Gamers logo

Stardew Valley Review

Farming Made Fun?

By Aaron McArthurPublished 7 years ago 3 min read
Like
Home, Home on the Range

Version reviewed: PS4.

I can't remember the exact specifics of how I came to own Harvest Moon: Back to Nature for the PS1, but I played the ever-loving crap out of it.

Hours and hours spent making my farm perfect, making little paddocks for my animals to run around in so they weren't cooped up all day, meticulously watering my crops so they wouldn't wither, forming bonds with the people in town and even marrying one. Harvest Moon was amazing but there was one major, soul crushing flaw with my copy: every time I would marry someone, after spending literal real world days wooing them, my game would crash on the dawn of the first day of wedded bliss. Whole game files were rendered useless and I stopped playing, saddened by the loss of so much hard work.

Fast forward to February of last year and I'm on YouTube watching some random video when I see in the sidebar a recommended video that looks interesting, it was a Stardew Valley review, the PC version. I watched this review thinking how much likeHarvest Moon it looked and before too long I paused the video and started the download.

It was amazing, it felt just like Harvest Moon, only it played with a mouse and keyboard, my childhood was right there in a charming, retro inspired pixel art style. I played it until about 4 a.m and then again all of the next day but I soon burned out. I don't know why but it wasn't holding my interest in the way that Harvest Moon had.

I uninstalled Stardew Valley and moved on to something else for a while, this was until April of this year when I would purchase the physical release for the PlayStation 4, hoping that I could once again recapture, if even for a little while, the initial joy I had whilst playing Harvest Moon and the PC release of Stardew Valley.

The PlayStation 4 version sunk its claws deep into me. For weeks I would play until the wee hours of the morning and again all the next day, like the initial run on the PC, but this time it didn't subside. I set myself small, manageable challenges like I would in Harvest Moon and found this greatly helped with keeping me motivated in my farming endeavours.

The music inStardew Valley is one of the game's strongest features, the physical release comes with the OST bundled in (as well as a map of the town and a mini guide book) and it is a CD that you could easily listen to all day.

The art style, the pixel art you saw in the header image, which was a popular art style around Stardew's initial release will age much better than Harvest Moon has; I'm not saying that Harvest Moon is a bad looking game, it's still gorgeous for a PS1 game, but given time I think Stardew will come away always looking fantastic.

Mechanically, Stardew's biggest issue is some tools feel weird to use, you often miss with your watering can or hoe, sometimes accidentally chopping your cat or dog if they are too close to a tree you are chopping down; luckily in Stardew the tool just goes right through them, where in Harvest Moon accidentally hitting your pet or farm animal would result in that animal being unhappy with you, and in both games, a happy animal yields better products.

Overall, if like me you grew up sinking hours into Harvest Moon Back to Nature or any of the previous games in the Harvest Moon series, you will find a lot to love here right off the bat. If you have time to spend tending to a virtual farm, caring for virtual animals, and befriending and marrying virtual people in a quaint little sea-side town that hides some secrets, then this one's for you. Even if you don't think it's for you, it probably is. It's so charming that it will very probably suck you right in and before you know it, it will be the next day.

product review
Like

About the Creator

Aaron McArthur

I'm 29, living in Scotland, I have a degree in Digital Publishing and Visual Communication but have always enjoyed writing, primarily reviews and articles in the gaming sphere, ranging from indie games to triple A games and all in between

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.