There are sunny skies behind the clouds afterall
If I could have the Stardew Valley theme tune playing in the background of this blog I would, for how simply serene and rustic it is in it's woodpipe melody. In absence of that ability, however, I encourage you to find it on Youtube yourself and just slap that baby on anyway; really get in the mood for this one. Because I want to talk about the place of Stardew Valley within our group of games and why this upcoming sequel, currently in it's early stages of development as far as I can ascertain, couldn't come sooner. Of course there's probably a few years ahead of us in development right now, and I wouldn't have it any other way as I'm always of the mind that not only should games be finished before they're released (that really shouldn't be as revolutionary of a view as it is) but that more space between game releases is only a good thing in the grand scheme of things. If Mass Effect Andromeda had stuck things out for a couple more years we'd be neck deep in the tail end of a new Mass Effect trilogy right now! But enough negativity: Let's talk farming.
Of course it's no news to anyone that Stardew Valley owes it's premise and life to the Harvest Moon series of games, as do many other farm simulators. Yet somehow Stardew Valley has gone that step beyond to become the game that subsequent farming simulators want to be, even the creator of that game acknowledges how he is going up against his own success with this new game, although he isn't intimidated by it. I think space plays into that a lot, with Harvest Moon being so far from it's cultural zeitgeist that many don't have that original game as a reference point. I've never once played it myself and most probably never will. Thus Stardew can slide into that empty space in our brains and fill that sleepy-town farming fantasy spot that enchanted SNES players all those years ago.
And I am enchanted. Totally and bitterly. To a game that just seems to ooze, among other things, accessibility. Just earlier today I sat down to start playing my second proper full game of Stellaris; I'd never finished my first game but it'd been nearly a year since I'd last picked it up and so I figured it was time to start afresh. I got ahold of the controls well enough, but the actual minute of running an intergalactic Empire had quietly drained from my conscious mind, and so I went through a little bit of a crash course. And what ended up happening? I struggled trying to remember how to spend resources, I couldn't find a tech tree to plan expansions (actually, if I recall right there isn't one. Which seems strange.) and then I looked at the menu for building colonies and I just dipped. Too much information, too much to remember. So I went to my comfort food games, the one's that are instinctive enough to explain themselves. Games like Stardew Valley.
You know you have something special on your hands when a game can touch anyone on that same base level of enjoyment, and given the popularity of Stardew Valley I'd call it one of the lucky few. I'm a lover of a vast expanse of game types, although recently my fervour has turned to CRPGs like Pathfinder, Baldur's Gate and Divinity; as well as 2D Soulslikes such as Hollow Knight and, just recently, Blasphemous; but still someone like me can find time to spend an hour or two on the old farm. Not even making significant progress, which is nuts for someone as progression driven as I. Just existing and making sure the farm is organised for another solid week is enough to keep me satisfied. And that is a powerful loop to rope a player into, that's the sort of loop less reputable companies would seek to exploit. But not ConcernedApe. He just wants to make a chill leisure game.
Stardew Valley has that special kind of chill to it where you can really enjoy living that quiet farm life without getting anything really crazy done. I wouldn't call it calm, mind you; but the rush of getting the right vegetables growing so that you can hunt that specific truffle you need to fulfil the community centre in order as well as that animal produce that Lewis asked for, just melts into that automatic part of the brain. I don't find myself cursing a missed deadline like I might curse the Last Son of the Miracle everytime he summons the fireball barrage and I guess the wrong corner to wait for it under. I need that sort of game in my life, and if I could whip up a concoction and wipe all memories of Stardew from my head so that I could experience it all fresh tomorrow; I would do it in a heartbeat.
Which is kind of why I see the similarities of this Haunted Chocolatier to Stardew Valley as a good thing, not a crutch. I understand why some might deride the label of this new game as 'The new Stardew Valley' or 'the Stardew Sequel', but I mean that in all the most positive light when I assert it, because anygame that can capture that serene spirit is every bit worthy of the sequel title. To this day the game holds up to it's spirit and hits just the right now, only now weighted with the sadness of nostalgia. More of the same is like honey nectar to my ears, like Fallout New Vegas to my Fallout 3: you can't go wrong with a winning formula like that! Of course this game will have different mechanics, a new premise, a fresh setting; but that's just fine by me as long as ConcernedApe remembers how to tune into that sweet Stardew Soul.
Of course I still love my blockbusters. My immutable beings of hype and spectacle, adorned in lanyards and ribbons and prestige as they strut their path across the marketing stage; but am I going to come to Elden Ring when I'm having a tough day and need to fully unwind the knots of stress in my aching joints? Maybe- but Stardew Valley, and games like it, are typically a more surefire bet. I may lack the equipment, and the gumption, to actually move out to the middle of nowhere and become a farmer living the simple life of the land myself, but I'll escape there in my dreams anyday! (Besides, I'm familiar enough with farming in my general day-to-day. Making my virtual avatar suffer my work day is kinda therapeutic in a twistedly unhealthy way.)
So let this blog serve as a reminder to you that The Haunted Chocolatier is announced and being made by one very talented lone-wolf developer with a vision on his mind and a taste I find enthralling. Should this game be a successor or just a sister to his last, I'll be more than happy to gush all over it, just as I'm happy to give as much money as possible to an indie developer who deserves it. In the grand feast that is the modern gaming landscape, Stardew is the gentle, subtle mashed and sprinkled herb that is imperceptible to my own mundane palette, but which makes the whole dish worth sitting down for when you're scraping up that plate. And do I want chocolate desert on top of all that? Yes please!
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