Board 8 > in this topic I will maybe rank the Stardew Valley characters

(+) Yeah! (+)

MariaTaylor posted...

I think a good majority of the playerbase initially had a crush on Robin when they first started the game.

This was certainly the case for me, in as much as I could say that about any Stardew Valley character, at any rate.

MariaTaylor posted...

The requirements for unlocking him are way more forgiving. To meet Krobus you only need to find 60 of any museum items. To get at the Dwarf you need all four copies of four specific, rare items.

I met the Dwarf well before I ever met Krobus, though I guess it was probably just unusual good luck in my one playthrough. Also, I personally never found Krobus worth talking to, though my playthrough was mostly very casual, and I probably never visited him on a Friday; he was the only befriendable character who didn't reach at least 6 hearts during my playthrough. At least the Dwarf was in a place I visited fairly often given how (relatively) early I unlocked him.

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bump for now. #1 and final write up tomorrow.

MetalmindStats posted...

I met the Dwarf well before I ever met Krobus, though I guess it was probably just unusual good luck in my one playthrough. Also, I personally never found Krobus worth talking to, though my playthrough was mostly very casual, and I probably never visited him on a Friday; he was the only befriendable character who didn't reach at least 6 hearts during my playthrough. At least the Dwarf was in a place I visited fairly often given how (relatively) early I unlocked him.

I guess it would ultimately be subjective but I've had so much trouble getting specific dwarf scrolls in every single playthrough that I have done. it will also depend on how many geodes you crack open, or if you leave them all sitting in a box. taking a stack of geodes to the blacksmith can very quickly fill out the museum.


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I recall not having much trouble getting the Dwarf Scrolls myself. They seem to drop a lot.
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Penny

Last up, taking the overall #1 spot, and finally freeing me from this topic and needing to do more write ups, we have Penny! Penny is one of the nicest, most affectionate, and most selfless spouse options in the game. She is one of the younger marriage candidates but she's also one of the most mature. She isn't as initially friendly as someone like Sam, but she isn't mean like Shane either. Penny is shy and awkward at first -- often being in a position where she says very little because she isn't sure what to say.

Penny is good with kids and is shown to be very family positive. Some of the spouse options don't really seem like they'd be into having kids, but then it happens anyway because I guess they're video game characters and they have to. It's nice to get the sense that Penny actually wants to start a family with me.

Her default home life and living situation really suck, easily being the worst of any marriage candidate. Possibly any character in the game. I guess you could make an argument for Linus but he is homeless by his own choice and seems to be happy with his situation. Penny is stuck living in a broken home, forced to mature in order to take care of the mistakes left by her irresponsible parent(s) -- the people who are supposed to be taking care of her. She works, but her money goes toward supporting Pam. Probably the best thing I can say for Penny's life in the trailer is that she actually has her own room.

I used to feel like Penny was the only character whose life would absolutely suck if the Farmer never married them, while everyone else would be varying degrees of just fine. This is actually why in my second playthrough I started dating Maru but then ended up marrying Penny again anyway. She's the only person I've married twice. Whoops. Though I wouldn't say this is the only reason I married her or anything. Penny is definitely my favorite female character in the game, it's just this additional information makes it harder to resist getting together with her. I feel less certain about this now, anyway. Maybe Penny does just fine as a teacher, while someone like Sam, Sebastian, and Shane end up having a pretty trash life. There's no way of really knowing.



I really don't have any complaints about Penny, and I think she is probably one of the least flawed characters in the game. I guess, for that, you could say she is a little boring -- but I never found her to be boring either because of her unique home life and backstory that you don't really see in too many video games. I guess I can think about the things other people might say about her.

Bad in laws -- Yeah, technically if you marry Penny this means that Pam has to be your mother in law, which does indeed suck. However, Stardew Valley has an extreme case of marriage blindness where no one in the game seems to be able to tell who you are married to... so ultimately it doesn't matter too much.

Her favorite flower is Poppy, therefore it's "basically confirmed" that Penny is a hardcore drug addict. As we all know, the Stardew Valley community loves their "basically confirmed" theories. Anyway I always figured maybe she just likes flowers. Or maybe she is using the seeds to make muffins, or bagels. Or maybe she -is- getting high. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Sebastian almost certainly gets high, you could make a good case for speculating that Abigail, Sam, Leah, and maybe Emily and Shane also do. Shane is at least an alcoholic with self destructive tendencies. I think if Penny is getting high off of a flower that I can effortlessly grow an infinite supply of for her, and she's fully functioning and our marriage is great otherwise, it's not a giant problem for me. And that's assuming the "basically confirmed" theory for which there is no supporting evidence.

