When Eric Barone (ConcernedApe), the creator of “Stardew Valley”, recently talked about his favorite “The Legend of Zelda” works, he chose not the ones that are most often praised as “The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening”! The reason he gave is straightforward: this game has an “indie game feel.”
The “independent game feel” he talks about actually means having a degree of freedom.
Barone described “Dreamweaver” as having a very special creative temperament. The whole game is unique and a little bit weird. The kind of freedom that I just wanted to do, today is more like something that an independent team would come up with. Therefore, he feels that this kind of creativity and uniqueness has become more difficult to encounter in the large number of modern AAA games that pursue scale, stability and predictable returns.
To a certain extent, it’s like he’s endorsing his creative philosophy!
A large part of the popularity of “Stardew Valley” comes from its small but complete design and the author’s personal taste. Barone’s preference for Dreamweaver sounds like he shares the courage of design to not be bound by mainstream templates. It’s not to make it big, but to create a personality that only this work can have.