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Recommendation for someone who played Stardew Valley to death...

Butt-shot Katana

Butt-shot Katana

Member
Dec 14, 2017
1,314
I already own Rune Factory 4 (it got so complex, I felt I couldn't keep up) and the Doremon game.

mom thinking about Rice and Ruin or some other version. I've begun Spiritfarer, but it's a tad TOO chill.

Any thoughts? I'm Xbox One X/Switch, and I have a PS4 Pro, but it's not hooked up. No PC/Steam, since I'm on a Mac and use an unconventional keyboard layout.
 
Leo

Leo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,546
Have you played the remake of Friends of Mineral Town? If you haven't, it's the best Harvest Moon game out there. It might feel a bit limited if you're coming from Stardew Valley though. SV is the probably the best and most extensive game in the genre.
 
GenericBadGuy

GenericBadGuy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,347
Look into if My Life at Portia has been updated on switch, or if it's on Xbox/PS yet. It's a good game, but the switch version was an embarrassment a year ago.

You run a workshop with production lines instead of a farm, but the town and characters are surprisingly good. Festivals and seasons, etc.

Combat is more of a focus than Stardew and there is a main storyline.
 
OP
OP
Butt-shot Katana

Butt-shot Katana

Member
Dec 14, 2017
1,314
GenericBadGuy said:
Look into if My Life at Portia has been updated on switch. It's a good game, but the switch version was an embarrassment a year ago.

You run a workshop with production lines instead of a farm, but the town and characters are surprisingly good. Festivals and seasons, etc.

Combat is more of a focus than Stardew and there is a main storyline.
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I started this because it's on Game Pass, but lost focus again. Maybe it's harder for me to think about all the tasks in a 3D space. Maybe I should play again.

Sakuna doesn't fit the bill? Or Cat Tails?
 
Stencil

Stencil

Member
Oct 30, 2017
10,371
USA
Sakuna didn't really scratch that itch for me. Granted I only played a few hours, but the focus seems to be on combat, and I was kind of disappointed by the one crop thing. I could be wrong.

I've had a really hard time finding a game that compares to SV. I was able to get lost in Dragon Quest Builders in a similar way but it's a totally different game. Animal Crossing? Friends of Mineral Town (haven't played)? Fantasy Life?

What about Harvest Moon (SNES)? Obviously way more limited than SV but cool to play to see where their roots are.
 
LinkStrikesBack

LinkStrikesBack

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,348
Friends of mineral town is what I came to recommend if you want something that is stardew, but slightly different. The original GBA version is the game that stardew primarily took inspiration from.
 

Deleted member 12323

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,962
Butt-shot Katana said:
I already own Rune Factory 4 (it got so complex, I felt I couldn't keep up) and the Doremon game.

mom thinking about Rice and Ruin or some other version. I've begun Spiritfarer, but it's a tad TOO chill.

Any thoughts? I'm Xbox One X/Switch, and I have a PS4 Pro, but it's not hooked up. No PC/Steam, since I'm on a Mac and use an unconventional keyboard layout.
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My life at Portia hands down
 

Deleted member 12323

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,962
Butt-shot Katana said:
I already own Rune Factory 4 (it got so complex, I felt I couldn't keep up) and the Doremon game.

mom thinking about Rice and Ruin or some other version. I've begun Spiritfarer, but it's a tad TOO chill.

Any thoughts? I'm Xbox One X/Switch, and I have a PS4 Pro, but it's not hooked up. No PC/Steam, since I'm on a Mac and use an unconventional keyboard layout.
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Leo said:
Have you played the remake of Friends of Mineral Town? If you haven't, it's the best Harvest Moon game out there. It might feel a bit limited if you're coming from Stardew Valley though. SV is the probably the best and most extensive game in the genre.
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This one?

store.steampowered.com

Save 60% on STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town on Steam

Experience the joys of life on the farm in this reimagining of a timeless STORY OF SEASONS classic!
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com
 

Deleted member 34169

User requested account closure
Member
Nov 23, 2017
694
IrishNinja said:
wait, what's this one like?
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I forget the setup but basically you're tasked with maintaining a graveyard. You get a delivery of bodies every so often, have to perform tasks for townspeople, learn and craft new things. It reminded me of a halloween themed stardew. It's probably a terrible description but its a fun little game. I played it on gamepass and ended up buying it on switch when it left.
 
