I played my first farming sim game, Rune Factory 4, in college and I loved it. I was addicted to the farming mechanics, dungeoneering, and building relationships with the colorful cast of characters. I thoroughly enjoyed planting crops on my farm, exploring new areas, and watching the character dynamics unfold.
The next game I played was Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns. While I liked it, the characters weren’t as compelling and I wasn’t as excited for the farming without any dungeoneering options to switch things up.
Then I tried Stardew Valley, and I was hooked. I spent countless hours each day developing my farm, caring for my barn animals, and talking to the rich cast of characters.
The gameplay is refined, intuitive, and streamlined. The charming 2D pixel art style gives it a distinct identity with its incredible detail and bright, saturated colors. The love interests are flawed, have a lot of depth, and their aged up appearance helps the romances feel genuine and appropriate.
Not only that, but there is a ton of depth to the game play and unlockables. I’m in Year 3 yet I’ve only scratched the surface on areas you can explore, collectibles, events, and so on.
Given how Rune Factory 4 and Stardew Valley grabbed me, I thought I was sold whole-heartedly on the genre. But in the years since then, I’ve tried other farming sims such as Rune Factory 5 and Harvestella, and neither of them clicked with me.
With each game, the game play became progressively clunkier (the jump from an overhead camera perspective to 3D in Rune Factory 5 was especially problematic) and the storytelling was bland or even incongruous with the spirit of the farming sim genre. In addition, the characters were pretty one-dimensional and uninteresting.
I recently went back and revisited Stardew Valley, and it’s reminded me just how good of a farming sim it is. It truly feels like a love letter to the genre that inspired it, while paving the way for future farming sims to follow.
The question becomes, how do you recreate perfection?
Every farming sim I’ve tried since Stardew Valley has lacked the efficient gameplay and simple but effective writing to stand out. Stardew Valley has redefined the genre to the point that other farming sim games look mediocre in comparison.
What do you think? Is Stardew Valley so good that it’s ruined the farming sim genre for you? Let us know in the comments, or join us on Boss Rush Discord!
Featured Image: Nintendo
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The Boss Rush Podcast – The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, Stephanie, LeRon, and their friends from around the internet come together with other creators, developers, and industry veterans to talk about games they’ve been playing, discuss video game and entertainment based topics, and answer questions solicited on social media and the community Discord.
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