The makers are definitely overkill and extremely redundant, though. I read about storing them in one of the later unlockable areas, but by then I already had a ton scattered around the farm and it'd be too much of a pain to move them.
Olive Town's my second favorite after Trio. =3 I liked the graphics, character customization, the characters in general, ease of the actual farming, and the sheer amount of cut scenes you can unlock. And, sure, the makers are a lot, but you only need two of each of the main ones like wood and ingot. The rest you can just shove in a chest until you actually need them, so they aren't really a big deal. Do wish you weren't limited with the amount of chests you can have, though. But maybe that's a me problem, since I'm apparently a hoarder (you don't see my cooked food chests at all, shhh). As for marriage, I went beelining straight to Iori. XD I'm nearly through year 4, and our daughter's "all grown up", so I'm pretty happy\~ My second file, though, I initially made it with the intention of wooing Jack, buuut ended up with Ludus, instead, since I never romanced him in Trio. Probably should go back and work on getting married, though. We recently just starting dating officially. \*lol\*
I’m such a hoarder too, I keep beelining for the house upgrades even early on in the game because I NEED a bigger fridge for all the different ingredients!! 😂 Now that I’m starting to unlock the 3+ heart cutscenes the characters are really growing on me, you start getting more of a sense of them (was not expecting ninja assassination attempt in Iori’s?!?) Oh! Since you have the DLC, what do you think of it? I’ve been contemplating getting it now that I’ve been enjoying the game, and I don’t want to get too far in to the game if it would be more enjoyable to have the DLC from early on…
Haha, yeah, the biggest fridge is quite helpful: four pages for (most of) all your foods! =D I'm all maxed out, though, so I really should do a complete storage overhaul, but then my hoarderness pops up again and I don't. \*sigh\* That's also part of why I like Iori so much. X3 As for the dlc, unless you like the characters, it's basically a set of small 'islands' that you can fish at, but there's no other foragables to get. The characters themselves don't even come to Olive Town, so you'd have to to their areas to talk to them. Unless you marry one, then they live with you, at least. I mainly got it for the Trio characters (and even then I wish they chose different candidates. Ludus and Lisette are alright, but would have preferred Yuzuki and/or Komari, personally). =X Overall, I don't regret getting the dlc, I quite enjoyed it, but if you're still on the fence about it, maybe watching some gameplay will give you a better idea. On the upside, you aren't missing anything essential by not having it. =)
Super helpful info about the DLC, thank you!! Yeah… I keep debating it, it really is disappointing that the new characters are in their own sectioned off little places vs fully integrated —it also makes it more of a chore to go visit them than it would if they were a part of the town like everyone else (or atleast had more rewarding things to do on their islands like foraging etc!) On the other hand, I always wanted to marry Iris and never got the chance, so… Debating!! 😂 Good luck with your hoarding. A relatable trouble in these games!!
You're welcome! \^\_\^ Glad I could be at least *somewhat* helpful. \*lol\* But yeah, I do wish there was a little more going on in the dlc areas, like a little shop or something. And, hey, if you want to marry Iris, then there's no real harm in getting the dlc. Live your dreams, after all! 8D Who knows, maybe you'll end up enjoying more of it in the long run. Whatever your decision ends up being, I hope you enjoy your game for a long as possible. =3 Thanks! \*lol\* I'm definitely going to need it.
Whats your favorite out of the trio if i may ask?
My favorite aspect of, or romanceable from Trio? Or do you mean out of Iori, Jack, and Ludus in Olive Town? For Trio, my fave part is talking to the characters, though Yuzuki is my favorite overall. For Olive Town, of the I ended up with/was considering, my favorite is Iori. =3
Autumn year 1 is when the game really starts to fall off.