I am 38 and new to this game. The clock is stressful. I feel like I can’t do enough and advance. It is too much! I like taking my time. I found the game Unpacking very stress free and it wasn’t long enough.
@prezmer7 ай бұрын
Unpacking was such a zen experience! Absolutely loved playing through it. As for stardew, yeah, the clock is what gets a lot of people. Just know it’s okay to miss deadlines, birthdays, etc. Even festivals - it’s not ideal obviously, but they come around every single year, so you’ll never truly permanently miss anything due to the clock. I hope you manage to find enjoyment from stardew!
@Pehmokettu3 ай бұрын
It is sad that the developers of Unpacking haven't done a sequel. They know that the game was very popular and many would gladly buy new content for it. I hope that some game companies would start developing similar games where you have to sort tons of items without a time limit. Unpacking had some annoying limitations that some items were not allowed to be placed in some locations even though there was no clear reason why so maybe a game where you can place items more freely would be nice.
@hawlkman8 ай бұрын
For me it is the most stressful game I have played and its due to my playstyle, I like to do as much as I can when I can and this game has a lot of stuff you can do at 1 time. I know the seasons reset and all the limits have a reset but because I try to do all I can when I can its crazy how stressed I get. I find fromsoft games less stressful because even though I can spend hours on a boss and continusly die I have no time limit, just an order to do things and orders are fine, time limits kill me.
@prezmer8 ай бұрын
Yeah... The time limit gets a lot of people, it seems. Amazing how much a timer can add stress to pretty much anything, isn't it?
@jonestly943 Жыл бұрын
I find it stressful because I want to do a 'perfect run' every time I try to play and it just burns me out after a day. I'll try playing again this weekend but with a more relaxed approach and see if it clicks like how PS1 Harvest Moon clicked for me.
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
Yeah, I found out just forcing myself to do whatever I want instead of trying to talk to everyone, get quests done asap, community bundles as soon as they’re available, etc, worked out way better for me. I did end up spending ludicrous amounts of time in journey of the prairie king though… I hope this new approach works out for you!!!
@vanyadolly Жыл бұрын
Stardew is this weird dichotomy between what the game is telling you to do do, (relax, find fulfillment in nature and community,) and what the *gameplay* urges you to do, which is maximize efficiency and productivity in order to make as much money as possible. Didn't you just leave the corporate grind behind? Most of the late-game content in the game revolves around gathering large amounts of money. On top of that, nearly all of the late-game content added in patches includes combat. Volcano Island outright encourages you to automate your farm so you can abandon it and spend your time somewhere else instead. 🤨 Where do auto-grabbers and -petters fit into being one with the land? I love Stardew Valley, but it's arguably more of a time-management game than a farming simulator. In fact almost every patch seems to make it less of a farming simulator. It can be a relaxing experience, but I feel like you have to fight against the game to enjoy it that way.
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
You raise good points, actually. It really does go against what the game originally tells you. But I have to wonder how much of that was actually due to player demands. As you said yourself, each patch makes it less of a farming simulator, so players probably get pleasure out of seeing their crops and animals take care of themselves... but then I do have to ask what's left in the game at some point. When everyone's max friendship, and you've decorated the town to your heart's desire. I guess by then it won't really matter either, as you'll have spent 100s of hours in the game. Anyway, thanks for the great comment, I had not realized the tendency that you mentioned yet!
@vanyadolly Жыл бұрын
@@prezmer Player demand is probably a big part of it. It feels like with the later patches, the game caters more towards combat and min/maxing, which is the preferred playstyle of, shall we say, more traditional gamers. I think the first few years are pretty well-balanced, but like you said, the issue is the late game. But adding more combat and money sinks rather than social aspects or tasks to do with family and farming was a choice. There's also the fact that you can't really complete the game anymore without engaging in that late-game content. You can't complete the shipping catalogue, especially not the crafting one, and you don't get the "end" cinematic without reaching perfection -- which includes a lot of combat and grinding. At least for me, this is why the late-game is more stressful than the start.
