Stardew Valley Review

A reasonably thorough review on a fantastic game. If you like these types of progression games then I feel safe in recommending Stardew Valley without any hesitation. You should play it before watching the video to experience some of the better surprises yourself.

[MinimiB]

"Play the game instead and the come back"
3 years later and hundreds of hours later, I think im ready to watch the video

[MeanMustard]

“The game isn’t meant to be played by min-maxing, in fact if you do you probably won’t have much fun” proceeds to put 8 forges by the bed.

[TheGreatDanish]

You know a game is special when the biggest flaw is you are having so much fun you want more of the game.

[wandmaker]

God I love how pretty much every single criticism he had had since been fixed:

Autograbber automates the barns/coop collection

Fish tanks now let you display your catches and fish ponds can be built to utilize fishing

Spouses now have personalized events that call them away on occasion and your children come to festivals

Community center can be randomized, villagers post harder more times consuming requests that give friendship boosts on a special board in town, and after you finish the community center there is another challenge that has a huge unlock reward at the end of it even introducing new crops and a whole new farm

It’s just so great when you feel heard by a creator who is invested in taking feedback and improving things so much that there’s practically a whole new game’s worth of content in there while still only costing less than $20

[thomasdecarlo]

10:52 thank god you managed to catch that thing. It was driving me crazy.

[KrystalizaMoonblood]

It's great how many of the issues he covers have been fixed in the latest update, an amazing game just keeps getting better

[ItsDylanHarding]

What I’ve realized is if you’re an indie developer, you should release your game making it as good as you possibly can, and then wait for Joseph Anderson to review it so you can patch the game and make it actually perfect. Good to know.

[TheRomanAoE]

Most of your criticisms were addressed over the last 4 years. Now the game is even better!

[autumnaxiom]

I imagine Stardew Valley's gift system in real life, and it's goddamn hilarious! "Hi, have a sunflower! And you, here's a hot pepper! Hey, hey, stop, I need to give you this salad first! Will you like me now?" :D

[Medicesca]

Thanks for your uploads, man. Youtube needs more essay-style reviewers that actually put effort into their videos. Keep up the good work

[Felsmukk]

Damnit Jim, Im a farmer, not a miner, fisher, adventurer, socialite!

[Table]

Me: Nice, let's sit back and watch a Joseph Anderson review

0:22 : _"Don't watch the video, play the game instead and then come back afterwards"_

Me: Dammit, *adds video to playlist for the future

[JosephAndersonChannel]

This video is about a week late. I started playing The Witness right after I was done with Stardew and ended up playing through the entire game before starting work properly on this video. So I had two (mostly) completed scripts and footage banked. This isn't usually how I do things and it delayed this video more than I'd like. But the upside is that I'm way further along into the next video than I normally am after posting one.

I really enjoyed Stardew. I think that shows in the video and that most of it is better understood if you're familiar with the game. One of the best compliments you can place on a game is that you wish there was more of it.

I have some Dark Souls content in mind after The Witness but before Dark Souls 3. The game's launch today is starting to look bad again, like the downgrade crap that surrounded DaS2. If I didn't have this channel I'd probably delay buying it for that reason. In any case, even though Namco seems hellbent on ruining the best aspect of their own game, I suggest you avoid watching early streams if you're going to be picking it up.

[Dillinify]

And regarding the animals not producing enough profit - it's only like that at first. They produce higher-quality products the happier you make them. And you can easily turn them into artisan goods with mayo machines or cheese makers. But you're right, hiring a farm hand would be cool.

[octo_contra]

it's crazy to watch this review after 5 years and see how many of the issues addressed have been improved in updates since and which are still around

[YoMamasLlama]

"Relentless biweekly Santa Clause" made me piss myself

[subjectdelta]

You can build relationships by simply talking to a person every day. I became friends with some of the towns folk without giving them a simple gift, just because I chatted with them every time I passed.

[afruitypunchy]

Inventory management should be left alone as it is already perfect imo. Player who build and then orderly and logically store their items in respective boxes have no issues in this regard. I purposely made lots of boxes inside and outside of my house. Inside house to store dishes, ingredients for cooking, wallpaper and tiles, and equipment for going mining. Outside house to store everything else, but they are in order: high turnover goods (ores, wood, stone, grass..), crops, and everything else.

6:48 proves my point: why would you bring axe, fishing pole, milking pale, water jug, and scythe at mining when you have already troubled in inventory spaces anyway?

Fishing problem: Fishes are for dishes.

Also about the no-true ending problem. ConcernedApe has addressed this issue: he purposely made it so there is no ending forever.

[jashshah]

I started this game out with pretty low expectations and it floored me with how quality it was with the first 10hrs...but then unfortunately i started getting too much into it... And started reading and watching vids on the "right" (Most efficient) way to play the game.... And thats where the pokemon syndrome happened where i always needed to have a wiki beside so that i couldnt waste a single second.... Some days when i had really good fortune i just had to go to the mines... But it was also Abigails birthday but i also had to sell and buy crops before the season ended and also had to go collect by upgraded axe and also sell my fishes and ahhhh.... I still het PTSD thinking about those days... And it went from a beautiful place i could go to to relax and escape from the tedium and stress of real life to the tedium and stress of real life. And because of how i left sadly i might never play this great game again. I dont know whether its a good thing or bad that the game is too engaging for its own good

[reflection]

Looking back at this video in retrospect gives lovely insight into how much the game has improved.
Farm animals can now be almost completely automated with auto petters and auto gatherers.
Fishing is largely in the same spot it was in but the museum now has artifact troves that can be bought in the desert.
Friendship and marriage is also in the same spot it was in but i think it fits the game.
There are more things added but still no true endgame, most play the game to 100% if they are looking for endgame like tasks to do.

Very nice video!