SweetieGames

Not too long ago, everyone was celebrating the anniversary of the hugely popular farming sim Stardew Valley. Even after 10 years, the game still gets updated regularly and has a huge player base. It’s pretty much the cornerstone of cosy games even today!

Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe held an anniversary stream for the game, where many fans flocked to find out one thing; who are the newest marriage candidates?

Stardew Valley has had many fan favourite characters added as marriage candidates over the years, and I saw many people wanting to marry the mysterious wizard. I also thought he was the obvious choice; he was clearly a fan favourite, and my many years of playing otome games have taught me that mysterious love interests are always super popular!

So imagine my surprise when I find out that the new male marriage candidate is not the immensely popular wizard, but Clint, the blacksmith who every female fan I’ve come across collectively hates and considers to be a bit creepy and in love with another marriage candidate, Emily, even if she is married to the player.

Outrage spread online like wildfire. There were angry tweets written in other languages that I could understand without them even being translated. To further rub salt in the wound, the new female marriage candidate, Sandy, was actually a good choice and has been requested for a while. So, why did we get a male marriage candidate that nobody wanted?

As many of the players who will be interested in male marriage candidates will be women, the addition of Clint rather than the Wizard, who I had seen many girls talking about, does unfortunately did make me feel as though female fans are an afterthought. Clint’s characterisation does remind many women of unpleasant encounters they have had with “nice guy” type men in their real life.

However, the option of marrying Clint is being added in an update, which could mean we get updated dialogue and refreshed characterisation for him. Many people have already pointed out how interesting it would be for Clint to become romantically involved with a male character rather than another girl. I’ve never personally had a huge issue with Clint, I didn’t love him but that may be because he feels a little one dimensional with his dialogue. He’s depressed and won’t tell Emily how he feels. I hope that the new update adds some new dialogue for him outside of heart events, allowing us to see new sides of him so he can hopefully earn the hearts of fans.

While it is disappointing to see female fans not being listened to once again, the optimist in me really hopes that fan reaction encourages some change for Clint’s character. Stardew has a huge female player base, so I really hope their wishes will be granted and that they can marry that wizard someday.