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.