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Elliott stardew valley6/6/2023 ![]() And, finally, I’ve spent more time rearing livestock than capitalizing on crops, not only because animal products provide a steady income, but because it feels so good to have a bunch of cute animals to look after. Instead of a shed, I built a subsidized guest home to store my artisanal tools in, because I like the way it looks better. I refuse to build a Slime Hutch because I hate slimes. I like planting seasonal crops, as well as high-profit crops, because it’s more fun that way. I have daydreams about settling down in a shack by the beach, so getting to play through that daydream is very soothing for me. I picked the beach farm because I grew up by the ocean and I like it. I don’t min/max my financial gains, feel the need to cover every square inch of my property, or even care about which farm is the most profitable. I try to emulate this in life sims like Stardew. (I’d be a hypocrite in that scenario!) I just think there’s a better way of writing these sorts of characters, where it doesn’t feel so odd dating, marrying, and having kids with them.Īt this point in my life, all I want is to make an honest living doing what I love, enjoy the company of people I love, and see the fruits of my labor reflected in the life I’ve built. And look, I’m not at all saying that living with your family in your 20s, or not knowing what you’re doing, makes you less of an adult. Even Maru could be added to this list, by virtue of how coddled she is by her parents. We have characters like Sam, Alex, Abigail, and Haley, who all feel like they could be teenagers, for various reasons ranging from emotional immaturity to a lack of any long-term dreams whatsoever. It’s that Harvest Moon/ Story of Seasons/ Rune Factory problem: Historically, games like this do well with teenagers as well as adults, so the romances are designed with all ages in mind, yet this often ends up feeling supremely awkward for older players. Now, I have no idea what the hell I was on about, because half the villagers need therapy, and the other half feel like they were written specifically with teenagers in mind. Eventually, you get to a point where you walk out to your farm, do your chores, and then head into town, and you realize that you have built a good little life for yourself. My goals this time around were less oriented around the Next Big Adventure, and more about little housekeeping things, like eventually getting access to gold ore, so I could make better quality sprinklers. You learn to take comfort in the mundanity of your daily tasks, and when you finally make things a little better for yourself, incrementally, you take immense pleasure in the payoff. Yet even so, the game doesn’t give you an option to give up. (I’d forgotten how standoffish the villagers are at the beginning of the game!) My farmer had left a sure thing to try to make a better thing work, and it was proving to be hard, financially unsure, and socially bizarre. I’ve already gone through the anxieties of moving somewhere completely new, and jumping career tracks as such, as I waddled around town, trying to gather my bearings, it felt oddly cathartic. With either response, Elliott leaves to continue preparing for his boat travels.As I played through my new game of Stardew Valley, I was better able to put myself in the mindset of my farmer than before. ![]()
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