Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town brought a lot of changes to the franchise. One of the most notable ones is how the festivals operate. Festivals have long been a series staple that let players earn rewards or socialize with their favorite townsfolk for interesting dialogue. While the dialogue is still there, several things have been removed, and many Festivals have been reduced to just being made up of cutscenes.
This is especially noticeable since fan-favorite festivals like the chicken festival aren’t present in the game. Even the pet festival has been toned down to being just a mini-game.
8 Egg Hunt
The egg hunt is the first festival that players will come across and isn’t well-liked by most people. When players hear of the egg festival, that usually means that they are going to have to focus on raising quality chickens. Instead, the Egg Hunt is a cutscene where your character wanders around town trying to find hidden eggs.
This has upset many fans as they feel they should have at least been able to collect the eggs in a mini-game. The Mushroom Hunt in fall further helps to prove that the Egg Hunt is a lackluster shell of a festival.
7 Fireworks Display
The Fireworks Display occurs in summer and is similar to other firework events in previous games. You enter the town and are able to chat with the townsfolk. When you are done, you can pick a character that you have been romancing to watch the fireworks with, and this, of course, will earn you a ton of friendship points.
Apart from gaining extra friendships points and a cute cutscene, though, there is nothing really to do at this festival.
6 Snowshine Celebration
The Snowshine Celebration is held in Winter inside the town like the other festivals on the list. This time snow sculptures have been set up around town. Like with the Fireworks Display, you can walk around and talk to villagers; when you are ready to view the snow sculptures, you can ask a marriage candidate to accompany you.
The festival is well done, but once again, it’s nothing more than a cutscene that grants friendship points.
5 Spirit Festival
The Spirit Festival is the same as the Snowshine Celebration and Fireworks Festival in terms of how the festival unfolds. For this festival, the townsfolk send off lanterns to honor nature, and you can choose someone to release your lantern with for extra friendship points.
While this is another interesting take on festivals for the series, there is nothing much to do other than get extra friendship points.
4 Summer Jamboree
The Summer Jamboree is a summer festival that takes place down at the Pioneer Town dock. This time there is actually a mini-game to play, and you earn a trophy. Trophies can be used to decorate your house or earn a decent sum of money. The mini-game is reflex-based and has mixed reviews amongst fans.
Players must time hits with a hammer to send a barrel flying into highlighter areas in the sea. The bar moves incredibly fast, though, so it can be hard to nail the higher point areas in the second and third rounds.
3 Pet Derby
Taking place in spring, the Pet Derby is another mini-game-based festival that revolves around your pets. This time you will be playing a mini-game to help your pet or one you have rented come in first place. Players who have pets in their homes can select the one they want to use in the race. Alternatively, you can borrow one from the mayor.
The pets used by the rest of the cast don’t appear in the normal game, and it’s not completely clear what happens to them when the festival isn’t going on. The friendship level of pets doesn’t necessarily need to be raised to win this event.
2 Fishing Tournament
The Fishing Tournament occurs in Winter and allows the player to face off against the townsfolk in another mini-game. Players will be given a time limit to fish in; to win, they must pull up the biggest fish, which seems to become easier with an upgraded fishing rod.
While this festival does involve a bit of RNG, it does seem to be pretty fair, and players won’t just catch small fish.
1 Mushroom Hunt
The Mushroom Hunt is a fall festival that shows just how fun the Egg Festival could have been. Players meet in the town plaza where they can talk to townsfolk like in all the other festivals. Once they are done, they can speak to the mayor to start the mushroom hunt mini-game.
The game places mushrooms all around the first and top area of the town for players to find. To win, you must quickly rush around and pick up as many mushrooms as possible in order to come out with the highest score.
