Gameplay?

[MarvelDCMayhem]

Not into these kind of games but this does look pretty good. what can i expect if i buy this?
there's tons of good reviews. is this kind like animal crossing lol?

[Ailes]

I've never played AC myself, only seen a friend play it, but I guess it's similar-ish. The creator himself quoted Harvest Moon as being his main thing back in the day.

It's perhaps not entirely as relaxing as it may first appear. It's not like you are bound to get a whole lot of things done within one day, but there is a clock running down and if you want to make most ouf your day (planting and watering crops, talking to villagers to increase friendship with them, exploring areas and so on) you will need to prioritize things a bit.

Villagers have a routine too, similar to how they do have in Skyrim or Fallout. Stores aren't open nonstop, people can't be found or talked to at all times. So if you "mess up" you might not be able to deliver in that one quest item in time to someone, or may not be able to visit a certain location today because the person who would be helping you to get there is already in bed.

Still, I think you can have a comparatively relaxing and stressful time with it if you don't want to run for most efficiency from day 1 forward.

As far as core gameplay goes, it boils down to this: wake up, check your mail, plant/water/harvest crops, pat your animals and take their produce (animals aren't available from start though, and you can decide to not have any at all), toss stuff you want to sell into shipping bin or into machines to transform them into other (higher value) goods, go foraging (looking for random drops in nature or chopping down trees), go fishing, go into dungeons to fight and get ores/gems/monster loot, talk to villagers and give them presents so you raise friendship with them, go back home, perhaps build a few smaller items to put around, go to bed (in time, if you happen to be outside beyond 2 pm you will fall unconscious and lose some gold and maybe items too).

Not all of these steps can be done in one day unless you are a crazy son of a speedrunner, so your job effectively is to get a good daily routine up and trying to manage it all as best you can. You also have stamina, which becomes less of a problem later on when you have access to plenty of food, but early on what you can do is severly limited by this. Most tools eat up your stamina, so creating a huge field of crops from day one on and getting it all watered daily, or chopping down an entire forest or whatever, is not gonna work right away.

There is no true "end" to it all, but after three years your farm gets kind of evaluated by someone and you get a reward if you've done well so far.

You can make cash in different ways. I guess you can become rich without having much of any farming/crops at all, even if in the long run it's probably the most reliable and easiest way of getting cash flowing in. But if you may be browing this forum a bit, you will eventually notice some people pretty much doing it all with fishing instead. Or you make your farm consist only of barns and coops and animal produces. There are a few other "out of the ordinary" ways to greatly increase income, but I don't want to spoil that to you, it's pretty much your job to figure that out. :-)

[ChrillBill]

If you have played Animal Crossing prior to this it might be worth noting the different time system. I learned about this just recently from another user in here who initially felt the time was very stressful in Stardew Valley compared to Animal Crossing which apparently uses real time. Stardew Valley does not. Ailes described it quite well in their post. Just something to consider. I do think you will enjoy it if you like Animal Crossing. It might just take a while getting used to how everything works. From what I have been able to gather about Animal Crossing, I do feel like Stardew Valley is deeper in many aspects. The game is also currently on sale. I would say it is totally worth the full price, but 40% off is a very good deal!

[Amanandhisdog]

this is a retro throwback to the good old days of rpgs. think zelda inspired. then add a dash of animal crossing and a whopping scoop of harvest moon.
they think about all those chrono triggers and even the old school final fantasy games.

now this game was made not that long ago of course as the ones i mentioned but you can see the inspirations all over this title. if one were to see my library you wouldnt see any games like this one, but if you looked at my retro console entertainment center you would see tons of games like this that i played as a kid. not that this is a kids game no no by far its not. it could be played by kids but its meant for people who played games like this as a kid.

all that being said, i was looking for a chill no pressure pop in and out between other aaa game sessions....and i think i have a bit over 40 hours in going into winter year 2 and about to get married....i have a couple hundred thou in coin and a pony to ride.
now when i do play something aaa im thinking about what im going to plant in the spring to maximize my profits and ive traveled around seeking out new crops to plant next year...

in other words my chill low pressure experience has turned into a game i feel like playing for a couple hours every day now and its solidly in my weekly cycle of must play games.
its chill but its not exactly low pressure as once you really get into the swing of things your planting too much and having to water too much and then next thing you know the day is half over and you really need to run to hit the shops before they close. or to fulfill a delivery quest etc. and finding time to fish... sigh...

tl:dr.... in my honest opinion, this game is for anyone and everyone, it brings back fond memories of games i played in my youth and its extremely well made by one guy.
the amount of content and depth of game play put into this game by one person?
its worth it just to experience what one creative and imaginative person can do with the right set of skills. to close i would and have already suggested this game to several peopel who wouldnt look twice because it doesnt have aliens to shoot or zombies to slaughter.
and they have started playing and asking my questions and wanting to play co op.
i hesitated a long time had it in my cart and took it out... then one day kind of bored with my weekly cycle of games. popped a 20 on the wallet and installed it... ^^^ 40 ish hours later i wish i had bought it long ago.

[esturias]

There are tons of videos and somilar sources of information, so it should be pretty simple to find out what this game is about.

In short: It's a farming simulation with some more or less elaborate side activities, ranging from fishing, mining, fighting and social stuff. You build your farm, upgrade stuff, explore the mines, make friends with the villagers.