a sentiment i wish i’d expressed more thoroughly in the video: stardew’s decision to implement bigotry in many of its characters isn’t JUST about being “realistic”. i commend media that are bold enough to acknowledge society’s very real issues. my problem lies in how stardew DOESN’T WANT YOU to challenge instances of bigotry, and therefore doesn’t ALLOW you. the few chances you DO get to challenge it (i.e. penny’s ableism, alex’s sexism), the game ACTIVELY PUNISHES YOU, and refuses to let your opposition to bigotry accomplish anything. the only way to oppose bigotry in the world of stardew is to put up with it and hope that your docility will somehow change the other person’s mind (i.e. george’s homophobia). this is not “realism”. this is a normalization of bigotry. stardew favors kissing up to the status quo, over constructive criticism.

that said, i appreciate all comments! please let me know if you have a different perspective – i’m not overly defensive of these views and i’m POSITIVE i missed something. see you in the next video!

I agree with a lot of your points here. But you condemning Stardew for tackling real world issues badly while praising Mistria for pretending they don’t exist doesn’t sit right with me. Mistria is certainly more progressive in its representation, but that doesn’t mean it’s more true to reality. It’s a nice escape from the ugliness and challenges of the real world, but Stardew at least had the courage to address contemporary issues, even if the execution is lacking in perspective .

Comparing years of a single man’s hard work to a studio is kinda crazy. FOM has features I wish stardew had, and stardew has features I wish FOM had. But I’m not going to pin the two against each other. They’re both equally incredible games IMO. I do agree with some of the points in this video, but have to disagree with many

I love the way fields of mistria feels like a community.... The kids make me howl, the on going commentary follows a story, they all have stuff going on. I feel like I want to talk to the villages, see what they're up to. How they all help with the bits you do, and theyre not time limiting you. I'm here to escape and not stress.

i don't really agree with the point you made about alex being player-sexual in comparison to characters like sebastian and abigail. i think there's a big difference between "i've never felt anything for a guy before but you're different," vs "i kept telling myself you can't have these types of feelings for another guy." alex is not "only gay because we made him gay," he's a person coming to terms with the world and his feelings being much different than what he was expecting and i think that's a bit more nuanced than just being player-sexual.

I don't entirely disagree with what you're saying, but it should be stressed that we're talking about one guy vs a studio. Perhaps he cared more about the gameplay than character arcs, which is what I care more about when I'm playing it. What I've played of Fields of Mistria so far feels like the opposite. I can tell I'm going to like the game upon official release, but the characters are more interesting than the gameplay so far, and because of that, I'm not sure it will eclipse the amount of time I've put into Stardew.

One guy made a great and beloved game. Critical thinking about the role of media in our lives and learning lessons from shortcomings is significant. However, this seems like a tad overly harsh criticism to call bigotry on a desire for every character in a video game to be a perfectly just and noble person by the end of the game, and that the player's choices should be the ultimate cause of those resolutions. Several of these characters closely represent a lot of people in my life. Some have had a good outcome, some haven't. I agree there is some not-so-good writing in this game, I give him a bit of a pass because it was one guy, but some of the characters that are considered to be poorly written here are simply unlikable, and those two instances are not synonymous.

Why we gotta pit two bad bitches against each other??😭 Seeing this video after watching fiona sangsters video essays is a trip because they kinda go against( mostly) everything you said.

I Am gay and I LOVED how Alex was written and how george changed.

"Thanks Stardew. I really needed reminding that reminder that a lot of people disapprove of gay couples in my cosy farming sim."

Expecting the developer to avoid subjects because they make you uncomfortable would lead to the creation of a much more boring and unrealistic world. Rather than trying to look at everything through the lens of "what is the writer trying to say here?", try to understand that they are just trying to write characters that reflect the real world. The writer can't control how everything is interpreted and they are not responsible for its interpretations. It's okay to be offended and have opinions, but that doesn't make them right.

This story unfolds in a small town filled with relatable characters living their everyday lives. As a disabled queer brown woman, I've spent 18 years fighting bigotry through activism and community organizing. The people in this town mirror those I've met while building connections.

If you're looking for perfect characters without biases, a mod might satisfy that, but meaningful relationships and personal growth are far more impactful. For instance, choosing to marry Alex as a male character leads George to realize that Alex's happiness is paramount. This reflects a reality where many hold homophobic views until a loved one comes out, prompting them to prioritize that loved one’s happiness after processing their feelings.

It’s also important to note that the creator writes from his perspective as a man, which may limit the depth of female characters. However, he well-crafted the married women, likely inspired by the experiences of women in his life.

Finally, while you may seek escapism—something we all need to avoid burnout—Stardew Valley offers a narrative focused on a farming community battling corporate takeover. The characters are imperfect but realistic, and with your help, you can foster their growth and save the town none of this normalizes anything other than that it's true building connections with people who still struggle with their own personal bias where they are at and continuing to have open dialogue does foster growth and change in people. If we want to change hearts and minds about things we need to be patient with people because sometimes it takes multiple conversations some people don't get it right away sometimes it takes us showing compassion of course only those truly interested in learning and curious i'm not talking about na2i's or in unsafe situations be smart and be safe.

Stardew was a replica of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, so i'm really excited what Ape will make with Haunted Chocolatier, when he has to build up a game and its inhabitants from scratch.

