Gematsu recently had the opportunity to chat with Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town director Hikaru Nakano. In the meeting, the creative shared interesting statements on several topics related to the game and the franchise in general.
Firstly, when asked about future plans and whether he plans to change the game’s formula, Nakano said that he wants to keep the series “true to itself”. However, he added that “if we’re talking about developments outside of the core identity, there are certainly a lot of possibilities”.
He was also asked if other games such as Stardew Valley affected the development of Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, and he pointed to another example that did influence development: the Rune Factory series as “a way to showcase the player’s skills and the method through which the player unlocks new crafting recipes”.
Another prominent topic he discussed in the interview is same-sex marriage. When asked if this possibility will become a fixture in the series, the director had this to say:
Giving players the freedom to marry whoever they want is important for a game like Story of Seasons. I believe it should be included in these games, so the development team and I intend to continue to implement same-sex marriage in future titles. There is a precedent in Japan for calling it a ‘Best Friend Ceremony’, but it may change in the future.