is this basically Zelda with farming?

[1984]

[The Y'All Of Us]

It's a country life RPG. Your farm is arguably the 'main' draw, but there is combat in the mines, you can raise slime monsters, or turn your home tile in a monster spawning zone. If you play on the Wilderness map those monsters will spawn right from the start- and the farm monsters scale to your combat level.

There are areas of the map that are initially blocked off- some are unlocked by time alone, and within the first gameyear, while others require you to explore, collect, and use items or tools to get access to. Some areas are locked behind small quest chains.

The NPCs in the game all have their own schedule and interact with the world accordingly, and you can befriend them (And marry from a selection of eligible singles) at your leisure- the game rewards yo for doing this by having the NPCs mail you things, or offer your some flavor missions, and you'll get two food recipes per villager's friendship progression.

I can see where some would compare it to some of the older Zelda games, especially the top-down Zeldas, but Stardew Valley is missing one huge thing that would cinch the comparison- puzzles. The game's 'dungeons' are comprised of progression based floors, which are accessed simply by walking through the floors and finding the hidden ladder. The other two places where monsters spawn that could be considered 'dungeons' loosely are just pathways with some monsters and a couple of hidden treasures for you to find (Come to think of it, only one dungeon doesn't offer a direct and distinct reward, but it does offer the best means of personally gathering a particular resource and contains monsters unique to the area).

All that being said- Stardew Valley has a drastically different feel from the Zelda franchise, but if you liked the combat feel and art style of, say, four seasons, four swords, and A Link to the Past, then Stardew Valley will be right up your alley in those two facets. If you're looking for a game with similar pacing to those Zelda games, it's possible to achieve that in Stardew but you'd have to put in some effort to recreate it and Stardew is better suited to a more casual, progress-based playstyle.

[Aehan]

The creator/designer of Harvest Moon was inspired by the first Zelda - burning trees and going into caves - though he wanted to make a game without fighting/battle, if I recall.

But hey, Stardew is not really an adventure in that sense. You don't necessarily go into battle that much, and without spoiling, not a lot of exploring either. There's a bit of development with the main-story, and the towns characters, but not that heavy.

It's more about the progression, be that slowly or calculated. If you feel like focusing on fishing it's fine! ...or grow potatoes! ...or flirting!
For me it's a great mix of collecting/organizing and moving forward in a very charming and well created "universe". At times stressful, but it's what you make of it.

Kinda gives me the same pleasure of playing a sim/builder/management game but without the *need* of min/maxing.

[The Y'All Of Us]

I thought I'd come back and link you to the game's video preview of the gameplay, since it shows (almost) all of the different facets of the game at least in passing.

https://youtu.be/7IDfb0kU4ws

[Muad'dib]

No, because when you hit the chickens they don't really react and you can't bust open pots for gems.

[Necrius]

No, it's Farming with zelda.

[Muad'dib]

Zelda is too lazy to farm. I'd choose a different wife if I were you.

[The Y'All Of Us]

Originally posted by Necrius:

No, it's Farming with zelda.

Your answer is better than mine and it only took you one sentence *applause*

[NovasDream]

lovely game. really like zelda. s2