Stardew Valley, The Perfect Respite From Late Capitalism
I celebrated the end of a particularly gruesome B-school quarter by spending a bunch of time playing video games and reading books. I’ve never been a huge gamer, with the exception of a strong affinity for real-time strategy games and Japanese RPGs as a kid. A big thing was that we were always an Apple family, which meant fewer games, and we also never had top-of-the-line machines, making gaming a harder value proposition to begin with, especially as games have become ever more reliant on hardcore graphics processing and memory over time. Stardew Valley was one I had been meaning to try since it came out in 2016, and it has been a blast.
It goes without saying that we all need some respite from whatever this year has been. So, why not indulge in a bit of harmless escapism? One of our housemates had a spell earlier this year being wholly addicted to Call of Duty. We’re all allowed, right?
Released in 2016, Stardew Valley combines multiple genres– arguably mostly located within the so-called “cozy” genre, in which gameplay is focused less on destruction and conquering and more on the pursuit of wellbeing. I suppose I was inspired by the release of the new Animal Crossing earlier this year, which has been on everyone’s minds (and social media feeds) during the pandemic.
It definitely draws inspiration in style and gameplay from Japanese RPGs of the Super Nintendo era, but also pays homage to the rogue-like games of yore, as you can engage in activities ranging from farming to fishing to slaying slimes in the dungeon. You can even fall in love and get married. Items are dynamic, and you can do everything ranging from landscaping and buying furniture to weird side quests. The world of the game is relatively small, but it’s good for plenty of exploration, and there’s a decent amount of replay value because of how open-ended the actual gameplay is– multiple paths to get to different objectives.
The game has already become a classic, so I am fairly confident that I’ll be thinking about it for many moons to come. But it’s always nice to have a bit of harmless escapism in a world that sometimes feels quite precarious.