RPG_Fanatic

RPG_Fanatic

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,623
Seeing people recommend My life at Portia makes me regret not picking up the game last time it was on sale.
 
ShyMel

ShyMel

Moderator
Oct 31, 2017
3,483
Leo said:
Yes. Had no idea it was at Steam, thought it was a Switch exclusive.
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XSEED and/or Marvelous Europe got it on Steam when it launched in the west while the Japanese launch was Switch only.

OP, along with the FoMT remake, the newest Story of Seasons game will be coming out next year:
www.storyofseasons.com

STORY OF SEASONS: Pioneers of Olive Town

The long-awaited brand new entry in the STORY OF SEASONS series makes its debut on Nintendo Switch™!
www.storyofseasons.com www.storyofseasons.com
 

RetroGameGuy

Member
Jun 11, 2020
87
RPG_Fanatic said:
Seeing people recommend My life at Portia makes me regret not picking up the game last time it was on sale.
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SV is a top 10 game all time for me and I despised My Time at Portia. It just feels so clunky and it's like a chore to play. Didn't seem to have any of the charm SV does. Graveyard Keeper, on the other hand, is awesome!
 
OP
OP
Butt-shot Katana

Butt-shot Katana

Member
Dec 14, 2017
1,314

Mudo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,115
Tennessee
Forager
Dragon Quest Builders 2

Im going to be honest with you - Stardew is in my all time top 5 and there is NOTHING like it. Onlyvaguely similar things but none of it comes close.

Do you have access to a PC? Modding the game with Stardew Valley Expanded plus a few other mods, made it into a whole new game almost for me. Incredible 2nd play through with new fully fledged out NPCs, new areas, crops, everything. All feels like it could be official.
 
OP
OP
Butt-shot Katana

Butt-shot Katana

Member
Dec 14, 2017
1,314
Mudo said:
Forager
Dragon Quest Builders 2

Im going to be honest with you - Stardew is in my all time top 5 and there is NOTHING like it. Onlyvaguely similar things but none of it comes close.

Do you have access to a PC? Modding the game with Stardew Valley Expanded plus a few other mods, made it into a whole new game almost for me. Incredible 2nd play through with new fully fledged out NPCs, new areas, crops, everything. All feels like it could be official.
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I'm on a Mac, so I'm stuck with console and iOS versions of Stardew.
 
touchfuzzy

touchfuzzy

Banned
Jul 27, 2019
1,706
I'm also a huge Stardew fan. I would pass on a lot of the games being recommended here as they did not hook me the same way.

The new Story of Seasons coming out in March looks pretty good and comparable in scope and complexity to SV. That was the main problem I had with Friends of Mineral Town - it's a faithful Game Boy remake and it's just too small and simplistic to really be engaging after something like SV has come out.
 
OP
OP
Butt-shot Katana

Butt-shot Katana

Member
Dec 14, 2017
1,314
touchfuzzy said:
I'm also a huge Stardew fan. I would pass on a lot of the games being recommended here as they did not hook me the same way.

The new Story of Seasons coming out in March looks pretty good and comparable in scope and complexity to SV. That was the main problem I had with Friends of Mineral Town - it's a faithful Game Boy remake and it's just too small and simplistic to really be engaging after something like SV has come out.
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Bummer. I just ordered FoMT. I'll probably still like it.
 
Volkama

Volkama

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,037
I haven't played it myself, but Ooblets looks interesting. It is still in Early Access, but is available on Xbox.
 

