Why play this instead of Stardew Valley?

[DART VON FABLE]

Hi, what u guys think about? The only think better is npcs get older?

[Inari]

Well, will be different for everyone of course..

1) The farming gameplay feels a bit more tedious. I suppose that's a controversial point, but I like it. Feels like I'm doing something. Not just have everything auto watered all the time while I hoover up the crops on harvest day.

2) Chapter system feels a bit fresher than the date/time system all the other farming games use

3) I don't like Stardew's Artstyle. Or character. Or town layout.

4) I assume even if you super like Stardew, you'd want to play something else eventually.

5) Having a child, that grows up, and has it's likes/interests

[Leevante]

Well for one, it doesn't take half the day wasted just to get to town and back to your farm in AWL.

[Susie]

A fun cool fact about video games is that you can play and enjoy more than one of them

[Loach]

I like Stardew a lot and play it regularly, both with and without mods. This game however is a nostalgic one since I played the original game all the time on my GameCube.

1) It's nice to revisit the characters and town with proper localization and see what's changed and what hasn't.

2) The QOL changes have me enjoying features I generally neglected in the original. The cooking is a good example, I hardly ever used it in the original game, and typically just shoved roots and mushrooms and a handful of crops I kept on hand for myself and to use as gifts for energy. Now I can actually learn and enjoy cooking without having to worry about failing every time and wasting the item as much, which is very appreciated.

3) I like the replay value with this game's chapter system and always have. Everything I learn in one file run helps me be more efficient and explore other options without worry in the next one. I have one file right now where I'm going slow and seeing what comes next while in another I take what I learn there and try to be more efficient with my time.

4) I like how I have to be a lot more careful with my money in this game, and budget what money is available between Van's visits since only farm products can go into the shipping bin. It makes the game feel realistic and grounded in a way I appreciate, and makes planning when to purchase things a fun puzzle, since I don't want to go splurging on something and then be short to upgrade tools or something else I want later. In Stardew none of that really matters, and in the original I cheesed everything with the Ruby Spice glitch. So far I have to actually do the slow route and build my farm up as the story progresses. It's refreshing and I like it.

5) The town is fairly small and the population also rather little, so it's easy to keep up with characters for multiple friendships in one playthrough and just as easy to isolate oneself with a small group of acquaintances from the cast if I want. This is possible with Stardew, but Stardew and a number of mods often make things 'bigger'. Big farm maps big expansions big stuff. This game being small and contained is nice.

[Dunkelheim]

Beyond the aging through chapters, the seed hybrid system and maybe you just don't like 2D graphics. Not much of a reason, Stardew has more content and is cheaper. There are other things like Villagers and stuff but those tend to be contentious.

Also I assume most people who like this genre have already played SDV and are looking for something new, or just have nostalgia for AWL.

[Erin the Angry]

This is one of the games that caused stardew valley to even exist.

[coup_on_tv]

A lot of the enjoyment of this game is based on if you played the original. The game has a certain feeling and atmosphere that is impossible to capture.
I'm not going to say "Stardew valley is soulless" because i love that game so much but this game honestly just can not be compared to any other.

[AsianGirlLover]

Not much besides nostalgia. The modding community is really taking off with this game, though! You’ll probably enjoy it when/if the devs give it some QoL updates to improve keyboard & mouse controls.

I’d say it’ll be ready to play and enjoy by about 2025, so look out for a sale. Until then, enjoy the millions of Stardew Valley mods or perhaps give Rune Factory 4 a shot if you want to change things up.

[oz Helix oz]

Originally posted by coup_on_tv:

A lot of the enjoyment of this game is based on if you played the original. The game has a certain feeling and atmosphere that is impossible to capture.
I'm not going to say "Stardew valley is soulless" because i love that game so much but this game honestly just can not be compared to any other.

the graphics are a little bit better? because this is a remake

[mutantbeth]

stardew valley has no content when it comes to children. but does everything else better. so it depends if u want better farming or better children

[ShockedHearts]

this game simulates a more satisfying farming LIFE. where you are genuinely in a small town with not much to do. and the fun is finding things to do and making your own satisfaction from what you can

while stardew is more satisfying in the arcade fashion of bigger numbers and decoration aspects. where you have plenty to do from the start and nothing but more to do from day to day. but a very limited life sim to boot. (everyone only gets 1 year older lmao)

meanwhile in AWL you can have a family grow old and watch those you love grow alongside you into old age.

[wordbonder]

Um, am I the only one that wants to play more than 1 farming/life sim?

To me, it's really not a question of one over the other. Both games are great in their own way, thus I'd want to play both. I'm pretty sure in other genres most people don't focus on only playing one game in the entire genre.

As far as what this game does better than SV, I'd say the art style and vibe of the world is better, but that's a matter of taste. Though it's just a fact that the child system in SV is pretty pathetic, while it's a main fleshed-out feature here.

[ShockedHearts]

Originally posted by wordbonder:

Um, am I the only one that wants to play more than 1 farming/life sim?

To me, it's really not a question of one over the other. Both games are great in their own way, thus I'd want to play both. I'm pretty sure in other genres most people don't focus on only playing one game in the entire genre.

As far as what this game does better than SV, I'd say the art style and vibe of the world is better, but that's a matter of taste. Though it's just a fact that the child system in SV is pretty pathetic, while it's a main fleshed-out feature here.

said amazingly.

I much prefer the artstlye and controls of this game, and the family aspect is tenfolds better in this game.

stardew does stuff better than this but like you said not all farm sims are the exact same. they share features but have different focuses. and this ones focus is atmosphere and growth.

while stardews focuses seem to be on completion and decoration

[Inari]

Originally posted by wordbonder:

Um, am I the only one that wants to play more than 1 farming/life sim?

To me, it's really not a question of one over the other. Both games are great in their own way, thus I'd want to play both. I'm pretty sure in other genres most people don't focus on only playing one game in the entire genre.

As far as what this game does better than SV, I'd say the art style and vibe of the world is better, but that's a matter of taste. Though it's just a fact that the child system in SV is pretty pathetic, while it's a main fleshed-out feature here.

I mean, people can have a limited time and/or budget.
Are you playing all farming games in existence?

[Asla_Lord_Beerus]

To be honest I've mostly only ever played AWL in the HM/SoS series BECAUSE of the 3D element.

I've always found myself better able to immerse myself in a 3D environment - even if the Valley isn't massive and the villagers don't have tons of dialogue, the Valley in this game feels like a second home to me.

I wasn't able to get into the 2D games as much or Stardew Valley for that reason - and I appreciate that's specific to my tastes - but I think it's a great strength AWL has.