Why a new Stardew Valley is so heartwarming

 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!

Stardew Valley 2

 Reunited and it feels so good!

I love Stardew Valley. I think I have ever since I first mistaked upon a screenshot of the thing posted on the front of the 'upcoming games' list for Xbox. I just saw the thing and went "That, right there. That's the game I want to play". Maybe it was the bright, welcoming palette of rich green grass and desert yellow sand, or the shots of the unbroken peace of farm life, as promised to me by years of hearing the praises of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing. Maybe I just needed that sort of juxtaposition in my gaming library at that point in my life, to take me away from the ultraviolence of titles like DOOM, or the stress of online expectations radiating from games like Overwatch. Whatever vibe I unconsciously sent out into the universe resonated immediately the second I saw the existence of Stardew Valley and so I can say with confidant that I was an instant convert. Even more lucky was that this was a game I found out about mere weeks before it's console launch, and so that alluring curiosity could be fulfilled right away.

Having played almost two full playthroughs of Stardew Valley at this point (I'm very excited to pick up a steam version at some point so I can start my third) I can dispel that gut reaction which I, and I can assume many others, had to this game. It is not peaceful. Oh sure, living on a farm in the middle of nowhere USA means that you don't have to deal with saving the world from a demon invasion on Mars, or leading a religious crusade against invading forces from the other world, or... whatever the heck Metal Gear is doing that particular day. But just because saving the world doesn't enter the equation doesn't mean living the Stardew life isn't driven by expectations. You have to make money, afterall, so that you can afford seeds to keep your farm alive and expand your tools, but in order to afford that you need to make sure your crops are giving their maximum yield on the right days, which means watering them regularly and without fail. But then you have to make sure you keep up with other duties in the day such as foraging in the wild paths, as well as stopping by the local shop and going fishing in the midday. This is just before stopping by the mines in order to pick some ores and fight a few monsters and flying by the bar in the late evening to spend an hour being aggressively social to any of the town members who you didn't manage to wave hello to during the routine. All of this so that you can get back to bed at a decent time and start the whole thing again the very next day.

'Deceptively peaceful', is the way I like to describe Stardew, but in that lies her undeniable charm. Afterall, what's the point of 'living the life' without a purpose? And Stardew Valley is a game built in such a way that it gives you a routine, job and responsibilities without you ever realising the weight of it all settling on your shoulders. It's what gives that game it's life and purpose, spurred on by the personable characters of the valley and personality in the simply gorgeous pixel art style. Just as with Persona, it's the games that seek to make the everyday duties of life into a video game that speak to me on the deepest level, resonating with my soul in a seemingly effortless manner. Thus when the creator of that game, 'ConcernedApe' announced that he was working on another game, it was news that hit me with the sadness that the beautiful Stardew Valley was taking her rest, but excitement for wherever he wanted to make next. And what does that game look like after a reveal? Well- it honestly looks like Stardew Valley 2.

I don't want that to at all sound disparaging and as though I'm implying what we've looking at here is a cheap copy-and-paste job that isn't worthy of it's own merits, nothing like that. What I mean to say is, this game looks as though it's hewn from the exact same cloth as it's predecessor, and given the praise I just laid upon that, It's only natural that I'm very excited about this game too.  Copying your own homework isn't the worst thing in the world when you're assignment was the gaming equivalent of 'War and Peace'. You could give me a hundred games in Stardew's relaxed lined modern pixel art style and I'd never get bored of looking at the screen. How could you when the game's look sings with such richness? And if this title promises even a quarter of the cute warmth that Stardew had, then this is going to be another special and unique* little title. But what is it actually called, you may ask? That would be: The Haunted Chocolatier. (*Unique whilst looking the same is a strange concept that I'm struggling to reconcile)

 

Now hearing that name for the very first time you may have the same initial reaction I did; oh, so this is Willie Wonka and the Chocolate factory then? ConcernedApe himself says that the idea just came from the idea that "People like chocolate", but I think I may spy a little bit of the ol' Rolad Dahl influence here and there from the vaguely eastern European houses and the deep snow blanket over the visuals. (Although those may just be coincidental design choices, I can't claim to know the developer's mind) And where does the 'haunted' part come into it? Well from the looks of things the game will have you actually doing the hard job of selling your stuff this time, setting up a store floor and assigning ghosts to serve as your in-the-store employees. (Honestly, the shop floor stuff looks a lot like Moonlighter to me, so I'm happy to see that present too)