@MrSqueamishJam3 ай бұрын
The gameplay doesn't urge you to max profits in game what crack are you smoking lmfao wtf
@MrSqueamishJam3 ай бұрын
@@prezmeridk the meadowlands farm option being added makes it more of a farm sim than anything
@KIddameh Жыл бұрын
I am in the in-between category. The beginning is super stressful but then later game it gets better. I use a fishing mod that makes fishing a lot easier which reduces my stress and makes it super fun! Awesome video and glad I am not the only one!
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
Thank you! Yeah, I completely missed the fact fishing can also be stressful for some folks. I'm really glad that mods help you with that though!!!
@trish2941 Жыл бұрын
I love fishing I always get the catfish at level 2 with the bambu rod and everything... My problem... MINES!!! That is my nightmare 😭
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
@@trish2941 Ahh 😭 I feel you though, the mines can be super stressful!
@ArsonMHU Жыл бұрын
I don't usually find it stressful, but i also usually break my gameplay into achievable challenges which makes it more fun for me
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
Do you think you’d find it stressful or even boring if you didn’t break your gameplay up?
@ArsonMHU Жыл бұрын
@@prezmer I think I probably would find it both overwhelming and a bit boring if I didn't.
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
@@ArsonMHU Very fair, I'm glad you found something that works for you!
@myrakwulf686 Жыл бұрын
Really good video, and yes, many challenges are self imposed, personally I also managed to reach perfection in 2 in-game-years on my 4th Farm, but taking 5 in-game years or more to reach perfection and focusing on the things you enjoy is time better spend than getting burned out. And yeah, not everyone has to be the best designer, in the end I was happier when I did my own things without the Instagram effect weighting down my experience. Also it helps to admit that stardew valley is an endless game and for me it would be helpful if there were no things that indicate how long I've played, since this is the biggest stress factor for me and others for sure. And I remember the in-game years spend fishing every day fondly
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
Thank you for the compliment! One thing I noticed is that the instagram effect seems to thankfully not be an issue for too many people. Definitely is for me though, I actively have to avoid seeing people's awesome creations because I can't help but compare with mine and get demotivated hah. Which is especially silly considering this isn't a MMO or anything of the sort, just a single-player/co-op chill experience. And honestly? Yes, fishing is my favorite activity in this game!!! I like you already for that last line hahahah
@myrakwulf686 Жыл бұрын
@@prezmer you are welcome and actually I see many people having some kind of instagram effect in some aspect of their life. and to be honest, my goal was to catch as mamy iridium quality fish I could, the little sound always gave me serotonins :D
@Moonsong2275 ай бұрын
The sound of the door and picking plants relaxes me. The mines make me gear up like its dark souls. I play stardew in the slow way you talked about, totally ignoring things like the mines that I don't understand enough to burn through until I need ore. Its the sense of growth and progress in living in a given environment from the ground up that real life would have if it wasn't a matter of independence lol.
