I'm so unbelievably split on this game. It is made for a specific type of person, the type of person who wants a very chill game play experience, enjoys trial and error, and doesn't mind there being no end to their play through. All of those things sound very boring to me, but I suppose that's my preference. Nevertheless, I will rate the game even though it's not made for me.

I can see how co-op with your significant other in this game is popular because it is in my opinion a game that appeals more to women. It's like a way to get them to play video games with you even if it's your not your first choice (speaking from a male perspective).

I can't help but feel after looking at this new 1.6 update for the game that the creator is sort of lost on what people are looking for as new features. This game has so many crazy cool mods that it is straight up 2x better with mods. Having a game with tons of mods is not a great sign imo. I will never hold back a low rating because "the mods save it". People shouldn't be expected to mod something to make the best version of the game.

It seems to me that players know what they want more than the creator, or have more ambition than the creator because it's one person who made this entire game. That's a lot of responsibility it's mind boggling to me.

Browse the mods for this game and you'll see what I mean.
https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/?BH=0

One I would never be able to play this game without is movement speed increase, the slow movement speed is really annoying. https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/2736
Yeah I get that you get a horse with a stable but that takes quite a while when you don't know what you're doing. And yes I know that you can drink coffee or eat food for a speed boost too.

Another issue I have is there are lots of wiki lookup moments because the game doesn't do a good job of explaining it's mechanics naturally through game play. For example how you have no idea what gifts npcs like or don't like. For that I use this mod https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/6564

The entire game is framed around either not caring what is most efficient or relying on the player to figure it out on your own. A methodology I hate to endorse.

The other thing I don't like which is again part of the appeal that doesn't appeal, is the game is so jam packed with shit, and a lot of the shit I don't really care about. The thing that does appeal to me in this game is variety in aesthetics, mechanics, and storytelling. Like oh I talk to this specific seller in the game to get this exotic plant, and now it is treated differently because it's a different plant. Or I chose this relationship and that led to a interesting event. Or I can make my house japanese themed. Or now since I neglected this relationship, something bad happened. Or I can have a ton of crazy animals and they all need to be cared for differently.

This game kind of just gives you options and you're left to draw your own conclusions, and my interpretation is then there is no conclusion/lesson/reason.

This game doesn't commit all the way, it holds back because the scope of what I am talking about is complicated. Or because it's made by one person. Or because it wants to be simple. Either way I wish it was different.