Did you know that there was an “open-ended, country life role-playing game” out on PC called Stardew Valley? I sure as hell didn’t, but today I learned that the game is making the leap to Xbox One and PS4 relatively soon. Oh, and it’s coming to the Nintendo Switch too, no big deal!!!!
Before you do anything, I feel it best you watch the PC trailer to give you an idea about what Stardew Valley is about:
My first thoughts after watching is was “how relaxing does that look?” You know, except for being attacked by creatures. It reminds me of a cross between the old school Legend of Zelda titles and Pokemon, spliced with Farmville (but with more depth). Or perhaps Harvest Moon, that’s probably less insulting (sorry guys).
The game centers around you (of course) inheriting your grandfather’s old farm plot in Stardew Valley. You are only given ‘hand-me-down’ tools and a few coins to start with. The main aim of the game is to learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home. It won’t be easy. Ever since Joja Corporation came to town, the old ways of life have all but disappeared. The community center, once the town’s most vibrant hub of activity, now lies in shambles. But the valley seems full of opportunity. With a little dedication, you might just be the one to restore Stardew Valley to greatness!
Below are some of the key features of the game as listed on the website:
- Turn your overgrown field into a lively farm! Raise animals, grow crops, start an orchard, craft useful machines, and more! You’ll have plenty of space to create the farm of your dreams.
- Improve your skills over time. As you make your way from a struggling greenhorn to a master farmer, you’ll level up in 5 different areas: farming, mining, combat, fishing, and foraging. As you progress, you’ll learn new cooking and crafting recipes, unlock new areas to explore, and customize your skills by choosing from a variety of professions.
- Become part of the local community. With over 30 unique characters living in Stardew Valley, you won’t have a problem finding new friends! Each person has their own daily schedule, birthday, unique mini-cutscenes, and new things to say throughout the week and year. As you make friends with them, they will open up to you, ask you for help with their personal troubles, or tell you their secrets! Take part in seasonal festivals such as the luau, haunted maze, and feast of the winter star.
- Explore a vast, mysterious cave. As you travel deeper underground, you’ll encounter new and dangerous monsters, powerful weapons, new environments, valuable gemstones, raw materials for crafting and upgrading tools, and mysteries to be uncovered.
- Breathe new life into the valley. Since JojaMart opened, the old way of life in Stardew Valley has changed. Much of the town’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair. Help restore Stardew Valley to it’s former glory by repairing the old community center, or take the alternate route and join forces with Joja Corporation.
- Court and marry a partner to share your life on the farm with. There are 10 available bachelors and bachelorettes to woo, each with unique character progression cutscenes. Once married, your partner will live on the farm with you. Who knows, maybe you’ll have kids and start a family?
- Spend a relaxing afternoon at one of the local fishing spots. The waters are teeming with seasonal varieties of delicious fish. Craft bait, bobbers, and crab pots to help you in your journey toward catching every fish and becoming a local legend!
- Donate artifacts and minerals to the local museum.
- Cook delicious meals and craft useful items to help you out. With over 100 cooking and crafting recipes, you’ll have a wide variety of items to create. Some dishes you cook will even give you temporary boosts to skills, running speed, or combat prowess. Craft useful objects like scarecrows, oil makers, furnaces, or even the rare and expensive crystalarium.
- Customize the appearance of your character and house. With hundreds of decorative items to choose from, you’ll have no trouble creating the home of your dreams!
- Over two hours of original music.
It certainly sounds like it’s got more to it than Farmville! If you’ve checked out the video you can tell that there’s a lot to experience; various environments, underground caves, upgrades to tools and social areas seem to provide a lot of interactivity and variety. I would be tempted to play the PC version, if there wasn’t an Xbox One version on the horizon.
Making an announcement over on their official website for the game, developers ConcernedApe confirmed which consoles the title will be appearing on and when. The release schedule can be seen below:
- Stardew Valley will launch in North America for the PS4 on December 13th, 2016.
- Stardew Valley will launch in Europe for the PS4 and globally for the Xbox One on December 14th, 2016.
Pre-orders for the Xbox One (globally) and PS4 (Europe only) will begin on November 30th, 2016.
However, what is probably the most interesting point about this post is regarding a Nintendo release. Commenting on their status with Nintendo, ConcernedApe stated the following:
“Stardew Valley will not be coming to the Wii U, however. Looking at Wii U and the current gaming landscape, we made the difficult choice to shift our development efforts to creating a version for Nintendo Switch. I am really looking forward to the Switch, and I believe that the Switch’s unique capabilities could create some exciting opportunities for Stardew Valley. I do want to emphasize that I am absolutely committed to seeing Stardew Valley on Nintendo platforms, and I really do appreciate your support and understanding in this.”
Nintendo Switch is getting Stardew Valley! Sad news about the Wii U, but it’s probably fair to say that its time is coming.
I agree with this statement, however; I reckon that the Switch could provide some unique opportunities for the way in which the game can be developed. Although I can appreciate that we do not know everything there is to know about the Switch at this point, we have to just wait and see.
Looks pretty sweet right? I even managed to avoid putting any farm related puns, perhaps I’ve finally plugged that leek of mine! Let us know what you think in the comments below or on the RGM Forums.
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