I post a lot of book reviews, especially recently, but I also LOVE playing video games. Particular farming sim games or sandbox games. I recently finished playing Stardew Valley on Steam and LOVED it! Mostly because, if you didn't know, Harvest Moon for Nintendo 64 is one of my all time favourite games. So, Stardew Valley is like the perfect PC game for me in that vein of game-play.
First of all, the graphics! Look at how friggin' cute that little chicken is?! Love it. Anyways, the game was developed by Concerned Ape, and was published by Chucklefish, the same lovely people who brought us Starbound. (Another game I really like.) It starts by you moving to the valley, Stardew Valley to be exact, to take over your grandfather's farm. Sounds exactly like Harvest Moon, does it not? WRONG. (But pretty much, yeah.) What I love about Stardew is that the main goal is 2 years to achieve, not one and after that is all over - the game is actually never-ending! You can just keep playing and playing and playing.
You start by making your character, male or female, customizing them and the like. Then you pick which farm you want out of five: Standard, Riverland, Forest, Hill-top or Wilderness. Each one is tailored to increase one main skill faster than the rest. I chose the Forest Farm for my play through.
Now basically, you get underway. You farm, you fish, you raise animals, you mine, and you fight baddies in said mine. You ride your horse around, you pet and give water to your dog. You help out the townspeople by doing favours for them. You also have the option to side with the super-market chain Joja Mart, or with the town and work to revive the old town community center. I opted to revive the community center because it seemed way more satisfying. And it was fun completing the "lists" to get it up and running again.
The townspeople are the life-blood of Stardew Valley. Talking to them gives you insights, you help them out with jobs, and you develop friendships. As your friendships grow, you get cut-scenes that give you more in-depth looks at your new neighbours. You attend festivals and participate in fishing competitions. There is a race to the bottom of the mine north of town, and there is a secretive wizard who lives in the forest to the south-west. There is so much to do and see!
Also, another aspect in Stardew that is way better than Harvest Moon, is that there are WAY more people to romance. AND you get the option of both guys and girls no matter what sex your own character is! That is so awesome!
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| I romanced Elliott, the free-spirited and thoughtful writer who lives down by the beach. |
I really enjoyed this game, and it is not hard to get a hang of the controls. I only played it on the PC, which uses both keyboard and mouse for controlling your character. I don't know what it is like on a console. Sorry. The only thing I found hard to get the hang of was the fishing. That took some practice and patience on my part to get good at it. Also getting a better fishing rod helps.
I like the freedom to set up your farm in whatever configuration you want (except your house and land formations). You can have as little or as many crops or animals as you want. You can spend all your time mining if you want. The season changes are nice in the way the graphics change with each one. I just really love the look, feel and play-ability of Stardew Valley. There is even an official wiki online where you can get tips and tricks to help you if needed: stardewvalleywiki.com
They also recently released a multiplayer update for the PC version! I haven't played it with any of my friends yet, but I've seen some online game play and it looks like fun to run around with multiple people. Check out the Steam store page if you want to pick it up for PC!
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Now, with all this talk and reminiscing about playing and finishing Stardew Valley.... I really want to play...
This game is very Stardew Valley-esque, but so much, so-so much darker. But also there is some lightheartedness. Like the talking donkey!
It is also available on Steam now, but I haven't picked it up. I'm waiting for it to go on sale... plus I really need to finish playing Dragon Age: Origins first or my one friend will hate me. Ha. Anyways, there are some videos of online game-play out there, but here are some screen shots that show you what it looks like.
It just looks hilariously fun! Like you're seriously in charge of building and managing a graveyard. There is video out there of the player being able to throw bodies in the river, and a talking skull that comes around and gives you stuff to do. And of course, the talking donkey that I mentioned. He wants you to give him carrots in exchange for dead bodies. I can't stop laughing!
I am so looking forward to playing this game. You have no idea.
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