Search results for "stardew"
Sep 24, 2017
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y Time at Portia is a 3D sandbox RPG adventure game. The developers are aiming to capture the hearts of Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and Harvest Moon fans. In My time at Portia you will be able to meet different kind of NPC characters, with a deep relationship and marriage system in place. Furthermore players will be able to farm, fish, explore, and so much more. My Time at Portia is currently seeking funding via kickstarter. With more than 1,300 bakers the developers have almost met half their target. If you want to help fund the game you can do so here.
The developers will release the game on PC, but are also considering a console version on Playstation 4 , Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. A playable alpha demo of the game with up to 6 hours of gameplay is available here. You can check out the steam page of the game right here. For more information on My Time at Portia check out some of the features, and the first gameplay trailer below.
My Time at Portia Features
Workshop – The player inherits a workshop at the start of the game and has to collect resources and complete commissions to grow the workshop into the best in Portia. The workshop is the home space of the player, and many parts of it can be upgraded. The homestead can also be customized through placement of different furnitures and different room upgrades.
Farming – Unlike most other farming games where you have to take care of your crops everyday, consuming lots of time and energy, the farming in this game will try to be more industrialized, more modern, such as using a planter box or semi-automatic irrigation systems. We want to keep the essential part of farming, such as planting your own crops and watching it grow, while taking out much of the daily routine associated with it to give the player more time to explore the world.
Relationships – The player will able to befriend or romance most characters in the game. The relationships are tied together with the economy system. If a player has a good relationship with a certain NPC, there might be perks such as new missions, cheaper goods, or a willing hand. Going the romance route will allow the player to go on dates with the NPC, go through with a storyline for that NPC, and eventually marry that character.
Character Customization – The player gets to pick to be male or female, with an assortment of hairstyles, facial styles, and colors to choose from. The face can be tweaked as well. There’s even a barber shop in the game to allow for hairstyle changes.
Battle – The player will fight an assortment of monsters, robots, and baddies. Weapons and armor can be upgraded.
Skills – There is leveling in the game, skill points gained can be distributed by the player.
Marriage – When the player and NPC relationship reaches a certain threshold, marriage will become an option. After marrying, the NPC will become a helper in the workshop. There might also be some more storyline that happen after marriage. We’d like to add children to this game, with your support, we hope it’s possible.
Fishing – There are multiple spots to fish in this game, from the pristine rivers, to dark swamps, to tropical islands. The player will get to keep fish in a fish tank for viewing pleasure after a house upgrade.
Big thanks to one of our readers – Kikki – for submitting this news story!
- Aug 30, 2017
[dropcap]N[/dropcap]intendo has held another Nindies Showcase, and this time around we are getting to see a bunch of new games coming to the Nintendo Switch this year. If you missed the live stream that aired today, you can get caught up by watching the full presentation below. Stardew Valley was not part of this stream, however the CEO of Chucklefish, publisher of Stardew Valley, has recently mentioned that the game has been submitted for testing – a release of the game should not be too far away.
- Jul 26, 2017
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]E:Legend is one of the most anticipated games of the year. It combines games like Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Fantasy Life, Pokemon and more. The game published by Square Enix, just launched it’s official Kickstarter page. If you decide to participate in funding the game, you will be rewarded with several different goodies. Including access to the game upon release, wallpapers, and other digital goods.
It has now been revealed that the game will be released on Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. Re:Legend is currently slated for a release in June 2018. For more information on Re:Legend we recommend to check out our detailed preview right here. You can watch the official Kickstarter launch trailer below. If you want to support the game, you may do so here.
- Jul 13, 2017
[dropcap]H[/dropcap]umble Bundle is publishing a super adorable cat game called Mineko’s Night Market. The studio developing the game is called Meowza Games. The game is due to release in 2018.
Mineko’s Night Market is the first title from the young, two-person indie studio. The adventure title stars Mineko, a girl who takes on a job as a vendor in a weekly marketplace. The game includes taking on responsibilities ranging from collecting resources, crafting items to sell, participating in local events and befriending customers around town. The game seems similar to Stardew Valley in this respect.
One of the most interesting features of the game is that the setting comes from a real word place that is known to be beloved by cat lovers. Tashirojima is a Japanese island that’s home to more cats than human beings — much like the world of Mineko’s Night Market, which takes place on a cat-worshipping Japanese isle called Mount Fugu. The biggest difference between the two places is that in Mineko’s world, there are still plenty of humans to hang out with but you still get to play with tons of kittens.
