Thoughts on Stardew Valley

Intro

So I recently wrote a scathing review of Animal Crossing: Wild World (link). After publishing that article, I realized that the game had lots of aspects in common with Stardew Valley, so I decided to take a closer look at this game.

Although I purchased the game on 27 December 2019, I only really played it once with two other friends. Over the years, I watched many videos on that game, so I had a general idea of what to expect going it.

The reason why I tried Animal Crossing: Wild World in the first place is because I am looking for a "busywork game". When I learned that Stardew Valley had a daily NPC quests system, my desire to play the game skyrocketed as this was exactly what I was looking for.

Now, I do know that this game is obviously a farming simulator and that I have zero interest in engaging in the farming elements. It could be argued that I decided to play the game "wrong" but I do not care about this as the only reason I played was to gather data.

I played version 1.5.6 of Stardew Valley (which is not the latest build) as this is what I had in my game archive.

Playthrough

The first thing I did upon starting a new game was to skip the introduction. I did so under the assumption that it only contained story elements. In retrospect, I think this was a minor mistake as it would have likely reminded me about some gameplay elements.

My second action was to look for the billboard where daily NPC quests appear. There was however no quests. Upon looking this up, I learned that this aspect was inaccessible on the first day. As such, I decided to chop down trees in my courtyard instead.

I initially tried to sell my logs to Pierre's General Store. That didn't work. I eventually figured out that I could put them in my container box to sell them. I presume that this is something mentioned in the game's introduction that I skipped.

The first quest I got was a mining quest. I needed some copper ores. There was however, one problem. The path to the mine was blocked. My first reaction was "Oh god, I probably need to do a quest to get some explosives or something". Looking this up reveals that the mine only becomes accessible on fifth day. I find this decision to be odd, though I presume it was done for pacing reasons.

I was also quickly reminded how reliant Stardew Valley is on a wiki/guide. In my book, this is bad design as this means the player's enjoyment is tethered to an external source that might one day disappear. Although I can see that some efforts were made to try to limit this, it is clearly not enough.

Next, I got a quest that required me to find some seaweed. My first thought was "This must be an item that spawn on the coastline". Further research revealed that the primary source for seaweed is fishing. I never managed to acquire this item as it is not a guaranteed "drop" from fishing. I decided to abandon this quest and go chop trees again.

At some point, I got another mining quest, so I finally went to the mine (which had been unlocked by that point). I was then reminded that this game had combat. To be honest, I find this inclusion to be baffling and forced. It just feels so antithetical to the rest of the game, which is about having a cozy farming life. The enemies (especially the slimes) are HP sponges, which makes the combat feel really tedious.

Many NPCs quests are things I couldn't do. For example, some NPCs request farming produces there was absolutely no way I would have this early on even if I did farming.

One quest I got involved purchasing a can of Joja Cola for Sebastian. The item itself was very easy to acquire as you just need to buy in. Turning the quest in was another story. This dude spends the majority of his day in his bedroom and only goes out in a short time window. NPCs having schedule is something I normally praise, but this system feels at odds with the NPCs quest system. I feel like there should be like some central location where you turn your quests in to avoid unnecessary friction like this.

Notes

I liked the following aspects:

• The deposit box next to your house
• Being able to skip days using your bed
• Being able to skip cutscenes
• No forced real-time day system like in Animal Crossing
• Some quests being triggered by you receiving mail
• Day completion interface
• The quest log interface that shows your current objectives

I disliked the following aspects:

• Not having a guaranteed NPC quest everyday
• The blue tint during nightfall is awful
• Fatigue system
• Forced inclusion of combat
• Locating NPCs to turn quests in
• If you get a quest multiple times, you the turning-in dialogue has no variation
• Some items being locked behind RNG (i.e seaweed)
• Game heavily relies on the wiki/guides
• It is unclear where certain NPCs lives (i.e Lewis house being labeled as the Mayor Manor)
• It is unclear how to get some items (i.e coal)
• Some locations are a pain to navigate (i.e path to mine)
• Mine not being available on day 1
• Fishing not being available on day 1
• You can't save anywhere
• You can't change game options from the title screen
• Not having all crafting recipes unlocked from day 1
• Fishing minigame
• Storage box only alow you to withdraw the last item you deposited
• Not all buyable items are available from shops on day 1

Conclusion

Although it may appear that I was very critical of this game, it should be said that I did have fun playing Stardew Valley. I had way fewer frustrations than with Animal Crossing: Wild World.

I believe that most of my criticism is due to me seeking a different type of game than what Stardew Valley is. I understand the purpose that many of the negative aspects serve in the greater context of the game.

I also find it insane how most of the game was the work of a solo developer. Although I made games in the past, I certainly know that I would never be able to make a game of this scope and quality, even if I had the resources to do this.

There is no question that Stardew Valley is a quality game. I just wish that the daily NPCs quests system would be a bit better as it far from ideal for me in its current state. Still, this game has provided me with some good data for potential future projects, something I am thankful for.

Written by manpaint on 17 March 2026.