Stardew Valley Review

Hello everyone and welcome back to my video game reviews!  It’s been a long time since I actually typed up a review, but that’s for another time.  Let’s just get into it.

For folks new to my reviews I try to cover a lot information by putting them in categories and giving two overall scores at the end.  One for fans of
the series, or genre, and one for new comers.  With that in mind, todays categories are as follows:

1. Controls – Options and How they work
2. Gameplay – What to expect out of the box
3. Soundtrack
4. Overall Thoughts

Controls: 8/10

When I first went into this game it was honestly my first steam game.  So I assumed I was going to be limited to the keyboard and mouse (KBM) playstyle.  Which I’ll go over fairly quickly.  For KBM it’s fairly standard.  Move with WASD you can sprint, but it defaults to auto-sprint, and then you use left and right clicking for interacting with items/NPCs and using tools.

The part I was excited for was that you can play this game using a controller!  For my play through, and all my time with the game, I used an afterglow Xbox 360 wired controller.  And here is what I found

Start – Open menu

Select – Open journal

A – Interact with objects/people/confirm

B – Open Menu

X – Use tool

Y – Open crafting menu

LT/RT – cycle through hotbar

L-Stick – Move Character

R-Stick – Move Cursor

 

In the menu:

 

Start – Close menu

Select –

A – Confirm

B – Close Menu

X – Move item over – or with rods when you have bait selected you can add it to the rod with this.

Y – Close menu

LT/RT – cycle through menus

L-Stick – Move Cursor

R-Stick – Scroll Menus

 

Now I haven’t read up on or heard much from other players regarding the controller. However, according to the developer they mentioned that “the controllers leave much to be desired” and they’re working on it.  Likely we will see this patched right around the time that the game is ported to consoles, which should be this winter.  But for now, it works just fine.  The only downside is that there are times when you need to enter information so you will need your keyboard for those times.  But those instances are fairly uncommon.

Gameplay:          9.5/10

In terms of gameplay, whether you’re new to the series or not, the game is going to initially feel very overwhelming.  You’re going to feel like there is too much to explore, but it’s going to feel awesome!  You’ll feel like you’re in a huge brand new world!  But those feelings fade away after a while.  The game world is certainly large with plenty of activities happening to keep folks busy for a long time.  And with changing seasons you’ll find different stuff to do.  But the gist mostly the same across every season.  Attend the festivals, forage, farm, mine, fish, repeat.  Granted depending on your playstyle or scope that can be heavily condensed and some of it may just not apply to you.

Farming – the bread and butter of what you’re expecting you’ll be spending your time doing, and you’re not wrong.  You’ll spend a lot of time doing this and in the beginning you won’t want to go too big for fear of running out of stamina.  Just keep in mind that it gets easier.  I’ll break it down below under Stamina/Skills.  So every season you get a new cast of crops that you can grow.  I always recommend checking out Pierre’s shop.  Everything he sells is much cheaper than Joja mart and in all honesty DOWN WITH JOJA MART!  Ahem, my apologies.  I’ll cover them further down as well. 

Now when you first start out on your farm you’re given every tool you need.  But you need to clean up the land, till the soil, get some seeds, and get planting.  The game starts you out with some parsnip seeds so you’re ready to get into the action right away. Otherwise it’s pretty straight forward.  A lot of the crops you plant you can walk over!  So no need to worry about locking yourself out of crops like you did in the older farming games.  The only thing to pay attention to is that some things like Green beans and grapes grow on stalks.  So those you cannot pass through, just keep it in mind when plotting out your farm.

Mining – I believe you can head here right out of the gate if you want.  For folks familiar with older farming games you won’t be using the hoe to mine here.  Instead you have a pickaxe.  Which you’ll also use for rocks and such, so don’t expect to find a hammer.  Mining is a great way to get minerals and materials that you’ll need for crafting.  But you can also sell a lot of this stuff and make some solid cash!  Not only that but you can find artifacts and such.  Some drop from enemies, some drop from mining rocks, and some can drop from tilling the soil.  I found the mine to be a really awesome place to go and I always wanted to explore all the way to the bottom.  But some folks might recommend doing it on rainy days, but I prioritized mining.  While it may feel like there is no bottom, there is.  I won’t spoil any of it, just make sure to take a weapon with you and maybe some food.

Foraging – it’s a pretty simple concept.  You cut down trees, foraging.  Gathering flowers or fruit outside your farm, foraging.  Just keep foraging and you’ll get better quality all the time!  One of the nice things is that in Stardew valley its worth your time to forage.  Picking up fruit and even the flowers is well worth the effort.  Also pay attention to the environment because you can shake bushes and trees with A, and that’s not all.  Make sure to try it out.

Fishing – is an interesting mini game in Stardew valley.  You need to keep a green bar located directly behind a fish to catch it.  Seems easy, but it can be tricky!  If on a controller you hold A, and release A.  Don’t rapidly push A!  I did this for about 15 hours before finally realizing that you need only hold and release.  Your thumbs will thank me!  If on KBM just hold and release left click.  You can find all sorts of fish in rivers, lakes, and the ocean.  There are actually 2 lakes in this game so if you’re looking to complete bundles or the fishing catalogue you’ll need to visit them both.  Don’t bother fishing on your farm though, you’ll catch nothing.  Eventually you can set traps in the water to catch stuff like snails, oysters, and such.  But you’ll figure it out.

