Stardew Valley

This isn't the first that I have played Stardew Valley (I've played the PC version first). It's pretty much the exact same one.

But, let's get to the point: Stick to either the PC or the mobile version.

Hear me out: the integration to the Switch is disappointing; it doesn't maximize the touchscreen features, and with a game that heavily relies on navigating on almost anything and everything, you'd end up wasting so much time just doing so. It would make more sense to just select by using your finger and selecting on screen, but no. We don't have that here.

You have 2 joysticks and arrow keys that can't do sh*t to help ease your navigation problems, in fact they add up to it. Times 3. So instead of experiencing the convenience of being able to play Stardew anywhere and everywhere, your time would mostly be allocated to just moving around and I'm not talking about walking/running around the map (that's the only easy part).

Examples: Tool hit indicator? Even that can't help you. You will be bound to mistakenly hit something else. Mining? It's pure torture especially in the beginning where you have so little energy.

Again, they have made some adjustments (since there are videos from months or even years ago that showed worse experiences), but still. Integration is key. Make use of the touchscreen. Or if not, stick to the PC (or mobile) and bask the glory that it is "point-and-click".

I rarely play these types of games, to be honest. But when I heard that the developer got some inspiration from my long-time childhood game, Harvest Moon, I finally have given this enough attention. I didn't have any regrets about playing and investing my emotions in this game. I love everything about this game from the farming mechanics, combat, foraging, grinding, and especially the backstories of each character. Each of them has its own related stories to real life. It is way too obvious that the developer put in some heavy amount of time writing the scripts for each character. Kudos to that! Everything got more interesting when I installed and added the expansion mod of this game. Damn! This game never ends. I loved it!

VISUALS

Artistry: 6/12

Technical Merit: 5/8

SOUND DESIGN

Music: 12/12

Sound Effects & Vocals: 8/8

INTERACTION

Control & Interface: 5/8

Player Agency: 8/8

Accessibility: 3/4

MECHANICS

Feedback & Fun: 7/10

Depth: 5/5

Variety: 5/5

CHARACTER

Narrative: 7/8

Heart: 5/6

Originality: 6/6

Extremely addicting!