Mudo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,115
Tennessee
Butt-shot Katana said:
I'm on a Mac, so I'm stuck with console and iOS versions of Stardew.
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Damn well - 1.05 is coming at some point officially and is adding more endgame so watch for that.

DQB2 is an amazing game that was about as addictive as Stardew for me. It does involve building a lot tho abs Minecraft style block destroying but it's great.

Forager is 20 hours of gathering and crafting things while buying land to expend the world. There are puzzles and dungeons also. It's crazy fun.

Hope you find something to fill the void left by Stardew - I never did :/

Oh and Graveyard Keeper....it's really not like SV to me except maybe the graphics. I couldn't get into it after trying multiple times but it's on sale often so cheap to try out.
 
TechnicPuppet

TechnicPuppet

Member
Oct 28, 2017
10,809
I'm going to be looking in this thread for any I don't know about. Love games like this.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 has been mentioned and it's one of the best games of the gen for me so deffo try that.
 
OP
OP
Butt-shot Katana

Butt-shot Katana

Member
Dec 14, 2017
1,314
Mudo said:
Damn well - 1.05 is coming at some point officially and is adding more endgame so watch for that.

DQB2 is an amazing game that was about as addictive as Stardew for me. It does involve building a lot tho abs Minecraft style block destroying but it's great.

Forager is 20 hours of gathering and crafting things while buying land to expend the world. There are puzzles and dungeons also. It's crazy fun.

Hope you find something to fill the void left by Stardew - I never did :/

Oh and Graveyard Keeper....it's really not like SV to me except maybe the graphics. I couldn't get into it after trying multiple times but it's on sale often so cheap to try out.
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Forager and Graveyard Keeper are on Game Pass. DQB2 I own, but I fell off
 
BennyWhatever

BennyWhatever

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,777
US
I couldn't get into My Time At Portia either, OP. I'm a massive Stardew Valley fan, but I think it had to do with the 3D space - it just didn't click for me.
I'm looking for recommendations as well so this is a great thread.
 
batfax

batfax

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,392
Looks like the bases are covered already. But yeah, for anyone who was into Stardew, the best route is probably Story of Seasons. Mostly the older games, since those are what inspired Stardew, but the upcoming game is (finally) bringing back a lot of old features that were inexplicably left behind like sprinklers, the museum combining some old collection features, and other stuff that'll probably be familiar.

Mineral Town ain't a bad place to start either. At least as a way to get familiar with the series.
 
ghibli99

ghibli99

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,704
This thread is just convincing me that I need to just do a fresh playthrough of Stardew instead of trying to find something else that scratches that itch. I've tried quite a few, including Portia (wasn't a fan at all), Forager (ran into a somewhat gamebreaking bug in the PCGP version that made me stop after a few hours), the Story of Season games, and others. It's been a few years since I played Stardew, so most of it will likely feel fresh again. :)
 

slothrop

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Aug 28, 2019
3,875
USA
ghibli99 said:
This thread is just convincing me that I need to just do a fresh playthrough of Stardew instead of trying to find something else that scratches that itch. I've tried quite a few, including Portia (wasn't a fan at all), Forager (ran into a somewhat gamebreaking bug in the PCGP version that made me stop after a few hours), the Story of Season games, and others. It's been a few years since I played Stardew, so most of it will likely feel fresh again. :)
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There's also a brand new patch with a ton of (mostly endgame) content!

If you want even more, there is also the Stardew Valley Expanded mod which adds a ton of content and is very well regarded.

No better time to jump back in to Stardew
 
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ghibli99

ghibli99

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,704
slothrop said:
There's also a brand new patch with a ton of (mostly endgame) content!

If you want even more, there is also the Stardew Valley Expanded mod which adds a ton of content and is very well regarded.

No better time to jump back in
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Yeah, I saw that 1.5 update (which looks great!), but since I'll likely be playing it on Switch next (I originally played it on PC w/ some light mods), I might be waiting a while. :)
 
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