Stardew Valley is a beautiful game. I bought it in 2016 and have been playing it regularly since then.
However, there is not one reason why it is so great, there are many.
This fantasy-life farming RPG offers you the opportunity to challenge yourself: do you manage to turn your grandfather’s dilapidated farm into a successful and beautifully decorated money engine within a few (ingame) years? Can you become friends with the various villagers at the same time and get to know their story? Perhaps marry one of them etc.? Do you dare to give Pelican Town a new life by unlocking new things through bundles for the ‘little helpers’ or tons of money for ‘the bad company’? Can you reach the bottom of the mines within 2 years, complete your tools, defeat the monsters on Gil’s list … and much, much more.
It’s not a Final Fantasy, but it doesn’t have to be. Part of the charm lies in the 2D graphics, but also in the many things that you can discover and do in the game. I also say that you have to buy it on Steam or something, then you can install the great Stardew Valley Expanded mod in addition to the ‘vanilla’ version. This is still under development but adds much more to an already great game.
That aside, if you get a taste for it, try Gleaner Heights. This is more SDV mixed with Twin Peaks. My Time at Portia is also a must-play (you have to get used to the 3D models and it is more a crafting game such as Dark Cloud / Dark Chronicle) if you dare. Orange Season, Our Love Will Grow and World’s Dawn are RPGMaker attempts, sometimes best to play, sometimes. Re: Legend and Kynseed you could also try aside, but they have a different focus.
Don’t waste money on Wild Season, Yonder: The cloudcatcher chronicles or Verdant Skies. Those games are not worth the money, in short, too little content. Although I must say that Verdant Skies does the i.i.g. try.
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