Stardew Valley feels like coming home.
I can't remember which playthrough I'm on, which is a rarity for me. I've revisited childhood favorites like Zelda and Mario countless times, cherishing each experience. However, as an adult, this happens less frequently. Maybe it's because modern games don't resonate with me as deeply, or maybe my gaming habits have simply changed over time. Yet, whenever I boot up Stardew Valley, it hits all the right notes. Whether I've talked with the residents of Pelican Town dozens of times or played through its events repeatedly, the game retains its magical allure. It feels like a nostalgic return to childhood gaming, a comforting experience I can enjoy every time of the year.
What's truly remarkable is the developer's commitment to continually expanding the game with substantial updates and expansions, all provided for free. Stardew Valley brims with passion and love. Despite its status as one of the most successful indie games of all time, the developer continues to pour his heart into it, enriching the experience for players. I deeply respect and appreciate this dedication, which unfortunately is no longer a given in today's gaming industry.
I could honestly ramble endlessly about this masterpiece of a game. Nearly a decade after my first playthrough, it still holds a special place in my heart and it probably always will.
I can't remember which playthrough I'm on, which is a rarity for me. I've revisited childhood favorites like Zelda and Mario countless times, cherishing each experience. However, as an adult, this happens less frequently. Maybe it's because modern games don't resonate with me as deeply, or maybe my gaming habits have simply changed over time. Yet, whenever I boot up Stardew Valley, it hits all the right notes. Whether I've talked with the residents of Pelican Town dozens of times or played through its events repeatedly, the game retains its magical allure. It feels like a nostalgic return to childhood gaming, a comforting experience I can enjoy every time of the year.
What's truly remarkable is the developer's commitment to continually expanding the game with substantial updates and expansions, all provided for free. Stardew Valley brims with passion and love. Despite its status as one of the most successful indie games of all time, the developer continues to pour his heart into it, enriching the experience for players. I deeply respect and appreciate this dedication, which unfortunately is no longer a given in today's gaming industry.
I could honestly ramble endlessly about this masterpiece of a game. Nearly a decade after my first playthrough, it still holds a special place in my heart and it probably always will.
I spent a whole week giving flowers and beer to a girl. Then I ask her if she wants to dance with me and she said "Eww, noo!". Story of my life.
burnout simulator
Stardew Valley is a charming and wonderful game. When it first came out, I played it so much that I started losing feeling in my head and I had to see a doctor. Stardew Valley is great for all the reasons you've probably heard of over the years, but this is not really a review for Stardew as much as it is a vehicle for the discussion of farming games.
I like to keep up with the latest ""cozy"" game releases because sometimes I'll find something that looks really interesting, but let me tell you, there are. so. many. farming games. There are so many farming games. And do you want to know how many farming games manage to at least do something vaugely different from Stardew? 0. Harvest Moon started it and Stardew basically perfected this specific atmosphere and formula, and now it seems like every developer is rushing headlong to depict that same exact kind of magic Stardew has without even managing slightly.
And I get so heated because, fucking what? It's a genre of game based on harvesting food and you can really only think of one exact scenerio and one exact way to go about doing it? People have been foraging and farming for an absurd amount of time, there are hundreds of ways and techniques to go about doing it that could be fun when projected into a video game. The art of forgaing specifically, nurturing and coursing nature into producing more food, seems like it would naturally go hand in hand with the themes farming games tend to go for, but all's lost in the realm we are trapped in where no matter the location (space, fantasy) we are forced to obtain property, till soil, and probably pay off some type of debt or at the very least participate in an economy thats strikingly similar to the one most of the planet has now despite existing in a fictional world where anything can take place.
There is a prehistoric farming sim called Roots of Pacha. I know enough about history to know that the concept alone makes 0 sense, and when people did start farming, it wasnt by clearing away large plots of land like we would now and laboriously carrying them to fruit. The first people that raised crops did it hand in hand with foragaing, in a type of cultivation called flood retreat farming in which one plants seeds along seasonally flooding beds of water, so that nature pretty much does all the hard work for them and nothing much has to get in the way of other activities. I personally hate this game for its wasted potential alone, because the concept has so many directions it could go in and it barely went in any of them except for the detail that there's not a money based economy present (i think?). This is just one example of how creatively lacking farming games seem to be, I know Roots of Pacha has you doing other things like hunting and all that but the outline in this game and all others pretty much follow in this order of doing the exact same shit you did in Stardew but with little (what if... it was prehistoric!) to no twist, and with no Concernedape flare.
