It has come to my attention that while I published a brief overview of Stardew Valley back in the beginning of my wee old freshman year, I have not made a full review of my beloved game that I have over a hundred hours logged on. A hundred hours! Naturally, I will correct this erroneous mistake swiftly-- with a piping hot review! So what is Stardew Valley? If you are even near any gaming circle or community, you have probably heard of the farming simulation game that has captured everyone's hearts. But it's not just a farming sim, otherwise we'd all be cooing over Farming Simulator 2020 (thanks, Yogs). It's a dungeon crawler, a dating sim, and construction game all rolled into one. Combined with the beautiful pixel art, the peaceful music that practically dances into your ears, and the satisfying mechanics, it's no wonder that Stardew Valley has been nominated for numerous awards and received positive praise.
The narrative, afterwards, is put on hold so the players can begin the game and test out its main mechanics. The farm is being tidied up, maybe an improvement here or there to the house, the farmer gets themselves acquainted with the folks of Stardew Valley, and maybe even explores the dungeon a bit. The overarching story is hidden within the Community Center. Essentially, the Community Center has been abandoned by the residents of Pelican Town, and its up to the farmer to bring it back to life with the aid of these strange, Ghibli-esque creatures called Junimos. If the farmer decides to focus on the Community Center, they must collect, grow, or harvest certain items in order to enable the Junimos to repair and renovate the dilapidated building. Once this task is completed, Pelican Town is pleasantly surprised and the Big Bad Corporation (Jojo Mart) is forced out of Pelican Town for good. The abandoned building is then replaced with a movie theater. The alternative narrative, however, is the Jojo Mart or Big Corp ending. ConcernedApe establishes that Jojo Mart is an unhealthy, overpriced and sterile atmosphere not unlike the cubicle the farmer began the game in. ConcernedApe definitely encourages the player to side against Jojo Mart, however the choice of being able to side with Jojo Mart is still there. The Jojo Mart arc is the same as the Community Center, essentially, except that the item rewards are replaced with monetary milestones-- earn x amount of gold coins, complete this branch, and so on. I believe the Community Center is replaced with a new Jojo Mart once the Jojo Mart arc is complete. There are smaller arcs hidden with each and every NPC that you can befriend/romance. Sebastian struggles deeply with depression and insecurity, Shane with alcoholism, Hailey with her materialistic vanity, and so on. I find befriending every townie a very satisfying task and I get very deeply immersed in their stories. However, in order to unlock more of their 'arc' you often have to supplement daily talks with them with gifts. For most villagers, this is no problem, but for the more introverted or sporadic kind, figuring out their schedule without the aid of the wiki is certainly a puzzle... The gameplay of Stardew Valley for me is absolutely perfect. Stardew Valley leans more on the side of open-world, open-choice than controlling player decisions via the narrative. Sure, the narrative of the Community Center/Jojo Mart or the personal arcs of the villagers may influence the player's choices in the game, but they do not control them. It is the perfect nonlinear, any and all choices game that promotes player autonomy above all else-- and I love that!
For visuals, they are superb. The beautifully rendered and detailed pixel graphics combined with the excellent use of color theory makes Stardew Valley the epitome of an aesthetic game. I am personally in awe of the colors of the seasons, and how ConcernedApe took the time and effort to detail the changes in the grass, the trees, the dancing leaves as the seasons pass by. There is no design in Stardew Valley that I dislike. The animations are effortless and it feels like the game is alive, breathing in your hand-- especially since your farmer's sprite breathes in and out too! The audio... yeah, you're gonna be reading me praise pretty much every aspect of this game. The music brings a sense of Ghibli-esque sereneness that is hard to find in most modern games today. There are songs for every new day depending on the weather, and mixing in with the sound of animals, plants being pulled up, and tromping around town... it's perfect! Stardew Valley is an accessible game with friendly UI (along with a plain font that is accessible towards dyslexic players!) and interface, everything is clear and intuitive and there were no hidden functions or mechanics that made me have to look up a walkthrough or wiki, besides a few easter eggs. Overall, I'd give Stardew Valley a five out of five; I'd gladly play this game again, and am considering getting some merch afterwards. In Summary...
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AuthorHey, Jay Phung here. This is my blog where I reflect on various assignments from Game Design! Please enjoy your stay (´・ω・`). Archives
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