Music Banter - View Single Post

Key · 01-30-2017, 09:59 AM

Welcome to Ki's Picks
(a few days early)

If you're keeping up, I've decide to dedicate the month of February by talking about games that I have personally played and enjoyed. None of the games here will be games that I have not played, and none of the games here will be games that I ended up not liking. These are strictly games that I love and potentially still play to this day.

To start things off on the right foot, I'm going to talk about a game that I have fallen in love with more and more over the past week or so:

Stardew Valley

When Stardew Valley was released for PC, I went ahead and bought it because a bunch of Youtubers were raving about it and talking about how much fun it is. It even made some of their game of the year lists with it taking the #1 spot. I was in a different spot than they were upon playing it for the first time because I really wasn't into the whole idea of the game...at first.

Since it's release, the game has been sitting in my "uninstalled" list for a while catching dust, up until I decided to install it again and play it. And boy I'm glad I did. Stardew Valley brings you back into the world of gaming that revolved around the likes of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, and throws it all into this wonderfully beautifully created world where there is absolutely no limit to what you can do. You can go into town and meet random strangers and converse with them, you can give them gifts, and you can buy and sell your goods for extra money. You can also take care of your farm, and have a cat or dog on your farm to keep you company while doing so.

The main draw that I have noticed with this game is that you end up spending so much time in this cute little world that you forget that you aren't actually living there. It's one of those things where you'll sit and think "yeah, i'll play for about 10 minutes", and before you know it, 2.5 hours have gone by. Although I've been working a full time job lately, I've manged to throw around 4 hours into the game, and I have not even gotten started or even gotten close to cracking the code as to what this game has to offer. Best part is, the creator of this game (yes, one guy) is continuously updating it with new and original content to make the gun seemingly last forever.

If you were a fan of the Harvest Moon era of games which I imagine most of us were, Stardew Valley is the spiritual successor in all ways, and will probably always hold a special place in my heart and others people's hearts for years to come. I can only imagine the amount of money the creator of this game has made since its debut, seeing as everyone has attached to this game like flies. Rightfully so though, as it is a lot of fun, and it's got the right amount of relaxation mixed with fun events to keep you going with little to no frustration.

My only gripe with the game would be that some things should be streamlined a little bit, like watering your plants with a water bucket, but I know that you can install sprinklers to make that easier. Unfortunately that also requires you to find the materials you need and get the proper crafting level. It's fair enough that the game has a difficulty curve, I'm not saying anything negative about that. My point is that you probably won't completely understand the base game as soon as you pick it up. But from experience, it took me about...45 minutes to really see what this game is all about. Once that clicked, I found myself really enjoying it.

Graphically the game is perfect. It's exactly the right amount of pixel art and animation that really does the genre well in regards to Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing. The music is also original and fantastic and helps fit the mood several times throughout your play through. I expect to put in at least 100 hours of my time into this game somewhere down the line, mostly because it seems like there's literally so much content that you pretty much have to end up getting somewhere between 100-200 hours before you get even close to finishing the game.

As someone that didn't give this game a chance at the start, I would definitely say you should give it a shot if this is the kind of game you like.

01-30-2017, 09:59 AM	#418 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	Welcome to Ki's Picks (a few days early) If you're keeping up, I've decide to dedicate the month of February by talking about games that I have personally played and enjoyed. None of the games here will be games that I have not played, and none of the games here will be games that I ended up not liking. These are strictly games that I love and potentially still play to this day. To start things off on the right foot, I'm going to talk about a game that I have fallen in love with more and more over the past week or so: Stardew Valley When Stardew Valley was released for PC, I went ahead and bought it because a bunch of Youtubers were raving about it and talking about how much fun it is. It even made some of their game of the year lists with it taking the #1 spot. I was in a different spot than they were upon playing it for the first time because I really wasn't into the whole idea of the game...at first. Since it's release, the game has been sitting in my "uninstalled" list for a while catching dust, up until I decided to install it again and play it. And boy I'm glad I did. Stardew Valley brings you back into the world of gaming that revolved around the likes of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, and throws it all into this wonderfully beautifully created world where there is absolutely no limit to what you can do. You can go into town and meet random strangers and converse with them, you can give them gifts, and you can buy and sell your goods for extra money. You can also take care of your farm, and have a cat or dog on your farm to keep you company while doing so. The main draw that I have noticed with this game is that you end up spending so much time in this cute little world that you forget that you aren't actually living there. It's one of those things where you'll sit and think "yeah, i'll play for about 10 minutes", and before you know it, 2.5 hours have gone by. Although I've been working a full time job lately, I've manged to throw around 4 hours into the game, and I have not even gotten started or even gotten close to cracking the code as to what this game has to offer. Best part is, the creator of this game (yes, one guy) is continuously updating it with new and original content to make the gun seemingly last forever. If you were a fan of the Harvest Moon era of games which I imagine most of us were, Stardew Valley is the spiritual successor in all ways, and will probably always hold a special place in my heart and others people's hearts for years to come. I can only imagine the amount of money the creator of this game has made since its debut, seeing as everyone has attached to this game like flies. Rightfully so though, as it is a lot of fun, and it's got the right amount of relaxation mixed with fun events to keep you going with little to no frustration. My only gripe with the game would be that some things should be streamlined a little bit, like watering your plants with a water bucket, but I know that you can install sprinklers to make that easier. Unfortunately that also requires you to find the materials you need and get the proper crafting level. It's fair enough that the game has a difficulty curve, I'm not saying anything negative about that. My point is that you probably won't completely understand the base game as soon as you pick it up. But from experience, it took me about...45 minutes to really see what this game is all about. Once that clicked, I found myself really enjoying it. Graphically the game is perfect. It's exactly the right amount of pixel art and animation that really does the genre well in regards to Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing. The music is also original and fantastic and helps fit the mood several times throughout your play through. I expect to put in at least 100 hours of my time into this game somewhere down the line, mostly because it seems like there's literally so much content that you pretty much have to end up getting somewhere between 100-200 hours before you get even close to finishing the game. As someone that didn't give this game a chance at the start, I would definitely say you should give it a shot if this is the kind of game you like.