Another trend I've noticed with these games is that, despite the full focus on community building, caring for nature, and usually overthrowing some type of rich guy villian, what you actually do in the game contradicts these themes entirely. Obviously, traditional farming involves a lot of deforestation. Thats a point that gets brought up a lot, quite reasonably, because it always is really weird when a magic spirit of nature comes down to thank you for restoring the natural balance when you just got back from tearing down two entire ecosystems for wood. But there's also just so little need for our own economy inserted in most of these games. We live in a town, seperated from all of society (occassionally on another planet) with 12 inhabitants and youre still making me pay rent? You would think these apparently very self sufficent people would have no need for money but I guess not. And the material focus gets in the way a lot with the other mechanics. For example, most of the relationship building that's popular in farming games takes the form of you constantly offering up some object to them with little or no actual imput from you. Give your girl 80 wild flowers and she will eventually fall in love with you.
I feel as though a lot of it is obviously borrowed from early Harvest Moon, which honestly felt a little too cyclical for me to enjoy it at all. Very hardcore traditional values in those early games, and especially when it comes to your bachlorettes in which the process of getting them seems eerily similar to obtaining a cow or something, to further min max your farm and make boohoo bucks. In this genre it's still that, but with a splat of paint on it that says "we ♡ community! we hate big business!".
Stardew Valley is a little bit exempt from this in my mind, because it's taking place in a world that seems to be basically our own. If Harvey charges me 2000 gil to be rescued from some scary caves, then at least that part makes sense. The community in Stardew is shown repeatedly to be an imperfect peoples anyhow, what from Pam's parental abuse and someone apparently throwing stones at a homeless person's tent. I'm pretty sure back when it came out farming games werent as popular, and for all of that the gameplay loop is near perfect and very fun to play. So we've been there, done that is basically what I'm saying. ConcernedApe made the best tradional farming game and now I am really interested in any other ideas or concepts from anyone, at all. If I wanted to play a farming game, there is no reason why I would spend many, many hours building a farm in a game that is likely less inspired and less polished than Stardew when none of them offer anything new to the table, in quality of writing, story, or anything else.
There are some exceptions, like Dinkum (which is barely a farming game but has way more spunk than all games in this genre do combined) but for the most part I'm just tired of every game trying to be Stardew but instead of ____ there's _____! The gameplay loop gets incredibly old when there is nothing else backing it up.
Again, this wasnt really a review for this game but I just wanted to get my opinions out there and maybe see what others think. Thanks for listening to my ramblings (-:
I like to keep up with the latest ""cozy"" game releases because sometimes I'll find something that looks really interesting, but let me tell you, there are. so. many. farming games. There are so many farming games. And do you want to know how many farming games manage to at least do something vaugely different from Stardew? 0. Harvest Moon started it and Stardew basically perfected this specific atmosphere and formula, and now it seems like every developer is rushing headlong to depict that same exact kind of magic Stardew has without even managing slightly.
And I get so heated because, fucking what? It's a genre of game based on harvesting food and you can really only think of one exact scenerio and one exact way to go about doing it? People have been foraging and farming for an absurd amount of time, there are hundreds of ways and techniques to go about doing it that could be fun when projected into a video game. The art of forgaing specifically, nurturing and coursing nature into producing more food, seems like it would naturally go hand in hand with the themes farming games tend to go for, but all's lost in the realm we are trapped in where no matter the location (space, fantasy) we are forced to obtain property, till soil, and probably pay off some type of debt or at the very least participate in an economy thats strikingly similar to the one most of the planet has now despite existing in a fictional world where anything can take place.
There is a prehistoric farming sim called Roots of Pacha. I know enough about history to know that the concept alone makes 0 sense, and when people did start farming, it wasnt by clearing away large plots of land like we would now and laboriously carrying them to fruit. The first people that raised crops did it hand in hand with foragaing, in a type of cultivation called flood retreat farming in which one plants seeds along seasonally flooding beds of water, so that nature pretty much does all the hard work for them and nothing much has to get in the way of other activities. I personally hate this game for its wasted potential alone, because the concept has so many directions it could go in and it barely went in any of them except for the detail that there's not a money based economy present (i think?). This is just one example of how creatively lacking farming games seem to be, I know Roots of Pacha has you doing other things like hunting and all that but the outline in this game and all others pretty much follow in this order of doing the exact same shit you did in Stardew but with little (what if... it was prehistoric!) to no twist, and with no Concernedape flare.
Another trend I've noticed with these games is that, despite the full focus on community building, caring for nature, and usually overthrowing some type of rich guy villian, what you actually do in the game contradicts these themes entirely. Obviously, traditional farming involves a lot of deforestation. Thats a point that gets brought up a lot, quite reasonably, because it always is really weird when a magic spirit of nature comes down to thank you for restoring the natural balance when you just got back from tearing down two entire ecosystems for wood. But there's also just so little need for our own economy inserted in most of these games. We live in a town, seperated from all of society (occassionally on another planet) with 12 inhabitants and youre still making me pay rent? You would think these apparently very self sufficent people would have no need for money but I guess not. And the material focus gets in the way a lot with the other mechanics. For example, most of the relationship building that's popular in farming games takes the form of you constantly offering up some object to them with little or no actual imput from you. Give your girl 80 wild flowers and she will eventually fall in love with you.
