This 12 months’s Stardew Valley 1.6 replace launched quite a lot of issues to the smash-hit indie recreation, together with frogs, desert festivals, and inexperienced rain. That is all very thrilling, however one thing else arrived with the newest replace that probably turns the sport on its head. Within the newest model of Stardew Valley, you possibly can pay for perfection.
For many who don’t know, Stardew Valley has a perfection ranking, and for those who get to 100%, you unlock a remaining cutscene to spherical out the sport. To get there, it is advisable craft every little thing, befriend everybody, discover all these pesky golden walnuts and Stardrops, and usually end each process the sport throws at you. That seems like quite a lot of effort, and I can let you know, as somebody who’s executed it earlier than, it’s. So, I believed, what if I simply bypassed all of it and accomplished the sport whereas doing as little as attainable? What if I paid for perfection?
This may not seem to be such a criminal offense to the uninitiated, however as somebody who’s cherished Stardew Valley for years, it feels prefer it might be the worst factor I’ve ever executed. You see, this recreation presents you with a comparatively binary selection proper from the outset: you possibly can restore the group heart and produce Pelican City again to life by working alongside the magical Junimos, otherwise you can provide in to the good beast of capitalism and signal as much as the Joja Company – suppose Amazon or Walmart – to show the dilapidated heart right into a Joja warehouse alongside Morris, the native JojaMart supervisor. In all my years, I’ve not as soon as opted for the latter possibility.
It’s simply not the executed factor. To finish the group heart, the sport forces you to attempt new issues: fishing, mining, or foraging uncommon objects. In the event you go the Joja route, all you must do is make sufficient cash to contribute to Joja, and you are able to do that just by rising probably the most profitable crops and by no means speaking to a soul in Pelican City outdoors of Pierre, who is nearly depressingly unaware that your actions are contributing to the expansion of his greatest rival. It turns a recreation that’s basically a celebration of anti-capitalist beliefs into one thing that might make Jeff Bezos grin with delight from atop his ivory tower.
Regardless of my pure inclination to help Pierre, Mayor Lewis, and the remainder of the Stardew Valley characters, I believed that I’d give the brand new path to perfection a go, simply to see the way it made me really feel. I believe I already knew the reply to that query, however within the title of science, I began a brand new save, skipped via all the nice and cozy fuzzies about how you discover your method to Grandpa’s farm, and bought to creating wealth. Thus my disheartening quest had begun.
The early a part of the Joja perfection route is fairly simple. All you must do is make 135kgold to finish all of the Joja Neighborhood Improvement Tasks, which in flip fixes the native bus, the quarry bridge, the minecart system, and your farm greenhouse whereas additionally demolishing an obstruction within the river that lets you pan for treasure. Then comes the primary demoralizing cutscene. As soon as every little thing is completed, you be part of Morris to have a good time the completion of the storage facility. Notably, nobody else from the city is current.
Already at this level, I felt a approach I’d by no means felt earlier than whereas enjoying Stardew. I felt a bit like a traitor. As I make fairly clear in my Stardew Valley evaluation, this recreation means an awesome deal to me, and I’ve identified characters like Gus, the native barman, and Clint, the lonely blacksmith, longer than I’ve a few of my closest pals. So, to show my again on them and have a good time the opening of the warehouse alongside Morris and his Joja lackeys felt like a betrayal. Sadly, this was solely the start, and it was solely going to get more durable from right here on in.
The subsequent step concerned attending to Ginger Island. The tropical island, which arrived as a part of the 1.5 replace, is an enormous deal within the Joja run because it holds the 2 remaining items of the puzzle. First is the Golden Joja Parrot. Usually, you’d have to gather 100 golden walnuts to unlock Mr. Qi’s Walnut Room, the place you possibly can observe your perfection ranking earlier than discovering the ultimate 30. Nevertheless, because of the Golden Joja Parrot, you possibly can merely hand over 10k gold for each walnut you don’t have, and the chicken delivers them in a single day. So, after spending properly over a million gold, I had all of the walnuts.