@arjuna-6886 Жыл бұрын
I am, how I like to say, a gaming non-gamer, so a gamer who started gaming as an adult. I tried Stardew Valley because I heard from literally everywhere that its relaxing and charming. It was my first game of this kind, and let me tell you it was just stressful. I have little to no knowledge about the typical game mechanics in these games and I was super confused and overwhelmed right from the beginning. A lot of things claim the players attention very early on, like "clean your farm!", "say hello to everyone!", "give water to this animal!", "there is a letter!" and so on. The game does not a good job at telling you that all this is optional - truth be told I didn't know up to your video here. So after running around town for maybe 3 ingame days trying to greet everyone while getting lost constantly the only feeling I had was that I am too bad at this game (and that it is no fun at all). So, probably I am not the norm, but this is why I think Stardew Valley is a stressful game :D
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
If it's any consolation, from the comments I've been getting, plenty of people do find stardew stressful! So you might just be part of the norm after all! But yeah, you're right, the game gives you these quests in an intent to guide you, but fail to tell you that you don't actually have to get all of it done. It makes it easier to progress, whatever progress means in a game like this, but honestly, there's zero rush to get to "the end". You can take 1 in game year, you can take 20. Understanding that helped me quite a bit. If you do give it another shot, I hope this mindset helps you a bit! And maybe try co-op with a patient friend of yours too! (just be warned that if their playstyle is different from yours, it might stress you out more to see them making a ton of progress while you take your time, for example)
@Pehmokettu3 ай бұрын
One thing that makes a cozy game a stressful game is too difficult Achievements. Many players want to collect 100% Achievements to their games and if some of the Achievements are too time consuming (for the average player) or frustratingly difficult then many people just rage quit and never play the game again. Or they start using mods which is not the intended way to play the game. I have never used mods but some of these 'cozy games' have become so frustrating and stressful that I have seriously started to consider installing mods for them. A slower clock for Stardew Valley, etc.
@prezmer3 ай бұрын
100%! Stardew Valley is especially guilty of this mainly with the Fector's Challenge trophy/achievement. That one is pretty tough even for non-average players, let alone someone who isn't normally into gaming (which is a public stardew valley tends to attract). Some other comments I get often say that the stress is all in the player's head because you can just not finish the community center in 1 year, you can ignore the achievements, etc, but while it absolutely is a player issue, some people still can't bring themselves to ignore this stuff, turning the experience a bit stressful. Thanks for the comment!
@mahbeans Жыл бұрын
You don't lose any items if you pass out at 2:00 AM, just some money (up to 1,000g). And you don't fully recover your energy the next day, unless you skill up overnight. The item penalty is only for being defeated in combat.
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
Ahh thank you for the correction!!! I'm always scared of making videos because I just know fans will catch details that I foolishly got wrong hahahah But I do always appreciate the correction! So again, thank you!
@mahbeans Жыл бұрын
@@prezmer I believed that for a long time too, always rushed back home scared to lose something if I didn't make it to bed. Then I heard it's safe and everything changed. This game is so big, there's always something to learn. I just wanted to spread the word. This is a good video, I like the idea
@thecuchikiller2 ай бұрын
Things who can make the game more relaxing, a gamemode who... *Increase the money at the beginning. *Passive movement speed upgrade. *Fast travel. *Allow the player to rest in the bed without sleep. (Like in multiplayer) *Send quest items without being in front of the NPC. *Infinite energy. Personally combat was more bland and boring than stressful. And I see a mod to skip the fishing, I don't find it annoying, but still, there is a lot of options who the game can add to make it less stressful.
@theostinks5544 Жыл бұрын
I personally don’t find it stressful, but that’s probably because I usually play with friends and we split up tasks and are very casual players lol
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
I feel like splitting up tasks and being casual players helps a lot! After I made this video quite a few people told me that they actually find co-op MORE stressful due to different playstyles (so one would always end up having to do more stuff)
@copicgirl80576 ай бұрын
The most stressful thing for me is perfectionism and the constant comparison to people that make amazing progress on KZfaq. But there is no need to have a certain amount of kegs or animals at a certain point in the game. I have started again the standard farm and I made it my goal to have no actual goals haha
@bleachelf9 ай бұрын
That corner time-clock is the worst! So is the feeling of having to get home each night. When I first played, I thought *for sure* there would be an option to carry a sleeping bag or tent and camp out, so was disappointed that isn't the case. I didn't realize till I had a gold watering can and 60 hours in the game that the upgraded tools can hit more spots. As far as I know, NOTHING in-game tells the player about this. I had to be told about this feature, and my friend discovered it by accident because of a controller lag...instant rage when I learned.... So yeah, I hated it for a long time, and didn't play for over a year after that. Recently a friend showed interest, so I showed her a little bit, then she bought it and we've been playing together. This time has been much more enjoyable. Even now, I'll get into a perfectionist mindset and start making myself stressed, so I'm working on a way to limit time played, or only play with friends, etc. There's really so much to love, so I want to keep finding ways to enjoy it!