I feel as though a lot of it is obviously borrowed from early Harvest Moon, which honestly felt a little too cyclical for me to enjoy it at all. Very hardcore traditional values in those early games, and especially when it comes to your bachlorettes in which the process of getting them seems eerily similar to obtaining a cow or something, to further min max your farm and make boohoo bucks. In this genre it's still that, but with a splat of paint on it that says "we ♡ community! we hate big business!".
Stardew Valley is a little bit exempt from this in my mind, because it's taking place in a world that seems to be basically our own. If Harvey charges me 2000 gil to be rescued from some scary caves, then at least that part makes sense. The community in Stardew is shown repeatedly to be an imperfect peoples anyhow, what from Pam's parental abuse and someone apparently throwing stones at a homeless person's tent. I'm pretty sure back when it came out farming games werent as popular, and for all of that the gameplay loop is near perfect and very fun to play. So we've been there, done that is basically what I'm saying. ConcernedApe made the best tradional farming game and now I am really interested in any other ideas or concepts from anyone, at all. If I wanted to play a farming game, there is no reason why I would spend many, many hours building a farm in a game that is likely less inspired and less polished than Stardew when none of them offer anything new to the table, in quality of writing, story, or anything else.
There are some exceptions, like Dinkum (which is barely a farming game but has way more spunk than all games in this genre do combined) but for the most part I'm just tired of every game trying to be Stardew but instead of ____ there's _____! The gameplay loop gets incredibly old when there is nothing else backing it up.
Again, this wasnt really a review for this game but I just wanted to get my opinions out there and maybe see what others think. Thanks for listening to my ramblings (-:
would have been one star because whistling doesn't summon my horse but when I found out I could put a hat on him I bumped it back up to five
COWS!!!!!!
I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I probably have around 100 hours of gameplay on a save file in Stardew Valley. Eric Barone is a legend; it's unbelievable that just one person created such a massive game—truly a myth. The game may seem small and easy, but it can be challenging and time-consuming. You never have a dull moment in this game; there's always something to do. I eagerly await the next update. Thank you, Eric!
A game I'd normally not play. But here I am, playing with a enthusiastic friend who absolutely adores Stardew. Their love can be very infectious to be sure.
Yet after over 40 hours, the beginning of year 3, married to Maru, unlocked the island's secrets, delved deep into the skull cavern many times, forged a hammer of the stars, raised dinosaurs, and helped make a farm that can produce 400,000 gold or more a month (admittedly they set up most of the farm); I came away thinking "Yeah that was decent."
Most of my "issues" are really just my biases for the things that make me enjoy a game. I enjoy becoming stronger in a game, richer even, but something that I asked myself a lot was "why?" I don't like getting power for the sake of power. The reason I don't mind grinding in a lot of games is that I'm working towards something. "I need more power because of this tough boss." If I clear the hardest challenge in the game, then I put it down. That is my cut-off point in most games. (Not to say I wouldn't replay them) So in Stardew, you have to make your own goals. There's nothing wrong with that inherently, and there are tough challenges to work towards, but I need something more concrete. Some kind of conflict to get invested in. You don't have any debt that you need to pay off, there's no real danger to the town or your farm; the only thing that drives you is you. And that really isn't enough for me, but that's just the kind of game this is.
This is a big reason why I couldn't get into Minecraft. There was never a good enough goal to engage me to the game. But at least Stardew has NPCs with their own stories and relationships, and a lot of mysteries to uncover that greatly expand the scope of the game. The feeling of progression is fairly gratifying too, earning a lot of money or leveling up a skill feels as good as it should. I also like how this is a life sim that isn't tied to the real-world clock. You can play through as many days as possible in one sitting, this is very good as it puts you in more control of the game. NPCs are a mixed bag though, which even my friend agrees to this. Some are cute and interesting, but others are just kind of jerks or a bit bland. I don't inherently have a problem with finding characters unlikable, even if they aren't a antagonist, but some of these are possible boyfriend/girlfriend candidates. They needed to be more inherently likeable or interesting. Maybe some random events that show the more interesting side to these characters sooner. Like I do get it, humans are complex. Some aren't so enthusiastic to talk to strangers. Many aren't comfortable being too open about themselves. It's sort of realistic in that way, but it still makes it harder then I feel it should be to engage with them.
The more gamey mechanics aren't too complex, which could be a good or bad thing depending on who you are. Combat isn't mindless but I would appreciate more then one special attack per weapon type, plus actual bosses. Farming definitely has the most thought, but is still easy enough to manage. Fishing can go suck a cod!!! (My friend loves fishing, can't say I'm a fan) And of course there's tons to customize with how your farm looks and operates.
