Stardew Valley feels like it should be a a love it or hate it sort of game to me (I hate because I just don’t get it), but it has Overwhelming Acclaim from players at large. I just don’t feel like there’s a game there, and I do feel like there’s too much waiting around for things to happen.
I suspect if it clicks with you you’ll adore it, like everybody else. But if it doesn’t click, you’ll be left wondering what the fuss is about. And I can’t even figure out what features are supposed to click or not.
I can understand not enjoying it, but not seeing it as a game? It’s basically not that far off from any RPG. Talk to people, buy stuff you need, do work (substitute growing and feeding plants and chopping down trees, etc, for killing monsters) for money, rest, buy more stuff. Oh, and Stardew Valley has monsters to kill too, so it’s clearly a superior RPG.
ADDENDUM: And the reason it’s so beloved is because every element is made to a high quality bar and the elements all blend in just about the perfect mixture. It excels at what a lot of games (including many RPGs) have a hard time getting just right: Pacing and rhythm.
ANOTHER ADDENDUM: And I’m not even a super-fan, just a guy who appreciated the game.
This is like the first time I haven’t bought anything in one of these sales. I think I’m just too bummed with everything I’ve ever played, and the things I would buy aren’t on sale and I can wait.
Some of this is just dissatisfaction with my two main genres, one I lost heavy interest in, and the other because the social aspect is gone and likely now won’t ever come back.
I’ve played the first 2.
TF2 is a decent game, but you have to really want to play this type of game. You basically lay down roads/train tracks, ports, stations, etc to facilitate transport of good from 1 place to another. That’s the gist of it all. You don’t build towns, or any other infrastructure. You purchase appropriate vehicles for the time period you’re currently playing (in the campaign you start out in the gold rush era using horse drawn transport buggies). You set routes, and then meet the goals of the scenario. There’s usually 3 weird sub quests per level that have you play “find the right pixel to click on” but these are just fluff and add nothing to the campaign.
Stardew Valley is another game you have to be in the mood to play. Now, for my first playthrough, I totally dug it. I enjoyed the farming aspect, and especially growing my farm bigger and bigger as my funds increased. There’s a bit of a dating sim in that you bring gifts to people, and their affection towards you grows. You can eventually marry one of the other NPCs (certain ones only). Then there’s the mineral cave where you fight off baddies while mining rocks with a pick. There is a bit of a progression here too.
Then thing about Stardew Valley where I differ from more hardcore fans, is that I can’t get myself to want to playthrough it again. The ending I had in my first game made me want to, but then after starting, I ran out of steam for the game play loop, and especially the NPC interactions.
My preference of these 2 would be on Stardew Valley since I did finish it. I think I bailed out of TF2 mid-way through the campaign.
Transport Fever 2 is fiendishly addictive, and my favourite logistics-em-up in a long time, but it does have a lot of annoying UI and design choices. Some have been fixed in patches, but by no means all.
I have sooo much in my backlog,and so games down the road that I know I want - AC: Ragnarok, Wasteland 3, Phoenix Point and Outer Worlds (when they come to Steam), and Cyberpunk 2070, that unless a game has a huge discount (at least 50%), I’m just not feeling it. Those right there will keep me busy through the end of the year and longer. And even some at 50% (looking at you Fallout 76), I’m still not feeling it. I’m tempted by some, but given my backlog, I know they will still be there 6 months or a year from now, and maybe will be even cheaper. There’s just no rush or compulsion.
And as a side note, can someone tell me what I am supposed to do with these “stickers” I get from the Summer sale activities? How/where do I use them?
And on another side, note, I wish we could use Steam “points” for game discounts. The stuff they offer in their “shop” are just worthless to me. More stickers? Portrait frames? Backgrounds?
