Stardew Valley (Switch) review "At home on the Switch."

I gushed about the Steam version of Stardew Valley for PC, and while it is almost completely unchanged, some aspects of its presentation, controls and performance on the Nintendo Switch warrant discussion. What is it about the Switch's convertible console-mobile design that makes it feel more at home?

This is a light-hearted farming simulator in which you assume the role of the grandchild of a man who gives you the deed to his farm in Stardew Valley, should you ever tire of the corporate ladder climb. As this is what we're here for, it's a good thing you do. The beauty of this game, and its most distinctive trait, is how it untethers you almost wholly from responsibility, not of your own choosing. Even the difficulty curve is of your own making.

Unlike other - complementary, not competing - games, how much you know about your farm's workings and what you choose to do with it determine just how hard it will be. Your productivity is all you need to be concerned about. That has its drawbacks in the long haul, but as first-year potential goes, it's a freeing concept. Stardew Valley's sunny-side-up take on farming is incredibly charming.

You raise chickens and ducks, but just for the eggs and feathers they produce; pigs, but only for the truffles they find; while goats and cows produce milk and never meat. It's not unusual for farmers to eat the animals they produce, and I wonder if some honesty would hurt the pleasant attitude of this game. However, as an exploration of the joy of farming, few games have had more of a wide-ranging impact as this one, so I doubt it. On a related and perhaps strange note, you do keep rabbits, but how one explains that rabbits occasionally drop feet is...well, that's best left alone.

There may be a parallel in how the game's most notable bugs go unaddressed, just as the above rabbit product. For example, your horse isn't going to trip when its animation goes awry; all you need to do is change direction and self-rectify. It is odd, though, that rabbits' feet serve just one function, as universal likes that are used to befriend and woo villagers, so was their inclusion necessary? Not to say it doesn't work, but the little things have a tendency to distract when they don't mesh with the overall pitch of a game. Having said that, let's take a look at the benefits of this port to the Switch.

For starters, there are no resolution woes. Stardew Valley runs internally at 1080p or 720p but always uses the 1080p screen space, so you're not mucking about with settings or paying the price of having a small screen. In other words, the Switch dynamically scales its resolution down, but you'll always see the same amount of farm on the screen. This is done for performance, though the game runs smoothly in almost all situations. Occasionally, when you have a screen full of plants, you will notice some slowdown, though given that this isn't a reflex-driven game (most of the time), it's beneficial to gameplay when performance is needed.

The most tangible difference between this and other versions of the game is the controls. I've heard players talk up gamepad controls when they were the only ones available. I know I said that Stardew Valley isn't reflex-dependent, but there are times when you really do need fluid, low-latency controls, and this is a strength of the Switch port, thanks to its built-in controllers and the option to use a Pro or compatible Bluetooth gamepad.

Time management is a central mechanic of Stardew Valley, and you decide just what you want to invest your time in and how you earn gold. Here's a hint: A solid way to generate gold quickly in Stardew Valley is to have machines closely grouped together and near their associated producers. In other words, keep a shed by the barn packed full of milk machines, so you don't have far to travel when collecting their milk on a daily basis. This holds true for fishing and farming as well. Most farms have their plant produce on the East side of their land just because the collection box is on that side. It's all about proximity because it can take up to thirty in-game minutes to walk across your farm. Or an hour to traverse the distance to the blacksmith until [spoilers].

The social and romantic options of this game belie a surprisingly insightful and layered story that raises some interesting narrative questions. As with farming, the choice is yours, and you can see your list of available suitors and the affection level you've achieved with them. Beware gift-giving when married, though, because divorce can happen. These self-made story elements parallel flawlessly with a through-line plot that can be triggered by any number of interactions, but be sure to keep an eye on the low-cost competition: Joja Mart and its impact on the struggling little valley town is something you may want to reckon with.

Stardew Valley even addresses players' disfavour for gameplay with options that allow you to circumnavigate what you don't want to do almost completely. For instance, you can avoid fishing - for the most part - by purchasing fish from the travelling merchant and raising that skill level with crab pots until your proficiency is maxed out. Most of the "mandatory" mechanics have assists such as food that temporarily boost your skill level. Choose them if you want, or do it the hard way. There's no wrong answer here.

When you've mastered even a portion of your farm's production facilities, you might discover that you've amassed a fortune and have little left to spend it on. Make no mistake, there are some very convenient creature comforts that are fun to toy with for a while. What does a rich farmer do, anyway? There are answers to that you'll get to discover when you reach that point. When it's all said and done, everything this game does makes for a cozy fit, thanks to the pickup or put-down-and-play flexibility of the Switch.

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Community review by hastypixels (April 05, 2018) Wisdom comes from effort and mistakes.