Stardew Valley released just three days ago and its already spreading like wildfire to anyone and everyone looking to rekindle the experience of playing Harvest Moon. Stardew Valley is an “open-ended country-life RPG” which basically means you run a farm. You’ve just inherited a farm from your grandfather and are faced with reviving a dilapidated old mess of a place. Like Harvest Moon, your farm is a mess and you’ll have to clean it all up. With nothing more than a few old tools and some coin, the choice of how to run the place is left entirely up to you.
I am absolutely in love with this game. I’m not going to review it fully quite yet because I’m only about 5 hours in, but I can already tell you it’s tons of fun and totally worth the $15 I paid on Steam.
From planting crops to upgrading your house, fishing, crafting, learning new recipes, building more structures, raising animals, exploring mines, fighting monsters, convincing people to like you, to even discovering the mysteries of the community center (which involves a Wizard…) there’s so much to do.
Stardew Valley Farm
My biggest complain about all of these open-ended country-life RPGs has to be that I get overwhelmed. I want to do so much. I want to plant the right crops at the right time. I want to make sure I’m working on my relationships with the right girl. I want to get the upgrades to my house at the most opportune moment. I want to make sure I don’t miss out on a festival that comes once a year.
The reason I can’t do it all is because time passes in-game and there’s only so much you can do in a day before you’re out of energy and before it’s time to go to bed. As time progresses, seasons change. As seasons change, certain crops change — the world changes. If I stop thinking about trying to be perfect and simply start working toward a farm then I’m able to quadruple my enjoyment.
While Stardew Valley is currently single-player, multiplayer in the form of coop is supposedly in the works. I don’t know how that will play out, but it’s worth noting. Let me know if you pick it up! I’d love to swap stories and share tips. Definitely expect me to post regular updates on how my farm is progressing!
http://www.gamesaxonic.com/stardew-valley-is-an-amazing-spiritual-successor-to-harvest-moon/