Yesterday morning I published a fairly extensive hands-on on Stardew Valley which launches tomorrow (or likely tonight given how weird the App Store can be with when things actually come out). If you missed it, the supreme tl;dr is that it’s a fantastic port of a very good game and the controls are the only potential issue I see. There’s a tap to move mechanic, but no virtual joystick, which feels less than ideal for the combat on the game which was very much designed to be played with either a keyboard and mouse or a physical controller.
One thing that has been asked for a lot (aside from iCloud support) following initial impressions rolling in from everyone with an early copy of the game is whether or not there is a virtual joystick setup similar to Wayward Souls. Well, through the magic of the internet, the specific developer who built the Stardew Valley mobile controls weighed in:
I built the new controls. I will add a regular joystick and 2 attack buttons if that’s what people want. Auto-attack works well if you stand back and let them come to you. I’m going to refine it more today. I’m also going to check out Wayward Souls. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.
It’s rad to see the developers so receptive to feedback, as I feel like Stardew Valley is about 98% to where it needs to be. With a tiny bit more polish it’s going to be a seriously flawless port.