Fainting in a dungeon is surprisingly harsh though. You lose a ton of items and can only get one of them back. And some late game enemies deal a stupid amount of damage. You're better off reseting if you faint, honestly (unless you got a rare item, in which case tough shit).
Stardew Valley is a relaxing game but has a edge that the more happy-go-lucky life sims (I.E. Animal Crossing) doesn't quite have. For me, the edge is a bit too dull for my liking, but if my friend asks me to play it again, then I wouldn't hesitate to say yes.
I nicknamed my hammer the "Fuck-Off Hammer" for all those flying sea serpents in the skull cavern that need to "Fuck-Off"
Yet after over 40 hours, the beginning of year 3, married to Maru, unlocked the island's secrets, delved deep into the skull cavern many times, forged a hammer of the stars, raised dinosaurs, and helped make a farm that can produce 400,000 gold or more a month (admittedly they set up most of the farm); I came away thinking "Yeah that was decent."
Most of my "issues" are really just my biases for the things that make me enjoy a game. I enjoy becoming stronger in a game, richer even, but something that I asked myself a lot was "why?" I don't like getting power for the sake of power. The reason I don't mind grinding in a lot of games is that I'm working towards something. "I need more power because of this tough boss." If I clear the hardest challenge in the game, then I put it down. That is my cut-off point in most games. (Not to say I wouldn't replay them) So in Stardew, you have to make your own goals. There's nothing wrong with that inherently, and there are tough challenges to work towards, but I need something more concrete. Some kind of conflict to get invested in. You don't have any debt that you need to pay off, there's no real danger to the town or your farm; the only thing that drives you is you. And that really isn't enough for me, but that's just the kind of game this is.
This is a big reason why I couldn't get into Minecraft. There was never a good enough goal to engage me to the game. But at least Stardew has NPCs with their own stories and relationships, and a lot of mysteries to uncover that greatly expand the scope of the game. The feeling of progression is fairly gratifying too, earning a lot of money or leveling up a skill feels as good as it should. I also like how this is a life sim that isn't tied to the real-world clock. You can play through as many days as possible in one sitting, this is very good as it puts you in more control of the game. NPCs are a mixed bag though, which even my friend agrees to this. Some are cute and interesting, but others are just kind of jerks or a bit bland. I don't inherently have a problem with finding characters unlikable, even if they aren't a antagonist, but some of these are possible boyfriend/girlfriend candidates. They needed to be more inherently likeable or interesting. Maybe some random events that show the more interesting side to these characters sooner. Like I do get it, humans are complex. Some aren't so enthusiastic to talk to strangers. Many aren't comfortable being too open about themselves. It's sort of realistic in that way, but it still makes it harder then I feel it should be to engage with them.
The more gamey mechanics aren't too complex, which could be a good or bad thing depending on who you are. Combat isn't mindless but I would appreciate more then one special attack per weapon type, plus actual bosses. Farming definitely has the most thought, but is still easy enough to manage. Fishing can go suck a cod!!! (My friend loves fishing, can't say I'm a fan) And of course there's tons to customize with how your farm looks and operates.
Fainting in a dungeon is surprisingly harsh though. You lose a ton of items and can only get one of them back. And some late game enemies deal a stupid amount of damage. You're better off reseting if you faint, honestly (unless you got a rare item, in which case tough shit).
Stardew Valley is a relaxing game but has a edge that the more happy-go-lucky life sims (I.E. Animal Crossing) doesn't quite have. For me, the edge is a bit too dull for my liking, but if my friend asks me to play it again, then I wouldn't hesitate to say yes.
I nicknamed my hammer the "Fuck-Off Hammer" for all those flying sea serpents in the skull cavern that need to "Fuck-Off"
the white girl's elden ring
I won't lie – I spent 100 hours on my single playthrough. Every addicting hook from the Harvest Moon series is nailed in this tribute, bringing out your inner capitalist and matchmaker. But to what end? Like its predecessors, Stardew Valley has nothing to say about your activity. It simply wants you to do more of it. I looked upon my barns, fields, and sheds, and thought, “Is this it?” That's right – I had a mid-life crisis in Stardew Valley, and it had no answers for my emptiness.
Its the ultimate Harvest Moon game thats not Harvest Moon. Super addicting Gameplay loop and a world that starts super simple but reveals its depths the more you interact with it.
No one asked to be able to drink mayonnaise. Thousands have asked for the option to make the playable character non-binary.
Well, at least we can now drink mayonnaise. Thanks, Eric.
Well, at least we can now drink mayonnaise. Thanks, Eric.
