Bad stuff about Stardew Valley/ Good Stuff About Stardew Valley

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

Bad Stuff

1) It's very grindy until you get sprinklers. Even just growing 12 - 15 of each crop it can take more than half a day just to water your crops.
2) The NPC dialogues are very limited.
3) There's too much of the game that NEEDS access to Wikipedia. Where to get the shorts, the missing basket, hardwood, certain fish. It's one thing to say "explore" but your free time in game can be very limited early in the game.
4) The game basically stalls at the end of year 2. Whilst you can keep on doing stuff there's not any real narrative change after year 2.
5) You shouldn't need to access the Wiki to get reminders of each characters likes or dislikes - as you discover them that tab should appear in game.
6) The Adventurer's Guild is very stingy. Just finished year two and only earned one prize.
7) That the cooker automatically uses the fish in the fridge means that sometimes the wrong fish gets used in a recipe. I prefer to store my fish in the fridge so they don't go off.

Good stuff

1) The crops look wonderful. I have to grow every available crop each season just to see them all.
2) Tons of content. The fishing and especially the mining add a lot to the game.
3) Surprisingly dark. Pam and Shane's stories show that dark side of bucolic villagers. The bitter old dude too.
4) Combat is pretty well balanced. No one needs potions. There's tons of food to replenish lost health and energy especially once you're able to cook.
5) The Festivals. Really make Stardew Valley feel like a community.

S.x.

[Pristine1281]

Nice analysis of the game. Yeah, I actually always have the ipad with me when I play the game so I can access the wiki when I need it. Granted the flaw of needing the Wiki to see peoples' likes and dislikes, I don't need to look them up as much now that I have all the Hearts maxed out. Just really need it for the Christmas Festival.

[I Kinda Fail]

Originally posted by gallifrey:

Bad Stuff

1) It's very grindy until you get sprinklers. Even just growing 12 - 15 of each crop it can take more than half a day just to water your crops.
2) The NPC dialogues are very limited.
3) There's too much of the game that NEEDS access to Wikipedia. Where to get the shorts, the missing basket, hardwood, certain fish. It's one thing to say "explore" but your free time in game can be very limited early in the game.
4) The game basically stalls at the end of year 2. Whilst you can keep on doing stuff there's not any real narrative change after year 2.
5) You shouldn't need to access the Wiki to get reminders of each characters likes or dislikes - as you discover them that tab should appear in game.
6) The Adventurer's Guild is very stingy. Just finished year two and only earned one prize.
7) That the cooker automatically uses the fish in the fridge means that sometimes the wrong fish gets used in a recipe. I prefer to store my fish in the fridge so they don't go off.

1. This isn't even remotely true, you can water like 200 crops by 10am

3. You don't need Wikipedia for that. Those are all optional quests with no time limit. Hardwood can be found by paying attention. You can fish in every area every day of every season, there's no time limit.

4. You're complaining because the game you paid $15 for is "done" in 50 hours

5. You have a brain, use it. Most of the gifts are very easy to remember. Haley has photos of the beach in her room, she loves coconuts. Emily's a hippy, she loves gems. Leah is at the bar every night, she loves wine. Sam's a stoner/skater kid, he loves pizza and donuts. Sebastian's an emo kid, he loves frozen tears. Abigail has purple hair, she likes purple gems. It's all easy to remember.

6. The rewards are fairly overpowered so of course you need to work for them...

7. Idk what to tell you, maybe withdraw the fish you want?

[ilyaki]

I tell everyone who plays the game to NEVER look at the wiki: it's much more fun that way

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

1) We can argue time and motion but certainly at the outset you can spend a huge amount of the game day and your energy merely taking care of the crops.
2) The problem is that there's so much to do in the game that it doesn't encourage mindless wandering. I think a lot of people won't hve found the secret forest without online searches.
4) I may have gone for a "Quantum Leap"/ "Tropico" type systerm where once you'd sorted out one farm and one village you moved onto the next.
5) Really ? There would be several counter theories for each of those.
6) One award in 2 years having "conquered" both dungeons ! A'int going to work on Maggie's farm no more.
7) It's a minor problem but it's a minor problem.