Unlike someone like Leah, Penny will definitely not chase after you. She barely flirts and will generally wait for the Farmer to make most of the moves in the relationship. Much later on she will drop some hints, that's about it. Although it's worth noting that she is the one who sends the invitation for the hot springs date. Penny's method seems to be waiting to make sure it's real, and confirming that you are interested in her first, before she has the confidence to attempt anything. After that it's all sweet talk and cute moments. You just need to make her come out of her shell first.



Overall I found Penny to be a character I had a lot of affinity for. I think she has the most attractive personality out of any of the marriage candidates, possibly of any character in the game (she'd be competing directly against Caroline here). Most of the characters I didn't feel like I had that much in common with, but Penny's crappy life isn't that much different from how my crappy childhood was -- and the fact that she was forced to mature isn't too different from how I was forced to mature. The major difference is that Penny is a much more vibrant and positive person than I am, so I guess she represents a sort of idealized version of "getting over it" instead of settling into the role of being jaded. She was the first character that I went after in Stardew Valley, and hasn't stopped being my favorite. I guess that's all it takes to receive the #1 ranking.


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tl;dr

penny is my waifu

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bonus penny

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Very good write-ups.
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thanks! I was starting to feel burned out near the end, but I guess that was offset by the fact that I also liked the last few characters the most.

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Just married Penny in my current playthrough.

A+

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I should try marrying penny someday

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Thanks for the topic, it's been fun. Stardew has always been one of those games that intrigue me but the amount of dedication needed and lack of closure kinda keeps me away from actually trying it out.

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you'd be surprised at how little dedication is needed to enjoy stardew valley. the lack of game-defined closure is a great set up for allowing yourself to stop whenever you feel like you've accomplished self-defined goals. or just whenever you feel like it since there is nothing you're forced to complete. it's a very laid back experience.

a lot of people tend to stop after completing the community center and/or getting married. this is basically the 'year 1 into early year 2' experience that I mentioned being one of the best parts of the game to replay.

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https://i.redd.it/lmoxs9p7cjg41.jpg

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I still haven't married anyone. I don't know if I ever will. I have nearly everyone at the max heart level though, so I guess the option will always be there. I think that it both being a permanent option and that Robin isn't a choice are what's holding me back.
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I married Emily because she has blue hair

would probably pick Abigail on a replay
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KCF0107 posted...

I still haven't married anyone. I don't know if I ever will. I have nearly everyone at the max heart level though, so I guess the option will always be there. I think that it both being a permanent option and that Robin isn't a choice are what's holding me back.

Well...

Divorce does exist in this game. >_>

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Interesting, I somehow was never told of that feature. What happens if you have kids and divorce?
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KCF0107 posted...

Interesting, I somehow was never told of that feature. What happens if you have kids and divorce?

The kids stay with you, of course.

... unless you turn them into doves.

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Can I remarry after divorce or does everyone else get married rather quick after you do? I assume your ex-spouse also moves back into their old place? How embarrassing it would be if I marry like Maru, divorce her, get full custody of the kids, and she moves back back in with her parents.
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When you divorce someone you erase their memory

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KCF0107 posted...

Can I remarry after divorce or does everyone else get married rather quick after you do? I assume your ex-spouse also moves back into their old place? How embarrassing it would be if I marry like Maru, divorce her, get full custody of the kids, and she moves back back in with her parents.

You can marry someone else after divorce, yes (or even the same person again if you've done FD's spoiler), Other "couples" between the single guys and girls don't actually exist, none of them ever get married to anyone besides a player.

Ex-Spouses or husbands move back to where they were before, yes, but that will normally only change that one person's dialogue.

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So wait, could I potentially be a single father to like eight kids or does it just stop after a couple?

Forceful_Dragon posted...

When you divorce someone you erase their memory

This is wild though!
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stops after 2 kids

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KCF0107 posted...

This is wild though!

Yeah there is some wacky end game stuff available in Stardew. It's pretty awesome tbh

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the thing FD posted doesn't happen automatically though. they will remember normally. you have to do some extra stuff with the witch's magic to erase the memories.

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I don't think I've ever done one without the other so i forgot they are technically separate things.

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haha yeah. if you don't erase their memory they will be sad for a couple of weeks and have unique dialogue for it. and I think they won't marry you again unless you erase their memory but I'm not 100% sure on that.

I haven't actually divorced anyone since I normally like to start new files anyway.


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