Typically, across AAA developers, there is a constant push towards technological innovation. Better graphics, load times, and more interactive possibilities are all benchmarks in this race towards increasingly advanced and capable gaming technology. However, there's an undeniably strong trend across the gaming industry that outright denies technological innovation and instead focuses on the powerful affect of nostalgia. Games like Stardew Valley and the upcoming Haunted Chocolatier are prime examples of how old-school games (16-bit) can thrive in a cutting edge technological industry.
The fourth generation of gaming consoles, which includes the Sega Mega Drive and Nintendo SNES, is often referred to as the 16-bit generation, and was a time of major success for the gaming industry. The technological developments between then and current gen consoles are almost unimaginably huge. Games like Stardew Valley therefore utilize modern gaming capabilities to create a nostalgia-driven experience that performs just as well as AAA games. In particular, Stardew Valley and Haunted Chocolatier prove the potential of 16-bit games, even when developed mostly by a single person; ConcernedApe.
Escapist Farming in Stardew Valley
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The 16-bit aesthetic of Stardew Valley aligns perfectly with the game's theme of escaping the stresses of everyday life. In the game, players leave their dreary office job to start a farm in Pelican Town. As such, the 16-bit aesthetic mirrors the desire to escape from modern stresses that have become increasingly technological. Stardew Valley's 16-bit mechanics offer an escape from modern technology, which has become more and more integrated to daily life, even though it is a video game. Stardew Valley does so through it's setting and narrative, which are both idyllic, but also utilize 16-bit mechanics which harken back to an earlier era in gaming.
However Stardew Valley is a game that, despite it's simplicity in style, offers a huge world to explore with numerous secrets to discover. Since the game utilizes many of the advancements made since the 16-bit era, Stardew is also more attractive to contemporary gamers, compared to the sometimes less readily available and often less polished games from the 16-bit era.
Haunted Chocolatier and Mystical Adventures
The already apparent buzz and excitement for Haunted Chocolatier emphasizes that contemporary 16-bit games work on multiple levels. While Stardew Valley captured a simple and idyllic life of farming through 16-bit mechanics, Haunted Chocolatier instead focuses more on a fantastical adventure. Stardew did prove some of the capability of modern 16-bit games with elements of combat and mystical mechanics. However, Haunted Chocolatier combines the best of those elements in Stardew to create a more ambitious 16-bit adventure. While Stardew's farming seemed perfect for 16-bit games, Haunted Chocolatier proves the potential stretches beyond one type of game.
Stardew Valley and Haunted Chocolatier were inspired by 16-bit games before them, which again evokes nostalgia, but they also come almost 30 years after the 16-bit era of gaming is long gone. In this respect, many of the players are not only attracted by the games' sense of nostalgia, but also by the style and aesthetics of 16-bit games even in an era of increasingly technological capabilities. However, gaming is a massive industry with space for a huge variety of game styles: Games like Stardew Valley and Haunted Chocolatier manage to stand out in this enormous industry, which proves the modern potential of 16-bit games.
Stardew Valley is available now on PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile platforms.