After a long break (started playing this in March) I finally finished (or decided to stop playing it after 86 hours) this game. The last things I did were the stable (I can’t believe I only had the horse for half an hour, it was so satisfying to ride it everywhere) and Pam’s house. But I didn't have any more missions to do besides completing the collection (I also forgot that I had access to the Q door in Ginger Island, whoops). I thought about getting all the hearts with Leo and Sandy, but I couldn’t be bothered (Leo is a sweet boy though! Surprisingly good character).
Good:
- Beautiful graphics, relaxing music, and a very cute presentation overall.
- Growing crops is so satisfying.
- Cutest farm animals I've ever seen, you get emotionally attached to all your cows and chickens, I would never sell them.
- I love that the town is pescatarian, I am a vegetarian myself.
- I love meeting everyone and giving them gifts, and you get a lot of cutscenes in the first two years, so you feel like you actually know the characters as you interact with them in different ways.
- There’s lots and lots of extra content, including a Terraria action segment, a fishing mechanic, a desert, a tropical island, and a ton of secrets (that I had to look up online, cause who plays anything blind anymore).
Bad:
- The representation kinda sucks. The game is 95% white, there’s three redhead women, it’s impossible to tell them apart. And everyone is straight, except for the romance candidates, who can adapt to your gender, but if you don’t choose them they are coded as straight.
- And I almost didn’t play the game because all the romance candidates look borderline underage, despite the fact that there are hot single people around. I wanted to date Clint so bad, but the game cockblocked me, and I was forced to choose Harvey, who was like my 5th option (after Willy, Gus and Linus).
- It gets progressively more repetitive despite the sizable amount of content. The morning routine gets taxing, and, mainly, the people around you never evolve besides some dialogue changes when you say hi to them. During the festivals they are stuck in the same dialogue loop, so the festivals become a chore and you end up avoiding them like the plague.
Next time I play it I have to install a mod to date Clint. If I could marry Clint I would give it 5 stars, but the developer decided to piss me off. It would also be nice to have the mod to pair up people that you don’t date, and the one where the villagers change their outfits depending on the season.
https://imgur.com/DD3tfq0 (Bird's-eye view of my final farm)
https://imgur.com/Z3NjQei (Harvey kiss)
https://imgur.com/gj7zzRS (Me house)
https://imgur.com/XQrdWFy (The horse I had for 5 minutes)
https://imgur.com/3iaAaVA (Trying to flirt with Clint)
https://imgur.com/SCPZ5x0 (Going on a, sadly platonic, date with Clint)
Good:
- Beautiful graphics, relaxing music, and a very cute presentation overall.
- Growing crops is so satisfying.
- Cutest farm animals I've ever seen, you get emotionally attached to all your cows and chickens, I would never sell them.
- I love that the town is pescatarian, I am a vegetarian myself.
- I love meeting everyone and giving them gifts, and you get a lot of cutscenes in the first two years, so you feel like you actually know the characters as you interact with them in different ways.
- There’s lots and lots of extra content, including a Terraria action segment, a fishing mechanic, a desert, a tropical island, and a ton of secrets (that I had to look up online, cause who plays anything blind anymore).
Bad:
- The representation kinda sucks. The game is 95% white, there’s three redhead women, it’s impossible to tell them apart. And everyone is straight, except for the romance candidates, who can adapt to your gender, but if you don’t choose them they are coded as straight.
- And I almost didn’t play the game because all the romance candidates look borderline underage, despite the fact that there are hot single people around. I wanted to date Clint so bad, but the game cockblocked me, and I was forced to choose Harvey, who was like my 5th option (after Willy, Gus and Linus).
- It gets progressively more repetitive despite the sizable amount of content. The morning routine gets taxing, and, mainly, the people around you never evolve besides some dialogue changes when you say hi to them. During the festivals they are stuck in the same dialogue loop, so the festivals become a chore and you end up avoiding them like the plague.
Next time I play it I have to install a mod to date Clint. If I could marry Clint I would give it 5 stars, but the developer decided to piss me off. It would also be nice to have the mod to pair up people that you don’t date, and the one where the villagers change their outfits depending on the season.
https://imgur.com/DD3tfq0 (Bird's-eye view of my final farm)
https://imgur.com/Z3NjQei (Harvey kiss)
https://imgur.com/gj7zzRS (Me house)
https://imgur.com/XQrdWFy (The horse I had for 5 minutes)
https://imgur.com/3iaAaVA (Trying to flirt with Clint)
https://imgur.com/SCPZ5x0 (Going on a, sadly platonic, date with Clint)
Peak chore simulator gaming. The beginning of the downfall for comfy video games, accidentally creating it's own genre and never to be properly replicated again. (Yet.)
To say Stardew doesn't draw reference from Harvest Moon would be a lie, but it expanded on Harvest Moon's original ideas. It added combat, more variety to crafting with actual use, and built upon relationships that feel rewarding to complete.
