I've been enjoying this game as a way to relax at the end of the day. I've played a bunch of Harvest Moon / Story of Seasons games before, and I've never really gotten into them. Usually the townies seem a little bland. Most of this series seems to feel like there's not enough to do to get through the day... Except for Tale of Two Towns which kept me busy but mostly by stretching me out across two towns instead of actually giving me more to do.

But Pioneers of Olive Town feels like it actually improved some of these features that didn't appeal to me. The farm is big enough and wild enough that I'm always busy. It's a casual game, but I still need to strategize which tasks I'm going to take care of on my farm. Machines have been added as part of the busywork, and a lot of the other reviews disliked their addition. But I kind of like them. The towns people feel interesting and lively in ways that I didn't see in other games.

If I'm honest, this feels more like Stardew Valley than my previous experiences with SOS, and that might have been sufficient to appeal to me in particular.