So, Stardew Valley is realistic, and fields of Mistria is escapism. I love both personally, but if I want to "min max" I will Stardew. If I want cutesy stories and RANCHIN (seriously the animals are so lacking in stardew) I will fields of Mistria. [ P.S your cat literally is a copy paste of mine and that freaked me out at the end there :')

I mean . . . one nerd made Stardew.  . . . imperfect is expected

20:55 you sold me on "saving without going to bed"

Overall, Stardew Valley and Fields of Mistria focus on two different things and have their own strengths and weaknesses. Stardew Valley focuses on gameplay, less on story. Mistria focuses on community, less on gameplay. With this, Stardew was originally made by one guy, while Fields of Mistria was made by a studio. I appreciate the thoughts and feelings in this video, there are points I agree and disagree with and the comments here made me comfortable enough to share my thoughts and opinions on these two wonderful games. <3

I feel like you kinda glossed over certain stuff. We do have a male character with mommy and daddy issues and that's Sebastian. He talks about almost yelling at his mom for throwing away his comic book collection. I somewhat agree about the writing, but I feel like a lot of your points aren't representative of what it's like to actually live in the country.

Hate is a strong word

23:05 this was what made me realise the difference between stardew and FOM. One of the very first things you need to do in FOM is rebuild the bridge connecting Mistria to the other towns, as soon as you do that there is a weekly Saturday market THAT THE ENTIRE TOWN participates in whether you buy something or not.

This in addition to a lot of other mechanics (not being punished for not returning home on time, not being punished by having to complete tasks on time etc) made me realise the difference in not necessarily character building but in world building instead. These characters exist and coexist without you needing to 'prompt them', the kids have their own personalities that IF you talk to them and interact with them you get to be part of but if you don't theyre more than happy to play around with the townspeople.

I understand stardew was made by one guy, and he was the pioneer almost of cozy farming games but to me it was after playing FOM that i realised stardew wasn't cozy and it wasn't because of the player I was, but the type of game stardew is

I find this video super subjective, your opinion reductionist and pulled by threads of cognitive bias.
I was all in at the beginning: ya know, I can understand some people might have different opinions than me. I was even agreeing on the fact the characters in stardew valley are lacking in depth. But it seems you missed the point that in Stardew Valley it´s YOU the player who makes the story of each townie unlike in fields of mistria which feels like: "mmmhh maybe I shall not go with this character, it seems he is so in love with this other townie"
And after that it all went downhill.

While I always critiqued Stardew lack of characters, I do find some of your arguments to be done a little bit in bad faith. While I agree in areas with for example Pennies heart event with George, I do disagree with writing off George's homophobia entirely. I've met a lot of people in my life that have been somewhat transphobic but they got to know me and who I am and some even got to see just how much more happier my transition made me. I kind of viewed Georges change of heart in the same light, he disagreed at first but then he got to know the player and changed his mind. It's more common to see and I never found an issue with it. I feel like you give Haley a benefit of having a character arc while not giving George the same kind of benefit. Because I can argue the same way with her, I never befriended her much cause I never liked her as a character. But I can't really blame the game or the writing in it because it was me who didn't bother to do so. I'm not trying to say you should try to befriend people that you shouldn't like in the case of extremly homophobic people for example. But in the case of george it's more the fact that he's an old man, he may as well grew up in a different world. Sure you didn't get a dialogue option to confront George but I didn't confront people either, they saw me get hormones and saw me change to a happier person and George probably saw the same in both the player and Alex.
Now Alex's sexism I have less sympathy for, I also never liked him much as a character. Like I said I found the characters "lacking" since I started playing Stardew which was just at release back in 2016.
Another thing that I found to be a bit in bad faith is the argument that Stardew follows Capitalism. I have played both games, both games do what farming sims usually do which is. You kind of start with nothing. That's fine, but you're argument that nothing in Stardew valley gets done unless the player does it and or pays for it is ALSO done in fields of mistria. You have to collect wood and stone AND money to repair the bridge. You have to collect wood and stone and money to get the windmill working. You have to do the same for the Inn upgrade. Nothing in Fields of Mistria gets done unless you as the player pays up. Sure you may see a whole bunch of NPC's "helping" you do it but only after YOU provided all the money and materials. I don't see much of a difference between providing money and materials for example Pams house. The barns cost Money and Material in both games as well. If you do nothing in Fields of Mistria theres no working Windmill, no second beach, no Inn update. I'm not saying that's bad that's simply how farming sims work but to critique it harshly in one game and then barely mentioning it in the other game I find a bit unfair. The Player provides much of the resources but the labor in Stardew is performed by Robin. In Fields of Mistria the player provides the resources and the labor is done by many people BUT you better pay 3000 tesserae, it's not your store or Inn but you better pay for it. Now again I don't find this unfair by any means it's a farming sim, that's how they work. But I cannot critique one game for this system and then praise the other when the only difference between them is that theres a cutscene where the npc's helped build it. Also you don't have to automate your farm, you got a free house of ur grandfather and you can just sleep the years away, like seriously you don't have to pay rent of for food, you can start a farm and do nothing but sleep lol. You legit got a free house and run away from your capitalist job on the country side. Stardew doesn't force you to automate your farm and do all these thing you can sleep for hundreds of years without much consequences. The decission to be a millionaire off of Ancient fruit wine was your own. I don't think that Stardew is an escape from the "real world" and more so finding your own spot in a simpler life. Despite the horrors of war or whatever someone might think of you, you can find happiness in your life in the simple things. Fields of Mistria is a different game with a different set up, A lot of the cutscenes where people "helped" is because of an earthquake that happened, these people lost something dear to them, something bad had happened and thus they pull together to get back on their feet. I don't really have a doubt that if a terrible Earthquake were to happen in Stardew the villagers would pull together like this as well.
That being said I think they're both excellent games. I'm an old Harvest Moon fan, and above all else both Stardew and Fields of Mistria have the same kind of magical charm that I am so used to and so fond of from the Harvest Moon series.