Overall Score 8/10 | Good Fine Farming – BY ERIK PILLAR
Stardew Valley is a game that’s all about life, and a simple life at that. The game takes its overall inspiration from old farming / life simulators like Harvest Moon, but manages to still leave players with a new and unique experience.
Plot and Characters:
You’ll enter Stardew Valley as a city-slicker disillusioned with a life of corporate cubicles and meaningless interactions, and you’ve finally had enough. Your late grandfather owned a spot of farmland out near the small coastal town of Stardew Valley, and he’s left it all to you. Following in his footsteps, you set off for your new life in the rural of the valley.
There is a wide variety of characters and peoples to interact with in Stardew Valley. The personalities range from the strange and enigmatic wizard in the woods, the surely and depressed blacksmith in town, to the cute singles of the town ready and looking for a chance at love. Each NPC has their own definite feel to them, and everyone adds to the overall sense of community within the town and surrounding area.
Over the course of the game you’ll get to honestly feel like you know the people of Stardew Valley. You will learn their likes and dislikes, via speaking with them and in gift giving, and the closer you become with them the more of a look into their lives and struggles or triumphs you’ll get to see.
And of course, there are plenty of chances at finding love and settling down for keeps in the valley. There are 12 romanceable partners overall, six male and six female, and none of them are locked to a specific gender.
As far as any kind of overarching plot . . . there really is none. This is a game about life, and the story is the story of the town and of living amongst the people that you’ll find there. Each season has two unique events in which the town gathers to celebrate – you can choose to go or to skip them entirely, but refusing to go negates a lot of what the game has to offer.
Mood and Atmosphere:
Slice of life, and good fine living – that’s the sense of goodness that Stardew Valley inspires. Everything from the music, which is pleasant to listen too but not overly distracting, to the colorful maps and relaxed game pace is designed to put you at ease and to let you simply enjoy the experience of the game.
There is a lot to see and explore in the town, and with the exception of a dungeon delving section in the town mine – that’s full of monsters – nothing in this game will give much of a fright or get your blood pumping. And, that’s quite fine by me.
Graphically, the game is somewhere in the vein of pixel and cell-shaded styles that aims for simplicity but are accompanied by beauty. Every season of the game has a very different look and style, and differing in-game times and weather patterns alter the scene as well quite nicely.
While in-game times does move rather quickly with every step and action you take, by no means should you feel a sense of urgency in this game. Your adventures in Stardew Valley are open ended, and events will return again the coming year, and you won’t be missing out on anything by taking your time to enjoy the journey.
Game Play:
At its heart, this is a game that’s all about grinding and talking. You own a farm, and that requires a lot of upkeep. You have to clear the land of stray branches, trees, rocks, and you’ll need to till soil, plant seeds, water said seeds, build structures and manage it all on a near daily basis to make the most of the goods you can produce. And, to gain friendship with the towns people you’ll need to track them down twice a week, in-game time, and grant them gifts to curry favor. On top of all that, there is fishing to do if you so wish, foraging for food and goods, and fighting / mining your way through the critter infested mines, and so much more.
As you start your farming venture, the daily grind can get a little old. Having to water each seed in your field is a chore, and chopping for wood and mining stones drains a stamina bar you’ve been given quite quickly. Every action of work uses stamina, and once you’re out you risk passing out from exhaustion – which means you’ll start with the bar drained to 50% the next day.
As you progress in the game you’ll find ways of making your game life easier. For instance, there are several types of sprinklers to build – the best of which will water every adjacent square every morning, and you can upgrade your farming, mining, and fishing equipment as you go to grant greater efficiency too. There are plenty of ways to keep busy in Stardew Valley though, and it will take many dozens of hours to fully exhaust what you can do and all that you can be.
Final:
Stardew Valley is a pleasant little indie game that gives players a nice break from the more heavy and dramatic games that they might be used to. This is a very meditative game overall, and the good feels from small town life are well worth the grind you’ll face to become the best farmer in the land.
Stardew Valley was developed by Concerned Ape studios and published by Chucklefish Games, and released for PC, Linux, Play Station 4, and Xbox One systems in 2016 – with a planned Nintendo Switch launch sometime in 2017.
BUY INFO: Stardew Valley can be purchased via Xbox and PlayStation market places, and on Steam for PC at $14.99.
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