If anyone follows us, you know Jay Zippo likes 3 things in life, Titties, Bethesda games and Titties. So for him to be playing a game like Stardew Valley, you have to wonder…
Let’s face it; the graphics in this game are not going to be mind-blowing. But we have to align it with the game type. This is not a triple A title, this is not supposed to be an ultra-realistic game. With that being said, the graphics are spot on for what this needs to be. They nailed the 16 bit graphics to help immerse you in this new online town you can explore. The interactions remind me of the old D&D games like Pool of Radiance, and the cute non-verbal things just fit into the gameplay.
Graphics
The story is fairly simple. You are a city folk, who is fed up with city living and you take your Grandpa up on running his farm down in Stardew Valley. When you get there, you realize that this is a tight knit robust community filled with all sorts of characters. This is not a linear game by any means and you can be whatever you wish to be. Some might stick to farming (this will get the most money fast), some want to be adventurers (this is the most fun) and others will want to be the Romeo (or Juliet) wooing some of the single people in the Valley. I played for over 10 hours now and I am still not bored yet.
Story
The gameplay is reminiscent of a combination between Minecraft, Don’t Starve and Harvest Moon. I don’t think it is a direct rip off of any one of them, but it is a masterful combination of all three. There are three main things you can do in Stardew Valley.
You can farm the land. You start off planting seeds and keeping close eye on your crops. This will produce the most money the fastest. From there you can gain levels and gain the ability to have livestock and even orchards.
You can Adventure. You can dungeon dive into the mines to start off with and fight green blobs, giant bugs and digger dugs. After a while you gain access to other mines and nasty sewers that unveil new and more challenging monsters.
Then there is everything else. You can interact with the locals, get them to be your friends and even woo them into marrying you. You can have pets on your farm like Cats and Dogs. You can even adventure around finding wild radishes and spring onions. There is a ton of stuff to do, and it is continually progressing you forward to make things more challenging and new.
This is one of the best chill games I have ever played. The ability to just do whatever, whenever is key… and add in the fun challenging things you can do makes this a must play IMO. If you like any types of these games, you will love Stardew Valley.
Gameplay
Even though this is not technically in the sexy game category, it’s a game that is most definitely worth the 10 dollar price point. The story is a bit lacking, but there are enough 2nd or 3rd level quests and things to do that will keep you interested.
