Steam Game Review] I left the workforce to live a self-sufficient life!　Stardew Valley: A Slow Life on a Farm Game

In this series, Mina Tsujimura, aka SteamMania, a core gamer on Steam, reviews in detail the recommended games available on Steam, a PC game platform that is currently enjoying a lot of popularity. She introduces the fun of the games.

This time, we will introduce a game called "Stardew Valley. The main character is a working adult who works for a black company. One day, fed up with such a life, the protagonist takes the plunge and leaves the workforce!　He moves to the countryside, uses the tools left behind by his grandfather to develop a deserted ranch, and learns how to survive while becoming self-sufficient in this ranch RPG.

Same-sex marriage is possible in the game!　An infinitely genderless RPG!

This is one of the classic games that continues to rank high in Twitch's real-time viewer rankings and Steam's worldwide sales rankings. In fact, the game was released in 2016, and a board game version was recently released. The developer is a fan of the popular game series "Harvest Moon" series, whose newest title was released on February 25 this year, and this game is also influenced a lot by Harvest Moon.

One of the appealing features of the game is its realistic setting that satirizes the times, such as the logo of "Joja Corporation," where the main character works, which is an homage to the logo of a certain company that actually came under fire as a black company, and the fact that same-sex marriage and adoption are possible in the game.

Surprisingly busy!　A world where a day moves forward in 14 minutes and 20 seconds.

Basically, the game is about earning money by selling items obtained through farming, fishing, gathering wild plants, mining in caves, and fighting monsters in caves to develop a farm. As you save money, you can build livestock pens and upgrade your house.

The daily cycle is up to 20 hours, from 6:00 AM to 2:00 AM in-game time. Ten minutes in the game go by in 7.17 seconds in real life, and an hour is 43 seconds; a day is over in 14 minutes and 20 seconds, so if you don't act briskly, you can often end up doing nothing at night.

In "Stardew Valley," each villager has a finely calibrated friendship level. You can give one gift each day (up to two per week), and when you reach the maximum, you can get married.

In addition, each villager has a birthday, which you can check on the calendar in the village square. Of course, if you give them something they don't like, their liking will decrease, so you have to make sure you know what they like.

I actually tried living on a ranch!

Now let's try playing the game. After starting the game and selecting "From the Beginning," you will be taken to the main character's profile setting screen. Here you can select your name, gender, avatar, pet (cat/dog), and map.

The maps are "Standard" (simple flat land), "Riverland" (a small island in the river with lots of fish), "Forest" (small farm, but rich in resources due to the forest), "Hilltop" (craggy terrain, but with deposits suitable for mining), and "Wild" (monsters appear at night), There are a total of seven types: "4 Corners Farm" (four lots are available, so it is suitable for groups), "Ranch on the Beach" (good for collecting and fishing, with large lots, but the sprinklers do not work in the sandy soil). This time, I will play on the "Standard" map, which seems to be the easiest to play.

After setting up the profile, the opening movie begins, starting with a scene of Grandpa lying in bed with a letter in his hand.

"My sweet granddaughter. Will you hold this letter for me?

No, no, don't read it yet. Listen to me carefully.

Someday when you grow up and go out into the world, you may find it hard to live.

When your heart is about to lose even its spark, read this letter."

After Grandpa's final movie, the screen goes dark and switches to the office scene with the words "XX years later."

A large number of employees are working at desks that have been laid out in a row, and the words "Growth is the only way" are in the center of the desks. Furthermore, the office has a glass wall on the side, through which men in suits are watching. There is a black scent in the air!

As the scene progresses further, we see a desk marked "dismissed" and a bleached-out employee at ...... while working. Tired of city life, the protagonist finally picks up his grandfather's letter.

In the letter, he writes that his grandfather once also "lost sight of what was important in life" and "left everything behind to find his true place in the world. Then, after receiving the deed to the "ranch" where Grandpa had found his place, the hero leaves everything behind and heads for Stardew Valley.

When he gets off the bus, he is greeted by Robin, a carpenter. When he arrives at the ranch, the village chief, Mr. Lewis, whom Grandpa had told him about, also makes an appearance. After greeting him, we will rest for the rest of the day.

Day 1 on the ranch

When I woke up in the morning, I found "parsnip seeds" in my room. Is this a tutorial quest?　I immediately plant them in front of the house and see what happens.

There is still some time left, so I check the map and look for residents and greet them.

When I entered the general store, I found a large backpack, an item that can expand the item column. With the default, you can only carry up to 12 items, but with this, I heard you can carry 24 items of stuff.

I need to save up some money and buy it!

Day two of living on the ranch."

When I woke up in the morning, I received a suspicious letter. The mysterious message said, "Come to the beach when you feel like it.

After finishing my farm work, I went to the beach and found a fishing tackle shop owner named Willie. He seemed to live to teach others the art of fishing, and gave me a fishing pole as a gift.

Since I was there, I decided to spend the day fishing.

We fished until 4 p.m. and got two sardines, herring, algae, broken glasses, and driftwood!

On the way back, we found a broken bridge. Apparently, if we had 300 pieces of wood, we could repair it. ......

I think I will make it my goal this time to repair this bridge. I immediately start chopping down trees growing around my house to collect 300 pieces of wood.

Day 3 of living on the ranch."

It rains all day long today, so I collect wood while dutifully cleaning up the trees, stones, and weeds that are in the way around the house in front of the house.

Incidentally, in this game, working in the fields and fishing consume the energy gauge, and when it reaches 0, the player enters a state of fatigue. The only way to recover from fatigue is to eat or sleep, so you have to use it carefully.

Fourth day on the farm.

When I woke up in the morning and checked the weather forecast and horoscope as usual, I found the news that many wild leaf onions were growing wild!

The weather is nice today, so we decide to go for a walk around town and collect some wild plants.

Day five of living on the ranch."

When I woke up in the morning, I found that the parsnips I had grown from the seeds I received on the first day were ready for harvest!

I harvested the parsnips, completed the tutorial quest, and got 100G as a reward. 2000G was finally saved up, so I bought the backpack I had longed for.

I also gathered 300 pieces of wood so I could successfully repair the bridge!　That's all for now.

I would like to enjoy the rest of the project in private.

A "heartwarming and healing game" to play when you are tired of life

The charm of this game is the "heartwarming slow life. The dot graphics and BGM are cute and will surely heal you. In addition, the game has challenging elements such as raising the friendship level by giving gifts to NPCs, becoming a lover by sending flowers, and marriage by proposing marriage.

The villagers also have their own dark pasts, traumas, and detailed relationships, and the heartwarming human drama of their conflicts, setbacks, and recovery through friendship is one of the charms of the game.

You can also play with friends, so why not enjoy a free-spirited farm life in cooperation?

Title Information

Stardew Valley" (ConcernedApe)
Released February 27, 2016
Price: 1,480 yen (as of November 6, 2020)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/413150/Stardew_Valley/?l=japanese

Author: Suthumu Mana (Mina Tsujimura)

Writer and gamer at Office Mica. Her favorite game genres include sandbox survival games and horror games. Her style of game playing is a text-chatting game player who is afraid of VC players.

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