Stardew Valley:
The encompassing element of Stardew Valley is the community. Pelican Town and the surrounding areas includes thiry-three persons to befriend. Of those, six men and six women are datable. The protagonist can date people of both the same and opposite gender. While every non-datable character has a friendship bar of ten hearts, each datable character has eight hearts. Each character's bar is filled by talking and receiving gifts. Each person accepts only two gifts a week, for a total of total of 64 in two years. The player can gift almost any object, but no tools or clothes. Discovering what each person likes is part of the fun. Each character's likes fit their personality seamlessly. The superficial, fashionable girl loves pink cake and dislikes vegetables, while the writer who lives on the beach loves seafood and dislikes wild root vegetables. Gifts are divided into five categories; love, like, neutral, dislike, and hate. Most objects fall into a universal category. Everyone likes artisanal goods, cooked foods, flowers, fruit, vegetables, gems, and maple syrup, but each character has exceptions to the rule. The menu includes a profile for each character, and this records their opinion of all the gifts they've received. It is simple to see the gifts they liked or loved, it's displayed on the first page of the profile. Remembering their dislikes is difficult, because the front page doesn't include this information. Instead the data is hidden in additional entries for the player to page through. The gift giving process would be more enjoyable if it was easier to see dislikes. That would prevent me from giving Jas a Melon and realizing that not only did she dislike it, but that I'd already given her one.
Gifts are crucial on birthdays because
their impact on friendship is octupled. The carpenter sells a
calendar. Buy it, put it near the bed, and check it every every
morning. With thirty-three people and one hundred and twelve days
per year, there's a birthday every 3.39 days, or roughly twice a
week. Pelican Town also celebrates a Community Event two or three
times a month. These are special events which include minimal
gameplay and waste a day of farm work. The protagonist walks around,
greets everyone, buys decorative items, and sometimes ends in a small
cutscene. Some Festivals, like the Egg Hunt, Luau, and Fair feature
small activities, like a contest for best farm products. No one
would dance with my protagonist on the on the 24th day of
Spring (Flower Festival) in the first year, because the relationship
score was too low with the 12 datable characters.
After an investment in friendship, the
protagonist encounters friendship events. With the non-datable
character's these are rare, but friends send gifts in the mail. For
every two hearts, datable characters includes a cutscene. While some
friendship events indulge in cliché the majority are funny or
heartwarming. The friendship events teach the player about the
backstories of the populace. While some characters initially seem
dreadful, absorbed by arrogance or addicted to alcohol, their faults
are redeemed, or at least soothed, by their backstories. One or two
of the marriage candidates have particularly grim stories for such a
colorful game, but by living and learning about them, the protagonist
aids their recovery. While the characters sometimes seem shallow,
they always surprise with their quirky behaviors and deep
reflections. Stardew Valley includes an interesting mixture
of conforming and revolutionary characters in Pelican town. Leah
says, “If we don't treat nature with respect, our grandchildren are
doomed.” Maru's father, Demetrius, threatens the protagonist about
dating his daughter during a friendship. When she walks out of the
room he lambastes the player, and then lies to Maru about his behavior
when she returns. Emily marketed a color therapy business, which
reminded me of the color scam therapy peddled by pyramid scheme,
Amway.
On Day One of Spring, Year Three, the
ghost of the protagonist's grandfather visits and judges the player's
success. After a short cutscene, the shrine in the northwest corner
of the farm displays candles. The player can earn up to four candles
for their work over the past two years. Grandfather isn't a
particularly tough grader, and three, if not four, candles should be
achievable for most players.
A few remaining details; the map in the
player's menu is terribly inaccurate. Parts of it are incorrect. It
displays an icon where the player is supposedly standing, except it's
never accurate. One the player has learned the area these faults
don't matter, but for the first few days they muddle the exploration
of the area.
For those seeking some basic (or in
depth) aide the internet includes a very detailed Wiki for Stardew
Valley. Some players may think it cheating, or want to avoid it,
but others may find it a useful resource. I tried to use it early on
to understand the process of farming, but tried to avoid spoiling
secrets.
In conclusion,
Stardew Valley is a successful,
wonderful reinvention of the Harvest Moon series, impressively
constructed by a single creator. It includes a simple resource
creation system combined with a varied crafting mechanic. The bounty
of possible items, from the farm, to the mine, to the sea, and the
crafting table are massive, enabling many different options of play.
While the interaction with the characters of the town is limited,
they are well written personalities, spinning a variety of humorous,
dark, and poignant tales. Stardew's only problem is one of
pacing and length. In the beginning, everything is new, and there
are not enough resources to explore every option. By the second
winter, as the game nears its end, most of the mechanics have played
themselves out. The game becomes mired in repetition. Even though
secrets remain undiscovered, the work of the farm, the fulfilling of
bundles, the making of friends, the accumulation of cash, and even
the collection of objects are exhausted. The final winter is cold,
dead; only a waiting period for Grandfather's verdict. But this
doesn't detract too much from an otherwise colorful, upbeat, relaxing
and yet optimized experience.
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