Animal Crossing-like dev pushes back on "Stardew Valley clone" chatter around farming RPG Fields of Mistria: "You probably wouldn't have Pokemon without Dragon Quest 5"

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It's a valid point

Fields of Mistria trailer screenshot showing an anime-style girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes, a grassy field and windmill behind her
(Image credit: NPC Studio)

Fields of Mistria is a farming sim, but it's not a Stardew Valley duplicate by any means - and both developers and fans alike are explaining why.

Ever since its debut during last year's Wholesome Direct, I've been looking forward to Fields of Mistria - and now I have it. It's a wonderfully whimsical take on the farming sim genre, comparable to the likes of classic Harvest Moon titles - and of course, Stardew Valley. It isn't a "clone" of ConcernedApe's beloved gem though, and it seems I'm not alone in believing so. Ellie from The Cozy Gaming Club has an entire video on the matter, for instance.

In the video, the host compares and discusses everything from the two games' characters to their visuals. Ellie makes various valid points and reveals in the comments that she felt the urge to make a video on the matter following accusations calling Fields of Mistria "a clone or a ripoff" of Stardew Valley: "I wanted to try and dispel that by showing how different they are." After advertising her video on social media, others took note - including a developer.

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The indie dev behind Critter Cove, an upcoming Animal Crossing-like sim, shares its own thoughts in response to Ellie's "great" video: "Games are art made by humans who are inspired by the art of other humans. This is good!" The studio continues, drawing some eye-opening comparisons: "You probably wouldn't have Pokemon without Dragon Quest 5, and you wouldn't have DQ5 without Shin Megami Tensei. Isn't that COOL THOUGH?" 

As a fan of both Fields of Mistria and Stardew Valley myself, I agree. After all, one could quite accurately describe Stardew Valley as a "Harvest Moon clone" of sorts - but it's simply a game inspired by another wonderful game from the past. The same can't be said for all new titles, though - Deviator, for example, channels Hollow Knight so hard it should almost come with a Fair Use law blurb.

Searching for more? Check out the best farming games around right now.

Anna Koselke
Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.