Played it for the first time when it came out and there was zero reason for me to spend literal hours upon hours playing this game mid-college, yet I found myself pouring a hundred hours into it trying to complete the challenges and befriending everyone.
In most other games of this type I find myself wanting more to do, but I'm left with only designing my house and that's it. This game is the opposite, never bothered decorating my house because I'm usually never interested in it, but there was loads more for me to do with the community center and dungeon crawling.
My main complaint is that you have to mod in huge quality of life features, like the expanded storage units and automatic crafting. I literally cannot play the game without them now that I've gotten a hit of the good stuff. Still holds up as the snuggest juggernaut in gaming, can't wait for the next one.
To say Stardew doesn't draw reference from Harvest Moon would be a lie, but it expanded on Harvest Moon's original ideas. It added combat, more variety to crafting with actual use, and built upon relationships that feel rewarding to complete.
Played it for the first time when it came out and there was zero reason for me to spend literal hours upon hours playing this game mid-college, yet I found myself pouring a hundred hours into it trying to complete the challenges and befriending everyone.
In most other games of this type I find myself wanting more to do, but I'm left with only designing my house and that's it. This game is the opposite, never bothered decorating my house because I'm usually never interested in it, but there was loads more for me to do with the community center and dungeon crawling.
My main complaint is that you have to mod in huge quality of life features, like the expanded storage units and automatic crafting. I literally cannot play the game without them now that I've gotten a hit of the good stuff. Still holds up as the snuggest juggernaut in gaming, can't wait for the next one.
The most addictive yet relaxing game of all time. There are so many things to do that it’s hard to get bored until you’ve put in around 100 hours. Another great thing about this game is if you do get bored or do everything there is in the game just take a few months off. After a few months come back to it and start a new farm on a different map and it is all exciting and fun once again.
game turned me gay
this game makes me feel deeply sad every time i try to play it. i get really scared that nobody is going to like my gifts and i turn into a trash-digging hermit every time. it's just like real life
It’s personal
At the beginning of 2020 when everyone with a Switch was playing the new Animal Crossing I inherited my grandfather’s farm in a quaint town of Stardew Valley, have you heard of it?
I found a new life there that was everything I wanted & exactly what I needed at a time where I felt like it was my fucking duty to wait for the news broadcasts to tell me more bad news & scroll infinitely on Twitter to find more people in my same frame of mind as I was where we were all terrified & had to work in positions where business owners didn’t want to protect us & nobody cared that we were scared or that our families couldn’t stand to get sick
I came back in 2022 after losing both of my grandmas in less than a year & my grandpa needed to be placed in long term care because my family couldn’t properly care for him anymore
Recently my dad has been in poor health, avoiding hospitalization and struggling with a lot of anxiety and paranoia made increasingly worse by medicines that have been prescribed to maybe hopefully help eventually I think. We’re all scared and I’ve found myself thinking of a trip to Stardew to be with my cows and my chubby piggies and chickens and back to growing pumpkins and kicking blueberries around my greenhouse and saying hi to my little bats in the cave right behind it…
The more I want to visit my farm, the more I wish my dad could go too
A place where you can let go of your anxieties
A home away from home, but not too far
At the beginning of 2020 when everyone with a Switch was playing the new Animal Crossing I inherited my grandfather’s farm in a quaint town of Stardew Valley, have you heard of it?
I found a new life there that was everything I wanted & exactly what I needed at a time where I felt like it was my fucking duty to wait for the news broadcasts to tell me more bad news & scroll infinitely on Twitter to find more people in my same frame of mind as I was where we were all terrified & had to work in positions where business owners didn’t want to protect us & nobody cared that we were scared or that our families couldn’t stand to get sick
I came back in 2022 after losing both of my grandmas in less than a year & my grandpa needed to be placed in long term care because my family couldn’t properly care for him anymore
Recently my dad has been in poor health, avoiding hospitalization and struggling with a lot of anxiety and paranoia made increasingly worse by medicines that have been prescribed to maybe hopefully help eventually I think. We’re all scared and I’ve found myself thinking of a trip to Stardew to be with my cows and my chubby piggies and chickens and back to growing pumpkins and kicking blueberries around my greenhouse and saying hi to my little bats in the cave right behind it…
The more I want to visit my farm, the more I wish my dad could go too
A place where you can let go of your anxieties
A home away from home, but not too far
Okay so, there's a lot to say about this game and not a lot of words to say it. If you're into games like this, consider this a masterpiece. The environment, the characters, the story, the visuals, everything is beautiful. This game had me by the throat for awhile, its hard to stop playing once you get in a rhythm. The mines were compelling and kept me coming back again and again, well after I finished them. I have very few complaints about this game. One being the way the characters don't change over time with dialogue. I figured when I married Shane that Marnie and Jas would treat me a little more like family or at least have a few dialogues that acknowledge the fact that we were married. Whenever I kept seeing Marnie, she would always say something like "Oh my nephew Shane has been living with me for the passed few months-" that never changes. Another complaint I have is the GRIND for perfection. I was at the point where I had everything but the golden clock and I was so desperate by the end, I was just selling my accumulation of materials over the years to get the 10,000,000 I needed for it. It was actually painful but I got really desperate. But eventually I got it and the satisfaction was indescribable. I highly recommend everyone who even has a hint of interest give this a try. It had so much charm and I consider it a real treasure of a game.
for a solid month this was my second job after getting home from my real job. simpler times.
