Stardew Valley - Review @ Gamespot

[HiddenX]

Gamespot has reviewed the indie RPG Stardew Valley:

Reap what you sow.

On the surface, Stardew Valley is a game about farming, but there are more adventures awaiting curious players beyond cultivating a rich and bountiful garden. From mining and fishing to making friends and falling in love, Stardew Valley's Pelican Town is stuffed with rewarding opportunities. As modern day woes give way to pressing matters on the farm and within your newfound community, Stardew Valley's meditative activities often lead to personal reflection in the real world. It’s a game that tugs at your curiousity as often as it does your heart.

[...]

The sheer number of things to accomplish in Stardew Valley can keep you interested beyond the original three in-game years you need to reach the end of your story--you may just want to start over rather than continue on. You’ll work quite hard to gather enough money for your first horse, so that you can quickly move to the mines to get a mineral to complete a bundle at the community center. It’s all centered around whatever it is you want to accomplish that day. And that’s truly what makes Stardew Valley such a lovely experience, it encourages you to go out and be the best you can be, in whichever task that brings you the most joy. Stardew Valley motivates naturally, with blissful optimism.

Score: 9/10

More information.

 

[luj1]

One of those games that clearly demonstrates we're in an indie age. Its nice that many people still get drawn naturally to cute and retro graphics despite the 4k drool thats everywhere. Gameplay is still king

 

[joxer]

It's not about indie rulership, it's about a product that is not trying to trick you, milk you or scam you.

A little game that remains sincere during your playthrough where course of time did not affect it's developer's honesty - it's what people appreciate more than AAA product that doesn't even feel like a videogame but something else.

Gameplay was never a king on PC. A platform that can do anything and everything does not circle around just one thing in products. Unless of course one does not have all fingers and has to accept they'll never be able to play games without autoaim.

 

[turian]

in my eyes SDV is a huge pile of missed opportunities.
this game adds nothing new to the "harvest moon/runestone factory" genre.
its just rides on in a shallow way.

it is indeed a gorgeous piece of well done work
ill rate it B+ and not the A++ everyone is hyping .

 

[ChienAboyeur]

It implies that players have played HM/RS.

Considering that SV was listed as an original work on this site and elsewhere...

 

[azarhal]

in my eyes SDV is a huge pile of missed opportunities.
this game adds nothing new to the "harvest moon/runestone factory" genre.

Why does it need to add anything to the genre?

I'm really getting tired of that mentality that games needs to invent or add some new shiny WOW to be a good inspired from game or good sequel…that always lead to gamers complaining that it's too different when they do anyway.

What is important is if the game has good gameplay, not if it satisfy some crazy notions that games all needs to be innovative or be not good enough.

SV does it's things very well and totally deserve the score it is getting.

 

[ChienAboyeur]

Do people forget...

Human societies were destroyed as other societies deemed them guilty of failing to be innovative.

Soon to be destroyed societies were doing the same: they were remaking, without adding.

Then it was judged it was a waste of resources and that resources should go to societies that were not doing the same but were adding.

Considering where SV dev hails from, there is no reason to abstain his product from being measured by the standard that led to destruction of many societies.

Actually, anyone suspending this standard must provide a cause for it, especially when that anyone comes from destructive societies.

SV should not have been done in the first place. It adds nothing to what was done earlier.

 

[rune_74]

Do people forget…

Human societies were destroyed as other societies deemed them guilty of failing to be innovative.

Soon to be destroyed societies were doing the same: they were remaking, without adding.

Then it was judged it was a waste of resources and that resources should go to societies that were not doing the same but were adding.

Considering where SV dev hails from, there is no reason to abstain his product from being measured by the standard that led to destruction of many societies.

Actually, anyone suspending this standard must provide a cause for it, especially when that anyone comes from destructive societies.

SV should not have been done in the first place. It adds nothing to what was done earlier.

I'm sorry, but what a bunch of bullshit. Why should it have not been done in the first place?

Comes from a country with destructive societies? Do you honestly think this comes off as you being a better human being?

I'm honestly blown away by some of the crap that you post but this takes the cake.

 

[luj1]

bad analogy is bad

 

[ChienAboyeur]

I'm sorry, but what a bunch of bullshit. Why should it have not been done in the first place?

Because it does not meet the criterion. No resources should have been allocated to this project. Just as resources were removed from societies redoing stuff.
There is no reason to suspend the application of the criterion.

Comes from a country with destructive societies? Do you honestly think this comes off as you being a better human being?

Hard to see how it applies. Better human beings,in this case, means adding something new. Lesser human beings do not add, they redo.

I'm honestly blown away by some of the crap that you post but this takes the cake.

Weird stuff to call the standard that has led to the elimination of so many crap. Was their elimination meaningless?

 

[Nyx]

Stardew Valley does the single most important things a game should provide. Fun.
If fun isn't enough to justify a game you should probably rethink spending time on games as a whole.
I absolutely love this game and will most likely spend another 100+ hours on it.

 

[crpgnut]

I've never played it, but I've tried to get my wife to try it.

 

[joxer]

Stop pestering your wife to test games before you try them.
Install, run, play already!

 

[crpgnut]

I hate farm games but she plays the facebook ones all the time. It looks cute, but I'd rather play Enderal/Skyrim/Fallout, etc.

 

[ChienAboyeur]

Stardew Valley does the single most important things a game should provide. Fun.
If fun isn't enough to justify a game you should probably rethink spending time on games as a whole.
I absolutely love this game and will most likely spend another 100+ hours on it.

Moot point. People had fun redoing stuff. It did not change one bit.


The thinking on why things must be new is already done. It has nothing personal.

The rethinking that must be done is why suddenly the standard about new is to be suspended.

 

[rune_74]

Moot point. People had fun redoing stuff. It did not change one bit.


The thinking on why things must be new is already done. It has nothing personal.

The rethinking that must be done is why suddenly the standard about new is to be suspended.

The eagle flies at midnight.

 

[sakichop]

Stardew Valley does the single most important things a game should provide. Fun.
If fun isn't enough to justify a game you should probably rethink spending time on games as a whole.
I absolutely love this game and will most likely spend another 100+ hours on it.

Unless of course you don't like the game, then it doesn't provide fun.

 

[ChienAboyeur]

The eagle flies at midnight.

And SV is nothing original and should not have been done in the first place.

 

[purpleblob]

Excuse me, but I've dumped over 700hours in this game and I'm about to dump more hours into it. So stop speaking as if only your opinion matters. I love SDV a lot and I'm bloody glad it happened. You made me angry enough to post here again.

 

[GothicGothicness]

Don't mind them Purple, if some people here where working as a publisher there wouldn't be any game. SDV is a remarkable achievement and it definitely has innovations, even if I am not really into the genre, I have seen enough of the game to recognize that.

If it was a 1:1 copy of harvest moon than I could understand the comments above, but it is absolutely not that. Every game released in the last 10 years has borrowed something which was already done in an earlier game, so the point that it is similar to some other games is quite ridicules.