Part of writing guides for a living is diving into parts of games that I wouldn’t have even dipped a toe into if playing naturally. I’ve spent time with so many Social Links in Persona games that I otherwise would have ignored, I only have the Horse Ranch expansion for The Sims 4 because I got a code for it for work, and despite liking but notlovingMy Time at Sandrock(because I played it on Switch and the mechanics at launch were janky) I’m proud of having been at the helm of our guide coverage on it.
Another example is completing the Joja Route inStardew Valley. This idyllic farming game normally sees you working to complete the restoration of a run-down Community Center by collecting several specific items, like seasonal crops, cooked dishes, monster loot, and more. Doing this gradually unlocks new perks for Pelican Town until the Community Center is returned to its former glory.
Or, instead of finishing the diversified bundles, you could pledge your allegiance tothe mega-corporation, Joja. Most players avoid the big-box store threatening Pelican Town’s quiet way of life in favor of the local charm, but if you’d rather pay for your community upgrades, Joja is the place for you.
I’ve been playing Stardew Valley since it came out in 2016. I’ve obtained perfection more than once, and I feel like I know the game inside and out, but in all my years, I’ve never so much as started the Joja Route, much less finished it. It felt sacrilegious, as it went against the spirit of the game to condone the corporate might of Joja in their efforts to snuff out a small-town light. Plus, the price tag on their warehouse was pretty hefty for the early game anyway. But I hada guide to write, so I handed over my starting cash to Morris, the manager of the local JojaMart, with my fingers crossed behind my back.
I’ve written before about how much I enjoyedchanging all the things I knowabout Stardew Valley to keep it fresh, but going the Joja Route was something else entirely. It felt like so much of what I knew about this game had been negated by the need to simply earn more money. Instead of carefully saving certain foraging items or rare catches to add to the Community Center bundles once they unlocked, I began grinding for cash.
As quickly as I was able, with my limited early-game energy, I busted my behind to get as many crops as I could afford into the ground before I darted off to the mines to look for assorted valuables. My pupils turned into cartoon dollar signs when I walked out my front door in the morning and saw a whole field of produce finally ripe for the picking and, more importantly, the selling.
I didn’t even care about the townspeople, one of Stardew Valley’s most charming features. Usually, I make sprinting around town handing out gifts a priority, but not when their most beloved gifts are valuable. My highest relationship is with Elliott at four hearts, and that’s just because I happened to have a Pomegranate from my fruit bat cave in my backpack on his birthday. Everyone else is resting comfortably at or below two hearts more than a year into the game.
I mean, do the Pelican Town residents have any idea how muchsome of their favorite stuffis worth? Like hell, I’m giving Emily my gemstones…
Local shop owner Pierre naturally takes my decision the hardest, with the most to lose if Joja thrives, but I personally think Pierre is a weenie, so I enjoyed listening to him whine when I gave him the pittance of upgrading my inventory at his shop. The two backpacks are the only things I’ve ever gotten from him – everything else has come right from my pal, Morris. I even thought about marrying Abigail, too, just toreallyrub it in his dumb, sniveling face; I just wasn’t willing to sacrifice my Amethyst for the joke.
Developer ConcernedApe put alotof care and attention into an aspect of the game I think he knew not many people would see. Not only does the Joja Route change some of the dialogue in town and the appearance of the old Community Center, it also changes how I progressed through the game in general. I was more focused on money than ever before, but because everything was available and limited only by my bank account, I unlocked the Community Center upgrades in a totally different order. I had the Greenhouse well before the bus or the minecarts – it was finished in the Summer of Year One, because I’d invested in Strawberry Seeds during the Spring and had plenty of the valuable, regrowing crops to plant as soon as possible.
In all, while I’ve shied from the Joja Route before in the name of the wholesomeness native to a game as cozy and endearing as Stardew Valley, I thoroughly enjoyed knocking it out at least once, if for no reason other than my guide and my Steam achievements list. I don’t think I’d have enjoyed it as much if I weren’t looking for something to keep this aging farming sim fresh for me, and I’d never have done it in my first playthrough, but now that I’ve done it once, I’m already kind of looking forward to whatever way I find to change up Stardew Valley next.