Then it was time to fulfill my remaining confederate and Joja Particular Companies Division consultant, Fizz. When you’ve unlocked Mr. Qi’s Walnut Room, you get a letter from Fizz, who asks that you simply go to him in Ginger Island’s watery cave. That is the place the magic occurs. For 500k gold, Fizz can enhance your perfection ranking by 1%. Unsurprisingly, I used to be solely at 4% completion once I first met the shady Joja rep, that means I’d have to put collectively 48 million gold to clear the ultimate hurdle.
So, I went industrial. I used all of the free land on the Ginger Island farm and within the greenhouse to develop Starfruit, probably the most profitable in-game crop, and toiled for a number of seasons to make it occur. It wasn’t as labor-intensive because the early a part of the run, as I had the sources to craft numerous sprinklers, but it surely was boring. The routine consisted of planting a whole lot of Starfruit crops earlier than sleeping for 13 days, harvesting, and repeating. I might have in all probability executed it faster, however the thrilling a part of this experiment was basically over by this level.
After weeks of in-game sleeping, it was executed. I trotted alongside to Fizz, handed over the 48 million, and I went again to mattress. The subsequent day, I strolled down Ginger Island’s seashore for the final time, not even bothering to tug my sprinklers out of the bottom, and I checked the perfection tracker. 100%. Lastly. All that was left to do was return to Pelican City, head north, and step as much as the summit, the key space of the sport solely seen by fellow perfectionists and people who’ve spoiled it for themselves on YouTube.
So, how did I really feel stepping as much as the summit to observe Stardew’s fabled 100% perfection cutscene? Unsurprisingly, I didn’t really feel good, not good in any respect. Worse nonetheless the sport blatantly calls you out for taking the Joja route throughout the remaining moments, rubbing salt within the metaphorical wound. I’d technically achieved one thing, certain, but it surely felt hole. For hours, I simply farmed and farmed and farmed, ignoring nearly every little thing that makes the sport considered one of my all-time favorites and turning it into one thing altogether extra monotonous and soul-sapping.
Nonetheless, whereas attaining perfection this fashion made me really feel nothing good, it was just for a second. Following the massive reveal of the ultimate cutscene, I merely returned to the title. From there, I jumped again into the save file the place I’ve a farm stuffed with cute animals, the place I’ve made a house in Pelican City for Pam to rebuild her life, and even my Stardew Valley children, who, admittedly, I hadn’t missed all that a lot, but it surely’s good to know they’re there. Sure, taking the Joja path to perfection has given me a rejuvenated appreciation for every little thing Stardew Valley may be and what it means to me.
In the end, I can perceive why ConcernedApe made it attainable to realize perfection this fashion. It really works in direction of the overarching message of Stardew Valley, and I suppose a sure view of tips on how to dwell your life: doing issues the onerous approach, however the way in which that feels proper, is nearly all the time extra rewarding than the extra handy various. With one route, you be taught some classes alongside the way in which, make some pals, and would possibly even discover a sense of group, with the opposite, you sleep, work, and that’s about it. Additionally, with the latter, your solely actual pal is Morris; let’s be trustworthy, we hate Morris.
So, if you would like my recommendation, don’t pay for perfection in Stardew Valley. Whether or not ConcernedApe supposed the mechanic to supply the philosophical dilemma I’ve interpreted it as or simply to offer these determined to finish the sport an out isn’t clear, and I don’t know him so I can’t ask. Both approach, it’s not value it. It makes me consider that drained previous cliche, about how the true treasure is the buddies we make alongside the way in which, however on this occasion, it’s truly true. And who needs to be pals with Morris?
There you have got it, my expertise with paying for perfection in Stardew Valley. In the event you’re in search of extra video games just like the indie farming hit to play, you’ll want to take a look at our guides to the very best cozy video games and the very best video games like Stardew Valley whilst you’re right here. Or, for those who’re in search of a console the place you possibly can check out some Stardew Valley mods, see our record of the very best Steam Deck options.