S.x.

[I Kinda Fail]

You really can't argue that it takes 8 hours to water crops. You're either planting way too many crops or doing something horribly wrong if that's the case. I'm in Winter of year 1 and I have every single monster slayer task complete and an iridium watering can, plus about 200 crops planted, which I'm done watering by like 10-11am. Plus I raise slimes and check my greenhouse as well. You're just bad at managing time or doing something horribly wrong.

I think most people would have found the Secret Woods on their own if they didn't already. It's blocked by the same type of log you can find and chop on your farm, plus the Secret Woods are on the map, to the west of Cindersap Forest. Anyone truly exploring will find it probably within the first year.

I'm not saying every gift is obvious, but every villager has at least ONE gift that's easy to remember, if you find the right thing to help you remember.
- Penny has green eyes. Penny likes emeralds.
- The little girl and old woman who plants flowers love flowers.
- The wizard has purple hair and likes mushrooms and void essence, both purple magical things.
There's also lots of "group" gifts. Women typically love diamonds. The grumpy people (Clint, Sebastian, George) dislike flowers. The kids might love sweets and hate vegetables.

As for the guild, you can't be mad that you aren't working towards a goal, then you don't succeed it. You can get the bug sword and duggy hat within the first spring easily. Most of them you'll unlock over time. The exceptions would be skeletons, but that just gives a cosmetic mask. Slimes and dust sprites take a LONG time, but they give the best rewards - the slime charmer and burglar ring. They're arguably the most useful rings in the game, alongside the iridium band. Keep working and you'll get there!

And sorry if my earlier posts (or this one) sounds rude, I'm running on very little sleep. I really am trying to be helpful :b

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

Originally posted by I Kinda Fail:

You really can't argue that it takes 8 hours to water crops. You're either planting way too many crops or doing something horribly wrong if that's the case. I'm in Winter of year 1 and I have every single monster slayer task complete and an iridium watering can, plus about 200 crops planted, which I'm done watering by like 10-11am. Plus I raise slimes and check my greenhouse as well. You're just bad at managing time or doing something horribly wrong.

I think most people would have found the Secret Woods on their own if they didn't already. It's blocked by the same type of log you can find and chop on your farm, plus the Secret Woods are on the map, to the west of Cindersap Forest. Anyone truly exploring will find it probably within the first year.

I'm not saying every gift is obvious, but every villager has at least ONE gift that's easy to remember, if you find the right thing to help you remember.
- Penny has green eyes. Penny likes emeralds.
- The little girl and old woman who plants flowers love flowers.
- The wizard has purple hair and likes mushrooms and void essence, both purple magical things.
There's also lots of "group" gifts. Women typically love diamonds. The grumpy people (Clint, Sebastian, George) dislike flowers. The kids might love sweets and hate vegetables.

As for the guild, you can't be mad that you aren't working towards a goal, then you don't succeed it. You can get the bug sword and duggy hat within the first spring easily. Most of them you'll unlock over time. The exceptions would be skeletons, but that just gives a cosmetic mask. Slimes and dust sprites take a LONG time, but they give the best rewards - the slime charmer and burglar ring. They're arguably the most useful rings in the game, alongside the iridium band. Keep working and you'll get there!

And sorry if my earlier posts (or this one) sounds rude, I'm running on very little sleep. I really am trying to be helpful :b

The game is amazing for the work of one developer. Second time through I was particularly impressed by the depth of some of the characters. Second run through I'd managed to gather enough iron and gold to get sprinklers. In fact I managed to "four torch" the game.

And you're right - it's a hell of a lot of game for the money. I've liked it a lot.

But I'd, for example, have each character have a bio that you could click on from their portrait in your friend's list that would remind you what you've found out so far.

S.x.