It’s Time for Stardew Valley Fans to Play the 30-Year-Old Series that Inspired It
Farming simulators have boomed in the past decade, and it’s easy to guess what’s responsible: Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone’s Stardew Valley. The indie darling will turn 10 years old this February, but well before ConcernedApe’s personal project, another series defined the concept of the farming simulator: Story of Seasons (formerly known as Harvest Moon) in the West.
In the past, ConcernedApe has explained that Stardew Valley was inspired by what he wanted in a Story of Seasons game after he felt the series started going downhill for him. Developer Marvelous’ flagship farming franchise has refused to fade into obscurity even after Stardew Valley broke its monopoly over the farm sim genre, however, and it’s worth checking out as its 30th anniversary approaches this year.
Stardew Valley: All Golden Walnut Locations
With the Stardew Valley 1.5 update, there are 130 Golden Walnuts that can be found around Ginger Island to trade for rare rewards.
Story of Seasons has a storied history, being one of the best-known simulators short of The Sims itself. The basic gimmick of each entry follows the same setup as Stardew Valley: the player moves to a new place after coming into possession of a run-down farm, and it’s up to them to make something of their life through the power of agriculture. Along the way, they’ll meet the other villagers, some of whom can be romanced in Story of Seasons.
How this all plays out is different between entries, and some installments spice things up by throwing in a rivalry system, different endings, or even having the characters age as the game goes on. But not every game’s gimmick hit the mark, so Barone’s focus on substance over style won over many embittered Story of Seasons veterans. Some, like him, felt that the games were too focused on changing things up every time to the detriment of refining what made earlier entries so great. That’s not to say that none of the games were any good, though—Story of Seasons has always had something to offer.
Story of Seasons’ Worlds Feel Like They Keep Moving
Part of what made Story of Seasons so revolutionary was how it turned a concept as monotonous as heavy agricultural labor into an engaging gameplay loop. The way the best Story of Seasons games did this wasn’t necessarily through seeing how much money the player could make in a single day, though that was part of it. What kept people farming was the way the world around them would change while they did it, sometimes directly as a result of their time tilling the fields. Whether it was by growing enough carrots or simply having the patience to wait for the second in-game year to start, players could look forward to the evolution of their little town. New people would move in, new areas would be unlocked, and new ways to farm would become available. The changes throughout the games were large-scale and meaningful.
Stardew Valley is the inverse. Stardew Valley has unlockables and does them well, but they’re largely more subtle. The desert, for example, is sectioned off from the Valley to the point that nobody from the town will ever visit it. Every major game mechanic and marriageable character is available in some way from the start, so the unlockables are more about quality-of-life aspects like fast travel via cart or adding on to preexisting things like the Skull Cavern. This is great, as it means the player doesn’t have to wait very long to get to the meat of things, but it can sometimes be overwhelming. The amount of freedom Stardew Valley offers almost immediately is one of its greatest strengths, but players who want to take things a little at a time might find it easier to get used to Story of Seasons in comparison.
Outside of having more defined goals, the best characters in Story of Seasons are less static than the characters in Stardew Valley. This is most obvious in the rival marriage system: in several entries, farmers who were too slow to marry their chosen spouse would have them stolen away by another character. Each potential non-player couple got multiple events to flesh out their relationship, which really helped the town feel like it was progressing and less like the world revolved around the player. In a few games, these couples even had kids of their own.
Stardew Valley doesn’t have a “rival marriage” system, and many players have lamented how marrying someone will mean the rest of the potential partners won’t get the development they otherwise would have if they married the protagonist. Admittedly, rival marriage has its detractors, and the last game to feature it was 2008’s Harvest Moon: Animal Parade. But for those looking for a more dynamic town, the rival-era games really allowed the in-game communities to evolve.
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Stardew Valley is an unobtrusive game that stole players’ hearts, and here are the best and worst in-game romance options.
Drama is Delicious, But Deadly in Large Doses
Just because the characters in Stardew Valley can feel static doesn’t mean that they’re poorly written, and just because some Story of Seasons games have more obvious character progression doesn’t mean that they’re always well written. Stardew Valley’s cast has more adult issues like alcoholism, affairs, and abuse, for example. Whether they’d played the game’s inspiration or not, adult fans were glad to see a life sim that didn’t talk down to them. And while Story of Seasons has shown its teeth before, it’s still a very idealistic series where most of the cast doesn’t actually have deep trauma to dive into. This positive vibe can feel childish sometimes, but it can also be a breath of fresh air that helps the games live up to their cozy reputation.
It’s frustrating to watch Lewis treat his relationship with Marnie as a shameful secret or see Clint perpetually mope over his unrequited love for Emily. And don’t get anyone started on Pierre’s less savory business practices if you sell any of your products directly to him. As of Stardew Valley version 1.16.15, none of these characters have had any development, so their drama just continues to hang over the valley. It’s not that every single character needs an explicit scene of them turning to the camera and saying, “I will never do the bad thing again,” but these three are far from the only ones living in the valley to have some kind of angst going on. After playing long enough and getting to know everyone, the amount of drama can be suffocating.
Story of Seasons doesn’t always have a deep cast, and many games don’t even have that sense of character progression mentioned earlier. Heck, the Harvest Goddess herself in Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town is infamous for having almost no dialogue both before and after marriage. But sometimes, sitting down, petting some fluffy virtual cows, and watching characters fall in love over mutual interests rather than shared trauma is all you need after a long day of real-life work.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar – Beginner Tips & Tricks
These tips and tricks will help players on their first few weeks on the Zephyr Town farm in Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar.
Stardew Valley did so much for Farming Simulator, and there are so many reasons one might prefer it to its spiritual predecessor. Still, Story of Seasons has a lot going for it, even if it’s just more of what’s good about Stardew Valley. It’s worth checking out both for insight into how the genre has evolved and because the games are still good in their own right, and with the 30th anniversary, there’s no better time.
For anyone looking for a more mature take on the farming sim formula without sacrificing the engaging moneymaking aspects, Stardew Valley is excellent. But we shouldn’t forget how Story of Seasons inspired it and what a pioneer it was for cozy games as a whole.
- Released
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February 26, 2016
- ESRB
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E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)
- Developer(s)
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ConcernedApe
- Publisher(s)
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ConcernedApe