Haunted Chocolatier is the next game by Stardew Valley developer ConcernedApe, and although it currently doesn’t have a release date, the developer has confirmed he is hard at work on it. At this point, not much has been revealed about Haunted Chocolatier, save for the game’s premise, some of its features, and a few screenshots. However, one area where Haunted Chocolatier will differ greatly from Stardew Valley is in its emphasis on combat. Whereas Stardew‘s combat was secondary to its farm-building and relationship mechanics, Haunted Chocolatier‘s combat will play a central role in its gameplay loop.
In Haunted Chocolatier, players will venture out into the wilderness in search of various creatures to kill and harvest for ingredients that they can then use to make new confections to sell at their chocolate confectionery store. Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has confirmed Haunted Chocolatier‘s stronger emphasis on combat, stating that it is being built from scratch, as opposed to being a copy-and-paste of Stardew Valley‘s. With this greater emphasis on combat comes the question of whether Haunted Chocolatier will feature a wider variety of weapons than Stardew, and it would do well to ensure that.
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Haunted Chocolatier Needs a Wider Variety of Weapons Than Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley Only Features Four Weapon Types
Combat certainly has a place in Stardew Valley, as players will encounter a host of enemies while they navigate the mines in search of rare ores and materials. Unfortunately, its combat options are lacking, considering combat is really only necessary in one area of the game’s world. As such, there are only four weapon types in Stardew Valley: sword, dagger, club, and slingshot.
Each weapon type in Stardew Valley serves its purpose. Swords are the most well-rounded weapons of the four, dealing moderate damage and even giving players the ability to block. Daggers, of course, are much faster than swords, but deal less damage. Clubs are the slowest of the four weapons but have a wide, powerful swing. Finally, slingshots are the game’s ranged weapons and deal damage according to the ammo used. While these four weapon types offer a variety of playstyles, there is still more that Haunted Chocolatier could do with the fundamentals of Stardew‘s combat.
Haunted Chocolatier Needs More Weapon Types Than Stardew Valley
If Haunted Chocolatier ends up taking more of a fantasy approach to its style and gameplay, it could easily offer players a much broader variety of weapons than Stardew Valley could. For example, weapons like battleaxes, greatswords, spears, bows, and crossbows would all be satisfying to use while battling monsters in Haunted Chocolatier. It would also simultaneously reinforce Haunted Chocolatier‘s emphasis on combat by letting players take advantage of more distinct playstyles.
Shields Have Already Been Confirmed for Haunted Chocolatier
Thankfully, it appears Haunted Chocolatier may already be off to a good start when it comes to featuring more weapons, as ConcernedApe has confirmed players will be able to use shields, which were largely replaced in Stardew Valley by swords. In Haunted Chocolatier, shields can be used to block and stun enemies, leaving them open to more attacks. ConcernedApe has also confirmed that there will be even more off-hand weapons available for players to choose from that will “complement different play styles.”
It seems Haunted Chocolatier is already heading in the right direction in terms of offering players more options for combat. That being said, there is the chance that it could end up being too much like Stardew Valley and feature very little variety in its weapon choices. The hope, however, is that its combat will be more than satisfying, both from a gameplay perspective and a customization standpoint.