The game is heading to Mac and Windows PC sometime next year, and it won’t be exclusive to the Humble Bundle Store.
Read our exclusive interview with the developer behind Mineko’s Night Market right here. Check out the cute trailer that was released below:
Source: Link
- Jun 16, 2017
[dropcap]H[/dropcap]arvest Moon is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year. For the 20th anniversary, Natsume is doing two things: They are bringing the series to PC for the first time and bringing the series to consoles which has not been done in a few years. The new Harvest Moon game is known as Light of Hope.
Light of Hope’s graphics are top down and players view the cast of Light of Hope with more realistic proportions. Light of Hope does away with the full 3-D perspective which harken back to its most recent predecessors, which were the first Harvest Moon games developed by Natsume after their split with Marvelous Entertainment (It begs repeating: The series known in the West as Harvest Moon now is different from Bokujo Monogatari, the original farming sim franchise that now goes by Story of Seasons stateside).
Producer Taka Maekawa informed Polygon that this 2.5D style is meant to evoke the very first Harvest Moon game. Although the 16-bit Super Nintendo sprites have been replaced with 3D-rendered models, the flat perspective and grid-based, limited range of motion are all straight from Harvest Moon on SNES.
This art style might remind people of the popular farming sim Stardew Valley. However, Natsume is adamant that Light of Hope is not taking anything from Stardew Valley but rather they are going in their own direction. The switch version will have full touch controls and the pc version can be played with just a mouse.
The game is expected to launch in early 2018.
Source: Link
- Jun 11, 2017
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]eggie already teased that Nintendo would have a huge E3 this year. Today the president of Nintendo NA appeared on the official YouTube coverage show to give an introduction to ARMS. In a short interview after the tournament Reggie talked about the three major activities for this weeks E3. Splatoon 2, ARMS and Pokken DX on Nintendo Switch will all feature extensive tournaments throughout the week.
Furthermore Reggie said that the Nintendo 3DS will get a lot of love as well. He also said that Nintendo has some surprise announcements on Tuesday. A lot of Nintendo fans are hoping for news on the next Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing New Leaf has first been announced at the E3 2010. Most installments in the franchise are released with a 3-4 year gap, making a new Animal Crossing long overdue. Nintendo will hold the full presentation on Tuesday, 9am PT / 12pm ET.
Reggie also pointed out that the short 25 minutes E3 presentation will only be the start of a huge week for Nintendo at the games convention. The Nintendo Treehouse show followed right after the kick off show will have more news on unannounced upcoming games.
Beyond first party Nintendo news, fans will also likely get more Stardew Valley and Story of Seasons Switch details. Natsume also promised to reveal more gameplay footage for Harvest Moon on Nintendo Switch
Check out our Animal Crossing wishlist, and our Nintendo E3 Predictions.
- May 25, 2017
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]E:Legend is one of the most anticipated games of the year. It combines games like Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Fantasy Life and more. The game published by Square Enix, just received a shiny new website with some interesting new details about the games chore mechanics. In our latest detailed preview we learned a lot about farming and exploring. You can read the full preview and watch the first gameplay trailer of RE:Legend right here.
Below are some new information and screenshots from RE:Legend. The game is set to release for Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC and is currently rumored for a release on Nintendo Switch as well.
Magnus Raising
Mythical creatures known as “Magnus” roams the land of Ethia, the world where Vokka island resides. Every single Magnus is tamable and they will aid you in many ways such as combat, farming, fishing, travelling and so much more! They will also grow differently depending on your care!
Farming
Cultivate the farm of Vokka island to acquire food and materials for the village or yourself. Growing crops are not limited to land as Vokka island allows you to grow crops and keep exotic fishes underwater! Dive into the crystal clear water and farm to your heart content!
Combat
World of Ethia is filled with dangerous wild life and combat skills are essential for survival. Wield any weapon you desire at any given time and you are not restricted by weapon classes. You can also mount your beloved Magnus to combat through your adventure!
Vokka Village
Vokka Village is where you new life begins! Befriend local villagers and join exciting festivals together to have a good time. Pay attention to their needs and help them out in their daily lives so they can help you retrieve your lost memories.
