Haunted Chocolatier provides us a have a look at ConcernedApe’s evolving fashion

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They develop up so quick
Stardew Valley is certainly one of my most-played video games of all time, so after I heard just a few years in the past that its creator, Eric Barone — or because the followers know him, ConcernedApe — was engaged on a brand new undertaking, I used to be over the moon. Now that we’ve had an official preview of the sport, that anticipation has elevated tenfold. After listening to concerning the hell he went by to create his first sport, a feat he completed all on his personal, I used to be pleasantly stunned to listen to he was able to go one other spherical with Haunted Chocolatier.
Stardew itself is clearly an awesome sport, however one of many issues I discover most fascinating concerning the buzz surrounding it’s this mythos that followers have hooked up to Barone. That is doubtless as a result of he’s achieved fairly just a few issues to endear us to him.
For one, creating the artwork, music, code, and every thing else you might think about for one sport is insanely spectacular, and one thing only some have managed to do themselves. I wish to suppose that this alone bolstered him numerous respect.

Then in Jason Schreier’s ebook Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, which chronicles the behind-the-scenes happenings in varied video games’ improvement, he devoted a whole chapter to how Stardew Valley was made. This gave the already cult-like following that Stardew had a higher perception into the eagerness that Barone introduced to each facet of the sport’s creation, and it simply snowballed from there.
After Stardew blew up, I wouldn’t be stunned if Barone let it get to his head, which is one thing that may occur to spotlighted creators within the video games trade.
However from every thing I’ve seen, he’s remained tremendous humble and cares that points with the sport are taken care of. On multiple event, he’s been identified to repair a bug {that a} fan has introduced as much as him on Twitter inside two hours (which is partially as a result of he’s a one-man improvement crew, but it surely’s wonderful that he does all of it the identical).

One thing else that I believe is exclusive concerning the scenario Barone is in is that his socials usually are not some faceless advertising and marketing account that’s utterly indifferent from improvement — as an alternative, he can inform us firsthand the way it’s going, what he did to repair a bug, and so forth. This stage of one-on-one interplay isn’t one thing many builders can obtain. If he’s only one man, we will discuss to the artists, the composers, the programmers, and the director unexpectedly.
He can even see what the group is speaking about, and what modifications they may need, and implement them himself with out all of the crimson tape. I wager, too, that as a result of he pays such shut consideration to how Stardew Valley is obtained and talked about, he’ll have an excellent sense of the best way to make Haunted Chocolatier much more refined than Stardew proper off the bat.

So personally, I’m actually rooting for Barone. He looks as if a genuinely form one who needs to make video games as a result of he loves them. In case you want any extra convincing, simply go check out how healthful the Stardew Valley subreddit is. All of that is principally simply to say that whereas I’m tremendous excited to get an entire new sport from Barone, I’m equally as excited to see how his improvement abilities have improved over the previous decade or so.
From a side-by-side comparability of screenshots from Stardew Valley versus Haunted Chocolatier, we will already see a distinction in how polished the visuals are, not to mention the way it will really feel to play. One thing else I believe is cool is how we will nonetheless see Barone’s fashion, even with an entire new sport. In fact Haunted Chocolatier seems fairly completely different from Stardew (I for one am very to see a extra city setting), however by all the new bells and whistles, we will see the elemental elements of Barone’s signature fashion.
It’s acquainted, but novel on the similar time.

Stardew is already a sport that has an intricate set of mechanics and methods, they usually work so nicely collectively that gamers can benefit from the expertise for tons of of hours. From the seems of it, Haunted Chocolatier has loads of staples from Stardew‘s design that we love, like gift-giving and foraging, for instance, so I can think about that the implementation of recent mechanics on high of what already works will solely heighten the expertise.
So lots of the selections builders make in massive franchises that make us go, “why would they maintain implementing this similar terrible design selection 12 months after 12 months,” is actually because there are approach too many cooks within the kitchen.
Barone’s severing of ties with writer Chucklefish tells us that he’s not prepared to compromise on what he needs for the sport, which solely provides me hope that he’s devoted to creating the sport as enjoyable as attainable, with out every other ulterior motives.

As a result of growing video games is such a collaborative expertise, that is such a uncommon alternative to proceed seeing one man’s affect on the video games trade. Watching the trailer for Haunted Chocolatier feels so nostalgic and but so refreshing on the similar time, and the cynic in me wonders if one thing like this might be attainable at a studio of any first rate measurement.
Stardew Valley will eternally be a basic, however there’s one thing refined about Haunted Chocolatier that I discover intriguing. It has fashion, it has ambiance, and it feels prefer it has a newfound maturity. Barone knocked it out of the park with a lighter, extra healthful really feel, so his tackle the darker, haunted aesthetic is one I stay up for.

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