ConcernedApe seems to have reserved a lot of the beloved gameplay that made Stardew Valley so enchanting, like the whole travelling around and weeding the country side with tools, presumably in search of the greatest chocolate ingredients. Monsters and a little combat has made it into the game too, and what's more there appears to be somewhat updated, what with this new bow and arrow present in our repertoire for new ranged ranged enemies to chew on. There will be characters to interact with around the town who will no doubt have their own cheeky standout personalities quirks and heartwarming stories tied to them, what looks to be romance routes, just as with Stardew, and even a multiple choice dialogue tree featured that seems to be there for making personality choices rather than just for info dumps. All and all this is looking like an improvement upon the Stardew formula in every way imaginable.

There's still a lot to wonder about though, such as what will be the big overarching impetus that will drive the player to engage fully with all the systems. In Stardew Valley there was the community centre which needed to be restored at the behest of your deceased Grandfather, the Haunted Chocolatier could easily go with something similar but I see another possibility too. One of the big differences off the bat I've noticed is the fact that the Chocolatier house isn't some ramshackle ranch that you steadily upgrade into a home, but a large sprawling facility that seemingly was a chocolate factory once before. (At the end of the trailer the player is introduced as the 'new' chocolatier, afterall) So I think that a very natural course of game progression could be in locking off the various sprawling wings of the factory to be gradually unlocked through the course of the game as you cross certain milestones and thresholds. But that's just a suggestion, I'm sure the supernatural element will have a just-as-huge part to play in this game's narrative.

Needless to say that this game is a definite must-have from lil 'ol me. However we must all remember, as we look upon this, not to get too whipped up into a frenzy due to the fact that this is a first look, and ConcernedApe is only one guy. Or at least, he was when he made Stardew Valley and thus I can only assume he still is. (If he's got a team now that would be great! But I'm not keeping my fingers crossed) It could be years, a lot of them, before this game comes to the world and with patience and grace from the fan's side, it will be worth that long wait just as Stardew Valley was. In the mean time I'm really getting that itch to jump into the magical valley in the middle of nowhere once again for another star-struck adventure, all the while dreaming of chocolate rivers and never-ending gob-stoppers in the future.

The Stardew Valley Boardgame

 Escape to the valley

A perfect life can be defined in innumerable fashions by a thousand different voices, indicative of the diversity that the human heart can yearn for. Maybe some people want their name to be remembered through fame or merit, some small victory against the finality of death. Other's may want a family of those who they love around them, a defiant cry out to not living alone. Some may want to live a quiet life in a affluent area of a sleepy town, keep a modest paying office job in a department store and be home everyday by 8pm at the latest, don't smoke but occasionally drink, be in bed by 11PM and sleep for 8 hours no matter what after having a glass of warm milk and doing 20 minutes of stretches, all to ensure that they have no problems sleeping until the morning, and then wake up like a baby at day break without any stress or fatigue with no medical issues whatsoever. (Or maybe that's just Yoshikage Kira's overly specific dream, now I think about it.) For my two cents, however, I think that whatever it is one seeks out of life, whatever fits their world view's definition of 'happiness', it can be captured to some small value, at least, by the classic indie darling 'Stardew Valley'.

I've ever been a fan of the farming/middle-of-nowhere-life simulator, Stardew Valley; and seriously recommend the heck out of it for anyone out there. It's just a magical little game that somehow turns the stress of living a daily routine with responsibilities and tribulations into a breezy dream devoid of any real consequences. Were it that we all could live a life so uncomplicated and direct, without concerns and doubts about 'is this where I'm meant to be?' or 'what am I doing with my life?'- or perhaps even that is just my own bias tainting my view on the game. However I suspect not, given Stardew Valley's widely held adoration with the public that has translated into rightly earned success for the developer. However, there's still that barrier to entry, isn't there? Not a huge skill wall, or anything, or even a stupid expensive tech wall, (Cyberpunk) but rather a wall where only those in video games can enjoy the bliss of a Stardew Life. Well, that is no more with the official announcement of the Stardew Valley Boardgame.

