Polygon called a patch note a 'love letter.' We are reviewing patch notes now.

Cass Marshall at Polygon has written a review of a free update to a nine-year-old farming game with the reverence typically reserved for religious texts and Beyonce albums. Stardew Valley 1.6 is described as 'a love letter from ConcernedApe to the community.' A love letter. For patch notes. We are reviewing patch notes now and calling them love letters.

Don't get me wrong — ConcernedApe releasing substantial free content for nearly a decade is genuinely commendable. The man is a saint in an industry of grifters. But that's the problem: the review isn't really about the update. It's about the narrative of ConcernedApe as indie hero. The update could have added a single new parsnip variety and Polygon would have written 800 words about how it represents the triumph of independent development.

The actual critical content of this review could fit on a post-it note: new stuff added, old stuff improved, still Stardew Valley. The rest is parasocial appreciation dressed up as games journalism. Somewhere in the margins there's probably a review of the actual content — the new festivals, the modding support, the quality-of-life changes — but it's buried under so much goodwill that finding it requires an archaeological expedition. I'll give this review a generous 6 because at least it's honest in its bias. Sometimes the shill is just really, really sincere.