Crafting – Stardew valley offers A LOT in terms of crafting.  But as you get further into the game you may realize that you wish there was more!  Well patch 1.1 is on the way and the developer has said he has plans for more craft-able stuff.  An example is if you get yourself a furnace you can turn copper ore into copper bars!  Which is great for upgrading tools.  There honestly is a lot you can craft.  You’ll learn recipes by purchasing them, having them taught to you from villagers, or by leveling up your skills.  Though all depending on what you’re trying to do some crafting will matter, and some won’t.  Eventually it all will matter though.  I recommend selling one of everything you find so you can at least get it flagged in your collection with a base price.

Community Center – in this game is a series of “challenges” that you need to complete in order to restore aspects of the village.  These can seem difficult and challenging, and well, some of them are tough!  On your first play through you will most certainly not complete them all in the first year, but you probably will your second year.  Once you’ve unlocked what I’m talking about you can access it’s “challenges” on the fly from the main menu.  But as to not spoil aspects of this game, I’m leaving out this section.

Joja mart – DOWN WITH JOJA MART AND ALL IT STANDS FOR!  I hate these guys.  We left Joja Mart Customer service to come here and start over and now these punks have a shopping center and are trying to put folks like Pierre out of business!  SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS!!!  Anyways, if you choose to NOT SUPPORT YOUR NEIGHBOR, then you get an option to do so later.  Essentially this will replace the community center and you can just “buy” the fixes for the town.  It makes accessing the areas faster and easier, but a lot less fun if you ask me.

Stamina/Skills – In Stardew Valley you can visually see your stamina!  Not only that but if you hover over it with the cursor you’ll get an exact amount.  So you’ll be able to see how much you’re using at a time.  Now for Stamina there are items in the game that permanently increase it, just like in some older farming games.  They’re tough to find though.  Some you get the chance to buy, others well…they’re a little harder to come by.

Skills on the other hand are all up to you.  As you do things described above you earn “skill exp”, basically.  That’s an easy way to put it.  Keep doing those things and you’ll level up.  By leveling up you get more proficient with the tools that relate to the skill, which will spend less stamina.  Not only that but every five levels you can unlock a branching skill.  It’s like a permanent buff for something really specific.  This is the only example I’ll give but as you level farming you eventually get the option to have your crops sell for more, or your animal products sell for more.  It’s pretty cool as it lets you cater to your play style a bit more. And you’ll find the same scenario for the other skills as well.  It’s a really great way of giving yourself options and to customize your character even more!

Other notes – if it seems like there might be some hidden areas outside of the valley, then you’re right!  There are a few places you can go to after you’ve done certain things.  I won’t go into details, but you’ll get there eventually!

Soundtrack: 10/10

From the title screen to everything else in this game the music is just something I fell in love with.  Everything makes sense, it works, it sounds great, and most of all, it fits.  The music and the game all go hand in hand like a perfectly wrapped gift.  I can’t get enough of it!  I’m even listening to it while writing up this review!

Overall: Game Time:  27ish hours, made it part way through winter, year 1.

Stardew Valley is a phenomenal title for PC and the downloads and fan support are proof enough of that. I believe once it hits consoles it’ll be an even bigger success than it already is!  Stardew Valley is everything Harvest Moon should be.  You’ll find a lot of familiar things from the Harvest Moon titles in this stand alone, but Stardew Valley brings you things you didn’t even realize you wanted and now you can’t live without them.  With tons of character customization options right at the beginning, easy to pick up controls, and a fun world to explore this is a game for veterans of the genre and newcomers alike!  This game keeps you coming back for more and can easily addict its player base into committing dozens of hours without even realizing it.  I can attest that more than once during my play through I’d sit down and glance at the clock later and realize I just spent six hours in Stardew Valley.  There is plenty to explore, make, farm, and discover in this beautiful game and I encourage all players to really take the time to enjoy what’s in front of them.  You can experience special events with every villager in this game and even marry a list of bachelors and bachelorettes.  There does leave a little bit to be desired for these events.  Most villagers only have a couple events with the character so it really left me wishing there were more with everyone.  However, the developer has already made comments regarding this and has plenty of improvements, updates, and new content coming in the 1.1 patch including additional events for villagers.  So if you feel yourself wanting more the good news is that it’s coming!

If you’re a fan of games like Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons than you WILL LOVE Stardew Valley.  It is a must play for any fan of those series or just the genre in general.  As a fan of these types of games I give it a 9.5/10.  I expect after the 1.1 update this will easily come to a perfect score once we get a few more villager events, more spouse events, and a better controller system.  Plus, with all the content it sounds like he’s adding for the farm, it’s going to make this huge game even better!

For someone who might be new to the series or has never played this genre before, I believe you’d give this about an 8.  It’ll have some fun and exciting stuff for you to experience as a first time player.  But the learning curve can be rough especially as a first timer.  My best advice to you is don’t rush the game.  Relax, enjoy it, and experiment.  As a first timer to the series make sure you explore every nook and cranny, talk to everyone, and really get a feel for what this genre, and this game in particular, has to offer.  Stardew Valley does it borderline perfectly.

 

Thanks for reading this review!  If you enjoyed it please comment, share, subscribe, and let folks know about this page!  If there’s something else you’d like for me to review please let me know and I’ll see what I can do!  I hope my review helped, and as always I’ll see you guys in the next review.  Happy gaming!