A poor man's Harvest Moon
Reviews for this game tend to be written by functioning adults who spend considerable amounts of time cosplaying as stable functioning adults. They see Stardew Valley as a break from their job accumulating wealth for an unimaginably rich person who they do not know. In a culture which eagerly moves us from one pigeonhole apartment to pigeonhole cubicle, it's no wonder demand for better living and working conditions is created. You can sate it for 91.76 French Francs (13.99 Euro).
This is a review by a person who does not feel this way (yet). This is a review for those people who are willing to play a video game for 10-50 hours, let it dominate their life for a couple of weeks then burn out and not touch the game for the following 6 months - 2 years.
I don't play Stardew to relax, I play it to win. My time is precious, that means the 6AM to 1AM workday is sacred. Making sure my character makes it to bed on time is important, not just because it means i get debuffed to fuck shit fuck next morning, but because when I look up at my wall-clock and see that it's 3:14 AM, I want to be satisfied that at least one of us is getting a good night's sleep.
The game perfectly caters for this innate drive to organise the day, and by the time you're used to it, you can completely master the art of not wasting a single second of in-game time so you can fully and constantly experience how great this game is. Attempts to move that skill into my regular life have thus far failed.
This game really is a great game though. I don't want to go into the mechanics of it (look up the Girlfriend Review or the Joseph Anderson review for that). All that you need to know is to pet your dog/cat, fill their water bowl, praise the God above when you get an ancient seed.
This is a review by a person who does not feel this way (yet). This is a review for those people who are willing to play a video game for 10-50 hours, let it dominate their life for a couple of weeks then burn out and not touch the game for the following 6 months - 2 years.
I don't play Stardew to relax, I play it to win. My time is precious, that means the 6AM to 1AM workday is sacred. Making sure my character makes it to bed on time is important, not just because it means i get debuffed to fuck shit fuck next morning, but because when I look up at my wall-clock and see that it's 3:14 AM, I want to be satisfied that at least one of us is getting a good night's sleep.
The game perfectly caters for this innate drive to organise the day, and by the time you're used to it, you can completely master the art of not wasting a single second of in-game time so you can fully and constantly experience how great this game is. Attempts to move that skill into my regular life have thus far failed.
This game really is a great game though. I don't want to go into the mechanics of it (look up the Girlfriend Review or the Joseph Anderson review for that). All that you need to know is to pet your dog/cat, fill their water bowl, praise the God above when you get an ancient seed.
I MET THE FUCKING WIZARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!$
I've seen many people that were completely consumed by this game and spent hours and hours and hours on it, but honestly i don't really see why. The game isn't very specific about what it wants you to do, and to me it seemed like the game play was planting crops and then walking to and from town over and over again. there is a combat mode but it doesn't control great, and i couldn't figure out how to progress relationships with the characters or whatever it was the game expected me to do without telling me or guiding me. its just kind of boring and i say that as someone who can enjoy more laid back games. maybe i need a guide or something like in terraria, but id much rather the game have a proper tutorial than expecting me to read a Wikipedia page.
I've loved Stardew Valley for years, but the community for this game loves gaslighting you. It's always "Stardew Valley is one of the most relaxing games ever!" until you have to unlock and craft every item, reach max friendship with every NPC, sell every type of crop and catch every fish, all of which require incredible memorization and knowledge of what exact time every single item you need can spawn, punishing you with a huge waiting period if you miss anything.
Playing Stardew Valley casually and learning the optimal Minmax Perfection playthrough are two different beasts. If you read what I just typed above and thought "That sounds extremely obnoxious, why do you like this", honestly, I don't blame you. But based on this and my Super Metroid review, I guess sometimes I like it when a game has more unconventional design, as long as that design harmonizes with everything else that the game is trying to achieve. And Stardew Valley pulls this off incredibly.
I've attempted and failed to reach the Perfection Ending in Stardew several times. Until now, I've always either gotten frustrated or gotten too busy to keep playing it. But in spite of this, it's the one game that I've always come back to. The incredible spritework and soundtrack create an absolutely incredible atmosphere. The rewarding gameplay loop created from the farming mechanics has had me consistently hooked during every playthrough. I don't really want to spoil too much about these though, as not knowing the mechanics in depth will make a first playthrough much more interesting. All you really have to know is that this game has attached itself to my life since I first played it back in 2017.
