The Shrine

Anyone pick this up yet? Looks like it made it to #2 on the Steam top sellers list. I'm intrigued. A 16-bit looking Farming RPG / sandbox game.

Stardew Valley’s Creator Has Won The Hearts Of PC Gamers

Did he hump a sheep in that trailer?? Talk about realism...

kali o. wrote:Did he hump a sheep in that trailer?? Talk about realism...

That's totally what it looked like.

It looks and sounds JUST like old Harvest Moon games. It uses some of the exact graphics tiles and sound effects. Maybe with the combat it looks a bit like a retro Rune Factory game.

Looks really interesting, I'm a huge Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons/Rune Factory fan, so this is right up my alley.

So I was looking at the number of reviews and it seems like stuff like this sells a lot more than the typical dating sim, and while games like Harvest Moon probably isn't sold on the strength of dating girls, you actually put in considerably more effect in terms of gameplay to even get anywhere with them compared to the usual one. So I'm guessing the sales isn't driven because of the potential dating elements, so does that mean there's really a huge market for virtual farming? I seem to recall stuff like 'Farming Simulator 2015' showing up pretty high on top seller list too and I remember clicking on it showing you can drive a tractor and realistically plow weed and stuff.

Yes there's a market for virtual farming. It's a similar crowd to Minecraft, but people like the crafting element and the feeling of building something better constantly. The natural, easy to see as you do it, progression of building up a farm.

As a part of that fanbase. It's more about nurturing and growth of something; whether it is a city, an empire, or a farmstead.

If I am in the mood for a Harvest Moon game, one of the games that would compete for my interest at that time would be Dwarf Fortress.

Although this genre is something I'd think I enjoy, for some reason I never got past the 'pull all the weed out of the land' phase before I got bored. I don't think farming is the same as say, SimCity, though. It just feels different.

Don wrote:Although this genre is something I'd think I enjoy, for some reason I never got past the 'pull all the weed out of the land' phase before I got bored. I don't think farming is the same as say, SimCity, though. It just feels different.

Agreed.

I just don't get the manual farming thing...if you want to be a gardener, do it in real life. There is literally no barrier except being in prison maybe. Building a city is something most cant do, so I get the appeal of a SimCity.

I find the whole pulling weeds, water crops, harvest, rinse and repeat soul crushing...I've tried to get into these games many times and always fail.

Somebody had a lot of free time on their hands and made a "garden" in Stardew Valley that plays Chocobo's Theme from FF:



Source: Kotaku