And now I'm realising that I sound like the official marketing team, that's weird; Stop that, me. But I will anyway say that I find it an immensely pleasing turnaround to have a small independent 'studio' reach the point where they can diversify their product in such a manner. (If you consider one man to be a 'studio') Many of even the biggest franchises never really get that opportunity or never take ahold of it, and one might argue that could come from an inherent lack of needing to, but I think that maybe a curse of scope could apply too. You reach such a size where every single addendum to a franchise requires a plethora of different eyes on it such to the point where it's just easier and less taxing to stick to what everyone knows and is familiar with. (Or at least that's my headcannon for Fallout not having a proper X-com Style tactical shooter side-game by now; the world's perfect for it, what are you waiting for, Bethesda!?)

Yet, I'll admit that I do find myself a little curious as to what exactly a Stardew Valley Boardgame would look like. I mean, the idea seems so natural and fitting that the concept feels sound when you say it in your head, but translating that into a product sounds interesting. I wonder at the nuance and challenges proposed by trying to capture that perfect balance of peace and productivity which the game flitters on so effortlessly. I'd imagine that it'll really be an art of balancing which is probably only really capable of being judged in person through sitting down and playing a round of the thing. But seeing as how that's not really a possibility for little ol' me, I'll just try and break the thing down and see if it 'sounds' right. (I was a huge fan of the videogame afterall, maybe that familiarity will benefit my eye.)

Now firstly it appears that the base concept is identical. It's about moving to a small community and doing tasks in order to refurbish the town's community centre and push the Joja corporation out of town because soulless corporations are the epitome of Satan or something. (I wonder if this is the sort of game that would appeal to Johnny Silverhand?) This game realises the whole process of rebuilding the community centre as a series of goals drawn from a deck of cards, thus actually offering some replayability to this board game to the point that it surpasses what the original game offered, in which all the goals are set in stone. (Or at least, in the base game that was the case. After 1.5 you can actually randomise that as well because Stardew Valley is a forever game, apparently.) Although that extra replayability is somewhat necessary considering that the boardgame is only really meant for games of around 45 minutes to a couple of hours. (So significantly shorter than the video game, obviously.)

In something of a Persona-esque take on the concept, the game is split up into seasons where players choose which activity they'll partake in for each timeslot. I find this a curiously apt anagram of the main game's structure in which your daily activities were constrained by both your energy bar and the relentless march of the clock, here you have action points like this is an Atlas game. This means that you can spend time mining, fishing, farming and just about everything you could do in the main game sans, I'm sure, wasting several hours playing that damn minecart game in the arcade. (I was as dedicated to beating that game as I was for the minecart section in Donkey Kong Country. And as bad at both.) As you can imagine this really does make the game a cooperative experience of trying to save the valley, akin to the game itself. (I guess I couldn't really imagine a competitive edge to Stardew Valley anyway) 

What I personally love about this project, however, is the new art that's coming with the game because I just find it endlessly charming. The game version of Stardew Valley relied on an Harvest Moon inspired pixel style that was both affable and pleasing to the eye in a manner very fitting to the game itself. With the boardgame's art they obviously don't need to stick to the somewhat square-constraints of pixel art (the influences wouldn't even make all that much sense here anyway) but they still decided to stick to the rough shape and the result is this ludicrously pretty and, at least for me, nostalgia-tinged art style that just makes me smile. It hacks my happy bone for how cute it all is. I defiantly approve.

Boardgames are always a natural companion for videogames I think, much more so than movies and/or TV shows. I think that the reason for that isn't anything profound, and in fact I believe it be as frighteningly simple as being because they both seek to entertain through interaction; that and the fact that many video game genre's owe their inspiration to boardgames. Stardew Valley is a delight in either incarnation and I'm happy such a passion fuelled game is finding a way to more people as it should. For all the talk of violence and carnage being promoted by videogames, let Stardew be a reminder of how even that ill-fitting and contrived label is not all-encompassing... Then again I guess you do murder a lot of monsters... and the fish that you cook and eat... damn it, I guess we need a fully vegan edition of Stardew Valley next time to really sadate the gaming nay-Sayers, don't we?