Life Skills
Practice makes perfect! You will gain living skills as you practice them frequently.They level-up organically as you carry out the activities. Example Living Skills: Mining, Fishing, Logging, Crafting, Farming, Weaponry and much more!
Multiplayer
While you can enjoy the game alone, why not share the fun with your friends?! Carry out the activities together and share the precious memories! Together you shall conquer the world! Or just kick back and relax while your friend do all the work! Number of Players: 1 – 4
- May 7, 2017
[dropcap]S[/dropcap]taxel was developed by Indie Studio Plukit. Staxel is a sandbox farming game. In this game you can tend to crops, raise cute animals, and build a village. The game is currently in development as the developer will be adding more features in the months to come. This preview was played exclusively in single mode, however you can also team up with your friends in the multiplayer part of the game.
Staxel Character Creation
Before you begin the game, you must create your character. You choose the gender, race (human or elf currently), and personality on the first step. The next step is to choose the hair style. From the screenshot above, you can see that I chose the steampunk top hat. The customization of the head piece is neat and gives you other options such as a Jack’O’Lantern, a wolf, and Egyptian themed hair and more. The next step is to choose the face of your character. The face determines the shape and the eyes. This is also the step where you change your eye color as well. The last step consists of you choosing the color of the top, pants, and shoes. You do not currently have a huge selection in clothing styles but this might be added upon later in development.
Staxel Gameplay
After you create your character, you begin the tutorial. The tutorial starts off in your home. It is recommended that you first go to your bed so that your “home” is saved (you will see why this is important later). The first character you meet is Farm Fan. She helps guide you through the tutorial and the basic mechanics of the game. She asks if you are a dog or cat person which determines what pet you will receive. The look of the animal is randomly generated. For the first time I played, I had a Dalmatian and the second time I had a Beagle looking dog, so cute!
The next part of the tutorial is to explore town and the various buildings. The first building you explore is the tavern. Then the tutorial recommends you go visit the various Merchants in the town square. The town square is also where festivals are held (similiar to Animal Crossing). The first merchant you will be visiting is Morgan as she sells seeds. The Supermarket also sells seeds as well as a variety of goods. In a later tutorial quest, you will be visiting the supermarket so that you can buy a pet bowl and pet food. One feature that I find is nice is that no matter what you select it will tell you the cost in petals (currency of the game) as well as what the object is. You get a decent amount of money fulfilling tutorial quests so it’s recommended you do them.
In the top left of the screen, you can see where there is an indicator that lists the date (Season, number) as well as what time of day it is. There are two cycles to the typical Staxel day: Day and Night. However, what I find is neat about Staxel days is that the Day and Night cycles are split into smaller proportions. This gives you a better indicator of the time passing and how close you are to nighttime. A typical Staxel day is about ten minutes.
The controls for Staxel are fluid using keyboard and mouse as well as a game controller (I used an Xbox One controller). The controls are listed clearly in the controls menu and there is no lag when switching between various items. I noticed that occasionally the game camera would move upwards when speaking with a villager but it was a minor annoyance. A neat feature that the developers added in was that by holding the default action button, you can increase the till size. For example, instead of tilling a field square by square, you can do a 3 x 5 field instead. It helps save time when wanting to plant a lot of crops.
Exploration
I took the liberty of exploring the world of Staxel instead of doing the quests. I found that Staxel is quite rich in pixellated detail but it was the vivid colors that really made it pop. It wasn’t before long that I found myself standing on a beach.
It is not clear yet whether standing on the water is intentional. Like other farming games, Staxel has weather as well. As you can see from the above screenshot, it is currently raining. Rain is neat since you don’t have to water your crops and you can devote yourself to exploring instead.
If you have played any open sandbox game, then you will know the importance of being able to fast travel back to your home base. As long as you get inside your bed, you will be able to “return to home” in the menu, no matter how far away you are. I went quite far into the ocean and instantly appeared back into my house.
Different playthroughs will not give you different areas to explore. This is subject to change as the Developers could add in a feature where the world you create is randomly generated each and every time.
Conclusion
Staxel is a neat mash up of Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing. The developers have started off with a good platform to build off of. This game requires a lot of time but not a lot of effort. If you are looking for a game where you can have a lot of control and relax while doing it, Staxel would be the perfect fit.
For some Staxel Gameplay Footage, check out our article here. A special thank you to the developer for providing us with a copy to preview.