So as a fan, and as someone who has spent the last 6 years on-and-off trying to complete this game, when I finally got to see that final cutscene, it felt so much more fucking satisfying than if the game had just been handed to me. It was a brilliant sendoff.
I guess this isn't much of a review, is it? I've not really analyzed the game in depth here, this is really just the incoherent rambles of someone replaying (probably) the best life sim game of all time. But I deserve this rambling, I feel. I hope I'll be coming back home to the valley again soon.
Extra note: I said earlier that this game has amazing sprites, but there's one exception. I'm so glad that despite the substantial updates this game has gotten over the years, ConcernedApe has never changed Grandpa's fucked up bed
Playing Stardew Valley casually and learning the optimal Minmax Perfection playthrough are two different beasts. If you read what I just typed above and thought "That sounds extremely obnoxious, why do you like this", honestly, I don't blame you. But based on this and my Super Metroid review, I guess sometimes I like it when a game has more unconventional design, as long as that design harmonizes with everything else that the game is trying to achieve. And Stardew Valley pulls this off incredibly.
I've attempted and failed to reach the Perfection Ending in Stardew several times. Until now, I've always either gotten frustrated or gotten too busy to keep playing it. But in spite of this, it's the one game that I've always come back to. The incredible spritework and soundtrack create an absolutely incredible atmosphere. The rewarding gameplay loop created from the farming mechanics has had me consistently hooked during every playthrough. I don't really want to spoil too much about these though, as not knowing the mechanics in depth will make a first playthrough much more interesting. All you really have to know is that this game has attached itself to my life since I first played it back in 2017.
So as a fan, and as someone who has spent the last 6 years on-and-off trying to complete this game, when I finally got to see that final cutscene, it felt so much more fucking satisfying than if the game had just been handed to me. It was a brilliant sendoff.
I guess this isn't much of a review, is it? I've not really analyzed the game in depth here, this is really just the incoherent rambles of someone replaying (probably) the best life sim game of all time. But I deserve this rambling, I feel. I hope I'll be coming back home to the valley again soon.
Extra note: I said earlier that this game has amazing sprites, but there's one exception. I'm so glad that despite the substantial updates this game has gotten over the years, ConcernedApe has never changed Grandpa's fucked up bed
Honestly just iconic, offers so much to veteran gamers and those new. It’s like, the harvest moon that harvest moon still can’t figure out how to do. It’s gained such a following for a well deserved reason, and it’s so beautiful in its design and values. I always found I never could finish it completely, as the end game gets a bit slow for me. However, those initial 60 hours of bliss are so worth it.
I really like Stardew Valley. The characters are well written, the world is fun, there's lots to do... but I do feel like it missed a lot of what I look for in a game like this, and I'm not sure how to word that.
I ended up modding Stardew pretty intensively-- and some of that was just appearance, of course, because I'm very vain... but I also had to install mods for things like 'No Fence Decay', 'No Friendship Decay', 'Walk through Trellis'... There's a lot of features that just feel like they're there to punish you for being 'bad' at farming. And Harvest Moon has them too, of course-- there's a fair share of that in any game. But Stardew goes pretty hard on it, I feel, and sometimes I don't want to worry about having to have the most efficient farm. I don't want to fuss over my fences and making sure to talk to everyone and making sure my trellis' are in formation.
Despite all that, Stardew is a great game-- though it required a little effort into modding to make it fun for me on a very persona; level. I really do recommend it to anyone who loves Harvest Moon and that kind of game-- it's well made and clearly done with a lot of love.
I ended up modding Stardew pretty intensively-- and some of that was just appearance, of course, because I'm very vain... but I also had to install mods for things like 'No Fence Decay', 'No Friendship Decay', 'Walk through Trellis'... There's a lot of features that just feel like they're there to punish you for being 'bad' at farming. And Harvest Moon has them too, of course-- there's a fair share of that in any game. But Stardew goes pretty hard on it, I feel, and sometimes I don't want to worry about having to have the most efficient farm. I don't want to fuss over my fences and making sure to talk to everyone and making sure my trellis' are in formation.
Despite all that, Stardew is a great game-- though it required a little effort into modding to make it fun for me on a very persona; level. I really do recommend it to anyone who loves Harvest Moon and that kind of game-- it's well made and clearly done with a lot of love.
Convinced you can't do better if you want a farming game. Every task feels good, and everything is fleshed out enough. Nothing is obligatory, there are pretty much no stakes, but you can do so much, and it's very fun. Clears every competitor, really.
I got a girlfriend by giving her rocks and stuff so it's like a 6 year old's dream
Browntown is a nice place