@prezmer9 ай бұрын
Man a sleeping bag would actually be a great addition! They're working on a new update so who knows, you might get your wish!... Though I doubt it ): I'm glad you decided to give the game another shot, and you're working on finding ways to deal with the time pressure. Stardew Valley really is worth it! (But if it's too stressful, always remember it's okay to move on)
@GamerKatz_19713 ай бұрын
There is now an option in 1.6 to pitch a tent for a single night when you are away from the farm.
@andresv7815 Жыл бұрын
I find that you can play however you want, you can make it stressfull if you want to, personnaly i've played 3 playtroughs with the 2d being the most stressfull for exemple if you go too big with the size of your field and specially if you want to complete the community center the first year, and I actually enjoyed the stress and tight schedule, rainy days were like my leasure days where I took days off by fishing or going to the mines. Nonetheless at some point you can just take things slow and enjoy the seasons even if you dont have an extremely profitable farm.
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
Yes, rainy days are the best in this game!!! But yeah, agreed. I think lots of people just don't realize that you can play and do whatever you want though, and that there's literally no actual pressure put onto you. It's just perceived pressure due to the points I raised. That being said, I'm glad you've enjoyed the game so much that you got three playthroughs out of it (so far)!
@andresv7815 Жыл бұрын
@@prezmer yeah! I actually posted my comment when you asked for comments in the video, you very well explained all those points on the following parts!
@andresv7815 Жыл бұрын
Actually to follow on your point of playing with a friend, that's actually my 2d play trough and it was the most stressful because as I already knew a bit about the game I tried to play with my girlfriend, it was very fun and we had a great time but it was a bit taxing on me cause I had to water a bunch of crops everyday to compensate for both of our needs, using all of my energy and time whilst my gf was fishing and enjoying life overall, then whenever we gained some money (mostly because of me and my crops) she went on and spend it on an iridium rod or a sword or diverse items which overall only added to the difficulty of the game on my part!
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
@@andresv7815 Oh wow I didn't even consider that co-op could add to the stress if the playstyles don't match! I'm glad you still managed to have fun though, and it sounds like your girlfriend did too! And thank you for leaving a comment with your experience as well, reading these sorts of stories is genuinely my favorite part of making videos haha
@mathiaskolsby2368 Жыл бұрын
I find it stressful, but because, that is how i like to play it, very min/max. When i hit y2 it starts becoming boring, because there are few things i have to do every day, and most of them are just gifting.
@prezmer Жыл бұрын
Yeah, I feel you. My enjoyment slowly starts to fade from year 2 onwards as well, even with all the end game additions we got
@commonviewer24887 ай бұрын
My middle schooler brother quit Animal Crossing over the stress
@prezmer7 ай бұрын
Oof, and I’d say animal crossing is definitely more chill than stardew valley
@GamerKatz_19713 ай бұрын
I think it is the player injecting stress into the game. Nothing in the game requires you to do anything. But if you just have to plant every crop every year, harvest every forage every season, catch every fish, chop every tree, smash every stone and kill every monster you can off course go for it. But that is not the games fault. lol
@donwald34363 ай бұрын
SO STRESSFUL lol.
@phildicks47213 ай бұрын
I find the game is only as stressful as you allow it. If you start comparing yourself to some of the videos and players on KZfaq videos it can get stressful. I find that by not comparing yourselves to the " I fixed the Community Center by my first Winter" players, you loose alot of stress. I just played at my own pace, and by year three had most everything more or less finished or unlocked. By year four I had four candles from grandpa, and now on my 7 th year, I'm just goofing off until my console gets the 1.6 patch, and making a steady profit.