Link: https://www.ign.com/articles/haunted-chocolatier-more-of-an-action-rpg-compared-to-stardew-valley-concernedape-says

Barone announced Haunted Chocolatier back in 2021, but amid ongoing work on his phenomenally successful Stardew Valley, progress on the follow-up has been slow going. Indeed, in June, Barone admitted to feeling somewhat embarrassed to have to keep on saying he was still working away on the game. “Feels kinda dumb posting this same thing over and over, but that’s the reality,” he said at the time.

In a new interview with GQ (thanks, Eurogamer), Barone touched on what to expect from Haunted Chocolatier when it eventually comes out, and it sounds more different from Stardew Valley than I had expected. It’s set in a more “metaphysical” locale, for a start, and in terms of gameplay it’s more of an action RPG.

“It is still what I call a town game,” Barone said, “But it’s more of an action RPG — the main focus is more about adventuring, finding equipment and getting more powerful. There are monsters, there are boss fights. It's for the people in Stardew Valley that go into the mines. That's what I do, honestly.”

Does anyone know if it takes place in the same universe as Stardew?

I look forward to it.

Does it take place in the world of Stardew Valley?

I’m not ready to reveal anything like that just yet.

Not confirmed yet :/

I hope it is!

Aww, that's disappointing, but thanks for doing the leg work on that issue.

Perfect. My favorite way to play Stardew is to freeze time and energy and just attack the mines and skull cavern until I die. With a bit of fishing on the side.

Since there's no farming focus, I hope they don't build the day night cycle in Haunted Chocolatier.

Getting Earthbound vibes from the screenshot. Nice.

Good. I liked Stardew Valley when it was new, but never finished it and never could get past a couple of days in it when tried to starr it again.
Great game, but just too damn grindy.

Patiently

yeah its fine to take time. Good work often does.

It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure! I’m excited to see how different HC is compared to Stardew and what other types of gamers it attract. Stardew is an incredibly good game and if that’s how Haunted Choc is going to be approached, then I’m happy that more people may appreciate Concerned Ape’s work! I hope this one clicks with you better :)

There have been a lot of speculation based on trailers. For example, it looks like there is a Qi fruit in the background, so I’d bet they are linked somehow.

I’m hoping that they are and that at some point there will be be a dlc that links the two games together so you can kind of do it all.

Yes! That would be so cool!

I hope it’s something that unlocks as an endgame feature kind of like in pokemon gold letting you revisit the first games region.

If it’s not official I promise that modders will do it immediately anyway 😂

So more like Recettear? Nice, love it!

unless day/night determines enemy variety, events, and world interactions! that would still be awesome

As lomg as there's no time constraints forcing me to sleep, I'd be happy

I tried to find a Recettear-like game recently and couldn't really find one that clicked, so I just replayed Recettear instead! Love it

Base game I agree but modded stardew valley is fucking awesome

I trust Barone.

What mods are your favorite?

The game will eventually be released, but in the meanwhile, I'm pretty sure he will release a few more Stardew Valley updates, because he just can't leave that game alone.

Not that I am angry, if anything, I find it funny; because he is working on this game but every now and then, he'll come "Hey, so... I know I said Stardew was done but..." and drops another absurdly big update nobody asked for that makes you go "I know I said I finished playing Stardew but... one more run!".

I wish some AAA games had half the post-launch support Stardew has...

I dislike the mines in Stardew Valley because the combat feels awkward and frustrating with a mouse and keyboard. Is it better with a game controller?

I am hungry, RAVENOUS, for high quality life sim, please, feed me CA

No the combat is just bad (sorry eric), there are some mods that help add depth to it though with more mobility and different moves.

I'm terrified that Witchbrook is actually going to suck.

I play so many shop sims, everything from normal simulators like Supermarket Sim to fantasy dungeon crawlers like Fell & Sell or Moonlighter to gimmicky ones like The Walking Trade, I have never found one that I enjoyed as much as Recettear. It's a hard act to follow.

I had forgotten about the game! Looking forward to it whenever it's eventually released.

I don't mind the combat on android touch screen devices. The weapons auto swing when the enemy is within reach, so the action is more about approaching and dodging the enemy. It feels simpler, but there's definitely some drawbacks to this method as well.

Nice, I've never heard of this one and now it's waiting patiently on my wishlist. Thanks!

It's a lot easier I think, to be one person working on two games that are both passion projects, than to be a large studio working to support a multi-faceted project where the work is distributed across several departments and teams. In that environment, there's no single person who knows the full ins and outs of the game, so when that post-launch skeleton crew gets to squashing bugs and adding features, they've already lost most of the knowledge required to do more unless that post-launch support was intended from the start.

ConcernedApe is also a crazy exception, even for indies. Most games of that scale do depend on at least a few different people, but the guy is a savant for game dev. Stardew being a solo project is absurd.

Take your time, Eric. I'll be here when you're ready.

I hope he refined the combat mechanics in Chocalatier, cause the combat part of Stardew Valley is something I would describe as awkward and mid but serviceable in a game where combat isn't the main focus.

I can wait another year or two, if it means the game gets better. As long as it isn't released as a green banana, like so many others.

Not TO but Sprinting, Deep Woods and Tractor for sure. And Ferngill Weathers. Enemy health. Ambient Light. etcetc.

Stardew stopped being a solo project two or three patches ago. ConcernedApe brought in a few more people to help with updates around the time the new game was announced.

Still massively impressive what he did get done on his own, so I'm really just being pedantic.

It looks pretty nice

I really adore how it looks like Stardew Valley. Makes me nostalgic for a game I haven't even played yet!

I'm already buying it, he doesn't have to keep selling it harder

Looks exactly the same than Stardew Valley...

It is the same creator after all haha

Thank you!

How do you stop time in that game?

You mod it to cheat and add a buttom to pause time progression.

ohhh. any good links to the mod? That sounds awesome.

Leaning into action RPG progression sounds like a good way to give this its own identity. A town to return to between expeditions could make that loop especially satisfying.