Farming is a profession of hope
I never thought I would find myself sitting in my front room eagerly awaiting a game about farming to finish downloading. I've heard a lot of great things about Stardew Valley since its release on PC and now us console owners could finally get our hands on it.
Stardew Valley begins with the passing of your grandfather who wills you his run old down farm. You decide to give up your life in the city to see if you can make your fortune ploughing the land. You can choose from five different maps depending on your preference.Every morning you wake up and tend to your ever expanding crops and clear some land so you can sow more seeds. Every single night ends with the town mayor shipping your goods out and anything else that can be sold so you can get paid for your work. You then reinvest all that money in more seeds and upgrades to your farm. 
You also have a set of abilities which you can level up by using. which gives the game an RPG feeling. And you will need to upgrade these abilities over time because the ammon of things available for you to do is breathtaking and took me completely by surprise. You won't be able to get through everything available to you for a long, long time. So the replayability is very high.
Everything not produce has a knock on effect which will but the time you spend looking after them will be reduced. Get yourself hitched and you have an extra pair of hands to help around the farm and better still you won't have to pay any wages. Upgrading your pickaxe and axe means you will take less swings to break rocks, ore and to fell trees. Upgrade your hoe and you can till bigger spaces at a time. Upgrading your bamboo fishing rod allows you to use bait and tackle, upgrade your watering can and it can hold more water which allows you to water a bigger area of crops at a time. There is mining and fishing minigames which open up other skill paths
These upgrades then unlock other upgrades. It's all about time management but of course everything comes at a cost because nothing is free in Stardew Valley. One profession that opens up is adventuring which grants you a sword so you can fight monsters deep in the mines. Adventuring rewards you with progression rewards which are tied to your farming career. Everything always ties back to your farm because that's where you will either make it big or fail dismally.
Stardew Valley is chock full of things to do. The open ended gameplay means every time you pick up the controller there are countless things to do and hours can just whizz by without noticing. The latest update 1.1 which is included with this version adds even more content. More professions, a game plus option for the arcade cabinet which you can find in the games bar and teleportation. The list goes on and on. I'm a sucker for Stardew Valleys old school graphic style. It reminds me of the 2D games that were all the rage in the 90’s during the 16 Bit era. The audio is also reminiscent of this period in gaming and it's beauty is in its simplicity.
Stardew Valley is a fantastic nostalgic trip back in time which never fails to spread a grin across my face. A highly addictive strategy game that demands you play just one more day even if I decide that I want to have a day off and go fishing or adventuring. New quests, recipes and opportunities abound during gameplay and there is no shortage of tasks to do and any game that can tear me away from Titanfall 2 is a game that deserves the highest praise.
Developer: Eric Barone
Publisher: Chucklefish
Website: Stardew Valley
Twitter: @ConcernedApe / @ChucklefishLTD
Review code supplied by XCN.